Technology-enabled remote learning during Covid-19: perspectives of Australian teachers, students and parents

ABSTRACT

The majority of Australian students learned remotely in term two (April–June 2020), in response to state government directives to close schools during the ‘first wave’ of Covid-19. This created myriad challenges for students, teachers and parents. Accordingly, this study seeks to capture these multiple perspectives of the remote learning experience. Forty interviews were conducted at the end of term two, with students, teachers and parents. The findings represent an integrated framework for engagement in the context of remote education. Engaging students was a top priority for teachers – albeit students felt less engaged with teachers. Student–peer engagement varied considerably. Lack of social interaction was a challenge for many students. Parents remained pragmatic, but largely unengaged with teachers. For the most part, students found online learning to be less personalised. While the pandemic has expedited emergency technology adoption in schools, this is not equivalent to the purposeful integration of technology over time.

KEYWORDS:

• Remote learning
• challenges
• technology
• engagement
• individualisation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lee-Ann Ewing

Lee-Ann Ewing is a PhD candidate in the School of Education, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) and an experienced primary school teacher. She holds an MEd (with honours) from the University of Western Australia and a BA from the University of South Africa. Lee-Ann’s research focuses on teacher education and on educational responses to Covid-19. Her work has been published in Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning and Media International Australia.

Holly Cooper received her PhD from Griffith University (Australia). She is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Deakin University. Her research interests include consumer psychology, brand narratives, corporate branding and heritage brands. She has published in Psychology & Marketing, the Journal of Brand Management, the Journal of Marketing Communication and the Australasian Marketing Journal.