Abstract:

The integration of Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) into teaching, learning, and assessment was accelerated by Covid-19 school closures and has since continued to be a central tenet of the learner experience. Parents with limited educational capital, or lack of access to digital resources, face challenges in supporting their child as we transition to a post-Covid learning environment with greater emphasis on VLEs (Cedefop, 2020, Devitt et al, 2020). This is significant as parental involvement in their child’s education is a determining factor in student engagement and outcomes (McCoy et al. 2014, McCoy, 2018, McNamara et al, 2021).

Covid-19 school closures shone a light on the digital divide between families of low and high Socio-Economic Status (SES) (Carroll & McCoy, 2021). In addition, school closures compounded the inequities in social reproduction between those families who have access to resources necessary to respond to the crisis (Mohan et al, 2021).

Student engagement in distance learning during the period of school closures in 2020 varied. Teachers in DEIS schools (Delivering Equality of opportunity In Schools) were three times more likely to report low student engagement compared with those in a non-DEIS context (Devitt et al, 2020). Cedefop (2020) reinforced this point by reporting how learners from disadvantaged groups were less likely to engage in online learning.

Several factors influenced student engagement with learning during this period including SES, access to resources, communication from school, and level of parental involvement (Devitt et al, 2020a). Additionally, a lack of support at home was seen as a barrier to engaging with online learning during period of school closures in 2020 (Ibid).

In an effort to narrow this divide for parents of students at risk of educational disadvantage and to enhance student engagement, Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board (LOETB) and Trinity Access designed an intervention programme titled; the Programme to Enhance Digital Literacy (PEDL) for Parents.

This research focuses on the impact of the PEDL intervention programme which aims to enhance parent’s educational capital and digital skills with the ultimate intention of enhancing student engagement. The theoretical framework underpinning the research is Bourdieu’s theory of cultural reproduction (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). This theory is widely used as a framework for educational research (Webb et al., 2017) and it recognises the influence of families’ social, economic and cultural capital in shaping students' educational outcomes and choices (McCoy, 2014).

Keywords:

Parents, Digital Divide, Intervention Programme.