Influence of Teachers’ Digital Content Evaluation Skills on Secondary School Learners’ Engagement in English Lessons in Mwala Sub-County, Kenya

Abstract

The growing integration of digital content in education has significantly influenced teaching and learning. As digital resources become increasingly accessible, the ability of teachers to critically assess and effectively utilize the resources is important in ensuring learner participation and improved learning outcomes. The purpose of this study was to explore the influence of teachers’ digital content evaluation skills on learner engagement in English lessons within secondary schools in Mwala Sub-County, Kenya. The study’s objective was to assess how digital content evaluation skills influence learner engagement in English lessons. The study adopted purposive sampling to obtain and select schools equipped with necessary infrastructure such as electricity and availability of digital tools that enabled access and use of digital content and resources in teaching and learning. The study targeted a sample of 247 teachers from 80 secondary schools. The study employed a mixed method research design. Quantitative methods provided statistical evidence of the relationship between teachers’ skills in evaluating digital content and the level of engagement among learners while the qualitative methods captured the teachers’ practices such as accessing and selecting digital content and their perceived effect on learner engagement in English lessons. Data collected was analyzed with the aid of the SPSS software for both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed a statistically significant relationship between teachers’ digital content evaluation skills and learner engagement in English lessons. Digital content evaluation skills explained 44.2% of the variation in learner engagement (R² = 0.442, β = 0.196, p = 0.012). Supported by these findings, the study concluded that teachers digital content evaluation skills are integral for improving learner engagement in English lessons. In view of the findings, the study recommends that ongoing professional development programs should be implemented to improve teachers’ digital content evaluation skills, focusing on advanced proficiency and effective integration into instructional practices.