Physical home learning environments for digitally-supported learning in academic continuing education during COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, digital technologies for distance learning have been used in educational institutions worldwide, raising issues about social implications, technological development, and teaching and learning strategies. While disparities regarding access to technical equipment and the internet (‘the digital divide’) have been the subject of previous research, the physical learning environment of learners participating in online learning activities has hardly been investigated. In this study, the physical-spatial conditions of learning environments, including technical equipment for distance learning activities and their influence on adult learners in academic continuing education during initial COVID-19 restrictions, were examined. Data were collected with an online survey sent to all students enrolled in an Austrian continuing education university, together with a small number of semi-structured interviews. A total of 257 students participated in the survey during the 2020 summer semester. Our findings provide insights in two infrequently-studied areas in learning environment research: the physical learning environment for online learning and the learning environment in academic continuing education. The study illustrates that students in academic continuing education have spacious living conditions and almost all the equipment necessary for digitally-supported learning. According to gender and household structure, significant differences were found regarding technical equipment, ergonomic furniture and availability of a dedicated learning place. In their learning sessions during the restrictions, students reported low stress levels and positive well-being. The more that they perceived that their physical learning environment was meeting their needs, the higher were their motivation and well-being and the lower was their stress. Their learning experience was further improved by the extent to which they had a separate and fixed learning place that did not need to be coordinated or shared with others. The study contributes to the literature on creating conducive learning environments for digitally-supported online learning for adult learners.

Depression and anxiety among online learning students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…Therefore, not every country has the means and resources to adjust to online learning. A study showed that 85% of the institutions in Europe quickly replaced in-person education with online learning, while only 29% of African institutions met online education requirements [ 6 ]. Moreover, since the beginning of February 2020, Chinese colleges and universities have used different learning modes, including online learning based on different platforms, to achieve the goal of suspending classes without suspending learning [ 7 ].…”

MOTEMO-OUTDOOR: Ensuring learning and health safety during the COVID-19 pandemic through outdoor and online environments in higher education

“…It should be borne in mind that all the students had their own minimum technical resources essential for optimal use of the designed seminars. This is relevant since an implementation of online teaching must overcome the inequalities between students in access to technologies that can negatively affect the learning opportunities of disadvantaged students (Beaunoyer et al 2020); as some studies have highlighted, adequate conditions in home learning environments are very relevant to guarantee learning based on high motivation and well-being and a low level of stress during online sessions (Aschenberger et al 2022).…”

New actors and new learning spaces for new times: a framework for schooling that extends beyond the school

“…As the crisis revealed, the non-formal youth work sector was able to continue to support students when school did not manage to reach certain groups (Detyna et al, 2022 ; O’Regan et al, 2022 ). Given this, it appears apposite to include the expertise of the non-formal sector in a more-integrated and sustainable way into a new learning model that is embedded in schools but retains open links with alternative learning environments adding to the literature in this field (Keser Aschenberger et al, 2022 …”

“…“Lewin’s formula, B = f (P, E), stressed the need to consider behaviour as a function of both the person and the environment” (Fraser, 2018 , p. 2). More contemporary research provides a holistic conceptualising of learning environments (Keser Aschenberger et al, 2022 ; Manninen et al, 2007 ; Mogas et al, 2021 ; Valtonen et al, 2021 ) infusing physical, technological and informal learning spaces. In this paper, we identify the rationale or need for the re-design of learning environments, drawing on the literature in relation to educational inequality and the potential of youth work approaches informed by a global competencies model.…”

“…We then present the framework that explicates the transformative potential of bringing these approaches together. The model is underpinned by the Reggio Emilia approaches (Brookes & Hardy, 2002 ), advances education from the fourth industrial revolution, termed Education 4.0 (Salmon, 2019 ), the theory of infrastructuring (Penuel, 2019a , b ; Star, 1999 ) and technological innovation, which seek to build new educational relationships with the aim of transforming practice and the learning environment (Keser Aschenberger et al, 2022 ; Mogas et al, 2021 ). Key to such a framework is the introduction of new actors into the space of schooling.…”