Sad data about online education: Children do not learn at all

Researchers at Oxford drew their conclusions from data collected in the Netherlands, and schools in the Western European country were closed for eight weeks at the time of the first closure. However, experts believe their findings apply to the UK and elsewhere, writes MTI.

Despite its high distance education, it is Low grade students lost one-fifth of their average growth in a school year. This equates to spending time outside the classroom. The researchers found that the effect was more severe in disadvantaged children.

Our findings may reflect frightening and international conditions, as Dutch students are among those who enjoy the best distance learning opportunities, yet they have lost an average of 20 percent of their expected growth due to school closures, ”the university report quoted by the authors of the study by Per Engeld, Arun Fred and Mark Verhakand.

In other countries, the situation may be even worse

Students have made little progress in learning from home, and the loss has accumulated especially among parents with less educated students. In their case, the loss is 50 percent higher than the others.

Researchers say the technology may not be enough to mitigate the negative effects of the epidemic on schools. Despite the advanced digitalization of Dutch schools, the relatively short first closure and the high level of broadband access, student growth has slowed significantly. This is also worrying because many countries were less prepared for the challenges of distance education, the researchers wrote.

A lot depends on the teachers

Although the performance of the majority of students during distance education has deteriorated, some schools have experienced little or no decline. “Teachers’ attitudes, smart school management, play a key role in mitigating the negative effects of the epidemic, and there is a need to understand what causes these differences, ”Verhegen said.