Blended and online learning: what works and why in primary and secondary schools. Evidence from Northern Ireland

ABSTRACT

Data from a sample of teachers, parents and pupils in Northern Ireland about their experiences of blended and online learning during the pandemic has thrown light on effective practice and some of the reasons for this. After an initial period of uncertainty and confusion, most of the five schools studied found ways to provide regular online lessons which in many cases had high levels of interaction between teachers and pupils and in some cases between pupils. This was true also in schools which had high levels of pupil disadvantage measured through entitlement to free school meals. The reasons for the emergence of good practice were the prior investment in ICT facilities for every school, the support provided through educational authorities and local teacher networks, and the quality of leadership in schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Blended learning
• COVID-19
• schools

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Samuel Taggart

Samuel Taggart is an experienced classroom practitioner and teacher educator in Technology and Design Education at Ulster University, Northern Ireland. His research interests focus on the use of educational technology to support learning and teaching, particularly within Initial Teacher Education. Working with examination authorities, charitable Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) groups and local organisations, he aims to promote greater awareness of the educational, technological and engineering challenges and opportunities associated with the fourth industrial revolution.

Barbara Skinner

Barbara Skinner is a Senior Lecturer in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) in the School of Education at Ulster University, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has experience in leading research and consultancy teams. Dr Skinner’s research findings have been published in key international journals including Educational Review, Journal of Education for Teaching, Classroom Discourse, English Language Teaching Journal and Journal of Studies in International Education. Dr Skinner’s work explores issues concerning working parents and home-schooling during COVID, teachers’ mental health, teacher education, higher education pedagogy and intercultural competence. Projects have included managerialism and teachers’ professional identity, the EAL training needs of initial teacher trainees in Northern Ireland, cross-cultural partnerships for international and home students; cultural diversity in primary schools; embedding the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for language proficiency in online language teaching materials and the assessment of non-native speaking student teachers’ practicum.

Stephen Roulston

Stephen Roulston is a Research Fellow at Ulster University, previously the Course Director for PGCE Geography. He spent 20 years teaching, largely Geography and Geology, in a range of schools in Northern Ireland, joining Ulster University as a Lecturer in 2009. He has pioneered the use of ICT in supporting learning, particularly the use of GIS. He has also conducted research in education in divided societies, most recently as the lead for the Transforming Education project. This work aims to highlight aspects of education in Northern Ireland, a divided society emerging from conflict, which appear to be ineffective, wasteful or socially divisive.

Roger Austin

Roger Austin is Emeritus Professor in the School of Education at Ulster University in Northern Ireland. He has been a pioneer in the field of using technology to build community cohesion through inter-school links and has published extensively on this since 1988. The most recent work, published in late 2020, is Blended and Online Learning for Global Citizenship, co-authored with Bill Hunter. He has led two ground-breaking projects on the island of Ireland, the European Studies Programme and the Dissolving Boundaries Programme which used blended learning to foster intercultural education between teachers and pupils.