The educational response to Covid-19 across two countries: a critical examination of initial digital pedagogy adoption

ABSTRACT

In spring 2020, K–12 schools adopted remote learning amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Using activity theory, the authors examine the educational response to this global health crisis in the United States and the United Kingdom. Data are drawn from key news media publications in each country between 1 February and 31 May 2020. The authors critically examine the tensions and contradictions within and between interrelated systems (schooling, educational policy, home learning). They consider how remote digital pedagogy was perceived and enacted by different stakeholders: teachers, parents, policymakers. Tensions arose between digital pedagogy, system rules and teachers’ digital skills, leading to different experiences for students. The division of labour shifted; parental responsibility for managing children’s learning increased. Digital equity issues prevailed in both countries (technology access, social support), disadvantaging students from low-income families. National educational policy system responses were more coordinated in the UK than in the US.

KEYWORDS:

• Digital pedagogy
• online learning
• digital equity
• activity theory
• Covid-19

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christine Greenhow

Christine M. Greenhow, PhD, is an Associate Professor in Educational Psychology & Educational Technology, Michigan State University, USA. She studies various forms of learning with social media, the design of social-mediated environments for learning, and changes in scholarship practices with new media. (http://cgreenhow.org and @chrisgreenhow on Twitter).

Cathy Lewin

Cathy Lewin, PhD, is Professor of Education at the Education and Social Research Institute, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Her research interests concern teachers’ digital pedagogy and young people’s use of technology in formal, non‐formal and informal settings.

K. Bret Staudt Willet

K. Bret Staudt Willet is a PhD candidate in Educational Psychology & Educational Technology at Michigan State 645University, USA. He researches networked learning in online communities, specifically, issues of agency in navigatingthe learning spaces afforded by social media (http://bretsw.com).