Over a year since the first wave of school closures, there are still many issues with digital learning that are yet to be resolved
CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Computer Weekly
Research from communications regulator Ofcom estimates that between 1.14m and 1.78m children in the UK don’t have access to a laptop or device for home schooling, and seven per cent of households can only access the internet through mobile connectivity.
Research by Nominet found that half of parents were worried that not having digital access would be detrimental to their children’s education, and 20% said they couldn’t provide uninterrupted access to online learning at home for their children. Nominet also found that 21% of parents had to share devices with their children, making it difficult to juggle home working and home schooling.
“There is a huge digital divide, and it is getting worse with schools being shut down due to COVID-19. Teachers and school leaders are trying their best to continue with online teaching by providing resources, virtual check-ins and recorded lessons,” says edtech adviser and consultant Joysy John, who adds that many children cannot access these services due to a lack of technology or connectivity.
“There are many new initiatives – like Oak National Academy, National Tutoring Programme and free resources from edtech companies – but these benefit those who already have digital access; the digital divide is going to get wider unless the government thinks of a more holistic approach and provides disadvantaged parents with additional financial and educational support.”
What’s being done
The government has said it will be providing up to one million children with devices to help them learn from home; these will not be given directly to pupils, but to schools that apply for them on behalf of their students.
More than 500,000 devices were provided to schools in 2020, and a further 100,000 were sent out in the week the third lockdown was announced, with the Department for Education (DfE) estimating that the second week of the 2021 spring term would see around 750,000 devices having been issued.
Chris Hillidge – a teacher who runs a Computing at School (CAS) community, and leads the National Centre for Computing Education Computing Hub for Merseyside and Warrington, where he is also director of science, technology, engineering and maths at the Challenge Academy Trust – says that after sending out a number of Chromebooksit was found that many families don’t have access to Wi-Fi.
“However, on the positive side, teachers are providing some meaningful and effective learning remotely. The uptake from students is far higher than in lockdown one, even in an area of socio-economic disadvantage such as the one our school is in,” he says. “It’s not as good as children being in school, but everyone is working hard to make it as good as it can be.”
Though these are steps in the right direction, there are still challenges, and the one million devices the government has promised is still shy of Ofcom’s estimate of the number of children in need of technology equipment.
Tina Götschi, principal of Ada, the National College for Digital Skills, said support such as offering connectivity has come “late in the day…learning has already been lost” and there is undue strain on teachers to be several things at once.
“Many school and college leaders are doing about five jobs, all at the same time, including learning how to administer the rapid result tests which were delivered on the first day of term, only to be told learners and students were to be remote on the second day of term,” she says.
Still more to do
It’s still early days in lockdown three and, while the pandemic has brought with it a huge amount of uncertainty, there does, at least, seem to be hope that these unprecedented times will pave the way for a more advanced digital future.
“During the first national lockdown we saw a fleet of edtech businesses bringing new platforms and services online to support digital learning – with significant innovation in the space supporting our young people in adapting to new modes of education,” comments Russ Shaw, founder of Tech London Advocates. “There is hope within the tech sector that, this time around, these edtech firms will, again, be supporting the most vulnerable in society to access quality education.
“Moving forward, the task at hand will be to ensure that everybody who cannot access remote learning is reached with devices and connectivity – not a single child can be left behind while schools are closed. This pandemic has, unfortunately, awakened many to the plight of digital exclusion, and my hope is that we now have the collective will, and resources, to permanently close the gap.”
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