Abstract

There are concerns about the association between the level of students’ digital skills and the amount of stress they experience. However, evidence from both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies is limited. The main aim of this study was to address this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between preservice teachers’ digital skills and stress. The study employed an online cross-sectional survey, which was completed by 661 pre-service teachers enrolled in colleges of education in Ghana. The findings showed that preservice teachers’ low digital skills were associated with higher stress levels during the period of online teaching and learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study further revealed that preservice teachers’ limited access to resources was a significant cause of stress. Preservice teachers’ main coping strategies for reducing stress were positive framing, such as seeking advice from friends and family, seeing something good in what is happening and learning from the experience. Recommendations include providing more training on digital technologies during the initial preparation for teachers.

摘要

人们担心学生的数字技能水平与他们所经历的压力之间的关系。然而，来自横断面和纵向研究的证据都是有限的。本研究的主要目的是通过检查职前教师的数字技能与压力之间的关系来解决文献中的这一差距。该研究采用在线横断面调查，该调查由加纳教育学院的 661 名职前教师完成。研究结果表明，在 COVID-19 大流行所必需的在线教学期间，职前教师的低数字技能与较高的压力水平有关。该研究进一步表明，职前教师获得资源的机会有限是造成压力的重要原因。职前教师减轻压力的主要应对策略是积极的框架，例如向朋友和家人寻求建议，从正在发生的事情中看到好的一面，并从经验中学习。建议包括在为教师进行初步准备期间提供更多关于数字技术的培训。