Towards Quality Digital Learning: Lessons Learned during COVID-19 and Recommended Actions—The Teachers’ Perspective
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- What were the main difficulties, challenges, and opportunities experienced by teachers and students during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy?
- What were the strategies and best practices deriving from the teacher’s experiences to encourage students’ involvement and inclusion?
- Which are the suggested actions to improve distance learning and provide a high-quality education and learning opportunities for all?
2. The Debate on Online Learning during COVID-19
3. Materials and Methods
4. Results
4.1. Quantitative Results
4.2. Difficulties, Challenges and Opportunities of Distance Learning
4.3. Strategies and Best Practices to Encourage Students’ Involvement and Inclusion
“I shared the vademecum for the distant learning with the students to have clear, simple rules to respect”.
“It is important to enforce the rules, including punctuality in the lesson, make students visible and actively participate in the lesson”.
“Implementing the asynchronous mode (video/audio recording of lessons) instead of stressing students with live distance lessons could be a good way to work on autonomy even at a distance without weighing too much. The workload has to be thought differently, not as an online lesson for adults but as a different method of studying/learning”.
“I tried to make the meetings as participatory as possible by making sure that students work (alone or in a group) between one meeting and another, without overloading them and dedicating the hour in which we met as a moment of exchange and of presentation of the works carried out in which they were all the protagonists. I also tried to make the meetings very varied and participatory to keep attention by alternating my explanations with interactive material, short videos, sometimes using slides, and, first of all, giving space to their interventions”.
“I involved the students in activities that stimulated their interest. It is not easy to keep the students for many hours in front of a screen, it can be stressful. So, I continuously stimulated students through questions and quizzes, short videos, individual interventions by each student”.
“The flipped classroom experience was very inclusive because it allowed each student to personalize the explanation of the topic presented, corroborating centrality and self-esteem”.
“In my distance lessons, I used as much as possible the participation and involvement of each student through micro-exercises, micro-interventions, work in pairs and mini-groups that I monitored passing from one virtual room to another by using the breakout rooms. This allowed for cooperative participation and interaction among students”.
“Distance learning was an important experience for experimenting with new teaching methods related mainly to group work, such as digital storytelling”.
“Connections with the class group without the aim of a specific lesson but a meeting so that the students could share time to see and hear the voices of others, lightness and socialization then gave the impetus and motivation to commitment.”
“Distance learning made us discover that we can meet at any time of the day. We had lessons during the non-curricular time and helped those who had difficulty learning. The contacts were continuous”.
“We have inserted time break hours where we can discuss with students for any problems; we often monitored students’ behaviour with the families to understand any difficulties and inconveniences”.
“Before starting the lesson, take a few minutes to listen to the children’s voices, their feelings and emotions, involve students and making them feel important, asking them how they are doing, etc.”
4.4. Recommended Actions to Improve Distance Learning
4.5. Pearson’s Correlation between Teachers’ Preparation and Knowledge and Suggested Actions
5. Discussion
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Variable | Options | f | (%) |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Males | 185 | 19% |
Females | 792 | 81% | |
Age | Less than 28 | 14 | 1% |
29–39 | 110 | 11% | |
40–49 | 283 | 29% | |
50–59 | 428 | 44% | |
More than 60 | 142 | 15% | |
Level of school teaching | Primary school | 315 | 32% |
Middle school | 243 | 25% | |
High school | 419 | 43% | |
Teaching experience | For 5 years or less | 112 | 11% |
Between 6 and 10 years | 122 | 13% | |
Between 11 and 15 years | 128 | 13% | |
Between 16 and 20 years | 125 | 13% | |
Between 21 and 25 years | 173 | 18% | |
Between 26 and 30 years | 119 | 12% | |
Over 30 years | 198 | 20% | |
Subject matter of expertise | Humanities disciplines | 436 | 45% |
Technical disciplines | 70 | 7% | |
Scientific disciplines | 266 | 27% | |
Exercise sciences | 24 | 2% | |
Other | 181 | 19% | |
School location | Northeast | 339 | 35% |
Northwest | 130 | 13% | |
Centre | 120 | 12% | |
South | 286 | 29% | |
Islands | 102 | 11% | |
Schools with a catchment area also coming from rural areas | Yes | 602 | 62% |
No | 364 | 38% |
Technical Difficulties Experienced by Students | Schools with Students from Rural Areas | Centre | Islands | North East | North West | South |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Internet connection problems | YES | 100% | 98% | 96% | 91% | 94% |
NO | 89% | 95% | 93% | 94% | 90% | |
Lack of adequate devices (e.g., smartphones) | YES | 70% | 76% | 71% | 75% | 76% |
NO | 89% | 95% | 93% | 94% | 90% | |
Limited availability of hardware devices | YES | 77% | 81% | 83% | 80% | 79% |
NO | 78% | 85% | 79% | 80% | 77% | |
Difficulty in using the platforms for distance learning | YES | 30% | 42% | 39% | 45% | 40% |
NO | 42% | 59% | 45% | 42% | 42% | |
Lack or limited technical assistance | YES | 39% | 40% | 31% | 50% | 32% |
NO | 34% | 41% | 35% | 31% | 26% | |
Inadequate platforms used | YES | 14% | 16% | 12% | 30% | 17% |
NO | 14% | 23% | 12% | 9% | 23% |
Didactic Challenges Experienced by Students | Schools with Students from Rural Areas | Centre | Islands | North East | North West | South |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Environment at home not suitable for distance learning | YES | 68% | 81% | 69% | 59% | 54% |
NO | 71% | 72% | 59% | 72% | 55% | |
Inadequate teacher-student interaction | YES | 30% | 38% | 37% | 43% | 21% |
NO | 25% | 38% | 38% | 34% | 37% | |
Lack of interaction/collaboration with peers | YES | 52% | 54% | 67% | 61% | 42% |
NO | 59% | 49% | 59% | 58% | 40% | |
Low attention level compared to classroom lessons | YES | 52% | 81% | 69% | 66% | 58% |
NO | 59% | 62% | 61% | 59% | 55% | |
Lack of support from parents or a family member (especially for primary school) | YES | 39% | 29% | 28% | 43% | 31% |
NO | 29% | 46% | 37% | 34% | 29% | |
Lack or difficulty in finding structured material and contents for e-learning | YES | 5% | 16% | 9% | 20% | 14% |
NO | 4% | 5% | 8% | 7% | 8% |
Actions | 1. | 2. | 3. | 4. | 5. | n.A. | Schools Also from Rural Areas | Schools from Urban Areas |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Network infrastructure | 1% | 1% | 8% | 26% | 60% | 4% | 62% | 56% |
Access to the Internet for all students | 1% | 3% | 11% | 27% | 53% | 5% | 55% | 51% |
Cheaper devices | 1% | 3% | 19% | 33% | 40% | 4% | 41% | 40% |
More incentives by Government to buy devices | 2% | 5% | 20% | 32% | 36% | 5% | 39% | 33% |
Training courses for teachers | 2% | 6% | 24% | 34% | 30% | 4% | 33% | 34% |
New teaching methodologies for students’ inclusion | 4% | 9% | 25% | 34% | 22% | 6% | 34% | 32% |
Specific training to students on distance learning | 3% | 11% | 28% | 32% | 22% | 4% | 31% | 32% |
Social interaction and online collaboration | 4% | 11% | 29% | 32% | 18% | 6% | 33% | 30% |
New student assessment methods. | 6% | 8% | 22% | 32% | 25% | 7% | 31% | 32% |
It is necessary to develop more inclusive tools, platforms and devices | 3% | 6% | 22% | 32% | 30% | 7% | 32% | 32% |
More interactive e-learning platforms (videos, animations, quizzes, games, etc.) | 6% | 11% | 25% | 31% | 22% | 5% | 30% | 31% |
More effective educational practices and curricula | 8% | 13% | 27% | 28% | 19% | 5% | 31% | 24% |
Blended learning | 10% | 12% | 25% | 27% | 20% | 6% | 28% | 24% |
Greater involvement of teachers in the production of educational material | 4% | 13% | 34% | 27% | 16% | 6% | 33% | 34% |
Development of co-creation platforms | 6% | 13% | 33% | 28% | 14% | 6% | 34% | 30% |
Use of smart technologies | 12% | 18% | 33% | 22% | 8% | 7% | 31% | 37% |
Improvement of Technologies that use virtual and augmented reality | 9% | 14% | 30% | 29% | 12% | 6% | 29% | 30% |
To provide teachers with structured and planned educational material | 4% | 10% | 29% | 28% | 23% | 6% | 28% | 31% |
Use of TV, radio, tele-courses | 9% | 16% | 25% | 22% | 22% | 6% | 25% | 24% |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Preparation to use distance learning before the COVID-19 | 1 | ||||||||||
2. Preparation to use distance learning during the COVID-19 | 0.435 ** | 1 | |||||||||
3. Knowledge of apps/tools/platforms | 0.548 ** | 0.274 ** | 1 | ||||||||
4. Use of TV, radio, tele-courses | −0.086 ** | −0.095 ** | −0.026 | 1 | |||||||
5. Training courses for teachers | −0.121 ** | −0.138 ** | −0.016 | 0.337 ** | 1 | ||||||
6. Specific training to students on distance learning | −0.06 | −0.150 ** | −0.034 | 0.350 ** | 0.583 ** | 1 | |||||
7. To provide teachers with structured and planned educational material | −0.194 ** | −0.223 ** | −0.063 | 0.352 ** | 0.473 ** | 0.451 ** | 1 | ||||
8. Greater teachers’ involvement in the production of educational material | −0.054 | −0.117 ** | 0.034 | 0.359 ** | 0.432 ** | 0.445 ** | 0.636 ** | 1 | |||
9. Social interaction and online collaboration | 0.034 | −0.04 | 0.071 * | 0.351 ** | 0.347 ** | 0.377 ** | 0.341 ** | 0.418 ** | 1 | ||
10. Improvement of technologies that use virtual and augmented reality | 0.045 | −0.01 | 0.078 * | 0.369 ** | 0.343 ** | 0.304 ** | 0.351 ** | 0.406 ** | 0.491 ** | 1 | |
11. Use of smart technologies | 0.051 | 0.018 | 0.133 ** | 0.370 ** | 0.315 ** | 0.268 ** | 0.341 ** | 0.401 ** | 0.444 ** | 0.706 ** | 1 |
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Guzzo, T.; Boffo, S.; Ferri, F.; Gagliardi, F.; Grifoni, P. Towards Quality Digital Learning: Lessons Learned during COVID-19 and Recommended Actions—The Teachers’ Perspective. Sustainability 2022, 14, 8438. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148438
Guzzo T, Boffo S, Ferri F, Gagliardi F, Grifoni P. Towards Quality Digital Learning: Lessons Learned during COVID-19 and Recommended Actions—The Teachers’ Perspective. Sustainability. 2022; 14(14):8438. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148438
Chicago/Turabian StyleGuzzo, Tiziana, Stefano Boffo, Fernando Ferri, Francesco Gagliardi, and Patrizia Grifoni. 2022. "Towards Quality Digital Learning: Lessons Learned during COVID-19 and Recommended Actions—The Teachers’ Perspective" Sustainability 14, no. 14: 8438. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14148438