Distance learning in the time of covid-19 lockdown: New opportunities for information and communication technologies in education?

Abstract

This research aims to study the changing perceptions of primary and secondary school teachers towards information and communication technologies (ICT) for education, during the period of health lock down in France in April 2020. It is based on the Pedagogical, Social and Technological affordance model, suitable for analysing online learning environments and situations. Selected factors are the presence and use of ICT in Education, as well as interactions and innovation. In order to identify these elements, a questionnaire was proposed and the data was processed quantitatively and qualitatively. The results tend to confirm existing studies that claim low affordability of technology in education. Previous experience seems to be a perception-amplifying factor, but it does not in itself ensure the transition from perception to action. However, under certain conditions and in the longer term, such a rich and constrained experience leads to expression of new training needs that could reveal new affordances in a richer professional development process.