Prioritising barriers of online teaching during COVID-19 from teachers' perspective: using the analytic hierarchy process

ABSTRACT

Online teaching is no longer a choice but is an essential requirement for teachers due to the outbreak of global pandemic COVID-19. In India, lockdown conditions are still in force, and educational institutions are closed until further notice. Teachers are conducting online sessions from their homes, so it is important to identify the barriers encountered by teachers in online teaching. The purpose of this paper is to identify and prioritise the barriers faced by teachers in online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic in the HEIs of India. AHP approach is employed to prioritise the barriers encountered by teachers in online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic. The data was collected from 27 teachers working in various universities of Uttarakhand, India. These findings indicate that 'lack of institutional support' is the main barrier followed by home environment settings, technical issues, teachers' readiness, and students' readiness in online teaching during COVID-19 pandemic in India.