The state of remote learning: Are people ready to learn online?

On 18th March 2020, the UK government announced that it would close schools across the UK until further notice as a response to the ongoing situation of COVID-19. As a result, most students started taking to remote learning to attend their classes. This article will look at how students, teachers, and parents adjusted to the virtual ways of teaching and learning.

Education has long been a topic of discussion, and its importance cannot be debated. Despite that, some children across the world may have been still deprived of this basic necessity. In addition, COVID-19 may have only added to this problem faced by children worldwide. According to a report by Nature Portfolio, by the end of June 2021, 770 million children were still not attending school full time. Moreover, almost 150 million children in 19 countries lacked access to in-person education. They were either enrolled in remote learning or had no access to schooling at all.

In such a scenario, it may become imperative to take the help of remote learning and virtual classroom software to keep the momentum of learning going. Before we dive deep into the adoption and response towards remote learning by students, teachers, and parents in the UK, let us first understand what remote learning is.

Now that we know what remote learning means, let us look at the adoption and response towards remote learning.

Implementation of remote learning in the UK

Many countries across the world, including the UK, have potentially developed some type of remote learning strategy in response to the problem presented by the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping this in mind, the Department of Education laid out the provision for state-funded schools to provide remote education to school-age children who cannot attend schools due to the UK Government’s guidelines to safeguard public health or laws related to the pandemic. The above-mentioned press release also states that local governments will closely work with the Department of Education’s regional teams to ensure that an alternate mode of learning is available in areas where schools are unable to care for these children. 

The impact of the adoption of remote learning in the UK

During the pandemic, schools and students have possibly tried their best to adjust to the new ways of teaching and learning, respectively. Despite that, the impact of learning remotely has been different for various stakeholders involved. This section will look at some of the consequences of virtual learning for students, teachers, and parents.

Impact of remote learning on students 

A report released by the government talks about how the pandemic has impacted learning for students between March 2020 to March 2021. The report states that with most learning taking place online, having enough access to the internet and electronic devices and a private study room at home has become crucial. Although most students had some access to these, there were still those who were unable to access education in this manner. The report also highlights critical observations on students’ learning, some of which are presented below:  

• The quality of learning saw a decline for students as a result of the pandemic.
• The majority of pupils experience learning losses, with some experiencing significant learning losses, while some experienced learning gains.
• Math and literacy are two subjects where learning losses seem to be most prevalent.

Impact of remote learning on parents

When students started learning online, the role and involvement of their parents also potentially increased. For students in primary education, such involvement may have been greater in terms of providing and assisting them with the necessary gadgets, helping them adjust to the new mode of learning etc. Keeping this in mind, there may also be many roadblocks parents might be facing, especially since they may come from different income groups. 

According to a report by The Sutton Trust, 60% of teachers surveyed have stated that students are not engaging in online learning due to limited or no parental support. The research also presented some other interesting data points presented below:

• 41% of parents have stated that they don’t have enough or no time to help their children with online learning. 
• While 31% of parents with the lowest incomes were not able to spend monetarily on their child’s home learning, 29% of those with the highest incomes were able to spend more than £100.

Impact of remote learning on teachers

Schools and teachers may also not have been prepared for virtual education at the start of the pandemic. Many teachers showed concerns about student engagement and involvement while utilising remote learning. According to a report published in June 2020 by the National Foundation for Educational Research, about 90% of teachers feel that students are doing lesser work than what is usually expected at that time of the year. The report also presented some other findings listed below:

• Teachers are worried about poor engagement among students who have limited or restricted access to technology and who do not have enough space to study at home.
• Teachers indicate that only 55% of parents are involved in their children’s home learning.

Challenges of using remote learning in education

Although distance learning has been trying to solve the problem posed by the COVID-19 restrictions, it also comes with some challenges for schools, students, and parents. Below is an in-depth look at some of the issues that stem from remote learning.

1. Lack of means and resources

Remote ways of learning have presented challenges to students who may not have the required resources to attend online classes. According to a study by Cambridge Assessment, students lack technological —such as gadgets and internet connections— and social —a safe, quiet study space or parental support— conditions for remote learning. 

2. Divide created by economic disparity

There are also concerns that the shift to online education has possibly resulted in inequities to educational access. A report from the Institute of Fiscal Studies states that students from wealthier households spend more time at home learning, have access to additional personal resources such as private tutoring or teacher chats, and their parents report feeling more equipped to help them. The report also states that policymakers should consider how to close the education disparities that are increasing due to the health crisis.

3. Difficulty in teaching practical subjects virtually

Remote learning has possibly presented challenges with converting subjects that need physical interaction —like sports and lab experimentation— to a remote learning format. According to an article by the Office of National Statistics, teachers stated that remote learning is less effective when teaching practical subjects like arts, design, and technology compared to other subjects. The article also states that remote learning was only a partial substitute for in-class education since students covered much less content when working from home than in the classroom.

What does the future hold?

It may be difficult to comment on the future of remote learning, considering we are still dealing with the pandemic in one form or the other. Looking at the data and research presented in the article, it is evident that both parents and teachers play a crucial role in helping the students learn remotely. The software used to deliver an online classroom experience to children may also be getting more advanced with time. Although the times may be unpredictable, both schools and students have possibly found an alternate way to keep the learning going!