essay about online learning in this pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed education forever. This is how 

With schools shut across the world, millions of children have had to adapt to new types of learning. Image:  REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

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• The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.
• As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
• Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.

While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on 12 March , but in South Korea students are responding to roll calls from their teachers online .

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.

Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global edtech investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025 . Whether it is language apps , virtual tutoring , video conferencing tools, or online learning software , there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19.

How is the education sector responding to COVID-19?

In response to significant demand, many online learning platforms are offering free access to their services, including platforms like BYJU’S , a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring firm founded in 2011, which is now the world’s most highly valued edtech company . Since announcing free live classes on its Think and Learn app, BYJU’s has seen a 200% increase in the number of new students using its product, according to Mrinal Mohit, the company's Chief Operating Officer.

Tencent classroom, meanwhile, has been used extensively since mid-February after the Chinese government instructed a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online platforms. This resulted in the largest “online movement” in the history of education with approximately 730,000 , or 81% of K-12 students, attending classes via the Tencent K-12 Online School in Wuhan.

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Other companies are bolstering capabilities to provide a one-stop shop for teachers and students. For example, Lark, a Singapore-based collaboration suite initially developed by ByteDance as an internal tool to meet its own exponential growth, began offering teachers and students unlimited video conferencing time, auto-translation capabilities, real-time co-editing of project work, and smart calendar scheduling, amongst other features. To do so quickly and in a time of crisis, Lark ramped up its global server infrastructure and engineering capabilities to ensure reliable connectivity.

Alibaba’s distance learning solution, DingTalk, had to prepare for a similar influx: “To support large-scale remote work, the platform tapped Alibaba Cloud to deploy more than 100,000 new cloud servers in just two hours last month – setting a new record for rapid capacity expansion,” according to DingTalk CEO, Chen Hang.

Some school districts are forming unique partnerships, like the one between The Los Angeles Unified School District and PBS SoCal/KCET to offer local educational broadcasts, with separate channels focused on different ages, and a range of digital options. Media organizations such as the BBC are also powering virtual learning; Bitesize Daily , launched on 20 April, is offering 14 weeks of curriculum-based learning for kids across the UK with celebrities like Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero teaching some of the content.

What does this mean for the future of learning?

While some believe that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits. “I believe that the integration of information technology in education will be further accelerated and that online education will eventually become an integral component of school education,“ says Wang Tao, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Vice President of Tencent Education.

There have already been successful transitions amongst many universities. For example, Zhejiang University managed to get more than 5,000 courses online just two weeks into the transition using “DingTalk ZJU”. The Imperial College London started offering a course on the science of coronavirus, which is now the most enrolled class launched in 2020 on Coursera .

Many are already touting the benefits: Dr Amjad, a Professor at The University of Jordan who has been using Lark to teach his students says, “It has changed the way of teaching. It enables me to reach out to my students more efficiently and effectively through chat groups, video meetings, voting and also document sharing, especially during this pandemic. My students also find it is easier to communicate on Lark. I will stick to Lark even after coronavirus, I believe traditional offline learning and e-learning can go hand by hand."

These 3 charts show the global growth in online learning

The challenges of online learning.

There are, however, challenges to overcome. Some students without reliable internet access and/or technology struggle to participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between income brackets within countries. For example, whilst 95% of students in Switzerland, Norway, and Austria have a computer to use for their schoolwork, only 34% in Indonesia do, according to OECD data .

In the US, there is a significant gap between those from privileged and disadvantaged backgrounds: whilst virtually all 15-year-olds from a privileged background said they had a computer to work on, nearly 25% of those from disadvantaged backgrounds did not. While some schools and governments have been providing digital equipment to students in need, such as in New South Wales , Australia, many are still concerned that the pandemic will widenthe digital divide .

Is learning online as effective?

For those who do have access to the right technology, there is evidence that learning online can be more effective in a number of ways. Some research shows that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. This is mostly due to the students being able to learn faster online; e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of online learning varies amongst age groups. The general consensus on children, especially younger ones, is that a structured environment is required , because kids are more easily distracted. To get the full benefit of online learning, there needs to be a concerted effort to provide this structure and go beyond replicating a physical class/lecture through video capabilities, instead, using a range of collaboration tools and engagement methods that promote “inclusion, personalization and intelligence”, according to Dowson Tong, Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent and President of its Cloud and Smart Industries Group.

Since studies have shown that children extensively use their senses to learn, making learning fun and effective through use of technology is crucial, according to BYJU's Mrinal Mohit. “Over a period, we have observed that clever integration of games has demonstrated higher engagement and increased motivation towards learning especially among younger students, making them truly fall in love with learning”, he says.

A changing education imperative

It is clear that this pandemic has utterly disrupted an education system that many assert was already losing its relevance . In his book, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century , scholar Yuval Noah Harari outlines how schools continue to focus on traditional academic skills and rote learning , rather than on skills such as critical thinking and adaptability, which will be more important for success in the future. Could the move to online learning be the catalyst to create a new, more effective method of educating students? While some worry that the hasty nature of the transition online may have hindered this goal, others plan to make e-learning part of their ‘new normal’ after experiencing the benefits first-hand.

The importance of disseminating knowledge is highlighted through COVID-19

Major world events are often an inflection point for rapid innovation – a clear example is the rise of e-commerce post-SARS . While we have yet to see whether this will apply to e-learning post-COVID-19, it is one of the few sectors where investment has not dried up . What has been made clear through this pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies, and all parts of society. If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.

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• Review Article
• Published: 27 September 2021

Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap

• Sébastien Goudeau   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7293-0977 1 ,
• Camille Sanrey   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3158-1306 1 ,
• Arnaud Stanczak   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2596-1516 2 ,
• Antony Manstead   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7540-2096 3 &
• Céline Darnon   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2613-689X 2  

Nature Human Behaviour volume  5 ,  pages 1273–1281 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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The COVID-19 pandemic has forced teachers and parents to quickly adapt to a new educational context: distance learning. Teachers developed online academic material while parents taught the exercises and lessons provided by teachers to their children at home. Considering that the use of digital tools in education has dramatically increased during this crisis, and it is set to continue, there is a pressing need to understand the impact of distance learning. Taking a multidisciplinary view, we argue that by making the learning process rely more than ever on families, rather than on teachers, and by getting students to work predominantly via digital resources, school closures exacerbate social class academic disparities. To address this burning issue, we propose an agenda for future research and outline recommendations to help parents, teachers and policymakers to limit the impact of the lockdown on social-class-based academic inequality.

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The widespread effects of the COVID-19 pandemic that emerged in 2019–2020 have drastically increased health, social and economic inequalities 1 , 2 . For more than 900 million learners around the world, the pandemic led to the closure of schools and universities 3 . This exceptional situation forced teachers, parents and students to quickly adapt to a new educational context: distance learning. Teachers had to develop online academic materials that could be used at home to ensure educational continuity while ensuring the necessary physical distancing. Primary and secondary school students suddenly had to work with various kinds of support, which were usually provided online by their teachers. For college students, lockdown often entailed returning to their hometowns while staying connected with their teachers and classmates via video conferences, email and other digital tools. Despite the best efforts of educational institutions, parents and teachers to keep all children and students engaged in learning activities, ensuring educational continuity during school closure—something that is difficult for everyone—may pose unique material and psychological challenges for working-class families and students.

Not only did the pandemic lead to the closure of schools in many countries, often for several weeks, it also accelerated the digitalization of education and amplified the role of parental involvement in supporting the schoolwork of their children. Thus, beyond the specific circumstances of the COVID-19 lockdown, we believe that studying the effects of the pandemic on academic inequalities provides a way to more broadly examine the consequences of school closure and related effects (for example, digitalization of education) on social class inequalities. Indeed, bearing in mind that (1) the risk of further pandemics is higher than ever (that is, we are in a ‘pandemic era’ 4 , 5 ) and (2) beyond pandemics, the use of digital tools in education (and therefore the influence of parental involvement) has dramatically increased during this crisis, and is set to continue, there is a pressing need for an integrative and comprehensive model that examines the consequences of distance learning. Here, we propose such an integrative model that helps us to understand the extent to which the school closures associated with the pandemic amplify economic, digital and cultural divides that in turn affect the psychological functioning of parents, students and teachers in a way that amplifies academic inequalities. Bringing together research in social sciences, ranging from economics and sociology to social, cultural, cognitive and educational psychology, we argue that by getting students to work predominantly via digital resources rather than direct interactions with their teachers, and by making the learning process rely more than ever on families rather than teachers, school closures exacerbate social class academic disparities.

First, we review research showing that social class is associated with unequal access to digital tools, unequal familiarity with digital skills and unequal uses of such tools for learning purposes 6 , 7 . We then review research documenting how unequal familiarity with school culture, knowledge and skills can also contribute to the accentuation of academic inequalities 8 , 9 . Next, we present the results of surveys conducted during the 2020 lockdown showing that the quality and quantity of pedagogical support received from schools varied according to the social class of families (for examples, see refs. 10 , 11 , 12 ). We then argue that these digital, cultural and structural divides represent barriers to the ability of parents to provide appropriate support for children during distance learning (Fig. 1 ). These divides also alter the levels of self-efficacy of parents and children, thereby affecting their engagement in learning activities 13 , 14 . In the final section, we review preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that distance learning widens the social class achievement gap and we propose an agenda for future research. In addition, we outline recommendations that should help parents, teachers and policymakers to use social science research to limit the impact of school closure and distance learning on the social class achievement gap.

Economic, structural, digital and cultural divides influence the psychological functioning of parents and students in a way that amplify inequalities.

The digital divide

Unequal access to digital resources.

Although the use of digital technologies is almost ubiquitous in developed nations, there is a digital divide such that some people are more likely than others to be numerically excluded 15 (Fig. 1 ). Social class is a strong predictor of digital disparities, including the quality of hardware, software and Internet access 16 , 17 , 18 . For example, in 2019, in France, around 1 in 5 working-class families did not have personal access to the Internet compared with less than 1 in 20 of the most privileged families 19 . Similarly, in 2020, in the United Kingdom, 20% of children who were eligible for free school meals did not have access to a computer at home compared with 7% of other children 20 . In 2021, in the United States, 41% of working-class families do not own a laptop or desktop computer and 43% do not have broadband compared with 8% and 7%, respectively, of upper/middle-class Americans 21 . A similar digital gap is also evident between lower-income and higher-income countries 22 .

Second, simply having access to a computer and an Internet connection does not ensure effective distance learning. For example, many of the educational resources sent by teachers need to be printed, thereby requiring access to printers. Moreover, distance learning is more difficult in households with only one shared computer compared with those where each family member has their own 23 . Furthermore, upper/middle-class families are more likely to be able to guarantee a suitable workspace for each child than their working-class counterparts 24 .

In the context of school closures, such disparities are likely to have important consequences for educational continuity. In line with this idea, a survey of approximately 4,000 parents in the United Kingdom confirmed that during lockdown, more than half of primary school children from the poorest families did not have access to their own study space and were less well equipped for distance learning than higher-income families 10 . Similarly, a survey of around 1,300 parents in the Netherlands found that during lockdown, children from working-class families had fewer computers at home and less room to study than upper/middle-class children 11 .

Data from non-Western countries highlight a more general digital divide, showing that developing countries have poorer access to digital equipment. For example, in India in 2018, only 10.7% of households possessed a digital device 25 , while in Pakistan in 2020, 31% of higher-education teachers did not have Internet access and 68.4% did not have a laptop 26 . In general, developing countries lack access to digital technologies 27 , 28 , and these difficulties of access are even greater in rural areas (for example, see ref. 29 ). Consequently, school closures have huge repercussions for the continuity of learning in these countries. For example, in India in 2018, only 11% of the rural and 40% of the urban population above 14 years old could use a computer and access the Internet 25 . Time spent on education during school closure decreased by 80% in Bangladesh 30 . A similar trend was observed in other countries 31 , with only 22% of children engaging in remote learning in Kenya 32 and 50% in Burkina Faso 33 . In Ghana, 26–32% of children spent no time at all on learning during the pandemic 34 . Beyond the overall digital divide, social class disparities are also evident in developing countries, with lower access to digital resources among households in which parental educational levels were low (versus households in which parental educational levels were high; for example, see ref. 35 for Nigeria and ref. 31 for Ecuador).

Unequal digital skills

In addition to unequal access to digital tools, there are also systematic variations in digital skills 36 , 37 (Fig. 1 ). Upper/middle-class families are more familiar with digital tools and resources and are therefore more likely to have the digital skills needed for distance learning 38 , 39 , 40 . These digital skills are particularly useful during school closures, both for students and for parents, for organizing, retrieving and correctly using the resources provided by the teachers (for example, sending or receiving documents by email, printing documents or using word processors).

Social class disparities in digital skills can be explained in part by the fact that children from upper/middle-class families have the opportunity to develop digital skills earlier than working-class families 41 . In member countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), only 23% of working-class children had started using a computer at the age of 6 years or earlier compared with 43% of upper/middle-class children 42 . Moreover, because working-class people tend to persist less than upper/middle-class people when confronted with digital difficulties 23 , the use of digital tools and resources for distance learning may interfere with the ability of parents to help children with their schoolwork.

Unequal use of digital tools

A third level of digital divide concerns variations in digital tool use 18 , 43 (Fig. 1 ). Upper/middle-class families are more likely to use digital resources for work and education 6 , 41 , 44 , whereas working-class families are more likely to use these resources for entertainment, such as electronic games or social media 6 , 45 . This divide is also observed among students, whereby working-class students tend to use digital technologies for leisure activities, whereas their upper/middle-class peers are more likely to use them for academic activities 46 and to consider that computers and the Internet provide an opportunity for education and training 23 . Furthermore, working-class families appear to regulate the digital practices of their children less 47 and are more likely to allow screens in the bedrooms of children and teenagers without setting limits on times or practices 48 .

In sum, inequalities in terms of digital resources, skills and use have strong implications for distance learning. This is because they make working-class students and parents particularly vulnerable when learning relies on extensive use of digital devices rather than on face-to-face interaction with teachers.

The cultural divide

Even if all three levels of digital divide were closed, upper/middle-class families would still be better prepared than working-class families to ensure educational continuity for their children. Upper/middle-class families are more familiar with the academic knowledge and skills that are expected and valued in educational settings, as well as with the independent, autonomous way of learning that is valued in the school culture and becomes even more important during school closure (Fig. 1 ).

Unequal familiarity with academic knowledge and skills

According to classical social reproduction theory 8 , 49 , school is not a neutral place in which all forms of language and knowledge are equally valued. Academic contexts expect and value culture-specific and taken-for-granted forms of knowledge, skills and ways of being, thinking and speaking that are more in tune with those developed through upper/middle-class socialization (that is, ‘cultural capital’ 8 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ). For instance, academic contexts value interest in the arts, museums and literature 54 , 55 , a type of interest that is more likely to develop through socialization in upper/middle-class families than in working-class socialization 54 , 56 . Indeed, upper/middle-class parents are more likely than working-class parents to engage in activities that develop this cultural capital. For example, they possess more books and cultural objects at home, read more stories to their children and visit museums and libraries more often (for examples, see refs. 51 , 54 , 55 ). Upper/middle-class children are also more involved in extra-curricular activities (for example, playing a musical instrument) than working-class children 55 , 56 , 57 .

Beyond this implicit familiarization with the school curriculum, upper/middle-class parents more often organize educational activities that are explicitly designed to develop academic skills of their children 57 , 58 , 59 . For example, they are more likely to monitor and re-explain lessons or use games and textbooks to develop and reinforce academic skills (for example, labelling numbers, letters or colours 57 , 60 ). Upper/middle-class parents also provide higher levels of support and spend more time helping children with homework than working-class parents (for examples, see refs. 61 , 62 ). Thus, even if all parents are committed to the academic success of their children, working-class parents have fewer chances to provide the help that children need to complete homework 63 , and homework is more beneficial for children from upper-middle class families than for children from working-class families 64 , 65 .

School closures amplify the impact of cultural inequalities

The trends described above have been observed in ‘normal’ times when schools are open. School closures, by making learning rely more strongly on practices implemented at home (rather than at school), are likely to amplify the impact of these disparities. Consistent with this idea, research has shown that the social class achievement gap usually greatly widens during school breaks—a phenomenon described as ‘summer learning loss’ or ‘summer setback’ 66 , 67 , 68 . During holidays, the learning by children tends to decline, and this is particularly pronounced in children from working-class families. Consequently, the social class achievement gap grows more rapidly during the summer months than it does in the rest of the year. This phenomenon is partly explained by the fact that during the break from school, social class disparities in investment in activities that are beneficial for academic achievement (for example, reading, travelling to a foreign country or museum visits) are more pronounced.

Therefore, when they are out of school, children from upper/middle-class backgrounds may continue to develop academic skills unlike their working-class counterparts, who may stagnate or even regress. Research also indicates that learning loss during school breaks tends to be cumulative 66 . Thus, repeated episodes of school closure are likely to have profound consequences for the social class achievement gap. Consistent with the idea that school closures could lead to similar processes as those identified during summer breaks, a recent survey indicated that during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom, children from upper/middle-class families spent more time on educational activities (5.8 h per day) than those from working-class families (4.5 h per day) 7 , 69 .

Unequal dispositions for autonomy and self-regulation

School closures have encouraged autonomous work among students. This ‘independent’ way of studying is compatible with the family socialization of upper/middle-class students, but does not match the interdependent norms more commonly associated with working-class contexts 9 . Upper/middle-class contexts tend to promote cultural norms of independence whereby individuals perceive themselves as autonomous actors, independent of other individuals and of the social context, able to pursue their own goals 70 . For example, upper/middle-class parents tend to invite children to express their interests, preferences and opinions during the various activities of everyday life 54 , 55 . Conversely, in working-class contexts characterized by low economic resources and where life is more uncertain, individuals tend to perceive themselves as interdependent, connected to others and members of social groups 53 , 70 , 71 . This interdependent self-construal fits less well with the independent culture of academic contexts. This cultural mismatch between interdependent self-construal common in working-class students and the independent norms of the educational institution has negative consequences for academic performance 9 .

Once again, the impact of these differences is likely to be amplified during school closures, when being able to work alone and autonomously is especially useful. The requirement to work alone is more likely to match the independent self-construal of upper/middle-class students than the interdependent self-construal of working-class students. In the case of working-class students, this mismatch is likely to increase their difficulties in working alone at home. Supporting our argument, recent research has shown that working-class students tend to underachieve in contexts where students work individually compared with contexts where students work with others 72 . Similarly, during school closures, high self-regulation skills (for example, setting goals, selecting appropriate learning strategies and maintaining motivation 73 ) are required to maintain study activities and are likely to be especially useful for using digital resources efficiently. Research has shown that students from working-class backgrounds typically develop their self-regulation skills to a lesser extent than those from upper/middle-class backgrounds 74 , 75 , 76 .

Interestingly, some authors have suggested that independent (versus interdependent) self-construal may also affect communication with teachers 77 . Indeed, in the context of distance learning, working-class families are less likely to respond to the communication of teachers because their ‘interdependent’ self leads them to respect hierarchies, and thus perceive teachers as an expert who ‘can be trusted to make the right decisions for learning’. Upper/middle class families, relying on ‘independent’ self-construal, are more inclined to seek individualized feedback, and therefore tend to participate to a greater extent in exchanges with teachers. Such cultural differences are important because they can also contribute to the difficulties encountered by working-class families.

The structural divide: unequal support from schools

The issues reviewed thus far all increase the vulnerability of children and students from underprivileged backgrounds when schools are closed. To offset these disadvantages, it might be expected that the school should increase its support by providing additional resources for working-class students. However, recent data suggest that differences in the material and human resources invested in providing educational support for children during periods of school closure were—paradoxically—in favour of upper/middle-class students (Fig. 1 ). In England, for example, upper/middle-class parents reported benefiting from online classes and video-conferencing with teachers more often than working-class parents 10 . Furthermore, active help from school (for example, online teaching, private tutoring or chats with teachers) occurred more frequently in the richest households (64% of the richest households declared having received help from school) than in the poorest households (47%). Another survey found that in the United Kingdom, upper/middle-class children were more likely to take online lessons every day (30%) than working-class students (16%) 12 . This substantial difference might be due, at least in part, to the fact that private schools are better equipped in terms of online platforms (60% of schools have at least one online platform) than state schools (37%, and 23% in the most deprived schools) and were more likely to organize daily online lessons. Similarly, in the United Kingdom, in schools with a high proportion of students eligible for free school meals, teachers were less inclined to broadcast an online lesson for their pupils 78 . Interestingly, 58% of teachers in the wealthiest areas reported having messaged their students or their students’ parents during lockdown compared with 47% in the most deprived schools. In addition, the probability of children receiving technical support from the school (for example, by providing pupils with laptops or other devices) is, surprisingly, higher in the most advantaged schools than in the most deprived 78 .

In addition to social class disparities, there has been less support from schools for African-American and Latinx students. During school closures in the United States, 40% of African-American students and 30% of Latinx students received no online teaching compared with 10% of white students 79 . Another source of inequality is that the probability of school closure was correlated with social class and race. In the United States, for example, school closures from September to December 2020 were more common in schools with a high proportion of racial/ethnic minority students, who experience homelessness and are eligible for free/discounted school meals 80 .

Similarly, access to educational resources and support was lower in poorer (compared with richer) countries 81 . In sub-Saharan Africa, during lockdown, 45% of children had no exposure at all to any type of remote learning. Of those who did, the medium was mostly radio, television or paper rather than digital. In African countries, at most 10% of children received some material through the Internet. In Latin America, 90% of children received some remote learning, but less than half of that was through the internet—the remainder being via radio and television 81 . In Ecuador, high-school students from the lowest wealth quartile had fewer remote-learning opportunities, such as Google class/Zoom, than students from the highest wealth quartile 31 .

Thus, the achievement gap and its accentuation during lockdown are due not only to the cultural and digital disadvantages of working-class families but also to unequal support from schools. This inequality in school support is not due to teachers being indifferent to or even supportive of social stratification. Rather, we believe that these effects are fundamentally structural. In many countries, schools located in upper/middle-class neighbourhoods have more money than those in the poorest neighbourhoods. Moreover, upper/middle-class parents invest more in the schools of their children than working-class parents (for example, see ref. 82 ), and schools have an interest in catering more for upper/middle-class families than for working-class families 83 . Additionally, the expectation of teachers may be lower for working-class children 84 . For example, they tend to estimate that working-class students invest less effort in learning than their upper/middle-class counterparts 85 . These differences in perception may have influenced the behaviour of teachers during school closure, such that teachers in privileged neighbourhoods provided more information to students because they expected more from them in term of effort and achievement. The fact that upper/middle-class parents are better able than working-class parents to comply with the expectations of teachers (for examples, see refs. 55 , 86 ) may have reinforced this phenomenon. These discrepancies echo data showing that working-class students tend to request less help in their schoolwork than upper/middle-class ones 87 , and they may even avoid asking for help because they believe that such requests could lead to reprimands 88 . During school closures, these students (and their families) may in consequence have been less likely to ask for help and resources. Jointly, these phenomena have resulted in upper/middle-class families receiving more support from schools during lockdown than their working-class counterparts.

Psychological effects of digital, cultural and structural divides

Despite being strongly influenced by social class, differences in academic achievement are often interpreted by parents, teachers and students as reflecting differences in ability 89 . As a result, upper/middle-class students are usually perceived—and perceive themselves—as smarter than working-class students, who are perceived—and perceive themselves—as less intelligent 90 , 91 , 92 or less able to succeed 93 . Working-class students also worry more about the fact that they might perform more poorly than upper/middle-class students 94 , 95 . These fears influence academic learning in important ways. In particular, they can consume cognitive resources when children and students work on academic tasks 96 , 97 . Self-efficacy also plays a key role in engaging in learning and perseverance in the face of difficulties 13 , 98 . In addition, working-class students are those for whom the fear of being outperformed by others is the most negatively related to academic performance 99 .

The fact that working-class children and students are less familiar with the tasks set by teachers, and less well equipped and supported, makes them more likely to experience feelings of incompetence (Fig. 1 ). Working-class parents are also more likely than their upper/middle-class counterparts to feel unable to help their children with schoolwork. Consistent with this, research has shown that both working-class students and parents have lower feelings of academic self-efficacy than their upper/middle-class counterparts 100 , 101 . These differences have been documented under ‘normal’ conditions but are likely to be exacerbated during distance learning. Recent surveys conducted during the school closures have confirmed that upper/middle-class families felt better able to support their children in distance learning than did working-class families 10 and that upper/middle-class parents helped their children more and felt more capable to do so 11 , 12 .

Pandemic disparity, future directions and recommendations

The research reviewed thus far suggests that children and their families are highly unequal with respect to digital access, skills and use. It also shows that upper/middle-class students are more likely to be supported in their homework (by their parents and teachers) than working-class students, and that upper/middle-class students and parents will probably feel better able than working-class ones to adapt to the context of distance learning. For all these reasons, we anticipate that as a result of school closures, the COVID-19 pandemic will substantially increase the social class achievement gap. Because school closures are a recent occurrence, it is too early to measure with precision their effects on the widening of the achievement gap. However, some recent data are consistent with this idea.

Evidence for a widening gap during the pandemic

Comparing academic achievement in 2020 with previous years provides an early indication of the effects of school closures during the pandemic. In France, for example, first and second graders take national evaluations at the beginning of the school year. Initial comparisons of the results for 2020 with those from previous years revealed that the gap between schools classified as ‘priority schools’ (those in low-income urban areas) and schools in higher-income neighbourhoods—a gap observed every year—was particularly pronounced in 2020 in both French and mathematics 102 .

Similarly, in the Netherlands, national assessments take place twice a year. In 2020, they took place both before and after school closures. A recent analysis compared progress during this period in 2020 in mathematics/arithmetic, spelling and reading comprehension for 7–11-year-old students within the same period in the three previous years 103 . Results indicated a general learning loss in 2020. More importantly, for the 8% of working-class children, the losses were 40% greater than they were for upper/middle-class children.

Similar results were observed in Belgium among students attending the final year of primary school. Compared with students from previous cohorts, students affected by school closures experienced a substantial decrease in their mathematics and language scores, with children from more disadvantaged backgrounds experiencing greater learning losses 104 . Likewise, oral reading assessments in more than 100 school districts in the United States showed that the development of this skill among children in second and third grade significantly slowed between Spring and Autumn 2020, but this slowdown was more pronounced in schools from lower-achieving districts 105 .

It is likely that school closures have also amplified racial disparities in learning and achievement. For example, in the United States, after the first lockdown, students of colour lost the equivalent of 3–5 months of learning, whereas white students were about 1–3 months behind. Moreover, in the Autumn, when some students started to return to classrooms, African-American and Latinx students were more likely to continue distance learning, despite being less likely to have access to the digital tools, Internet access and live contact with teachers 106 .

In some African countries (for example, Ethiopia, Kenya, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda), the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in learning loss ranging from 6 months to more 1 year 107 , and this learning loss appears to be greater for working-class children (that is, those attending no-fee schools) than for upper/middle-class children 108 .

These findings show that school closures have exacerbated achievement gaps linked to social class and ethnicity. However, more research is needed to address the question of whether school closures differentially affect the learning of students from working- and upper/middle-class families.

Future directions

First, to assess the specific and unique impact of school closures on student learning, longitudinal research should compare student achievement at different times of the year, before, during and after school closures, as has been done to document the summer learning loss 66 , 109 . In the coming months, alternating periods of school closure and opening may occur, thereby presenting opportunities to do such research. This would also make it possible to examine whether the gap diminishes a few weeks after children return to in-school learning or whether, conversely, it increases with time because the foundations have not been sufficiently acquired to facilitate further learning 110 .

Second, the mechanisms underlying the increase in social class disparities during school closures should be examined. As discussed above, school closures result in situations for which students are unevenly prepared and supported. It would be appropriate to seek to quantify the contribution of each of the factors that might be responsible for accentuating the social class achievement gap. In particular, distinguishing between factors that are relatively ‘controllable’ (for example, resources made available to pupils) and those that are more difficult to control (for example, the self-efficacy of parents in supporting the schoolwork of their children) is essential to inform public policy and teaching practices.

Third, existing studies are based on general comparisons and very few provide insights into the actual practices that took place in families during school closure and how these practices affected the achievement gap. For example, research has documented that parents from working-class backgrounds are likely to find it more difficult to help their children to complete homework and to provide constructive feedback 63 , 111 , something that could in turn have a negative impact on the continuity of learning of their children. In addition, it seems reasonable to assume that during lockdown, parents from upper/middle-class backgrounds encouraged their children to engage in practices that, even if not explicitly requested by teachers, would be beneficial to learning (for example, creative activities or reading). Identifying the practices that best predict the maintenance or decline of educational achievement during school closures would help identify levers for intervention.

Finally, it would be interesting to investigate teaching practices during school closures. The lockdown in the spring of 2020 was sudden and unexpected. Within a few days, teachers had to find a way to compensate for the school closure, which led to highly variable practices. Some teachers posted schoolwork on platforms, others sent it by email, some set work on a weekly basis while others set it day by day. Some teachers also set up live sessions in large or small groups, providing remote meetings for questions and support. There have also been variations in the type of feedback given to students, notably through the monitoring and correcting of work. Future studies should examine in more detail what practices schools and teachers used to compensate for the school closures and their effects on widening, maintaining or even reducing the gap, as has been done for certain specific literacy programmes 112 as well as specific instruction topics (for example, ecology and evolution 113 ).

Practical recommendations

We are aware of the debate about whether social science research on COVID-19 is suitable for making policy decisions 114 , and we draw attention to the fact that some of our recommendations (Table 1 ) are based on evidence from experiments or interventions carried out pre-COVID while others are more speculative. In any case, we emphasize that these suggestions should be viewed with caution and be tested in future research. Some of our recommendations could be implemented in the event of new school closures, others only when schools re-open. We also acknowledge that while these recommendations are intended for parents and teachers, their implementation largely depends on the adoption of structural policies. Importantly, given all the issues discussed above, we emphasize the importance of prioritizing, wherever possible, in-person learning over remote learning 115 and where this is not possible, of implementing strong policies to support distance learning, especially for disadvantaged families.

Where face-to face teaching is not possible and teachers are responsible for implementing distance learning, it will be important to make them aware of the factors that can exacerbate inequalities during lockdown and to provide them with guidance about practices that would reduce these inequalities. Thus, there is an urgent need for interventions aimed at making teachers aware of the impact of the social class of children and families on the following factors: (1) access to, familiarity with and use of digital devices; (2) familiarity with academic knowledge and skills; and (3) preparedness to work autonomously. Increasing awareness of the material, cultural and psychological barriers that working-class children and families face during lockdown should increase the quality and quantity of the support provided by teachers and thereby positively affect the achievements of working-class students.

In addition to increasing the awareness of teachers of these barriers, teachers should be encouraged to adjust the way they communicate with working-class families due to differences in self-construal compared with upper/middle-class families 77 . For example, questions about family (rather than personal) well-being would be congruent with interdependent self-construals. This should contribute to better communication and help keep a better track of the progress of students during distance learning.

It is also necessary to help teachers to engage in practices that have a chance of reducing inequalities 53 , 116 . Particularly important is that teachers and schools ensure that homework can be done by all children, for example, by setting up organizations that would help children whose parents are not in a position to monitor or assist with the homework of their children. Options include homework help groups and tutoring by teachers after class. When schools are open, the growing tendency to set homework through digital media should be resisted as far as possible given the evidence we have reviewed above. Moreover, previous research has underscored the importance of homework feedback provided by teachers, which is positively related to the amount of homework completed and predictive of academic performance 117 . Where homework is web-based, it has also been shown that feedback on web-based homework enhances the learning of students 118 . It therefore seems reasonable to predict that the social class achievement gap will increase more slowly (or even remain constant or be reversed) in schools that establish individualized monitoring of students, by means of regular calls and feedback on homework, compared with schools where the support provided to pupils is more generic.

Given that learning during lockdown has increasingly taken place in family settings, we believe that interventions involving the family are also likely to be effective 119 , 120 , 121 . Simply providing families with suitable material equipment may be insufficient. Families should be given training in the efficient use of digital technology and pedagogical support. This would increase the self-efficacy of parents and students, with positive consequences for achievement. Ideally, such training would be delivered in person to avoid problems arising from the digital divide. Where this is not possible, individualized online tutoring should be provided. For example, studies conducted during the lockdown in Botswana and Italy have shown that individual online tutoring directly targeting either parents or students in middle school has a positive impact on the achievement of students, particularly for working-class students 122 , 123 .

Interventions targeting families should also address the psychological barriers faced by working-class families and children. Some interventions have already been designed and been shown to be effective in reducing the social class achievement gap, particularly in mathematics and language 124 , 125 , 126 . For example, research showed that an intervention designed to train low-income parents in how to support the mathematical development of their pre-kindergarten children (including classes and access to a library of kits to use at home) increased the quality of support provided by the parents, with a corresponding impact on the development of mathematical knowledge of their children. Such interventions should be particularly beneficial in the context of school closure.

Beyond its impact on academic performance and inequalities, the COVID-19 crisis has shaken the economies of countries around the world, casting millions of families around the world into poverty 127 , 128 , 129 . As noted earlier, there has been a marked increase in economic inequalities, bringing with it all the psychological and social problems that such inequalities create 130 , 131 , especially for people who live in scarcity 132 . The increase in educational inequalities is just one facet of the many difficulties that working-class families will encounter in the coming years, but it is one that could seriously limit the chances of their children escaping from poverty by reducing their opportunities for upward mobility. In this context, it should be a priority to concentrate resources on the most deprived students. A large proportion of the poorest households do not own a computer and do not have personal access to the Internet, which has important consequences for distance learning. During school closures, it is therefore imperative to provide such families with adequate equipment and Internet service, as was done in some countries in spring 2020. Even if the provision of such equipment is not in itself sufficient, it is a necessary condition for ensuring pedagogical continuity during lockdown.

Finally, after prolonged periods of school closure, many students may not have acquired the skills needed to pursue their education. A possible consequence would be an increase in the number of students for whom teachers recommend class repetitions. Class repetitions are contentious. On the one hand, class repetition more frequently affects working-class children and is not efficient in terms of learning improvement 133 . On the other hand, accepting lower standards of academic achievement or even suspending the practice of repeating a class could lead to pupils pursuing their education without mastering the key abilities needed at higher grades. This could create difficulties in subsequent years and, in this sense, be counterproductive. We therefore believe that the most appropriate way to limit the damage of the pandemic would be to help children catch up rather than allowing them to continue without mastering the necessary skills. As is being done in some countries, systematic remedial courses (for example, summer learning programmes) should be organized and financially supported following periods of school closure, with priority given to pupils from working-class families. Such interventions have genuine potential in that research has shown that participation in remedial summer programmes is effective in reducing learning loss during the summer break 134 , 135 , 136 . For example, in one study 137 , 438 students from high-poverty schools were offered a multiyear summer school programme that included various pedagogical and enrichment activities (for example, science investigation and music) and were compared with a ‘no-treatment’ control group. Students who participated in the summer programme progressed more than students in the control group. A meta-analysis 138 of 41 summer learning programmes (that is, classroom- and home-based summer interventions) involving children from kindergarten to grade 8 showed that these programmes had significantly larger benefits for children from working-class families. Although such measures are costly, the cost is small compared to the price of failing to fulfil the academic potential of many students simply because they were not born into upper/middle-class families.

The unprecedented nature of the current pandemic means that we lack strong data on what the school closure period is likely to produce in terms of learning deficits and the reproduction of social inequalities. However, the research discussed in this article suggests that there are good reasons to predict that this period of school closures will accelerate the reproduction of social inequalities in educational achievement.

By making school learning less dependent on teachers and more dependent on families and digital tools and resources, school closures are likely to greatly amplify social class inequalities. At a time when many countries are experiencing second, third or fourth waves of the pandemic, resulting in fresh periods of local or general lockdowns, systematic efforts to test these predictions are urgently needed along with steps to reduce the impact of school closures on the social class achievement gap.

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We thank G. Reis for editing the figure. The writing of this manuscript was supported by grant ANR-19-CE28-0007–PRESCHOOL from the French National Research Agency (S.G.).

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Goudeau, S., Sanrey, C., Stanczak, A. et al. Why lockdown and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to increase the social class achievement gap. Nat Hum Behav 5 , 1273–1281 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01212-7

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Research Article

COVID-19’s impacts on the scope, effectiveness, and interaction characteristics of online learning: A social network analysis

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review & editing

¶ ‡ JZ and YD are contributed equally to this work as first authors.

Affiliation School of Educational Information Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

Roles Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – original draft

Affiliations School of Educational Information Technology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, Hangzhou Zhongce Vocational School Qiantang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

Roles Data curation, Writing – original draft

Roles Data curation

Roles Writing – original draft

Affiliation Faculty of Education, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

Roles Conceptualization, Supervision, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected] (JH); [email protected] (YZ)

• Junyi Zhang, 
• Yigang Ding, 
• Xinru Yang, 
• Jinping Zhong, 
• XinXin Qiu, 
• Zhishan Zou, 
• Yujie Xu, 
• Xiunan Jin, 
• Xiaomin Wu, 

• Published: August 23, 2022
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016
• Reader Comments

The COVID-19 outbreak brought online learning to the forefront of education. Scholars have conducted many studies on online learning during the pandemic, but only a few have performed quantitative comparative analyses of students’ online learning behavior before and after the outbreak. We collected review data from China’s massive open online course platform called icourse.163 and performed social network analysis on 15 courses to explore courses’ interaction characteristics before, during, and after the COVID-19 pan-demic. Specifically, we focused on the following aspects: (1) variations in the scale of online learning amid COVID-19; (2a) the characteristics of online learning interaction during the pandemic; (2b) the characteristics of online learning interaction after the pandemic; and (3) differences in the interaction characteristics of social science courses and natural science courses. Results revealed that only a small number of courses witnessed an uptick in online interaction, suggesting that the pandemic’s role in promoting the scale of courses was not significant. During the pandemic, online learning interaction became more frequent among course network members whose interaction scale increased. After the pandemic, although the scale of interaction declined, online learning interaction became more effective. The scale and level of interaction in Electrodynamics (a natural science course) and Economics (a social science course) both rose during the pan-demic. However, long after the pandemic, the Economics course sustained online interaction whereas interaction in the Electrodynamics course steadily declined. This discrepancy could be due to the unique characteristics of natural science courses and social science courses.

Citation: Zhang J, Ding Y, Yang X, Zhong J, Qiu X, Zou Z, et al. (2022) COVID-19’s impacts on the scope, effectiveness, and interaction characteristics of online learning: A social network analysis. PLoS ONE 17(8): e0273016. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016

Editor: Heng Luo, Central China Normal University, CHINA

Received: April 20, 2022; Accepted: July 29, 2022; Published: August 23, 2022

Copyright: © 2022 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: The data underlying the results presented in the study were downloaded from https://www.icourse163.org/ and are now shared fully on Github ( https://github.com/zjyzhangjunyi/dataset-from-icourse163-for-SNA ). These data have no private information and can be used for academic research free of charge.

Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

1. Introduction

The development of the mobile internet has spurred rapid advances in online learning, offering novel prospects for teaching and learning and a learning experience completely different from traditional instruction. Online learning harnesses the advantages of network technology and multimedia technology to transcend the boundaries of conventional education [ 1 ]. Online courses have become a popular learning mode owing to their flexibility and openness. During online learning, teachers and students are in different physical locations but interact in multiple ways (e.g., via online forum discussions and asynchronous group discussions). An analysis of online learning therefore calls for attention to students’ participation. Alqurashi [ 2 ] defined interaction in online learning as the process of constructing meaningful information and thought exchanges between more than two people; such interaction typically occurs between teachers and learners, learners and learners, and the course content and learners.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs), a 21st-century teaching mode, have greatly influenced global education. Data released by China’s Ministry of Education in 2020 show that the country ranks first globally in the number and scale of higher education MOOCs. The COVID-19 outbreak has further propelled this learning mode, with universities being urged to leverage MOOCs and other online resource platforms to respond to government’s “School’s Out, But Class’s On” policy [ 3 ]. Besides MOOCs, to reduce in-person gatherings and curb the spread of COVID-19, various online learning methods have since become ubiquitous [ 4 ]. Though Lederman asserted that the COVID-19 outbreak has positioned online learning technologies as the best way for teachers and students to obtain satisfactory learning experiences [ 5 ], it remains unclear whether the COVID-19 pandemic has encouraged interaction in online learning, as interactions between students and others play key roles in academic performance and largely determine the quality of learning experiences [ 6 ]. Similarly, it is also unclear what impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the scale of online learning.

Social constructivism paints learning as a social phenomenon. As such, analyzing the social structures or patterns that emerge during the learning process can shed light on learning-based interaction [ 7 ]. Social network analysis helps to explain how a social network, rooted in interactions between learners and their peers, guides individuals’ behavior, emotions, and outcomes. This analytical approach is especially useful for evaluating interactive relationships between network members [ 8 ]. Mohammed cited social network analysis (SNA) as a method that can provide timely information about students, learning communities and interactive networks. SNA has been applied in numerous fields, including education, to identify the number and characteristics of interelement relationships. For example, Lee et al. also used SNA to explore the effects of blogs on peer relationships [ 7 ]. Therefore, adopting SNA to examine interactions in online learning communities during the COVID-19 pandemic can uncover potential issues with this online learning model.

Taking China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform as an example, we chose 15 courses with a large number of participants for SNA, focusing on learners’ interaction characteristics before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak. We visually assessed changes in the scale of network interaction before, during, and after the outbreak along with the characteristics of interaction in Gephi. Examining students’ interactions in different courses revealed distinct interactive network characteristics, the pandemic’s impact on online courses, and relevant suggestions. Findings are expected to promote effective interaction and deep learning among students in addition to serving as a reference for the development of other online learning communities.

2. Literature review and research questions

Interaction is deemed as central to the educational experience and is a major focus of research on online learning. Moore began to study the problem of interaction in distance education as early as 1989. He defined three core types of interaction: student–teacher, student–content, and student–student [ 9 ]. Lear et al. [ 10 ] described an interactivity/ community-process model of distance education: they specifically discussed the relationships between interactivity, community awareness, and engaging learners and found interactivity and community awareness to be correlated with learner engagement. Zulfikar et al. [ 11 ] suggested that discussions initiated by the students encourage more students’ engagement than discussions initiated by the instructors. It is most important to afford learners opportunities to interact purposefully with teachers, and improving the quality of learner interaction is crucial to fostering profound learning [ 12 ]. Interaction is an important way for learners to communicate and share information, and a key factor in the quality of online learning [ 13 ].

Timely feedback is the main component of online learning interaction. Woo and Reeves discovered that students often become frustrated when they fail to receive prompt feedback [ 14 ]. Shelley et al. conducted a three-year study of graduate and undergraduate students’ satisfaction with online learning at universities and found that interaction with educators and students is the main factor affecting satisfaction [ 15 ]. Teachers therefore need to provide students with scoring justification, support, and constructive criticism during online learning. Some researchers examined online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. They found that most students preferred face-to-face learning rather than online learning due to obstacles faced online, such as a lack of motivation, limited teacher-student interaction, and a sense of isolation when learning in different times and spaces [ 16 , 17 ]. However, it can be reduced by enhancing the online interaction between teachers and students [ 18 ].

Research showed that interactions contributed to maintaining students’ motivation to continue learning [ 19 ]. Baber argued that interaction played a key role in students’ academic performance and influenced the quality of the online learning experience [ 20 ]. Hodges et al. maintained that well-designed online instruction can lead to unique teaching experiences [ 21 ]. Banna et al. mentioned that using discussion boards, chat sessions, blogs, wikis, and other tools could promote student interaction and improve participation in online courses [ 22 ]. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mahmood proposed a series of teaching strategies suitable for distance learning to improve its effectiveness [ 23 ]. Lapitan et al. devised an online strategy to ease the transition from traditional face-to-face instruction to online learning [ 24 ]. The preceding discussion suggests that online learning goes beyond simply providing learning resources; teachers should ideally design real-life activities to give learners more opportunities to participate.

As mentioned, COVID-19 has driven many scholars to explore the online learning environment. However, most have ignored the uniqueness of online learning during this time and have rarely compared pre- and post-pandemic online learning interaction. Taking China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform as an example, we chose 15 courses with a large number of participants for SNA, centering on student interaction before and after the pandemic. Gephi was used to visually analyze changes in the scale and characteristics of network interaction. The following questions were of particular interest:

• (1) Can the COVID-19 pandemic promote the expansion of online learning?
• (2a) What are the characteristics of online learning interaction during the pandemic?
• (2b) What are the characteristics of online learning interaction after the pandemic?
• (3) How do interaction characteristics differ between social science courses and natural science courses?

3. Methodology

3.1 research context.

We selected several courses with a large number of participants and extensive online interaction among hundreds of courses on the icourse.163 MOOC platform. These courses had been offered on the platform for at least three semesters, covering three periods (i.e., before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak). To eliminate the effects of shifts in irrelevant variables (e.g., course teaching activities), we chose several courses with similar teaching activities and compared them on multiple dimensions. All course content was taught online. The teachers of each course posted discussion threads related to learning topics; students were expected to reply via comments. Learners could exchange ideas freely in their responses in addition to asking questions and sharing their learning experiences. Teachers could answer students’ questions as well. Conversations in the comment area could partly compensate for a relative absence of online classroom interaction. Teacher–student interaction is conducive to the formation of a social network structure and enabled us to examine teachers’ and students’ learning behavior through SNA. The comment areas in these courses were intended for learners to construct knowledge via reciprocal communication. Meanwhile, by answering students’ questions, teachers could encourage them to reflect on their learning progress. These courses’ successive terms also spanned several phases of COVID-19, allowing us to ascertain the pandemic’s impact on online learning.

3.2 Data collection and preprocessing

To avoid interference from invalid or unclear data, the following criteria were applied to select representative courses: (1) generality (i.e., public courses and professional courses were chosen from different schools across China); (2) time validity (i.e., courses were held before during, and after the pandemic); and (3) notability (i.e., each course had at least 2,000 participants). We ultimately chose 15 courses across the social sciences and natural sciences (see Table 1 ). The coding is used to represent the course name.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t001

To discern courses’ evolution during the pandemic, we gathered data on three terms before, during, and after the COVID-19 outbreak in addition to obtaining data from two terms completed well before the pandemic and long after. Our final dataset comprised five sets of interactive data. Finally, we collected about 120,000 comments for SNA. Because each course had a different start time—in line with fluctuations in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in China and the opening dates of most colleges and universities—we divided our sample into five phases: well before the pandemic (Phase I); before the pandemic (Phase Ⅱ); during the pandemic (Phase Ⅲ); after the pandemic (Phase Ⅳ); and long after the pandemic (Phase Ⅴ). We sought to preserve consistent time spans to balance the amount of data in each period ( Fig 1 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g001

3.3 Instrumentation

Participants’ comments and “thumbs-up” behavior data were converted into a network structure and compared using social network analysis (SNA). Network analysis, according to M’Chirgui, is an effective tool for clarifying network relationships by employing sophisticated techniques [ 25 ]. Specifically, SNA can help explain the underlying relationships among team members and provide a better understanding of their internal processes. Yang and Tang used SNA to discuss the relationship between team structure and team performance [ 26 ]. Golbeck argued that SNA could improve the understanding of students’ learning processes and reveal learners’ and teachers’ role dynamics [ 27 ].

To analyze Question (1), the number of nodes and diameter in the generated network were deemed as indicators of changes in network size. Social networks are typically represented as graphs with nodes and degrees, and node count indicates the sample size [ 15 ]. Wellman et al. proposed that the larger the network scale, the greater the number of network members providing emotional support, goods, services, and companionship [ 28 ]. Jan’s study measured the network size by counting the nodes which represented students, lecturers, and tutors [ 29 ]. Similarly, network nodes in the present study indicated how many learners and teachers participated in the course, with more nodes indicating more participants. Furthermore, we investigated the network diameter, a structural feature of social networks, which is a common metric for measuring network size in SNA [ 30 ]. The network diameter refers to the longest path between any two nodes in the network. There has been evidence that a larger network diameter leads to greater spread of behavior [ 31 ]. Likewise, Gašević et al. found that larger networks were more likely to spread innovative ideas about educational technology when analyzing MOOC-related research citations [ 32 ]. Therefore, we employed node count and network diameter to measure the network’s spatial size and further explore the expansion characteristic of online courses. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 2 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t002

To address Question (2), a list of interactive analysis metrics in SNA were introduced to scrutinize learners’ interaction characteristics in online learning during and after the pandemic, as shown below:

• (1) The average degree reflects the density of the network by calculating the average number of connections for each node. As Rong and Xu suggested, the average degree of a network indicates how active its participants are [ 33 ]. According to Hu, a higher average degree implies that more students are interacting directly with each other in a learning context [ 34 ]. The present study inherited the concept of the average degree from these previous studies: the higher the average degree, the more frequent the interaction between individuals in the network.
• (2) Essentially, a weighted average degree in a network is calculated by multiplying each degree by its respective weight, and then taking the average. Bydžovská took the strength of the relationship into account when determining the weighted average degree [ 35 ]. By calculating friendship’s weighted value, Maroulis assessed peer achievement within a small-school reform [ 36 ]. Accordingly, we considered the number of interactions as the weight of the degree, with a higher average degree indicating more active interaction among learners.
• (3) Network density is the ratio between actual connections and potential connections in a network. The more connections group members have with each other, the higher the network density. In SNA, network density is similar to group cohesion, i.e., a network of more strong relationships is more cohesive [ 37 ]. Network density also reflects how much all members are connected together [ 38 ]. Therefore, we adopted network density to indicate the closeness among network members. Higher network density indicates more frequent interaction and closer communication among students.
• (4) Clustering coefficient describes local network attributes and indicates that two nodes in the network could be connected through adjacent nodes. The clustering coefficient measures users’ tendency to gather (cluster) with others in the network: the higher the clustering coefficient, the more frequently users communicate with other group members. We regarded this indicator as a reflection of the cohesiveness of the group [ 39 ].
• (5) In a network, the average path length is the average number of steps along the shortest paths between any two nodes. Oliveres has observed that when an average path length is small, the route from one node to another is shorter when graphed [ 40 ]. This is especially true in educational settings where students tend to become closer friends. So we consider that the smaller the average path length, the greater the possibility of interaction between individuals in the network.
• (6) A network with a large number of nodes, but whose average path length is surprisingly small, is known as the small-world effect [ 41 ]. A higher clustering coefficient and shorter average path length are important indicators of a small-world network: a shorter average path length enables the network to spread information faster and more accurately; a higher clustering coefficient can promote frequent knowledge exchange within the group while boosting the timeliness and accuracy of knowledge dissemination [ 42 ]. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 3 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t003

To analyze Question 3, we used the concept of closeness centrality, which determines how close a vertex is to others in the network. As Opsahl et al. explained, closeness centrality reveals how closely actors are coupled with their entire social network [ 43 ]. In order to analyze social network-based engineering education, Putnik et al. examined closeness centrality and found that it was significantly correlated with grades [ 38 ]. We used closeness centrality to measure the position of an individual in the network. Brief introduction of these indicators can be summarized in Table 4 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t004

3.4 Ethics statement

This study was approved by the Academic Committee Office (ACO) of South China Normal University ( http://fzghb.scnu.edu.cn/ ), Guangzhou, China. Research data were collected from the open platform and analyzed anonymously. There are thus no privacy issues involved in this study.

4.1 COVID-19’s role in promoting the scale of online courses was not as important as expected

As shown in Fig 2 , the number of course participants and nodes are closely correlated with the pandemic’s trajectory. Because the number of participants in each course varied widely, we normalized the number of participants and nodes to more conveniently visualize course trends. Fig 2 depicts changes in the chosen courses’ number of participants and nodes before the pandemic (Phase II), during the pandemic (Phase III), and after the pandemic (Phase IV). The number of participants in most courses during the pandemic exceeded those before and after the pandemic. But the number of people who participate in interaction in some courses did not increase.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g002

In order to better analyze the trend of interaction scale in online courses before, during, and after the pandemic, the selected courses were categorized according to their scale change. When the number of participants increased (decreased) beyond 20% (statistical experience) and the diameter also increased (decreased), the course scale was determined to have increased (decreased); otherwise, no significant change was identified in the course’s interaction scale. Courses were subsequently divided into three categories: increased interaction scale, decreased interaction scale, and no significant change. Results appear in Table 5 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t005

From before the pandemic until it broke out, the interaction scale of five courses increased, accounting for 33.3% of the full sample; one course’s interaction scale declined, accounting for 6.7%. The interaction scale of nine courses decreased, accounting for 60%. The pandemic’s role in promoting online courses thus was not as important as anticipated, and most courses’ interaction scale did not change significantly throughout.

No courses displayed growing interaction scale after the pandemic: the interaction scale of nine courses fell, accounting for 60%; and the interaction scale of six courses did not shift significantly, accounting for 40%. Courses with an increased scale of interaction during the pandemic did not maintain an upward trend. On the contrary, the improvement in the pandemic caused learners’ enthusiasm for online learning to wane. We next analyzed several interaction metrics to further explore course interaction during different pandemic periods.

4.2 Characteristics of online learning interaction amid COVID-19

4.2.1 during the covid-19 pandemic, online learning interaction in some courses became more active..

Changes in course indicators with the growing interaction scale during the pandemic are presented in Fig 3 , including SS5, SS6, NS1, NS3, and NS8. The horizontal ordinate indicates the number of courses, with red color representing the rise of the indicator value on the vertical ordinate and blue representing the decline.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g003

Specifically: (1) The average degree and weighted average degree of the five course networks demonstrated an upward trend. The emergence of the pandemic promoted students’ enthusiasm; learners were more active in the interactive network. (2) Fig 3 shows that 3 courses had increased network density and 2 courses had decreased. The higher the network density, the more communication within the team. Even though the pandemic accelerated the interaction scale and frequency, the tightness between learners in some courses did not improve. (3) The clustering coefficient of social science courses rose whereas the clustering coefficient and small-world property of natural science courses fell. The higher the clustering coefficient and the small-world property, the better the relationship between adjacent nodes and the higher the cohesion [ 39 ]. (4) Most courses’ average path length increased as the interaction scale increased. However, when the average path length grew, adverse effects could manifest: communication between learners might be limited to a small group without multi-directional interaction.

When the pandemic emerged, the only declining network scale belonged to a natural science course (NS2). The change in each course index is pictured in Fig 4 . The abscissa indicates the size of the value, with larger values to the right. The red dot indicates the index value before the pandemic; the blue dot indicates its value during the pandemic. If the blue dot is to the right of the red dot, then the value of the index increased; otherwise, the index value declined. Only the weighted average degree of the course network increased. The average degree, network density decreased, indicating that network members were not active and that learners’ interaction degree and communication frequency lessened. Despite reduced learner interaction, the average path length was small and the connectivity between learners was adequate.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g004

4.2.2 After the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale decreased rapidly, but most course interaction was more effective.

Fig 5 shows the changes in various courses’ interaction indicators after the pandemic, including SS1, SS2, SS3, SS6, SS7, NS2, NS3, NS7, and NS8.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g005

Specifically: (1) The average degree and weighted average degree of most course networks decreased. The scope and intensity of interaction among network members declined rapidly, as did learners’ enthusiasm for communication. (2) The network density of seven courses also fell, indicating weaker connections between learners in most courses. (3) In addition, the clustering coefficient and small-world property of most course networks decreased, suggesting little possibility of small groups in the network. The scope of interaction between learners was not limited to a specific space, and the interaction objects had no significant tendencies. (4) Although the scale of course interaction became smaller in this phase, the average path length of members’ social networks shortened in nine courses. Its shorter average path length would expedite the spread of information within the network as well as communication and sharing among network members.

Fig 6 displays the evolution of course interaction indicators without significant changes in interaction scale after the pandemic, including SS4, SS5, NS1, NS4, NS5, and NS6.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g006

Specifically: (1) Some course members’ social networks exhibited an increase in the average and weighted average. In these cases, even though the course network’s scale did not continue to increase, communication among network members rose and interaction became more frequent and deeper than before. (2) Network density and average path length are indicators of social network density. The greater the network density, the denser the social network; the shorter the average path length, the more concentrated the communication among network members. However, at this phase, the average path length and network density in most courses had increased. Yet the network density remained small despite having risen ( Table 6 ). Even with more frequent learner interaction, connections remained distant and the social network was comparatively sparse.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t006

In summary, the scale of interaction did not change significantly overall. Nonetheless, some course members’ frequency and extent of interaction increased, and the relationships between network members became closer as well. In the study, we found it interesting that the interaction scale of Economics (a social science course) course and Electrodynamics (a natural science course) course expanded rapidly during the pandemic and retained their interaction scale thereafter. We next assessed these two courses to determine whether their level of interaction persisted after the pandemic.

4.3 Analyses of natural science courses and social science courses

4.3.1 analyses of the interaction characteristics of economics and electrodynamics..

Economics and Electrodynamics are social science courses and natural science courses, respectively. Members’ interaction within these courses was similar: the interaction scale increased significantly when COVID-19 broke out (Phase Ⅲ), and no significant changes emerged after the pandemic (Phase Ⅴ). We hence focused on course interaction long after the outbreak (Phase V) and compared changes across multiple indicators, as listed in Table 7 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.t007

As the pandemic continued to improve, the number of participants and the diameter long after the outbreak (Phase V) each declined for Economics compared with after the pandemic (Phase IV). The interaction scale decreased, but the interaction between learners was much deeper. Specifically: (1) The weighted average degree, network density, clustering coefficient, and small-world property each reflected upward trends. The pandemic therefore exerted a strong impact on this course. Interaction was well maintained even after the pandemic. The smaller network scale promoted members’ interaction and communication. (2) Compared with after the pandemic (Phase IV), members’ network density increased significantly, showing that relationships between learners were closer and that cohesion was improving. (3) At the same time, as the clustering coefficient and small-world property grew, network members demonstrated strong small-group characteristics: the communication between them was deepening and their enthusiasm for interaction was higher. (4) Long after the COVID-19 outbreak (Phase V), the average path length was reduced compared with previous terms, knowledge flowed more quickly among network members, and the degree of interaction gradually deepened.

The average degree, weighted average degree, network density, clustering coefficient, and small-world property of Electrodynamics all decreased long after the COVID-19 outbreak (Phase V) and were lower than during the outbreak (Phase Ⅲ). The level of learner interaction therefore gradually declined long after the outbreak (Phase V), and connections between learners were no longer active. Although the pandemic increased course members’ extent of interaction, this rise was merely temporary: students’ enthusiasm for learning waned rapidly and their interaction decreased after the pandemic (Phase IV). To further analyze the interaction characteristics of course members in Economics and Electrodynamics, we evaluated the closeness centrality of their social networks, as shown in section 4.3.2.

4.3.2 Analysis of the closeness centrality of Economics and Electrodynamics.

The change in the closeness centrality of social networks in Economics was small, and no sharp upward trend appeared during the pandemic outbreak, as shown in Fig 7 . The emergence of COVID-19 apparently fostered learners’ interaction in Economics albeit without a significant impact. The closeness centrality changed in Electrodynamics varied from that of Economics: upon the COVID-19 outbreak, closeness centrality was significantly different from other semesters. Communication between learners was closer and interaction was more effective. Electrodynamics course members’ social network proximity decreased rapidly after the pandemic. Learners’ communication lessened. In general, Economics course showed better interaction before the outbreak and was less affected by the pandemic; Electrodynamics course was more affected by the pandemic and showed different interaction characteristics at different periods of the pandemic.

(Note: "****" indicates the significant distinction in closeness centrality between the two periods, otherwise no significant distinction).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0273016.g007

5. Discussion

We referred to discussion forums from several courses on the icourse.163 MOOC platform to compare online learning before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic via SNA and to delineate the pandemic’s effects on online courses. Only 33.3% of courses in our sample increased in terms of interaction during the pandemic; the scale of interaction did not rise in any courses thereafter. When the courses scale rose, the scope and frequency of interaction showed upward trends during the pandemic; and the clustering coefficient of natural science courses and social science courses differed: the coefficient for social science courses tended to rise whereas that for natural science courses generally declined. When the pandemic broke out, the interaction scale of a single natural science course decreased along with its interaction scope and frequency. The amount of interaction in most courses shrank rapidly during the pandemic and network members were not as active as they had been before. However, after the pandemic, some courses saw declining interaction but greater communication between members; interaction also became more frequent and deeper than before.

5.1 During the COVID-19 pandemic, the scale of interaction increased in only a few courses

The pandemic outbreak led to a rapid increase in the number of participants in most courses; however, the change in network scale was not significant. The scale of online interaction expanded swiftly in only a few courses; in others, the scale either did not change significantly or displayed a downward trend. After the pandemic, the interaction scale in most courses decreased quickly; the same pattern applied to communication between network members. Learners’ enthusiasm for online interaction reduced as the circumstances of the pandemic improved—potentially because, during the pandemic, China’s Ministry of Education declared “School’s Out, But Class’s On” policy. Major colleges and universities were encouraged to use the Internet and informational resources to provide learning support, hence the sudden increase in the number of participants and interaction in online courses [ 46 ]. After the pandemic, students’ enthusiasm for online learning gradually weakened, presumably due to easing of the pandemic [ 47 ]. More activities also transitioned from online to offline, which tempered learners’ online discussion. Research has shown that long-term online learning can even bore students [ 48 ].

Most courses’ interaction scale decreased significantly after the pandemic. First, teachers and students occupied separate spaces during the outbreak, had few opportunities for mutual cooperation and friendship, and lacked a sense of belonging [ 49 ]. Students’ enthusiasm for learning dissipated over time [ 50 ]. Second, some teachers were especially concerned about adapting in-person instructional materials for digital platforms; their pedagogical methods were ineffective, and they did not provide learning activities germane to student interaction [ 51 ]. Third, although teachers and students in remote areas were actively engaged in online learning, some students could not continue to participate in distance learning due to inadequate technology later in the outbreak [ 52 ].

5.2 Characteristics of online learning interaction during and after the COVID-19 pandemic

5.2.1 during the covid-19 pandemic, online interaction in most courses did not change significantly..

The interaction scale of only a few courses increased during the pandemic. The interaction scope and frequency of these courses climbed as well. Yet even as the degree of network interaction rose, course network density did not expand in all cases. The pandemic sparked a surge in the number of online learners and a rapid increase in network scale, but students found it difficult to interact with all learners. Yau pointed out that a greater network scale did not enrich the range of interaction between individuals; rather, the number of individuals who could interact directly was limited [ 53 ]. The internet facilitates interpersonal communication. However, not everyone has the time or ability to establish close ties with others [ 54 ].

In addition, social science courses and natural science courses in our sample revealed disparate trends in this regard: the clustering coefficient of social science courses increased and that of natural science courses decreased. Social science courses usually employ learning approaches distinct from those in natural science courses [ 55 ]. Social science courses emphasize critical and innovative thinking along with personal expression [ 56 ]. Natural science courses focus on practical skills, methods, and principles [ 57 ]. Therefore, the content of social science courses can spur large-scale discussion among learners. Some course evaluations indicated that the course content design was suboptimal as well: teachers paid close attention to knowledge transmission and much less to piquing students’ interest in learning. In addition, the thread topics that teachers posted were scarcely diversified and teachers’ questions lacked openness. These attributes could not spark active discussion among learners.

5.2.2 Online learning interaction declined after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Most courses’ interaction scale and intensity decreased rapidly after the pandemic, but some did not change. Courses with a larger network scale did not continue to expand after the outbreak, and students’ enthusiasm for learning paled. The pandemic’s reduced severity also influenced the number of participants in online courses. Meanwhile, restored school order moved many learning activities from virtual to in-person spaces. Face-to-face learning has gradually replaced online learning, resulting in lower enrollment and less interaction in online courses. Prolonged online courses could have also led students to feel lonely and to lack a sense of belonging [ 58 ].

The scale of interaction in some courses did not change substantially after the pandemic yet learners’ connections became tighter. We hence recommend that teachers seize pandemic-related opportunities to design suitable activities. Additionally, instructors should promote student-teacher and student-student interaction, encourage students to actively participate online, and generally intensify the impact of online learning.

5.3 What are the characteristics of interaction in social science courses and natural science courses?

The level of interaction in Economics (a social science course) was significantly higher than that in Electrodynamics (a natural science course), and the small-world property in Economics increased as well. To boost online courses’ learning-related impacts, teachers can divide groups of learners based on the clustering coefficient and the average path length. Small groups of students may benefit teachers in several ways: to participate actively in activities intended to expand students’ knowledge, and to serve as key actors in these small groups. Cultivating students’ keenness to participate in class activities and self-management can also help teachers guide learner interaction and foster deep knowledge construction.

As evidenced by comments posted in the Electrodynamics course, we observed less interaction between students. Teachers also rarely urged students to contribute to conversations. These trends may have arisen because teachers and students were in different spaces. Teachers might have struggled to discern students’ interaction status. Teachers could also have failed to intervene in time, to design online learning activities that piqued learners’ interest, and to employ sound interactive theme planning and guidance. Teachers are often active in traditional classroom settings. Their roles are comparatively weakened online, such that they possess less control over instruction [ 59 ]. Online instruction also requires a stronger hand in learning: teachers should play a leading role in regulating network members’ interactive communication [ 60 ]. Teachers can guide learners to participate, help learners establish social networks, and heighten students’ interest in learning [ 61 ]. Teachers should attend to core members in online learning while also considering edge members; by doing so, all network members can be driven to share their knowledge and become more engaged. Finally, teachers and assistant teachers should help learners develop knowledge, exchange topic-related ideas, pose relevant questions during course discussions, and craft activities that enable learners to interact online [ 62 ]. These tactics can improve the effectiveness of online learning.

As described, network members displayed distinct interaction behavior in Economics and Electrodynamics courses. First, these courses varied in their difficulty: the social science course seemed easier to understand and focused on divergent thinking. Learners were often willing to express their views in comments and to ponder others’ perspectives [ 63 ]. The natural science course seemed more demanding and was oriented around logical thinking and skills [ 64 ]. Second, courses’ content differed. In general, social science courses favor the acquisition of declarative knowledge and creative knowledge compared with natural science courses. Social science courses also entertain open questions [ 65 ]. Natural science courses revolve around principle knowledge, strategic knowledge, and transfer knowledge [ 66 ]. Problems in these courses are normally more complicated than those in social science courses. Third, the indicators affecting students’ attitudes toward learning were unique. Guo et al. discovered that “teacher feedback” most strongly influenced students’ attitudes towards learning social science courses but had less impact on students in natural science courses [ 67 ]. Therefore, learners in social science courses likely expect more feedback from teachers and greater interaction with others.

6. Conclusion and future work

Our findings show that the network interaction scale of some online courses expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic. The network scale of most courses did not change significantly, demonstrating that the pandemic did not notably alter the scale of course interaction. Online learning interaction among course network members whose interaction scale increased also became more frequent during the pandemic. Once the outbreak was under control, although the scale of interaction declined, the level and scope of some courses’ interactive networks continued to rise; interaction was thus particularly effective in these cases. Overall, the pandemic appeared to have a relatively positive impact on online learning interaction. We considered a pair of courses in detail and found that Economics (a social science course) fared much better than Electrodynamics (a natural science course) in classroom interaction; learners were more willing to partake in-class activities, perhaps due to these courses’ unique characteristics. Brint et al. also came to similar conclusions [ 57 ].

This study was intended to be rigorous. Even so, several constraints can be addressed in future work. The first limitation involves our sample: we focused on a select set of courses hosted on China’s icourse.163 MOOC platform. Future studies should involve an expansive collection of courses to provide a more holistic understanding of how the pandemic has influenced online interaction. Second, we only explored the interactive relationship between learners and did not analyze interactive content. More in-depth content analysis should be carried out in subsequent research. All in all, the emergence of COVID-19 has provided a new path for online learning and has reshaped the distance learning landscape. To cope with associated challenges, educational practitioners will need to continue innovating in online instructional design, strengthen related pedagogy, optimize online learning conditions, and bolster teachers’ and students’ competence in online learning.

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Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow

"Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons” and “Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow"

WHY A TWIN REPORT ON THE IMPACT OF COVID IN EDUCATION?

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education in over 150 countries and affected 1.6 billion students. In response, many countries implemented some form of remote learning. The education response during the early phase of COVID-19 focused on implementing remote learning modalities as an emergency response. These were intended to reach all students but were not always successful. As the pandemic has evolved, so too have education responses. Schools are now partially or fully open in many jurisdictions.

A complete understanding of the short-, medium- and long-term implications of this crisis is still forming. The twin reports analyze how this crisis has amplified inequalities and also document a unique opportunity to reimagine the traditional model of school-based learning.

The reports were developed at different times during the pandemic and are complementary:

The first one follows a qualitative research approach to document the opinions of education experts regarding the effectiveness of remote and remedial learning programs implemented across 17 countries. DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT

WHAT ARE THE LESSONS LEARNED OF THE TWIN REPORTS?

• Availability of technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective remote learning: EdTech has been key to keep learning despite the school lockdown, opening new opportunities for delivering education at a scale. However, the impact of technology on education remains a challenge.
• Teachers are more critical than ever: Regardless of the learning modality and available technology, teachers play a critical role. Regular and effective pre-service and on-going teacher professional development is key. Support to develop digital and pedagogical tools to teach effectively both in remote and in-person settings.
• Education is an intense human interaction endeavor: For remote learning to be successful it needs to allow for meaningful two-way interaction between students and their teachers; such interactions can be enabled by using the most appropriate technology for the local context.
• Parents as key partners of teachers: Parent’s involvement has played an equalizing role mitigating some of the limitations of remote learning. As countries transition to a more consistently blended learning model, it is necessary to prioritize strategies that provide guidance to parents and equip them with the tools required to help them support students.
• Leverage on a dynamic ecosystem of collaboration: Ministries of Education need to work in close coordination with other entities working in education (multi-lateral, public, private, academic) to effectively orchestrate different players and to secure the quality of the overall learning experience.
• FULL REPORT
• Interactive document
• Understanding the Effectiveness of Remote and Remedial Learning Programs: Two New Reports
• Understanding the Perceived Effectiveness of Remote Learning Solutions: Lessons from 18 Countries
• Five lessons from remote learning during COVID-19
• Launch of the Twin Reports on Remote Learning during COVID-19: Lessons for today, principles for tomorrow

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Student Opinion

Is Online Learning Effective?

A new report found that the heavy dependence on technology during the pandemic caused “staggering” education inequality. What was your experience?

By Natalie Proulx

During the coronavirus pandemic, many schools moved classes online. Was your school one of them? If so, what was it like to attend school online? Did you enjoy it? Did it work for you?

In “ Dependence on Tech Caused ‘Staggering’ Education Inequality, U.N. Agency Says ,” Natasha Singer writes:

In early 2020, as the coronavirus spread, schools around the world abruptly halted in-person education. To many governments and parents, moving classes online seemed the obvious stopgap solution. In the United States, school districts scrambled to secure digital devices for students. Almost overnight, videoconferencing software like Zoom became the main platform teachers used to deliver real-time instruction to students at home. Now a report from UNESCO , the United Nations’ educational and cultural organization, says that overreliance on remote learning technology during the pandemic led to “staggering” education inequality around the world. It was, according to a 655-page report that UNESCO released on Wednesday, a worldwide “ed-tech tragedy.” The report, from UNESCO’s Future of Education division, is likely to add fuel to the debate over how governments and local school districts handled pandemic restrictions, and whether it would have been better for some countries to reopen schools for in-person instruction sooner. The UNESCO researchers argued in the report that “unprecedented” dependence on technology — intended to ensure that children could continue their schooling — worsened disparities and learning loss for hundreds of millions of students around the world, including in Kenya, Brazil, Britain and the United States. The promotion of remote online learning as the primary solution for pandemic schooling also hindered public discussion of more equitable, lower-tech alternatives, such as regularly providing schoolwork packets for every student, delivering school lessons by radio or television — and reopening schools sooner for in-person classes, the researchers said. “Available evidence strongly indicates that the bright spots of the ed-tech experiences during the pandemic, while important and deserving of attention, were vastly eclipsed by failure,” the UNESCO report said. The UNESCO researchers recommended that education officials prioritize in-person instruction with teachers, not online platforms, as the primary driver of student learning. And they encouraged schools to ensure that emerging technologies like A.I. chatbots concretely benefited students before introducing them for educational use. Education and industry experts welcomed the report, saying more research on the effects of pandemic learning was needed. “The report’s conclusion — that societies must be vigilant about the ways digital tools are reshaping education — is incredibly important,” said Paul Lekas, the head of global public policy for the Software & Information Industry Association, a group whose members include Amazon, Apple and Google. “There are lots of lessons that can be learned from how digital education occurred during the pandemic and ways in which to lessen the digital divide. ” Jean-Claude Brizard, the chief executive of Digital Promise, a nonprofit education group that has received funding from Google, HP and Verizon, acknowledged that “technology is not a cure-all.” But he also said that while school systems were largely unprepared for the pandemic, online education tools helped foster “more individualized, enhanced learning experiences as schools shifted to virtual classrooms.” ​Education International, an umbrella organization for about 380 teachers’ unions and 32 million teachers worldwide, said the UNESCO report underlined the importance of in-person, face-to-face teaching. “The report tells us definitively what we already know to be true, a place called school matters,” said Haldis Holst, the group’s deputy general secretary. “Education is not transactional nor is it simply content delivery. It is relational. It is social. It is human at its core.”

Students, read the entire article and then tell us:

What findings from the report, if any, surprised you? If you participated in online learning during the pandemic, what in the report reflected your experience? If the researchers had asked you about what remote learning was like for you, what would you have told them?

At this point, most schools have returned to in-person teaching, but many still use technology in the classroom. How much tech is involved in your day-to-day education? Does this method of learning work well for you? If you had a say, would you want to spend more or less time online while in school?

What are some of the biggest benefits you have seen from technology when it comes to your education? What are some of the biggest drawbacks?

Haldis Holst, UNESCO’s deputy general secretary, said: “The report tells us definitively what we already know to be true, a place called school matters. Education is not transactional nor is it simply content delivery. It is relational. It is social. It is human at its core.” What is your reaction to that statement? Do you agree? Why or why not?

As a student, what advice would you give to schools that are already using or are considering using educational technology?

Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.

Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.

Natalie Proulx joined The Learning Network as a staff editor in 2017 after working as an English language arts teacher and curriculum writer. More about Natalie Proulx

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Original research article, online learning after the covid-19 pandemic: learners’ motivations.

• Endicott College, Woosong University, Daejeon, South Korea

The COVID-19 pandemic has become a focus on reforming teaching, learning models and strategies, particularly in online teaching and learning tools. Based on the social cognitive career theory and the constructivist learning theory, the purpose of this study was to understand and explore the learning preference and experience of students’ online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the management after the COVID-19 pandemic from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the following two research questions: (1) After the COVID-19 pandemic, why do the students want to continue their foreign language courses via an online platform and model? What are the motivations and reasons? (2) How would the students describe their experience of a foreign language course via an online platform and model? With the general inductive approach and sharing from 80 participants, the participants indicated that flexibilities and convenience, same outcomes and learning rigorousness, and interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world were the three main key points. The results of this study may provide recommendations to university leaders, department heads, and teachers to reform and upgrade their online teaching curriculum and course delivery options after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction

Due to the development of technologically assisted teaching and learning tools, flexible enrolment management, and delivery options, many traditional-age students and non-traditional students may enjoy university education. A recent report by the State of Oregon Employment Department ( Wallis, 2020 ) predicted that from 2015 to 2026, enrolment of non-traditional students (25 years and older) could increase by 8.2% or 664,000, while the youth population (from 14 to 25 years old) could increase by 16.8% or 1,991,000. By 2026, the non-traditional student population could comprise nearly 40% of the university student population, while just over 60% will be youths.

Distance learning is one of the current international education trends in university environments, in both credit and non-credit courses. Many universities have established a proportion of courses and academic programs for students who cannot attend the traditional face-to-face courses that have been the norm over the past decades. Recent statistics from the National Centre for Education Statistics ( National Center for Education Statistics, 2020 ) indicate that 19,637,499 students enrolled in any undergraduate and postgraduate educational institutions in 2019. In total, 12,323,876 (about 62.8%) students studied as on-campus students without any distance learning options. Also, 7,313,623 (about 37.2%) students enrolled in any online courses at degree-granted postsecondary institutions in the United States. Of these students (37.2%), 3,863,498 students took at least one, but not all, of students; courses are distance education courses, 3,450,125 students took distance learning courses exclusively. These education trends may continue due to the flexibility and convenience of online courses, particularly following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purpose of the study

First, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a focus on reforming teaching as well as learning models and strategies, particularly in online teaching and learning tools. Recent statistics ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicate that many university students have experienced at least one online course due to the COVID-19 pandemic and government social distancing recommendations. Although many courses will eventually return to traditional face-to-face teaching models and strategies to increase learning and on-campus experience, online teaching and learning have become options for students to complete their courses online, particularly in foreign language courses.

Second, many foreign language courses and instructions tend to focus on face-to-face and physical interactions with students, teachers, and peers in the classroom environment. Although a few literature courses may be delivered online, many language-based courses are physically delivered. Therefore, it is important to understand the voices and comments of foreign language students to upgrade and polish the online-based foreign language courses during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The result of this study will provide recommendations to school leaders, department heads, curriculum designers, and policymakers about the developments of online teaching and learning courses, particularly for foreign language learners at the college and university level.

Based on the social cognitive career theory and the constructivist learning theory, this study aimed to understand and explore the learning preference and experience of students’ online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic and the management after the COVID-19 pandemic from the students’ perspective. The study was guided by the following two research questions:

(1) After the COVID-19 pandemic, why do the students want to continue their foreign language courses via an online platform and model? What are the motivations and reasons?

(2) How would the students describe their experience of a foreign language course via an online platform and model?

Theoretical frameworks and literature review

The researcher employed two theoretical frameworks – the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) and the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ) to examine online teaching and learning issues during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The social cognitive career theory indicates that individuals’ behaviors and motivations can be impacted by both internal and external factors, which can direct the goals and achievements of individuals and groups. For details, please refer to the following section. Therefore, based on the application of the social cognitive career theory, the employment of the theory is useful because the theory may seek the motivation and decision-making processes of the individuals and groups.

Second, the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ) is useful for investigating this study. In fact, previous experience, learning style, and understanding could significantly impact individuals’ and groups’ understanding, learning styles, language learning acquisition, and expectations from the classes. In this case, the researcher wanted to understand how the online learning platform and learning style could impact the experiences and expectations of the participants. Therefore, the employment of the constructivist learning theory would be appropriate.

Social cognitive career theory

The social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) advocates that individuals’ self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and goals build decision-making and sense-making processes. Self-efficacy is an individual’s personal understanding and belief of their capacity and ability to exercise targeted behavior and a series of actions. Outcome expectation refers to the targeted and potential consequences of their decisions. Personal goals refer to intentions during the procedure and the potential aftermath of decisions. Single or multiple factors based on the social cognitive career theory may influence an individual’s decision-making and sense-making process.

Motivation and reason of online learning

COVID-19 pandemic offers the opportunities for students to take courses and complete their programs via the online platform without any physical attendance. A recent study ( Dos Santos, 2021a ) indicated that online student enrolment has increased from 30 to 70% during the COVID-19 pandemic. One hundred international students joined the study and shared positive feedback of online learning based on the social cognitive career theory. Another recent study ( Dos Santos, 2021d ) also indicated that domestic and international students enjoyed the online learning environment as many could continue their education, particularly during the lockdown and COVID-19 pandemic. The participants indicated that the online learning options should be continued to meet the needs of students from different background ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ; AbuSa’aleek and Alotaibi, 2022 ; Chen and Du, 2022 ).

Online courses and lack of on-campus services and experiences

A recent report ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicates that 78% of online students consider the online classroom environment to be as good as or better than traditional face-to-face methods, while nearly 80% of these students agreed or strongly agreed that online courses and degrees were worth the tuition fees. Student satisfaction and learning outcomes have become significant considerations for teachers, school leaders, and students. Another recent report ( Hess, 2021 ) indicated some students might argue the online courses may not completely satisfy their needs, particularly the facilities and on-campus services that they cannot use as online students. The study further indicated that over 90% of American students wanted the university to reduce a part of the tuition fee as the students could not enjoy the on-campus facilities. Based on the statistics, although many students agreed that the online courses might have similar outcomes and achievements, they would like to pay fewer tuition fees due to the on-campus services (i.e., cannot enjoy the services) ( Zvalo-Martyn, 2020 ).

Constructivist learning theory

In terms of the constructivist learning theory, Bruner (1973 , 1996) argued that learning, particularly language learning, is a model in which learners build new knowledge and language acquisition based on their previous experiences. The cognitive structure is the mental and psychological actions and behavior that provide the performance, understanding, and background from which learners organize the experience, learning expectation, and sense-making process of their new knowledge. As learning is not a standalone process but a procedure combining previous experience and current situations, learners compare the current situation with their previous experience to build up new and appropriate experiences. Bruner (1973 , 1996) identified four important factors of the constructivist learning theory: (1) teaching and learning models and strategies should focus on the connections and sense-making process between previous experience and the current situation; (2) teaching and learning models and strategies should motivate and activate learning interests and new areas of knowledge; (3) learners should be able to handle complex knowledge with no difficulties; (4) teaching and learning models, strategies, and goals should go beyond previous experience in building a new ground.

In short, the social cognitive career theory explored the motivations and reasons why individuals decide to do, continue, conduct, or discontinue a set of behavior before, during, and after some events and issues. And then, the employment of the constructivist learning theory explored the relationships and connections between the previous and current experiences and how these experiences make sense and build up the understanding and knowledge of the individuals and groups. Based on the directions of these two theoretical frameworks, the researcher advocated that the employments were useful to explore the two research questions of this study. As for the research questions, please refer to the following sub-section.

Appropriate online curriculum and activities with positive experiences

As for the feedback and opinions about the teaching and learning experiences and environments, some scholars ( Tratnik et al., 2019 ) argue that students have benefited from foreign language courses in face-to-face environments due to peer interactions and exchanges. However, other scholars ( Wei and Chou, 2020 ) have indicated that students learn actively and are satisfied with the online learning environment. Another recent report ( Zvalo-Martyn, 2020 ) by the Association of American Colleges and Universities further indicated that the sample group (i.e., 24 university students) expressed positive learning experiences from their online university courses as many could use the digital education platform as the learning tools, particularly the online learning can establish the connections between the faculty and peers without borders. Two other studies ( Brown et al., 2013 ; Kwee and Dos Santos, 2021 ) also indicated that vocational and hands-on experience courses might be delivered online as long as the university arrangements, curriculum designs, and student-centered activities may meet the needs and expectations for the achievements; students tended to express positive comments for their final evaluation.

Interactive experiences for online courses: Foreign language learning

Online teaching and learning are not new topics in university education. In 2006, scholars ( Levy and Stockwell, 2006 ) showed that due to the rapid development of technology and upgrading of the classroom environment, many schools and universities had developed computer labs and rooms as essential facilities for many subjects, such as science, technology, and foreign languages. The relationship between online classroom interaction and outcome has received special attention over the decades due to the rapid development of distance learning education ( Gok et al., 2021 ). An earlier study ( Lantolf and Thorne, 2007 ) argued that sociocultural background is key in foreign language learning as students need to absorb knowledge from social and cultural backgrounds. Another newer study ( Lin et al., 2017 ) indicated that provided the teaching and learning strategy and model were effective, the motivation of learners and the outcomes of foreign language courses remained the same. For example, a previous study ( Kurucay and Inan, 2017 ) indicated that online-based groups worked well as many students were used to the online environment and technologically assisted teaching and learning from their previous experiences. In the online classroom environment of foreign language courses, some students expressed anxiety about not receiving immediate feedback from teachers and classmates. However, the participants indicated that effective corrective feedback could meet their learning outcome expectations ( Martin and Alvarez Valdivia, 2017 ).

Concerns for the online foreign language courses

In foreign language and cultural learning, some scholars ( O’Dowd, 2011 ) argue that the sense of internationalism and sociocultural understanding are some important factors. Although textbooks and printed materials provide excellent teaching and learning models, individuals cannot gain knowledge and language acquisition beyond the classroom environment. A study ( Ozudogru and Hismanoglu, 2016 ) surveyed the understanding and beliefs of 478 university freshmen students about their online foreign language learning experience. Although some students shared negative experiences, this study outlined improvements in online foreign language courses. Another study ( VanPatten et al., 2015 ) indicated no preference among 244 university students for either online or on-campus learning in their foreign language courses as both techniques delivered their expectations and goals. Although online foreign language courses may offer the flexibilities, some scholars believed that the interactions, activities, internationalism, and sociocultural experiences may not be gained via the online learning classroom environment. Currently, only a few studies focused on the cases in the United States. It is important to investigate the problems in the United States and the American foreign language classroom environments.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been the turning point for online teaching for almost all universities internationally, particularly in foreign language learning ( Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). Although there are no contemporary statistics concerning the numbers of students affected by the global health crisis, almost all college and university students have had to attend online or blended courses due to government lockdown policies, particularly in the United States ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ; Dhawan, 2020 ; Alqarni, 2021 ; Lau et al., 2021 ). As foreign language courses do not require lab or internship experience, most tuition has been delivered online ( Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). A further study ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ) indicated that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, English language courses should be conducted online to control the risk of infection. Although teachers and students could not attend foreign language courses in person, the virtual experiences did not necessarily limit the learning experiences and outcomes.

Materials and methods

Research design.

The current study employed the general inductive approach ( Thomas, 2006 ; Dos Santos, 2020b , 2021c ) with the interpretivism social paradigm ( Burrell and Morgan, 1979 ). The general inductive approach is useful in this study because the general inductive approach allows the researcher to categorize the massive data into meaningful themes and groups. Based on the themes and groups, the researcher can further categorized the themes as the results.

First, technologically assisted teaching and learning tools and approaches have become popular methods in foreign language teaching and learning. The direction does not limit to a single or small group of schools and universities. In other words, teaching with technologically assisted tools and approaches is widely employed in the current foreign language teaching and learning arena. Therefore, the employment of the general inductive approach covered the wider situation in the current society.

Second, the COVID-19 pandemic provides opportunities for technologically assisted teaching and learning turning point(s). The teaching trends with technology may become one of the main themes in the current education systems, including foreign language subjects. Therefore, the wider perspectives and data collection procedures may be useful in this case.

Recruitment and participants

The purposive and snowball sampling strategies were employed ( Merriam, 2009 ). First of all, based on a personal network, the researcher orally invited three participants to the study. Once three participants agreed with the study, the researcher formally sent the consent form, research protocol, interview questions, focus group activity questions, data collection procedure, risk statement, and related materials to the participants. In order to expand the population, the participants were told that after the first interview session, they should try their best to refer at least one participant for this study. After several rounds of discussions, 80 participants ( N = 80) agreed to join the study. As this study was a small-scale study that only focused on the west coast states in the United States, the researcher tended to establish some limitations to upgrade the focus and aim of this study. In this case, the participants should meet all of the following points:

(1) Currently enrolled at a postsecondary education institution in the United States;

(2) Completed at least one semester of foreign language course via online method;

(3) Currently located in one of the west coast states in the United States (e.g., Oregon, California, Washington, Alaska, and Hawaii).

(4) At least 18 years old.

Data collection

Three data collection tools were employed, including virtual-based, semi-structured and one-on-one interview session, focus group activity, and member checking interview session. First, the virtual-based, semi-structured, and one-on-one interview sessions were useful. Creswell (2012) indicated that interview session is one of the common qualitative data collection tools in social sciences. Merriam (2009) advocated that the individual-based interview allows the individual(s) to share their stories and ideas in a private setting. Some individuals tend not to share their personal backgrounds in front of a group of people. Therefore, the current arrangement for interview sessions might allow the individual(s) to share their understanding and experiences with the researcher. In this case, the interview sessions were appropriate to collect rich data from the participants about their understanding and perspective of online courses in foreign language learning. Based on the theoretical frameworks and some previous studies ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ; Dos Santos, 2020a , 2021b , 2021c ), the researcher developed the interview questions. The interview session mainly concerned the experiences, learning expectations, and intentions for future online courses after the COVID-19 pandemic. The interview sessions lasted from 90 to 112 min.

After completing all interview sessions, the researcher arranged the virtual-based focus group activities with the participants. The focus group activities mainly concerned the experiences, personal stories sharing, understanding of online courses, and their intention of online courses after the COVID-19 pandemic. Both Morgan (1998) and Merriam (2009) advocated that qualitative researchers may employ more than one data collection tool, such as interview and focus group activity, to increase the participants’ data. Focus group activity is useful because a group of individuals may share similar ideas within a similar background and situation. In this case, the motivation and experiences from the online learning platform and experience. As for the focus group activities, the researcher took the role of the listener as the researcher wanted to observe and collect the in-depth understanding and lived stories of the participants (who shared similar backgrounds and experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic). The researcher developed the focus group questions based on the theoretical frameworks and some previous studies ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ; Dos Santos, 2020a , 2021a , b ). Eight participants formed an individual focus group activity. Therefore, ten focus group activities were established. The focus group activities lasted from 113 to 132 min.

After the researcher collected and categorized the data based on each participant, the researcher returned the data to the participant via email for confirmation. A follow-up member-checking interview session was hosted for each participant via virtual-based interview. During the member-checking interview sessions, all participants agreed with their materials. Each member checking interview session lasted from 34 to 41 min. All the data collection procedures were digitally recorded. All participants agreed with this arrangement and accepted the sessions were recorded.

Data analysis

The researcher (i.e., worked as the sole researcher) transcribed all the voiced messages into written transcripts. The researcher read the data multiple times to categorize the connections and themes. Therefore, the researcher employed two data analysis procedures and tools in this study, including the general inductive approach ( Thomas, 2006 ) and the grounded theory approach ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) for data analysis.

First, the researcher employed the open-coding technique ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) to narrow down the massive data to themes and subthemes as the first-level themes. At this point, 20 themes (e.g., flexibility, online courses with schedule, family responsibilities, the same outcomes and learning achievements, domestic learning, international learning, etc.) and 18 subthemes (e.g., skill upgrading, the online platform options, students from different states and cities, peer-to-peer exchanging, etc.) were merged.

However, researchers ( Merriam, 2009 ) suggested that further data analysis procedures should be conducted. Therefore, the axial-coding technique ( Strauss and Corbin, 1990 ) was employed. As a result, three themes (i.e., flexibilities and convenience, same outcomes and learning rigorousness, and interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world) and three subthemes (i.e., can listen and watch the materials multiple times without limitations, unique learning experiences but additional skills expectations, and university degree without borders) were yielded as the second-level themes. Figure 1 outlines the data analysis procedure.

Figure 1. Data analysis procedure.

Human subject protection/ethical consideration

Privacy is the most important idea in this study. Therefore, the signed consent forms, personal information, contact information, school information, grades, locations, address, email address, voiced messages, written transcripts, computer, and related information were locked in a password-protected cabinet. Only the researcher could read the information. More importantly, the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was supported by the Woosong University Academic Research Funding. After the researcher completed the study, all the related materials were deleted and destroyed in order to protect the information of all parties. Please note no payments were given to any parties. The study was supported by the Woosong University Academic Research Funding 2021/2022 (2021-01-01-07).

Results and findings

Although many students take their courses in different global communities, many shared similar lived stories and experiences, particularly in their foreign language learning experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. The researcher categorized three themes and subthemes based on the qualitative data. Table 1 outlines the themes and subthemes. Please note, to provide a comprehensive comparison, the researcher combined the results chapter and discussion chapter for immediate comparison.

Table 1. Themes and subthemes.

Flexibilities and convenience

…I can learn my Spanish courses in my free time…I am not a traditional student and have to work for my family…I can listen to and read my lessons and lecture notes during my break time at work…my way back home…before sleep…I can still learn the same knowledge and vocabulary without my physical attendance…I submit my assignments and projects on time as other students are…excellent learning option for us… (Participant #60, Focus Group)

All participants expressed flexibility and convenience as the strongest preferences in their online foreign language courses. A group of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students indicated that the traditional face-to-face courses had always limited their selections and learning preferences as they had to work and take care of their families during the daytime ( Dos Santos, 2020a ). Although weekend and night courses are sometimes available, the options are limited. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the online learning options offered them the same opportunities as traditional on-campus students. The researcher captured the following stories based on this preference:

…we cannot find any foreign language courses other than Spanish and French in the evening…I want to learn Chinese and Japanese…but they were only available during the morning and in the afternoon…but the online option, many evening students could take Chinese and Japanese…I hope the university can continue this online option for us… (Participant #34, Interview)

…I want to study Spanish popular literature and children’s literature as my elective courses…traditionally, based on the previous course catalog, only one professor teaches these courses…usually in the morning time…but because of the COVID…these two courses were offered online with recorded video sessions…I registered for these two courses immediately…it is a really good chance for us…to enjoy the courses as evening and part-time students… (Participant #10, Focus Group)

For example, some minority and less popular foreign language courses had only one session during each academic year. Students facing time conflicts with other courses would not be able to take either the foreign language course or their subject courses in the academic year. However, online courses provide greater flexibility. The researcher captured two stories:

…I am a double major student in Mathematics and Japanese…I have to take the Japanese literature course for my major…but only one session is there every year…if I miss it, I have to wait for another year…but at the same time, I have to take the math course for my math major…it was the advanced level course so only one course was available…this happened last year…but this year because we can take the online courses…the problem solved… (Participant #41, Interview)

The flexibility of online courses solved schedule conflicts between courses and university departments. Students who needed to take multiple foreign languages as their major requirement also expressed interest in online delivery, for example:

…in the translation studies department, we have to take at least two foreign languages beyond our native language…my native language is English…and I have to take Spanish and Italian as the second and third…but many of the translation, Spanish and Italian courses…were overlapped together before the pandemic…I am glad that the online courses…provide me with the chance…so I can finish my degree in 4 years… (Participant #3, Interview)

Can listen and watch the materials multiple times without limitations

In most online foreign language courses, instructors upload teaching and learning materials and exercises online before each lesson so that the students can read the materials before and after the lessons. All participants saw this as a positive experience because they could download and re-read the materials during their leisure time after the lesson. During driving time and breaks, they could play the audio and videos of language exercises. One said:

…in fact, commuting and travel jam waste my time…but if I could listen to the exercises in my car, I could save some time at home…and I do not have to sit in the classroom for the audio and to listen, I can sit in my car and practice the exercise…I learnt a lot because I can listen to the previous chapters and the new chapter…I connected all the vocab and sentences … (Participant #14, Interview)

For example, some participants mentioned that their instructors asked them to listen and watch earlier chapters to connect with their current grammatical structure. In this way, the learners could connect and refresh their previous work to their current materials:

…we were in chapter 34 last week, but our professor asked us to re-listen and re-watch the materials from chapter 22…we didn’t understand why. Still, when we read the old materials again, they learnt some new ideas…the grammatical structures or the slang from the videos…great practices to refresh our knowledge with some old stuff… (Participant #45, Focus Group)

Last but not least, almost all participants indicated that their instructors might release some self-made materials, speaking exercises, personal videos, and materials from the instructors’ personal library from the face-to-face lessons. However, all these materials beyond the textbook were not given to them (i.e., could only be listened to and watched inside the classroom). In this case, many indicated that their instructors uploaded these materials (i.e., materials from instructors’ personal library) on the online platform. Therefore, they could enjoy some materials with their instructors’ comments and perspectives, a story was captured:

…in contemporary literature and pop culture courses…we have to read a lot of reviewers and comments from the real speakers of the languages…but the grammatical structure and vocab…I did not understand it…they just don’t follow the textbook structures…in my intermediate courses on campus 2 years ago, my professor wrote them on the blackboard…I could download, read, listen, and watch it multiple times as it is online… (Participant #49, Focus Group)

In conclusion, the flexibility of the delivery options, flexible time for the lessons, and re-readable materials beyond the textbook were three of the main key terms under this theme and subtheme. Based on some previous studies ( Lee and Choi, 2011 ; VanPatten et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ), some scholars believe that students tend to take online courses due to their flexibility and busy working schedules. The results from these studies further echoed the situation before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Same outcomes and learning rigorousness

A group of participants said that online and on-campus foreign language courses allowed them to improve their reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills with their classmates and teachers during the live online lessons. The learning outcomes and expectations were the same as they all watched the live lesson requiring virtual face-to-face interaction with others. A story was captured:

…some people told me that they could not speak in front of the computer…so they don’t want to speak…but if you don’t want to speak…in front of the computer or in front of the classroom…you are not going to speak too…this is just an exercise…I see many people speaking in their TikTok videos…just don’t give yourselves any excuses… (Participants #21, Focus Group)

In this case, all considered the role of critical thinking and time management training to be essential in university study. The current COVID-19 pandemic and the online teaching and learning arrangements provided effective training and opportunities. As one said:

…I do not think traditional on-campus courses are better than online courses…we are all here to learn the same courses and the same skills…the delivery options and models are just the models…if you want to learn the knowledge…even if you just read the textbooks without a teacher…people can still learn the greatest knowledge from the textbooks and materials…I don’t want to discriminate between these two methods… (Participant #38, Interview)

Unique learning experiences but additional skills expectations

Although current statistics ( Wallis, 2020 ) indicate that more than half of the student population has experienced the tools of distance learning and online courses, many still are new to this area. Regarding time management, almost all participants indicated that they have set up their personal goals and time schedules for each unit and exercise as they are not required to join the physical classroom environment. A participant shared the following story:

…we used to have to go to the class for the language course in the evening…but we don’t have to for now…but we still have to do the same homework, exam, project, and exercise…my professor told us that we are all adults…he would not force us to read the materials…we have to be responsible…I have learnt some skills to set up weekly goals and schedules…very good opportunities because we gained something new from the school… (Participants #58, Focus Group)

Another participant shared her story of balancing the work between family, school, and workplace as a mother with multiple responsibilities:

1…being a student, a mother, and a full-time worker is very hard…but at least for this semester, many working students could release the stress from attending all physical courses on campus in the evening…we only need to upload the materials on time…but we learn the same knowledge and complete the same exercises and exams…many of us enjoyed this online learning experiences…although a few complained about the interactions and oral communication…I don’t see there are any differences… (Participant #19, Interview)

Echoing the reflection of some scholars ( Gorbunovs et al., 2016 ), a large group of participants indicated that self-regulation and self-discipline are key to online learning experiences, regardless of age and background. The researcher captured a story:

…because we do not have to go to class and some of my courses in Spanish do not need us to attend the live lessons…I have to learn how to balance my time…also, set up goals to complete my assignment on time…my son only attended his lessons online…he also needs to complete his assignment on time and online…I have to teach my son to finish his work appropriately…and I have to be the right model…if I cannot complete mine appropriately, how can I tell my son to do so?… (Participant #7, Interview)

Interactive experiences with classmates from different parts of the world

The online courses connected domestic and international students worldwide through the online platform. All participants indicated they had at least one international student and a group of domestic students not living in their home state but connected via the online platform. This unique experience could not be acquired through on-campus experience as all are required to be on campus for physical lessons. The researcher captured two interesting stories:

…I have several students from the New England region, one from Hawaii, and one from Alaska in my French course…they should come back there on-campus…but the lockdown allowed us to connect online…we have to do homework…introduce our home city in French…I could see the view in Alaska and Hawaii…in the same 90-min lesson in life…not from the recorded videos or so…unique experiences from online learning… (Participant #27, Focus Group)

Another story was about the global connection with international students:

…we had many students from China, South Korea, Singapore, India, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, and the Middle East in our Spanish language courses over two semesters…I didn’t realize that we had many international students in my school…who are interested in the Spanish language…we exchanged a lot of knowledge and ideas from the online platforms and forums…I grouped with a Chinese student for the speaking project…I am very happy with this unique experience… (Participant #51, Interview)

University degree without borders

Besides learning experiences with students from different global communities, all expressed satisfaction with the unique experiences of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students who had extensive working experience before joining university. From the perspective of the traditional age students, there was an expression of satisfaction in the experience of these less traditional classmates in the online classroom environment. Two stories were captured:

…I am so happy that I could chat with many experienced classmates who have many years of working experience in the field…although many of them learnt Spanish due to the general education requirement…they shared a lot of lived experiences in their subject courses and vocational skills to us…we could not have these chats during the daytime courses…I wish I can have these conversations in the future… (Participant #80, Focus Group)

Another participant shared ideas on the connection between foreign language and vocational knowledge from some of the experienced students in the online classroom environment:

…one of the projects was to use Spanish to do the role-play exercises based on our academic major…my major is nursing so I was paired with another public health classmate…my classmate was an evening student…she was a mother with 20 years of working experiences in a big chained hospital…I learnt a lot of speaking skills from her in English and Spanish…I am glad that we could connect because of this online course… (Participant #71, Focus Group)

Many non-traditional, returning, adult and evening class students enjoyed pairing up with traditional-age students because of their fresh ideas and similarities with their children. Many non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students are in their early 40s or 50s and are at school simultaneously as their college-aged children. When the researcher asked about their experience and learning motivation, many expressed a strong satisfaction and motivation in online learning. One story was given:

…my son and I did not go to the same university…but we learnt the same level of Spanish course in the same semester…I chatted with my son about the Spanish lesson…and I introduced my classmates to my son too…we all three talked together and shared some ideas …my classmate’s mother is going to school for a nursing degree, too…the online course connected two families together… (Participant #65, Focus Group)

With a reflection on a previous study about distance learning and online learning ( VanPatten et al., 2015 ), both traditional-age and non-traditional students indicated that the online-based courses allowed them to study their courses and requirements during their free time. More importantly, as some courses (e.g., elective courses) could only be offered once per year during the daytime (e.g., 9 AM), some part-time and working students could not complete the courses. Therefore, the current online arrangement met the expectations of both parties ( Jaggars, 2014 ; Tratnik et al., 2019 ). A group of non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students indicated that the traditional face-to-face courses had always limited their selections and learning preferences as they had to work and take care of their families during the daytime ( Dos Santos, 2020a ). However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the online learning options offered them the same opportunities as traditional on-campus students.

Besides the input from the non-traditional, returning, adult, and evening class students, many full-time students also expressed an interest in the online delivery option for their foreign language courses, particularly the flexibilities ( Dos Santos, 2020a ; Kwee, 2021 ; Maican and Cocoradã, 2021 ). However, online courses provide greater flexibility.

Many previous studies ( Pitarch, 2018 ; Liu and Li, 2019 ) have indicated that re-assessment and re-evaluation after lessons could upgrade and connect learners’ previous knowledge with their current learning materials. For example, with the reflection of a previous study ( Atmojo and Nugroho, 2020 ), all participants said they could download the audio and videos from the online learning platform to their cellphones and iPads. Based on the reflection of a previous study ( Damayanti and Rachmah, 2020 ), nearly all said that if they listened to the whole series of audios and videos at home, they could connect early chapters and exercises from previous semesters for better understanding and practice.

Based on some previous studies ( Lee and Choi, 2011 ; VanPatten et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ), some scholars believe that students tend to take online courses due to their flexibility and busy working schedules. The results from these studies further echoed the situation before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although some students may return to traditional face-to-face classroom environments after the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching and learning options should remain active, as both traditional and non-traditional students may benefit the delivery. In the aspect of online teaching and learning, participants and previous studies ( O’Dowd, 2011 ; Chan et al., 2021 ; Iqbal and Sohail, 2021 )also argued that the online learning platform and environment should not have any significant differences in terms of outcomes and students’ achievements. In this case, many participants believed that online learning and online learning platform offered them the convenience and opportunities to gain new knowledge under the new technology.

Following social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ) and constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), participants expressed their motivation for online courses due to the greater flexibility and freedom of learning. Such flexibility was unavailable under the traditional system because many courses had overlapped. Also, the online experiences further encouraged their learning experiences, motivations, and opportunities during and potentially after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although some students may return to traditional face-to-face classroom environments after the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching and learning options should remain active, as both traditional and non-traditional students may benefit the delivery. In the aspect of online teaching and learning, participants and previous studies ( O’Dowd, 2011 ; Chan et al., 2021 ; Iqbal and Sohail, 2021 ) also argued that the online learning platform and environment should not have any significant differences in terms of outcomes and students’ achievements. In this case, many participants believed that online learning and online learning platform offered them the convenience and opportunities to gain new knowledge under the new technology.

Some previous studies and researchers ( Al-Kumaim et al., 2021 ) have argued that online teaching and learning strategies cannot provide the same outcomes, experiences, performances, and learning rigorousness to the learners. A recent study ( Meşe and Sevilen, 2021 ) further argued that the lack of social interaction between peers and teachers could result in foreign language learners’ negative motivation and learning performance at university. However, in this case, all participants felt that the learning outcomes and expectations had been met in their online foreign language courses.

Furthermore, reflecting on a study from Güntaş et al. (2021) , almost all participants agreed that university education and experience train individuals in critical thinking skills and effective time management. All university students believed that the online foreign language courses provided them with excellent opportunities to organize their time management between their major courses and foreign language exercises ( Biletska et al., 2021 ).

Reflecting on previous studies on online and distance learning education ( Sykes and Roy, 2017 ; Gok et al., 2021 ), many participants considered the rigorous learning of both traditional and online courses equal, without any significant differences. Online courses require additional effectiveness, self-regulation, and self-motivation for their outcomes and achievements. As all completed the same exercises, exams, and homework by the deadline, all participants argued that the learning outcomes were as strong as the on-campus courses.

Many students still need time to adjust their learning expectations and personal beliefs to online courses, such as time management, self-regulation, and self-discipline ( Brown et al., 2015 ; Mozelius and Hettiarachchi, 2017 ).

The flexibility provided excellent possibilities for students to access and read the materials in their leisure time. However, the flexibility also led to some students dropping out as some could not organize and arrange their time schedules effectively ( Brown et al., 2015 ). However, the online learning achievements and outcomes do not differ based on the participants. In other words, many participants believed they could gain new knowledge and ideas in both on-campus and online classroom environments ( Yukselturk et al., 2014 ; Wright, 2017 ; Rasheed, 2020 ). More importantly, many believed the online teaching and learning environment could enhance their time management skills and interdisciplinary studies beyond the on-campus classroom environments ( Brown et al., 2013 ).

Based on the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ), the researcher confirmed that many participants decided to learn and potentially continue their studies with online courses, motivated by the flexibility and self-arranged time schedules that fitted with their other responsibilities. Also, with a reflection on the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), participants indicated that their previous time management experience had established their current responsibilities and expectations of the online courses.

Many previous studies ( Lee and Rice, 2007 ; Choudaha, 2016 ) have highlighted the United States as a well-known destination for international students, including students in community colleges, universities, and graduate schools. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many international students could not return to the United States for on-campus lessons and experiences.

In conclusion, internationalism and student satisfaction are important for these participants. Firstly, reflecting on the social cognitive career theory ( Lent et al., 1994 ; Lent and Brown, 1996 ), many felt that internationalism and idea exchange played important roles in foreign language learning through listening to conversations and ideas from people in different global communities. Unlike in the past decades, students can study and attend classes and courses via online teaching and learning platforms internationally. Besides international students, non-traditional, evening, returning, and adult students also enjoy the flexibility of the online teaching and learning platform due to the development of technology ( Olesen-Tracey, 2010 ; AbuSa’aleek and Alotaibi, 2022 ). The current online learning experience provided this unique opportunity as the online platform connected students inside and outside the country, thus appropriately meeting students’ motivations.

Secondly, reflecting on the constructivist learning theory ( Bruner, 1973 , 1996 ), many participants expressed that they could improve their subject and foreign language knowledge with students from different backgrounds, such as non-traditional students, and that the learning experiences were rich. The findings of this study appropriately met the directions of two theoretical frameworks and answered the research questions.

Limitations and future research developments

Two limitations and future research developments were identified. Firstly, the current study collected data from 80 participants ( N = 80) learning and completing their foreign language requirements in the United States. Although none of their academic majors was in a foreign language, the study covered the voices and stories of many participants who had to complete a general education requirement in a foreign language via online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, students in other classes, university major(s), colleges, universities, and backgrounds may face similar issues and problems. Therefore, future research studies could cover the experience of other students, such as students in foreign language majors, to capture a broader understanding and perspective.

Secondly, the United States has over a million active student enrolments annually. The current study only covered students’ voices in the Pacific states and regions. In the future, scholars with greater funding and samples should expand the population to other American regions, such as the New England region, to capture a wider perspective.

Contributions to the practice and conclusion

First, the current study used foreign language courses and students to understand the motivations of learning and online learning experiences, particularly in American university environments. The findings of this study successfully filled up the gap in online learning, particularly the motivations and intentions of delivery methods after the COVID-19 pandemic from students’ perspectives. Students are the users of online courses. Instructors and university departments should create and design courses and delivery options that meet the demands and needs of their students. Online courses will become a popular trend in the university environment after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is important to gather the students’ voices to upgrade the teaching and learning approaches.

Second, university leaders, department heads, and teachers may use this study as the blueprint to reform and design some online courses, particularly in foreign language teaching and learning, to help non-traditional, returning, evening, and adult students who cannot attend the physical classes. As most participants advocated that online delivery does not limit their motivations and achievements, the development of online foreign language courses are greatly needed.

Third, although the participants were foreign language course takers and students, they took different online courses in their major subjects due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on their sharing, many advocated that the online courses and virtual learning environment were enjoyable. Based on the voices and suggestions, the curriculum planners and department leaders may expand and continue the online courses and delivery options after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data availability statement

The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.

Ethics statement

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by Woosong University Academic Research Funding Department. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

Author contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

This research was supported by Woosong University Academic Research Funding 2021.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords : COVID-19 pandemic, computer-aided language learning, distance learning, foreign language teaching, online course, online teacher, technologically assisted teaching, technology education

Citation: Dos Santos LM (2022) Online learning after the COVID-19 pandemic: Learners’ motivations. Front. Educ. 7:879091. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.879091

Received: 18 February 2022; Accepted: 05 September 2022; Published: 20 September 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Dos Santos. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Luis M. Dos Santos, [email protected]

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How has the pandemic changed the way you’ll learn?

As students gradually return to campus, many universities will be offering blended learning – mixing face-to-face lectures with the best of digital teaching

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T he past year and a half has been a learning experience for everyone in education. You might recall frustrating days battling your internet connection to log on to Teams classes. Similarly, the pandemic has been a baptism of fire for universities in how to deliver quality online learning.

While universities are planning to revert to their pre-pandemic state by autumn 2022, many are also thinking hard about the positive lessons that can be drawn from what’s happened. The main shift is likely to be around how much online teaching you get. Most universities are planning to use a “blended model” that will combine the flexibility of online lectures with more interactive activities in-person, such as labs, seminars, workshops and Q&A sessions.

“The reference to some universities talking about ending face-to-face lectures doesn’t mean students won’t be attending any in-person classes; it means they’ll move away from large lectures of 200 students upwards. We’ll see a lot more of these sessions provided online because that can be far more effective,” explains Liz Barnes, the vice-chancellor of Staffordshire University who has led a review into online learning..

Some universities and courses are planning for more online learning than others, so when you’re choosing a university think about what might work for you. A broad rule of thumb is that practical courses have more face-to-face contact hours than academic degrees which involve lots of reading.

Ask yourself: are you planning to commute, and would you prefer to only be in for a couple of days per week, with the rest online? Or do you need in-person teaching to motivate you and to meet new people? Some universities are offering a variety of options to suit different learning styles and personal circumstances. Most university websites aren’t able to supply the full details of how individual courses will be taught, so to find out the number of face-to-face contact hours you should ask the universities directly – and ideally visit an open day, says Barnes. She adds that the next year is still going to be a transition phase out of the pandemic, so things may well change in 2022.

If you’re concerned about whether online teaching means you’re getting worse value for money, this is actually not the case, assures Prof Allison Littlejohn, an academic at UCL specialising in learning technology.

“The time needed to prepare and produce online teaching materials is much higher than for on-campus lectures,” she says. Instead, most universities are shifting lectures online as they think it’s a better way for their students to learn.

If you’re still worried about surviving Zoom lectures, there are some strategies that can help.

“Don’t watch an entire, hour-long Zoom lecture. If the lecture is pre-recorded, combine watching it with active reflection on what you’re learning. If the lecture is live, find ways to interact with other students and with academics afterwards to discuss ideas and concepts,” recommends Littlejohn.

Interaction is an essential component of well-designed online learning, she says, so if it’s not included, ask your tutor to build in more time with individual students or in small groups, online or in person. You can also organise your own study groups to discuss what you’ve learned in a Zoom lecture or do problem-solving activities using new ideas and concepts.

One thing you might be worrying about is whether your disrupted school experience could hold you back at university.

“You might have had a poor experience with digital learning or feel less prepared for the academic challenges and independence university brings. So find out what a university is doing to help you around digital skills and how they support students,” recommends Ian Dunn, deputy vice-chancellor at Coventry University.

“Think about your last year of study during the Covid-19 pandemic and what you need from a learning and teaching perspective to thrive.”

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4 lessons from online learning that should stick after the pandemic

Assistant Professor of Innovation Finance, Athabasca University

Associate Professor, Work and Organization Studies, Athabasca University

Professor of Organizational Analysis and Project Management, Athabasca University

Professor of Open, Digital, and Distance Education , Athabasca University

Disclosure statement

Deborah Hurst receives funding from RBC and CPA to build and launch the AI powered virtual cooperative program.

Janice Thomas received funding from the Project Management Institute for earlier research projects exploring the professionalization of project management, the value of project management to organizations, and the implementation of project management as a management innovation.

Martha Cleveland-Innes has received funding from, and acts in support of, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. She is an appointed member of the Athabasca University Board of Governors.

F. Haider Alvi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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One of the many changes COVID-19 brought those in education was an almost immediate switch to online learning.

Overnight, institutions scrambled to keep education moving, while bridging the physical distance between teacher and learner. Traditionally trained teachers made valiant efforts to adjust to digital by recording lessons, posting videos and creating breakout rooms, using whatever technology they had available.

These efforts resulted in digitally mediated physical classrooms using the internet — not online education.

While these two options sound the same, they are not . Bridging physical distance through technology alone doesn’t address additional adjustments required to address learner needs. Posting materials online, recording lectures and discussions themselves don’t create a coached, collaborative and supported learning environment.

So what have we really learned about online education? And what do we do now?

Online learning isn’t new, and lessons can be drawn from existing research and experience. Athabasca University — where we are all professors — pioneered the world’s first online MBA, M.Nursing and M.Ed progams over 28 years ago. And today, it’s one of Canada’s leading online universities .

The experience of online pioneers highlights four distinct aspects of online learning that should stick post-pandemic: learning to learn online, designing online teaching with purpose, blending space and time online and continued disruption with AI.

1. Learning to learn online

The pandemic highlighted that one-size-fits-all educational approaches fail to address student needs. Younger learners may seek physical spaces to promote socialization, with supervision and teacher-led content delivery. Others, like Athabasca’s mostly adult learners, value the convenience of connecting with classmates and instructors online during times of their choosing.

Common inequities like poor access to the internet, lack of financial resources and needed digital competence plague online learning. However, online education offers access for students facing geospacial barriers to traditional classrooms, and further issues of inequality are addressed via multi-modal distance education, financial support structures and orientation on how to learn online .

Read more: Online learning during COVID-19: 8 ways universities can improve equity and access

Emergency online education used blunt-edged instruments, ignoring student and program differences . The pandemic takeaway, however, is the importance of preparing all students to learn, whether online or in a physical classroom.

2. Designing online teaching with purpose

Quality teaching and learning design must incorporate active, engaging roles for individual students, whether designed for traditional or distance education .

Meaningful teaching varies by setting and requires different approaches . Online course and teaching design is learner rather than content centred, incorporating high engagement in collaborative learning groups that fosters active learning.

Producing effective online course materials requires an approach involving both instructors and skilled course developers and takes months rather than weeks. Course materials are painstakingly detailed, and include writing everything the instructor would expect to say in a physical classroom, clearly describing all course requirements and linking students to readings, video and online resources.

Because of the pandemic, instructors had to translate classroom delivery into technology-mediated delivery — it worked for some, but was not easily tailored to unique learning needs.

Technological tools, combined with independent and joint working opportunities, should be brought back to the physical or hybrid classroom in conjunction with online pedagogical approaches that increase active, collaborative learning and learner-generated choices.

3. Blending space and time online

Pandemic education popularized the vocabulary of “synchronous” and “asynchronous” learning. Synchronous replicated physical classrooms through real-time, digitally mediated teaching, while asynchronous meant working independently, usually with materials designed for a physical classroom. Moving forward we need to think about how timing and presence impacts learning.

At Athabasca, students come together in time and space through blended, collaborative, synchronous and asynchronous online learning . Instructors coach students individually at a student led pace.

This is different from traditional undergraduate classrooms, where students absorb material on a fixed schedule. Our graduate programs use paced programming, requiring students to work independently while regularly coming together in active online discussion.

More flexible teaching allows students to receive instructor support when they need it. Building in synchronous, collaborative learning allows for reflection, rather than real time responses.

4. COVID-19 began the disruption, AI will continue it

The pandemic revealed how education approaches can change after instructors had to search for innovative ways to improve student learning outcomes outside the physical classroom.

At Athabasca, a virtual co-operative program allowed us to introduce a co-op program in the middle of a pandemic.

Students accessed a simulated work experience in a paced structure, irrespective of location. They were able to practise working as a team, problem solving, conflict resolution, ethical reasoning and leadership while working on an assigned project. Students received immediate, detailed feedback from an AI coach, allowing for extensive experimentation and revision to master concepts honed in reflective discussion with the instructor.

Research suggests that adopting online and AI tools needs to be deliberate, coupled with supportive digital infrastructure and highly responsive student support. Planned carefully and taken together, these steps improve on traditional approaches by making education truly open, accessible and inclusive.

Now, the question for all educators should be: How do we capitalize on COVID-19 initiated change to build better education systems for the future?

This is an updated version of a story originally published May 1, 2022. It clarifies emergency online education made it difficult to address student differences.

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Online Learning During the Pandemic

Today’s rapid shift in the traditional patterns of social lifestyle caused by the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has resulted in the necessity to define possible approaches to living a full-scale life while respecting the need for social distancing. Thus, one of the major challenges in the context was to define the patterns of work and education process during the global lockdown. When it comes to the notion of education, the process of online learning has become a salvation to the problem of education access and efficiency. The definition of online learning stands for an umbrella term that encompasses a series of machine-learning techniques that allow learners to acquire relevant knowledge with the help of technology in a certain sequence [1]. Although the process of online learning has become widely popular due to an ongoing emergency, the term genesis can be traced back to decades prior to COVID-19, as machine learning is also regarded as a scientific outbreak besides being an urgent problem solution [2]. Thus, once the necessity of technological intervention in education became an absolute necessity, there had already been a variety of devices and software applications to implement.

Over the times of the pandemic, the concept of educational technology (EdTech) has become widely popular with software developers and investors. In fact, EdTech, despite a relatively long existence in the market, has now introduced a variety of software applications like Classplus and Edmingle that would facilitate the process of education in both developing and developed countries [3]. Moreover, the already existing educational sources powered by Microsoft and Google are also of great efficiency for today’s learners, as their plain yet efficient design helps students accommodate quickly to the process. Hence, taking everything into consideration, it might be concluded that the process for online education that was rapidly facilitated by a pandemic outbreak is likely to develop greatly over the next few years, creating a full-scale competition for conventional patterns of learning.

S. C. H. Hoi, D. Sahoo, J. Lu, and P. Zhao. “Online learning: A comprehensive survey,” SMU Technical Report , vol. 1, pp. 1-100, 2018.

A. Muhammad, and K. Anwar. “Online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic: Students’ perspectives.” Online Submission , vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 45-51, 2020.

D. Shivangi. “Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis.” Journal of Educational Technology Systems , vol. 49, no.1, pp. 5-22, 2020.

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• The Internet and the Pandemic

90% of Americans say the internet has been essential or important to them, many made video calls and 40% used technology in new ways. But while tech was a lifeline for some, others faced struggles

Table of contents.

• 1. How the internet and technology shaped Americans’ personal experiences amid COVID-19
• 2. Parents, their children and school during the pandemic
• 3. Navigating technological challenges
• 4. The role of technology in COVID-19 vaccine registration
• Acknowledgments
• Methodology

Pew Research Center has a long history of studying technology adoption trends and the impact of digital technology on society. This report focuses on American adults’ experiences with and attitudes about their internet and technology use during the COVID-19 outbreak. For this analysis, we surveyed 4,623 U.S. adults from April 12-18, 2021. Everyone who took part is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), an online survey panel that is recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other categories. Read more about the  ATP’s methodology .

Chapter 1 of this report includes responses to an open-ended question and the overall report includes a number of quotations to help illustrate themes and add nuance to the survey findings. Quotations may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. The first three themes mentioned in each open-ended response, according to a researcher-developed codebook, were coded into categories for analysis. 

Here are the questions used for this report , along with responses, and its methodology .

The  coronavirus  has transformed many aspects of Americans’ lives. It  shut down  schools, businesses and workplaces and forced millions to  stay at home  for extended lengths of time. Public health authorities recommended  limits on social contact  to try to contain the spread of the virus, and these profoundly altered the way many worked, learned, connected with loved ones, carried out basic daily tasks, celebrated and mourned. For some, technology played a role in this transformation.  

Results from a new Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted April 12-18, 2021, reveal the extent to which people’s use of the internet has changed, their views about how helpful technology has been for them and the struggles some have faced. 

The vast majority of adults (90%) say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, the survey finds. The share who say it has been  essential  – 58% – is up slightly from 53% in April 2020. There have also been upticks in the shares who say the internet has been essential in the past year among those with a bachelor’s degree or more formal education, adults under 30, and those 65 and older. 

A large majority of Americans (81%) also say they talked with others via video calls at some point since the pandemic’s onset. And for 40% of Americans, digital tools have taken on new relevance: They report they used technology or the internet in ways that were new or different to them. Some also sought upgrades to their service as the pandemic unfolded: 29% of broadband users did something to improve the speed, reliability or quality of their high-speed internet connection at home since the beginning of the outbreak.

Still, tech use has not been an unmitigated boon for everyone. “ Zoom fatigue ” was widely speculated to be a problem in the pandemic, and some Americans report related experiences in the new survey: 40% of those who have ever talked with others via video calls since the beginning of the pandemic say they have felt worn out or fatigued often or sometimes by the time they spend on them. Moreover,  changes in screen time  occurred for  Americans generally  and for  parents of young children . The survey finds that a third of all adults say they tried to cut back on time spent on their smartphone or the internet at some point during the pandemic. In addition, 72% of parents of children in grades K-12 say their kids are spending more time on screens compared with before the outbreak. 1

For many, digital interactions could only do so much as a stand-in for in-person communication. About two-thirds of Americans (68%) say the interactions they would have had in person, but instead had online or over the phone, have generally been useful – but not a replacement for in-person contact. Another 15% say these tools haven’t been of much use in their interactions. Still, 17% report that these digital interactions have been just as good as in-person contact.

Some types of technology have been more helpful than others for Americans. For example, 44% say text messages or group messaging apps have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends, 38% say the same about voice calls and 30% say this about video calls. Smaller shares say social media sites (20%) and email (19%) have helped them in this way.

The survey offers a snapshot of Americans’ lives just over one year into the pandemic as they reflected back on what had happened. It is important to note the findings were gathered in April 2021, just before  all U.S. adults became eligible for coronavirus vaccine s. At the time, some states were  beginning to loosen restrictions  on businesses and social encounters. This survey also was fielded before the delta variant  became prominent  in the United States,  raising concerns  about new and  evolving variants . 

Here are some of the key takeaways from the survey.

Americans’ tech experiences in the pandemic are linked to digital divides, tech readiness 

Some Americans’ experiences with technology haven’t been smooth or easy during the pandemic. The digital divides related to  internet use  and  affordability  were highlighted by the pandemic and also emerged in new ways as life moved online.

For all Americans relying on screens during the pandemic,  connection quality  has been important for school assignments, meetings and virtual social encounters alike. The new survey highlights difficulties for some: Roughly half of those who have a high-speed internet connection at home (48%) say they have problems with the speed, reliability or quality of their home connection often or sometimes. 2

Beyond that, affordability  remained a persistent concern  for a portion of digital tech users as the pandemic continued – about a quarter of home broadband users (26%) and smartphone owners (24%) said in the April 2021 survey that they worried a lot or some about paying their internet and cellphone bills over the next few months. 

From parents of children facing the “ homework gap ” to Americans struggling to  afford home internet , those with lower incomes have been particularly likely to struggle. At the same time, some of those with higher incomes have been affected as well.

Affordability and connection problems have hit broadband users with lower incomes especially hard. Nearly half of broadband users with lower incomes, and about a quarter of those with midrange incomes, say that as of April they were at least somewhat worried about paying their internet bill over the next few months. 3 And home broadband users with lower incomes are roughly 20 points more likely to say they often or sometimes experience problems with their connection than those with relatively high incomes. Still, 55% of those with lower incomes say the internet has been essential to them personally in the pandemic.

At the same time, Americans’ levels of formal education are associated with their experiences turning to tech during the pandemic. 

Those with a bachelor’s or advanced degree are about twice as likely as those with a high school diploma or less formal education to have used tech in new or different ways during the pandemic. There is also roughly a 20 percentage point gap between these two groups in the shares who have made video calls about once a day or more often and who say these calls have helped at least a little to stay connected with family and friends. And 71% of those with a bachelor’s degree or more education say the internet has been essential, compared with 45% of those with a high school diploma or less.

More broadly, not all Americans believe they have key tech skills. In this survey, about a quarter of adults (26%) say they usually need someone else’s help to set up or show them how to use a new computer, smartphone or other electronic device. And one-in-ten report they have little to no confidence in their ability to use these types of devices to do the things they need to do online. This report refers to those who say they experience either or both of these issues as having “lower tech readiness.” Some 30% of adults fall in this category. (A full description of how this group was identified can be found in  Chapter 3. )

These struggles are particularly acute for older adults, some of whom have had to  learn new tech skills  over the course of the pandemic. Roughly two-thirds of adults 75 and older fall into the group having lower tech readiness – that is, they either have little or no confidence in their ability to use their devices, or generally need help setting up and learning how to use new devices. Some 54% of Americans ages 65 to 74 are also in this group. 

Americans with lower tech readiness have had different experiences with technology during the pandemic. While 82% of the Americans with lower tech readiness say the internet has been at least important to them personally during the pandemic, they are less likely than those with higher tech readiness to say the internet has been essential (39% vs. 66%). Some 21% of those with lower tech readiness say digital interactions haven’t been of much use in standing in for in-person contact, compared with 12% of those with higher tech readiness. 

46% of parents with lower incomes whose children faced school closures say their children had at least one problem related to the ‘homework gap’

As school moved online for many families, parents and their children experienced profound changes. Fully 93% of parents with K-12 children at home say these children had some online instruction during the pandemic. Among these parents, 62% report that online learning has gone very or somewhat well, and 70% say it has been very or somewhat easy for them to help their children use technology for online instruction.

Still, 30% of the parents whose children have had online instruction during the pandemic say it has been very or somewhat difficult for them to help their children use technology or the internet for this. 

The survey also shows that children from households with lower incomes who faced school closures in the pandemic have been especially likely to encounter tech-related obstacles in completing their schoolwork – a phenomenon contributing to the “ homework gap .”

Overall, about a third (34%) of all parents whose children’s schools closed at some point say their children have encountered at least one of the tech-related issues we asked about amid COVID-19: having to do schoolwork on a cellphone, being unable to complete schoolwork because of lack of computer access at home, or having to use public Wi-Fi to finish schoolwork because there was no reliable connection at home. 

This share is higher among parents with lower incomes whose children’s schools closed. Nearly half (46%) say their children have faced at least one of these issues. Some with higher incomes were affected as well – about three-in-ten (31%) of these parents with midrange incomes say their children faced one or more of these issues, as do about one-in-five of these parents with higher household incomes.

Prior Center work has documented this “ homework gap ” in other contexts – both  before the coronavirus outbreak  and  near the beginning of the pandemic . In April 2020, for example, parents with lower incomes were particularly likely to think their children would face these struggles amid the outbreak.

Besides issues related to remote schooling, other changes were afoot in families as the pandemic forced many families to shelter in place. For instance, parents’ estimates of their children’s screen time – and family rules around this – changed in some homes. About seven-in-ten parents with children in kindergarten through 12th grade (72%) say their children were spending more time on screens as of the April survey compared with before the outbreak. Some 39% of parents with school-age children say they have become less strict about screen time rules during the outbreak. About one-in-five (18%) say they have become more strict, while 43% have kept screen time rules about the same. 

More adults now favor the idea that schools should provide digital technology to all students during the pandemic than did in April 2020

Americans’ tech struggles related to digital divides gained attention from policymakers and news organizations as the pandemic progressed.

On some policy issues, public attitudes changed over the course of the outbreak – for example, views on what K-12 schools should provide to students shifted. Some 49% now say K-12 schools have a responsibility to provide all students with laptop or tablet computers in order to help them complete their schoolwork during the pandemic, up 12 percentage points from a year ago.

The shares of those who say so have increased for both major political parties over the past year: This view shifted 15 points for Republicans and those who lean toward the GOP, and there was a 9-point increase for Democrats and Democratic leaners.

However, when it comes to views of policy solutions for internet access more generally, not much has changed. Some 37% of Americans say that the government has a responsibility to ensure all Americans have high-speed internet access during the outbreak, and the overall share is unchanged from April 2020 – the first time Americans were asked this specific question about the government’s pandemic responsibility to provide internet access. 4

Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say the government has this responsibility, and within the Republican Party, those with lower incomes are more likely to say this than their counterparts earning more money. 

Video calls and conferencing have been part of everyday life

Americans’ own words provide insight into exactly how their lives changed amid COVID-19. When asked to describe the new or different ways they had used technology, some Americans mention video calls and conferencing facilitating a variety of virtual interactions – including attending events like weddings, family holidays and funerals or transforming where and how they worked. 5 From family calls, shopping for groceries and placing takeout orders online to having telehealth visits with medical professionals or participating in online learning activities, some aspects of life have been virtually transformed: 

“I’ve gone from not even knowing remote programs like Zoom even existed, to using them nearly every day.” – Man, 54

“[I’ve been] h andling … deaths of family and friends remotely, attending and sharing classical music concerts and recitals with other professionals, viewing [my] own church services and Bible classes, shopping. … Basically, [the internet has been] a lifeline.”  – Woman, 69

“I … use Zoom for church youth activities. [I] use Zoom for meetings. I order groceries and takeout food online. We arranged for a ‘digital reception’ for my daughter’s wedding as well as live streaming the event.” – Woman, 44

When asked about video calls specifically, half of Americans report they have talked with others in this way at least once a week since the beginning of the outbreak; one-in-five have used these platforms daily. But how often people have experienced this type of digital connectedness varies by age. For example, about a quarter of adults ages 18 to 49 (27%) say they have connected with others on video calls about once a day or more often, compared with 16% of those 50 to 64 and just 7% of those 65 and older. 

Even as video technology became a part of life for users, many  accounts of burnout  surfaced and some speculated that “Zoom fatigue” was setting in as Americans grew weary of this type of screen time. The survey finds that some 40% of those who participated in video calls since the beginning of the pandemic – a third of all Americans – say they feel worn out or fatigued often or sometimes from the time they spend on video calls. About three-quarters of those who have been on these calls several times a day in the pandemic say this.

Fatigue is not limited to frequent users, however: For example, about a third (34%) of those who have made video calls about once a week say they feel worn out at least sometimes.

These are among the main findings from the survey. Other key results include:

Some Americans’ personal lives and social relationships have changed during the pandemic:  Some 36% of Americans say their own personal lives changed in a major way as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. Another 47% say their personal lives changed, but only a little bit.   About half (52%) of those who say major change has occurred in their personal lives due to the pandemic also say they have used tech in new ways, compared with about four-in-ten (38%) of those whose personal lives changed a little bit and roughly one-in-five (19%) of those who say their personal lives stayed about the same.

Even as tech helped some to stay connected, a quarter of Americans say they feel less close to close family members now compared with before the pandemic, and about four-in-ten (38%) say the same about friends they know well. Roughly half (53%) say this about casual acquaintances.

The majority of those who tried to sign up for vaccine appointments in the first part of the year went online to do so:  Despite early problems with  vaccine rollout  and  online registration systems , in the April survey tech problems did  not  appear to be major struggles for most adults who had tried to sign up online for COVID-19 vaccines. The survey explored Americans’ experiences getting these vaccine appointments and reveals that in April 57% of adults had tried to sign themselves up and 25% had tried to sign someone else up. Fully 78% of those who tried to sign themselves up and 87% of those who tried to sign others up were online registrants. 

When it comes to difficulties with the online vaccine signup process, 29% of those who had tried to sign up online – 13% of all Americans – say it was very or somewhat difficult to sign themselves up for vaccines at that time. Among five reasons for this that the survey asked about, the most common  major  reason was lack of available appointments, rather than tech-related problems. Adults 65 and older who tried to sign themselves up for the vaccine online were the most likely age group to experience at least some difficulty when they tried to get a vaccine appointment.

Tech struggles and usefulness alike vary by race and ethnicity.  Americans’ experiences also have varied across racial and ethnic groups. For example, Black Americans are more likely than White or Hispanic adults to meet the criteria for having “lower tech readiness.” 6 Among broadband users, Black and Hispanic adults were also more likely than White adults to be worried about paying their bills for their high-speed internet access at home as of April, though the share of Hispanic Americans who say this declined sharply since April 2020. And a majority of Black and Hispanic broadband users say they at least sometimes have experienced problems with their internet connection. 

Still, Black adults and Hispanic adults are more likely than White adults to say various technologies – text messages, voice calls, video calls, social media sites and email – have helped them a lot to stay connected with family and friends amid the pandemic.

Tech has helped some adults under 30 to connect with friends, but tech fatigue also set in for some.  Only about one-in-five adults ages 18 to 29 say they feel closer to friends they know well compared with before the pandemic. This share is twice as high as that among adults 50 and older. Adults under 30 are also more likely than any other age group to say social media sites have helped a lot in staying connected with family and friends (30% say so), and about four-in-ten of those ages 18 to 29 say this about video calls. 

Screen time affected some negatively, however. About six-in-ten adults under 30 (57%) who have ever made video calls in the pandemic say they at least sometimes feel worn out or fatigued from spending time on video calls, and about half (49%) of young adults say they have tried to cut back on time spent on the internet or their smartphone.

• Throughout this report, “parents” refers to those who said they were the parent or guardian of any children who were enrolled in elementary, middle or high school and who lived in their household at the time of the survey. ↩
• People with a high-speed internet connection at home also are referred to as “home broadband users” or “broadband users” throughout this report. ↩
• Family incomes are based on 2019 earnings and adjusted for differences in purchasing power by geographic region and for household sizes. Middle income is defined here as two-thirds to double the median annual family income for all panelists on the American Trends Panel. Lower income falls below that range; upper income falls above it. ↩
• A separate  Center study  also fielded in April 2021 asked Americans what the government is responsible for on a number of topics, but did not mention the coronavirus outbreak. Some 43% of Americans said in that survey that the federal government has a responsibility to provide high-speed internet for all Americans. This was a significant increase from 2019, the last time the Center had asked that more general question, when 28% said the same. ↩
• Quotations in this report may have been lightly edited for grammar, spelling and clarity. ↩
• There were not enough Asian American respondents in the sample to be broken out into a separate analysis. As always, their responses are incorporated into the general population figures throughout this report. ↩

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Taking distance learning ‘offline’: Lessons learned from navigating the digital divide during COVID-19

Subscribe to the center for universal education bulletin, angelica towne amporo and angelica towne amporo chief strategy and innovation officer & co-founder - educate hawah nabbuye hawah nabbuye 2018 echidna global scholar - the brookings institution, uganda country director - educate uganda @hawahhawah.

August 7, 2020

As we adjust to life during a global pandemic, it’s hard to imagine what life was like over a century ago during outbreaks. While in the past most faced quarantines without a telephone or a radio, today there is an expansive universe online. Even as the coronavirus forces physical isolation, the spectacular technological advances of the digital age make local and global connection possible. However, within education, the new centrality of communication technology in the context of the vast digital divide means the pandemic is exacerbating inequality, excluding many youth from their right to learn.

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, our East African youth skills organization, Educate! , reached youth primarily through national education systems—delivering our model directly in schools or working with the government. For over a decade, we’ve been operating this way, partnering with secondary schools in Uganda to prepare youth with the skills to succeed in today’s economy, as well as working on systems-level integration of skills-based learning in Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya. But schools across East Africa have been closed since March, and access to tools like smartphones, internet, and electricity is scarce in the region. This means that many distance learning strategies being deployed in other parts of the world are not feasible, and we’ve observed a significant gap in solutions for youth. The challenges inherent to delivering distance learning in resource-constrained areas remain largely unsolved—requiring creative, context-driven solutions.

Our approach

When schools across East Africa closed in mid-March, Educate! acted quickly to launch a response—aiming to embrace the now and act swiftly —pivoting to deliver components of our skills-based model to youth remotely through radio, SMS (text messaging), and interactive voice response (“robocalls”). During this time, our team began executing extensive remote learning research, as well as developing data collection platforms, which would be key to ensuring our program best fit the needs of our learners.

Although moving to distance learning was new territory for us, luckily we didn’t have to reinvent the wheel. First, we invested in learning from the many organizations working to tackle the digital divide prior to COVID-19: Girl Effect in girls’ empowerment, Eneza and M-Shule in academic learning, and the countless organizations providing learning continuity in humanitarian emergencies . Leveraging these learnings and equity-focused best practices , our local teams of curriculum and learning experience designers hit the ground running.

In just over three months of implementation, we’ve experienced exciting progress and key breakthroughs, coupled with failures, flops, and stubborn challenges—all of which have been critical for developing distance learning strategies of our own. By sharing our emerging best practices, we hope to contribute to the creation of quality and equitable distance learning solutions, allowing young people in every corner of the world to stay engaged with their education.

Lessons learned for effective distance learning solutions

1. leverage user data to tailor programmatic design to learner realities.

Our greatest obstacle has been determining how to consistently reach youth with limited access to the internet and connectivity through phone or radio. To address this challenge and inform an effective response, we needed to deeply understand our students’ realities. And to understand our students’ realities, we needed data! While we leveraged existing country data on school closures, as well as young people’s broad access to technology, we needed to collect data specific to our students’ lives. We needed to understand what life was like at home, how frequently our students could access a phone or radio, what barriers they faced learning outside the classroom, and if gender affected their ability to participate.

While collecting data under countrywide coronavirus restrictions has been challenging, it has been critical for informing our response. To collect data, our team leveraged low-tech means, including disseminating surveys to youth through SMS, WhatsApp, and phone calls. We leveraged phone-based surveys to guide our programmatic decisionmaking and used WhatsApp groups for rapid design feedback. We have also targeted data on gender, developing a data point within our student contact database, allowing us to disaggregate by gender. As our team targets equal participation among boys and girls in our programming, disaggregation by gender has been critical for informing our remote gender equity strategy (discussed below in learning #5).

While these data collection platforms don’t reach all of our students, these systems have generated rich datasets on key indicators, such as participation. A key barrier we discovered through student surveys is that many youth have taken on new home responsibilities, cutting into time for their studies. Mornings are especially busy, as many students are completing household chores or supporting their families with agricultural work. In response to these learnings, we scheduled radio lessons on the weekends and sent learning prompts via SMS later in the day, when youth had finished their chores. By listening closely to our students and looking at a holistic picture of their lives, we have been able to increase participation in our remote programming quite simply, without addressing the complex issues of technology access.

2. Go beyond broadcasting content: Layer strategies and build in interaction

It’s widely recognized that real and meaningful learning occurs in the classroom only when curriculum goes beyond rote memorization and lecture-based instruction. We believe that the same approach should be applied to distance learning, so we have prioritized hybrid distance learning strategies that have two-way engagement built in.

We are taking a multipronged approach in Uganda—leveraging radio for content delivery, with robocalls, SMS, and remote mentorship for follow-up assessment, engagement, and guidance. While we don’t believe that distance learning strategies can replace in-person instruction, we think that “layering” strategies with built-in engagement can strengthen their impact. Evidence backs this up: In Kenya, a study examining the multimedia platform Shujazz showed that youth exhibited positive behavior changes after receiving targeted content through comics, social media, and SMS. Lastly, building in student responses to these mechanisms has the added advantage of supporting critical data collection.

3. Look for new ways to engage families

As schools began to close in March, our team urgently worked to collect student phone numbers to enroll students in our remote programming. However, of the 13,000 phone numbers we were able to collect, fewer than 50 percent were active. In addition, research conducted by our team at the outset of the pandemic found that many of our students only have access to a shared device for about 30 minutes per day.

Drawing on lessons learned from past emergencies, we conducted targeted outreach to parents and family members. We quickly learned that youth could participate more consistently in our remote programming if they used a family member’s phone rather than their own, as parents and relatives were more likely to own a phone as well as keep their phone numbers active. We also believe this strategy enhances the quality of the learning for youth because parents can help ensure their children engage actively with learning prompts. Further, a number of studies show that when communities and parents are engaged in students’ learning, academic achievement increases.

After targeting outreach to families, we saw a 29 percent increase in participation in our remote programming, and since launching, we have grown our reach from roughly 10 percent of our previous student level to 50-60 percent, with the expectation that our reach will continue to grow as we scale nationally. As with all things technology-enabled, this growth is exponential and has a snowball effect, so we’re hopeful about the future.

4. Incorporate story-based learning to keep youth engaged

Our team leveraged this feedback to rewrite radio scripts, rework linear learning activities, and introduce new characters within the lessons. While we are continuing to iterate on our distance learning curriculum, we are already beginning to see a positive impact, as 90 percent of our listeners have reported they relate to these story-based activities.

5. Think critically about pedagogy and content delivery to better support girls

Educate!’s curriculum was developed with gender responsiveness at the forefront, and we’ve designed our model to address critical gaps girls face—such as asset and skills gaps—to impact life outcomes. As we’ve worked to transition our curriculum to entirely new delivery mechanisms, we have taken a deliberate approach to integrating gender equity within our remote programming’s design and delivery.

Leveraging the data collection strategies outlined above, we discovered that boys in our programming were more likely to own their own phones than girls—making it challenging for our female learners to participate actively during radio lessons, as well as with assessments and learning prompts delivered via SMS. While we are still working to tackle the core issue of access among female learners, our team has set out to support girls and promote equal participation through a variety of programmatic components.

Our team of designers ensures that the content of every lesson and learning prompt delivered by radio or SMS is gender-responsive. For example, lead characters within our curriculum are female secondary school students, and we select confident female entrepreneurs within our case studies. Through our in-school model, we’ve seen that this strategy is effective in combating the socialization of girls to be quiet and reserved, as well as the negative stereotypes that typecast girls as less competent. In addition to gender-responsive pedagogy, we have begun exploring the implementation of all-girl listener groups as a way to create safe spaces at home for female learners. Following the release of a radio lesson, a female Educate! youth mentor convenes five to 10 girls on a conference call, where they connect to reflect on what they learned in the lesson, as well as discuss challenges they face learning at home.

In the foreseeable future, it seems likely that restrictions on gatherings will remain, limiting the education sector’s ability to reach youth directly in schools. By sharing these early lessons in effective distance learning, we believe we can work together as a sector to navigate this new normal. Together, we can rethink traditional education on a global level—pushing it further into the 21st century and toward a more equitable future.

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How the pandemic made private online tutors a go-to for NJ's public schools

5-minute read.

It started as a clever use of technology to help overburdened teachers and students as they juggled remote lessons during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Now, online tutoring has become standard “edtech” — and gaining popularity in New Jersey’s K-12 schools. 

Online tutoring — in which students interact with a human tutor on a computer screen — has become key as districts struggle to help students catch up from pandemic-related learning gaps amid an ongoing teacher shortage. On-screen tutoring is predominantly used after school hours, but that could change to fit into the school day. 

The Edison school district in Middlesex County is paying for online tutoring using federal Title I funds that districts receive based on the size of their low-income student population, but which must be used to serve any student who is at risk academically.

The Denville school district in Morris County used $68,000 in federal COVID relief funds for online tutoring through AirTutor.com, said Assistant Superintendent Sandra Cullis. She sees online tutoring as a "game changer" that stayed on after masks and COVID restrictions went away.

With pandemic relief dollars running out, districts like Denville are also considering using Title I funds for online tutoring. 

“If funding allows, having additional supports ready to address student needs in a timely manner is a game changer for some students,” Cullis said.

Online tutoring provides personalized, differentiated learning

Schools are still using the technology only to support students who need extra help — outside class hours, and not in place of classroom instruction.

But it also offers districts the option of providing personalized, differentiated learning — buzzwords in education as schools try to address individual needs instead of using one-size-fits-all lessons that may not reach every student in the same way. 

“We now know that the more individualized, the more personalized the educational program you can deliver, the better it is,” said Rick Cohen, chief academic officer for secondary education at Edison Public Schools. 

“It's not a magic bullet, and you don’t get 100%,” he said, “but because of the personalized aspect of it — the one-to-one tutoring — we get a good response.”

The district has spent $333,662 this academic year on math tutoring for high school students through Varsity Tutors, he said. That's about $17 an hour. 

24/7 anonymous chat-based tutoring help

An add-on service from online tutors is 24/7 chat-based help. The sessions are anonymous but use interactive whiteboards to work out problems and share notes on the chat screen. Students get help with homework and concepts without face-to-face interaction.

The Paterson school district offers its sixth to 12th grade students the service through Tutor.com. 

Many tutoring companies grabbed the opportunity created by the pandemic's temporary shift to K-12 remote learning. In March 2021, the state announced the bridging of the digital divide in public schools, ensuring that every student had a laptop and internet access.

Companies such as Varsity Tutors had a 16-year-old core business tutoring families and individuals. Now they had a new niche: the public school.

“About two years ago we started to realize the need to help districts and provide individualized support, both to help with teacher burnout and learning loss recovery,” said Anthony Salcito, chief institution business officerfor Varsity Tutors.

The company said it provides personal online tutoring and a 24/7 chat to K-12 students in 13 charter schools and school districts in New Jersey, including Mine Hill and Randolph in Morris County, Orange and Livingston in Essex County, and Edison.

In Edison, parents sign up their children for tutoring sessions to match their family schedules. Varsity Tutors also offers district- and teacher-assigned tutoring, in which schools could potentially have students meet online with a tutor during study hall or as an in-class support to teachers.

Schools have yet to buy in to these options, possibly also because teachers’ unions would have to agree. The company said one New Jersey district is considering in-school tutoring support. 

Online tutors best for math and reading

Denville students received one-on-one online math help in the summer, to bridge the gap between advanced and grade-level courses. Tutoring was more effective for fourth through eighth grade students and for math and basic reading skills, like phonemic awareness, said Cullis, the assistant superintendent.

Cohen, from the Edison district, agreed that the model works better for math. “I saw substantial gains for our students in math that participated in at least 12 or more hours of online tutoring,” he said, after comparing test scores for students who were tutored in math and in English for the same number of hours. 

Tutoring platforms refer to weeks-long, intensive sessions as “high-dosage” tutoring, which research shows is highly effective for learning gains in students who are falling behind. “High-dosage” usually refers to in-person tutoring, with a child or a small group meeting with the same tutor for up to 90 minutes a week. But the model is also moving online. 

No substitute for classroom, teachers say

For all the hype, online tutoring is no substitute for in-person classroom teachers, say school leaders and teachers’ unions.

The state’s largest teachers’ union, the New Jersey Education Association, pushed last year for laws that would require schools to get approval from the Department of Education for virtual instructors or vendors to deliver remote instruction for courses other than on financial, business and entrepreneurship literacy.

The measure did not pass, but the state’s K-12 stakeholders are trying to find common ground on regulating online instruction. 

Flexibility, a wide pool of tutors for all subjects and multilingual tutors for non-English-speaking students are other benefits. “Some students are more confident with virtual tutors," Cullis said. 

“One disadvantage of virtual tutoring is the inability to read the whole child,” especially body language, she said.  

Difficulty filling teaching jobs

But the pandemic left administrators stretched thin. Cohen, who worked for the Metuchen school district at the time, said it was hard enough finding teachers for kids who were quarantining and those needing extra help.

Then came the COVID omicron variant in January 2022, sending even more kids and staff into quarantine. 

“I was like, OK, we can't maintain this," Cohen said. "We can't sustain and anticipate the number of kids who are going to need support beyond quarantine instruction. That's when I began to search for third-party vendors.”

But federal relief funds for high-dosage online tutoring was reserved for academically at-risk students in vulnerable demographic sub-groups, including Black and Hispanic students, those receiving special education services, low-income students and English language learners.

The district was also hearing from families that said their kids did not qualify for the high-dosage tutoring but wanted extra help. It decided to use Varsity Tutors’ 24/7 chat as a support for all students, Cohen said.

Ultimately, online tutoring has “empowered” schools to be personalized and on-demand, without pressuring teachers, Cohen said. 

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Symposium considers how technology is changing academia

While moderating a talk on artificial intelligence last week, Latanya Sweeney posed a thought experiment. Picture three to five years from now. AI companies are continuing to scrape the internet for data to feed their large language models. But unlike today’s internet, which is largely human-generated content, most of that future internet’s content has been generated by … large language models.

The scenario is not farfetched considering the explosive growth of generative AI in the last two years, suggested the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and Harvard Kennedy School professor.  

Sweeney’s panel was part of a daylong symposium on AI hosted by the FAS last week that considered questions such as: How are generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT disrupting what it means to own one’s work? How can AI be leveraged thoughtfully while maintaining academic and research integrity? Just how good are these large language model-based programs going to get? (Very, very good.)

“Here at the FAS, we’re in a unique position to explore questions and challenges that come from this new technology,” said Hopi Hoekstra , Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, during her opening remarks. “Our community is full of brilliant thinkers, curious researchers, and knowledgeable scholars, all able to lend their variety of expertise to tackling the big questions in AI, from ethics to societal implications.”

In an all-student panel, philosophy and math concentrator Chinmay Deshpande ’24 compared the present moment to the advent of the internet, and how that revolutionary technology forced academic institutions to rethink how to test knowledge. “Regardless of what we think AI will look like down the line, I think it’s clear it’s starting to have an impact that’s qualitatively similar to the impact of the internet,” Deshpande said. “And thinking about pedagogy, we should think about AI along somewhat similar lines.”

Computer science concentrator and master’s degree student Naomi Bashkansky ’25, who is exploring AI safety issues with fellow students, urged Harvard to provide thought leadership on the implications of an AI-saturated world, in part by offering courses that integrate the basics of large language models into subjects like biology or writing.

Harvard Law School student Kevin Wei agreed.

“We’re not grappling sufficiently with the way the world will change, and especially the way the economy and labor market will change, with the rise of generative AI systems,” Wei said. “Anything Harvard can do to take a leading role in doing that … in discussions with government, academia, and civil society … I would like to see a much larger role for the University.”

The day opened with a panel on original scholarship, co-sponsored by the Mahindra Humanities Center and the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics . Panelists explored ethics of authorship in the age of instant access to information and blurred lines of citation and copyright, and how those considerations vary between disciplines.

David Joselit , the Arthur Kingsley Professor of Art, Film, and Visual Studies, said challenges wrought by AI have precedent in the history of art; the idea of “authorship” has been undermined in the modern era because artists have often focused on the idea as what counts as the artwork, rather than its physical execution. “It seems to me that AI is a mechanization of that kind of distribution of authorship,” Joselit said. He posed the idea that AI should be understood “as its own genre, not exclusively as a tool.”

Another symposium topic included a review of Harvard Library’s law, information policy, and AI survey research revealing how students are using AI for academic work. Administrators from across the FAS also shared examples of how they are experimenting with AI tools to enhance their productivity. Panelists from the Bok Center shared how AI has been used in teaching this year, and Harvard University Information Technology gave insight into tools it is building to support instructors. 

Throughout the ground floor of the Northwest Building, where the symposium took place, was a poster fair keying off final projects from Sweeney’s course “Tech Science to Save the World,” in which students explored how scientific experimentation and technology can be used to solve real-world problems. Among the posters: “Viral or Volatile? TikTok and Democracy,” and “Campaign Ads in the Age of AI: Can Voters Tell the Difference?”

Students from the inaugural General Education class “ Rise of the Machines? ” capped the day, sharing final projects illustrating current and future aspects of generative AI.

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Education | CNU graduates reflect on how pandemic shaped their college experience

Four years ago, many were high school seniors gearing up for prom, their final high school sports seasons and the chance to walk across the stage in their caps and gowns. Most of those plans fell through as the pandemic shut down schools and many students were left waving at neighbors in drive-by parades or watching Zoom celebrations instead.

Three students at Christopher Newport University talked about their excitement to walk across the stage Saturday:

Joining the front lines as an EMT

Reuben Laryea was home during spring break when schools announced the closure.

“We thought we’d be back to school in a week,” Laryea said, “and   the week turned into never coming back.”

His biggest disappointment was not being around his friends during the last few weeks of high school.

“That part I was not too happy about.”

He was also upset at not finishing soccer season — he was captain and had big plans for the team.

For graduation, his school in Stafford County brought students in five at a time for a socially distanced ceremony. Everyone wore masks except during photos, then rushed out so the next group could enter.

“I was still happy to be able to have my family around to see me walk,” said Laryea.

Laryea was bored in the weeks after graduation. Because he wanted to be a doctor, he got his EMT license and joined the front lines fighting the virus. He went on several calls and took the extra precautions of wiping down the ambulance after each use; he and his colleagues masked up and socially distanced at the fire station.

That fall, half of his classes at CNU were online. Small classes were held in large auditoriums so students could spread out. They weren’t allowed to visit dorms in which they didn’t live.

“You got really close with your hallmates,” he said.

Days away from his college graduation, Laryea is excited.

“It was a lot of hard work, especially for seniors who persevered through COVID for the first two years,” said the neuroscience major.

He believes the experience made his class more resilient.

Laryea, 21, joined the Air Force and has been commissioned as a second lieutenant. He’s headed to Eastern Virginia Medical School in the fall.

Making friends, creating memories

Kyle Greber remembers where he was when he found out school was closing because of COVID — in the middle of a conditioning practice with his volleyball team.

“We were just so happy we didn’t have to run anymore,” Greber, 22, joked this week.

But then everyone realized the situation was serious.

“Things started to get really weird.”

He remembers the fast food chain where he worked delivering free food to hospitals. He had to cancel his 18th birthday party. For his Germantown, Maryland, graduation, his high school hosted a Zoom webinar as pictures flashed on the screen and names were announced.

“You were on TV for like five seconds.”

But there were three other graduates in his neighborhood. They held a ceremony, walking along their street to a cul-de-sac. They donned caps and gowns and took pictures with their families.

But the pandemic created unique memories at CNU. In those first weeks on campus, Greber and other freshmen waited until their dorms’ resident assistants went to sleep before sneaking out to the Great Lawn to make new friends — sitting just 3 feet apart, “because we were rebels.”

“We’d bring blankets and blast music,” he said. “And honestly, I think it made our class really close … We all know each other because of freshman year.”

Greber, who majored in business, leadership and American studies, served on the senior class alumni committee and helped plan graduation.

“Seeing it all come together,” he said, “it’s super exciting.”

He said the pandemic taught him not to take anything for granted. He’s just happy to share Saturday with friends and family.

Greber begins a job at Capital One’s headquarters in Washington this summer.

‘Impossible to forget’

As a high school senior, Amanda Wilfong was paying attention to the news. She watched COVID spread worldwide in January and February, wondering if it would reach Loudoun County. Then someone in her county contracted the virus and the calls came that schools — and just about everything else — would close.

Many people thought after a couple of weeks, everything would return to normal; Wilfong said she didn’t.

“I knew it was over,” she said. “I remember watching it from afar and I think I knew it wouldn’t be open and shut in two weeks.”

Instead of prom, her school held a spirit day and students dressed up at home and took photos. Her spring theater production was canceled. Her graduation was a live stream she and her family watched on TV at home.

“It was essentially like a big PowerPoint going through the names and the photos,” said Wilfong, 22.

Her school set aside slots on three days for small groups of graduates to come in and walk across the stage with their families watching. She felt disheartened because of what her class missed. She had to accept over the summer that her college experience would be different than her expectations.

“That was a bit of a hard pill to swallow at the beginning.”

After moving in for her freshman year, she was overwhelmed with gratitude. Many of her friends attended bigger schools and spent their first semesters at home, attending classes online. She attended some classes online and participated in socially distanced activities. Wilfong said expectations were so low that any activity or “normal” experience felt special.

Crossing the stage at graduation Saturday may not be a big deal to some, she said. But it’s a little more exciting for her class because many hadn’t “done the whole song and dance” before.

After graduation, Wilfong, a marketing major, is moving to Richmond for a job with Costar Realty Group.

The pandemic has become a defining characteristic of her class — referenced in speeches or activities they participate in.

“I feel like it’s impossible to forget because people don’t let us forget.”

Nour Habib, [email protected]

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