A series of studies conducted by five leading Australian universities and commissioned by the Federal Education Department found the learning outcomes of 46% of all children could suffer from the transition to online learning.
The research had initially focussed on vulnerable students, such as those from low-SES households or with disabilities, but the cohort expanded significantly due to the recent economic downturn – which has seen more than 1.6 million Australians lose their jobs – and many families struggling with limited Internet access at home.
Another study, published by the Mitchell Institute, found that most schools across Australia were “completely unprepared” for the coronavirus (COVID-19) and for moving to virtual learning.
However, new data from Mathspace, which is used by more than 250,000 Australian students, shows that student usage went up in the week immediately following school closures, with usage in low ICSEA schools going up the most.
In schools with an ICSEA lower than 1,000, student time spent on Mathspace increased by 168.04%, compared with schools with an ICSEA of 1100 or more (131.88%), and maths problems completed by students in schools with an ICSEA lower than 1000 increased by 157.42%, compared with schools with an ICSEA of 1100 or more (131.03%).
“One of the concerns flagged by these reports is the issue of digital access, and this is an issue that has been exacerbated by the recent school closures,” Mohamad Jebara, founder and CEO of Mathspace, said.
“But let’s not pretend that there wasn’t already an underlying problem here”.
Jebara said that while major gaps have been identified in computer and internet access across Australian schools, many schools are limited in their ability to use these kinds of learning tools as they have restricted or no digital access.
“The reports recently shared by the Government have shown how remote learning could further widen the gap between lower socio-economic students’ and other students’ academic growth,” he said.
“This is significant, and yet it’s also worth considering that in some instances remote learning may have actually improved students’ digital access, thereby improving their access to use e-learning tools”.
Jebara said the latest data from Mathspace is interesting as it may indicate that a subset of students from low ICSEA schools actually have better device and internet access at home than at school and therefore they may have access to more learning tools than before.
“The negative impacts of COVID-19 have been felt by almost every industry in the world, including education. But out of this crisis there is an opportunity for us to make some big changes in education,” he said.
“One of the biggest, and most pressing needs, is for the Government to look at digital access and ‘level the learning field’ so that every student can access a device and use the internet at school to learn”.