Abstract
The COVID-19 outbreak severely affected formal face-to-face classroom teaching and learning. ICT-based online education and training can be a useful measure during the pandemic. In the Pakistani educational context, the use of ICT-based online training is generally sporadic and often unavailable, especially for developing English-language instructors' listening comprehension skills. The major factors affecting availability include insufficient IT resources and infrastructure, a lack of proper online training for speech and listening, instructors with inadequate academic backgrounds, and an unfavorable environment for ICT-based training for listening comprehension. This study evaluated the effectiveness of ICT-based training for developing secondary-level English-language instructors' listening comprehension skills. To this end, collaborative online training was undertaken using random sampling. Specifically, 60 private-school instructors in Chakwal District, Pakistan, were randomly selected to receive online-listening training sessions using English dialogs. The experimental group achieved significant scores in the posttest analysis. Specifically, there were substantial improvements in the participants' listening skills via online training. Given the unavailability of face-to-face learning during COVID-19, this study recommends using ICT-based online training to enhance listening comprehension skills. Education policymakers should revise curricula based on online teaching methods and modules.