‘Schooling at Home’ in Ireland during COVID-19’: Parents’ and Students’ Perspectives on Overall Impact, Continuity of Interest, and Impact on Learning

Abstract

Educational disruption due to COVID-19 ushered in dramatically different learning realities in Ireland. Our research explored the experiences of children, young people and parents during the first period of 'schooling at home' (SAH) at the end of that academic year. An anonymous online survey, guided by social constructivist emphases, yielded responses from 2733 parents and 1189 students from primary and second-level schools. Substantial evidence emerged of parentperceived and student-perceived negative psychosocial impacts of SAH on students. Further, our research clarified the exceptional stress experienced by parents in attempting to support SAH. A novel finding was student perceptions of having learned less during SAH, most likely due to significant declines in academic engagement. Recommendations for potential future periods of SAH include the need for innovative means of simulating socio-collaborative contexts, more flexible school supports based on unique home learning contexts, and enhanced psychological support for parents and at-risk children/ young people. In addition, we recommend that further research in the Irish context should specifically investigate the perspectives and experiences of those from minority ethnic and lower socio-economic groups.

First and Second Graders’ Reading Motivation and Reading Comprehension Were Not Adversely Affected by Distance Learning During COVID-19

“…Indeed, empirical evidence suggests that only a small percentage of elementary teachers conducted live online lessons. Instead, most elementary teachers developed and distributed lesson plans for the students (Flynn et al, 2021;Huber and Helm, 2020). While evidence suggests that learning plans can effectively substitute for in-person learning (Tomasik et al, 2021), they cannot make up for smallgroup collaboration.…”

“…However, the children who attended school during the lockdown because their families could not spend education-focused time with them during the days probably enjoyed a favorable learning environment with more individual training than their prepandemic in-person schooling. Overall, research suggests that the quality of reading instruction for first and second graders decreased during distance learning, even though many parents tried to support their children's learning (Flynn et al, 2021).…”

“…Nevertheless, for most students, the school shutdowns meant new restrictions and changes such as being unable to meet with friends and classmates and limited contact with their teachers. Younger students especially badly missed their peers and teachers (Ewing and Cooper, 2021;Flynn et al, 2021).…”

An Observational Narrative of Student Reaction to Video Hooks

“…Learning enhanced by technology has gathered momentous energy in recent years, heightened further with the colossal impact of COVID-19 on our education system [16,17], with educators engaging in 'crisis learning' in imposed virtual environments [18]. Cognisant of the abrupt transition to online learning, it is important to note that educational technologies in particular multimedia are viewed as a way of improving instruction [19].…”

The Use of the Kahoot! Learning Platform as a Type of Formative Assessment in the Context of Pre-University Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic Period

“…During courses conducted in the online or hybrid format, there a lack of IT skills across teachers has been demonstrated, as many teachers could not easily translate their lessons into the digital format nor could they make choices regarding the teaching and evaluation methods that would be appropriate to this format [18].…”