INFLUENCE OF INSTRUCTOR COMPETENCES ON EFFECTIVE ONLINE TEACHING IN TVET INSTITUTIONS IN UGANDA

Abstract

Globally, there are opportunities and challenges in the workplace because of the growth of digital technologies. New job responsibilities and organizational structures create new demands on corporate human resource procedures, which influence talent management and staff development procedures across all organizations. Instructors encounter numerous obstacles in staying current with emerging digital innovations and in enhancing their abilities to implement technology-supported teaching. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the influence of instructor competences on effective online teaching in TVET institutions in Uganda. Specifically, this study focused on four competences, that is, classroom management, pedagogical, assessment and evaluation, and online digital gadgets competence. To achieve a comprehensive understanding of the research phenomenon, a mixed-methods approach was employed. The Taro Yamane formula was used to determine sample sizes: 184 instructors from a population of 339, 406 trainees from 4,145, and 36 administrators from 38. Stratified sampling using probability proportional to size was applied, followed by simple random sampling within each stratum. To ensure regional representation, three institutions were selected from the Central region, two from the Eastern region, and one each from the Northern and Western regions. The quantitative data was analyzed with the aid of Stata version 18 using Chi-squares, ANOVA, correlations, and the structural equation model. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically with the aid of NVivo version 14. Online digital gadgets utilization competence was strongly positively correlated to online teaching effectiveness (cor = 0.8113*), suggesting that higher competence in using digital tools greatly enhances effective online teaching in TVET institutions. Similarly, online teaching effectiveness showed strong positive correlations with classroom management (cor = 0.6917*), pedagogical competences (cor = 0.6581*), and online assessment and evaluation competence (cor = 0.7450*), highlighting that instructor competences collectively support online teaching effectiveness. From the SEM results, a unit increase in online digital gadgets utilization competence leads to a 56% improvement in online teaching effectiveness (coefficient = 0.557, p < 0.001), highlighting the vital role of having tech-savvy instructors. Similarly, a unit increase in online assessment and evaluation competence results in an 18% improvement (p < 0.001), while pedagogical competences contribute a 12% improvement (p = 0.008), and classroom management competences yield a 12% improvement (p = 0.002) in online teaching effectiveness. These findings emphasize that all instructor competences significantly and positively influence online teaching effectiveness in TVET institutions, with online digital gadgets competence exerting the greatest effect. Based on these findings, it is strongly recommended that TVET institutions develop and implement targeted capacity-building programs to continuously train instructors in digital gadgets utilization, ensuring they acquire and maintain high levels of technological competence to effectively deliver and manage online teaching. For future research, a similar study needs to tackle the online learner’s required competences to strike a balance between instructor training and effective delivery. This study established a fourfold approach of creating innovations in the TVET institution which aim at structuring informal vocational education, guaranteeing TVET access and inclusion for vulnerable groups, youth employment (matching industry demands and skills), enforcing private-public partnerships, strengthening the digital and ecological transition of TVET, aligning local training with economic