TEACHERS' PERCEPTION OF SMARTPHONE USE IN RURAL SECONDARY SCHOOLS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

ABSTRACT In the context of the pandemic caused by COVID-19, schools in 183 countries had to close at all academic levels and the only alternative was distance education, using electronic tools that allow synchronous and asynchronous communication, such as Smartphones. The purpose of the research was to determine the influence of the pedagogical use of Smartphones on academic performance and virtual education in secondary and technical secondary schools in rural educational institutions in the municipality of Toledo, Norte de Santander, Colombia, during the 2020 pandemic. The survey technique was applied to collect data using as an instrument a questionnaire of 24 questions on a Likert scale, additionally the qualifications were taken in five key areas of the population consisting of five educational institutions in the municipality of Toledo, Norte de Santander department, the study was applied, quantitative approach, non-experimental design, correlational level, the data were processed statistically using SPSS V25 software, allowing to observe the significant influence that has the pedagogical use of Smartphone in academic performance and virtual education in rural educational institutions in the middle of the pandemic 2020