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eSchool News
How the pandemic is driving a shift in student-directed learning
By Laura Ascione, Editorial Director, Content Services, @esn_laura
January 15th, 2021
New research documents why digital and mobile tools will continue to
play a role in the classroom and be instrumental in student-directed
learning
While the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, a struggle for
students and educators, it also has revealed a move toward increased
student-directed learning, according to the final installment in a
series of reports from Project Tomorrow and Blackboard investigating
the impact and expectations for digital learning from the point of view
of K-12 students, parents, and educators.
The final report, “Sponsoring Student Ownership of Learning,” examines
how the pandemic is fueling a shift toward student-directed learning
and how digital and mobile tools will likely remain a key part of the
classroom even after students return to in-person instruction. It
focuses on the student point of view of their learning experiences and
the teachers’ and administrators’ perspectives around the value of
technology to support students’ increased efficacy in the learning
process.
Project Tomorrow’s Speak Up Research Project surveyed the perspectives
of over 137,000 K-12 students, parents and educators, revealing how
they see technology as a critical tool in increasing students’
ownership of their learning journey.
“As the classroom shifted to the kitchen table, parents saw firsthand
the power of digital and mobile tools in driving student-led learning,”
said Dr. Julie A. Evans, chief researcher and CEO of Project Tomorrow.
“This research illuminates why even as we return to a more traditional
in-person classroom experience, technology will continue to underpin
student-led learning.”
The report reveals that when students have freedom to direct their own
learning in school, that experience leads to more self-directed
learning outside of school. The percentage of students using digital
tools to do online research, take an online course, use online writing
tools or watch videos to learn a skill outside the classroom rose
across the board during the pandemic (pg.5).
The number of parents who believe the use of technology within learning
results in greater student ownership of the learning process increased
by 41 percent because of their child’s remote e-learning experience in
spring 2020 (pg.6).
72 percent of principals and 63 percent of teachers say that mobile
learning results in students taking greater responsibility for their
own learning (pg.9).
The increased usage and reliance upon mobile devices in spring resulted
in 55 percent of teachers now saying that they are comfortable
supporting their students’ use of mobile devices as a learning tool
(pg.9).
Only 18 percent of K-12 teachers say that they are very comfortable
with a learning environment where students can choose their own
learning path (pg.3).
The research provides valuable insight into how the experience gained
during the pandemic will shape future tools and support structures that
promote student-led learning.
“The path toward an educational experience highly directed by each
student individually is beginning to take shape,” said Christina
Fleming, Vice President for Blackboard K-12. “Project Tomorrow’s
research offers valuable insight into how we can harness these shared
experiences and develop environments that put learners in the driver’s
seat of their educational journey.”
“Sponsoring Student Ownership of Learning” is the final report in a
series of executive briefs called 90 Days that Changed K-12 Teaching
and Learning. The series leveraged Speak Up Research Project findings
on the front-line perspectives of over 137,000 K-12 students, teachers
and parents on the role of technology and new learning models within
education, including changes in their views and values around digital
learning during school closures. The Speak Up Research Project is a
strategic initiative of Project Tomorrow.
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