Lack of skills biggest barrier to digital learning: report

ISLAMABAD: Physical access to the internet or a device was the biggest barrier to digital learning across the world.

This was the crux of a report published by the Oxford University Press (OUP) and contains the views of 1,557 school and English language teachers from 92 countries, including Pakistan on the digital divide, the barriers to effective teaching and learning, and the impact of the divide on learners’ development.

A total of 68 per cent of teachers rated poor access to the internet or a device as the biggest barrier to digital learning, while 56 per cent said it was also because of the lack of digital skills among parents, teachers, and learners.

A total of 68 per cent teachers were of the view that limited digital skills are nearly as great a problem as access to technology and poor digital access was the biggest barrier to digital learning.

According to 70 per cent of teachers, disadvantaged students have been significantly affected by the shift to digital learning, the most disadvantaged students lost learning due to limited or no access to digital devices.

Similarly, 44 per cent of respondents felt that the wellbeing of disadvantaged students has been negatively affected during the pandemic.

Half of the teachers surveyed said that the lack of parental understanding of digital tools/platforms limited the effectiveness of support available to their children, while 58 per cent said disadvantaged students tended to receive less educational support from their parents and families.

The OUP report suggested to build digital competency skills among educators, students, and parents. It also reveals that the lack of digital competency among teachers, students and their parents is holding back digital learning to an alarming level.

The OUP urged the governments around the world to prioritise investments that support affordable access to reliable internet connections and devices, adding that the governments should actively collaborate with the teachers and students and use their recent experiences to inform future policy and curriculum development.

Nigel Portwood, CEO of Oxford University Press, said: “The world of education continues to undergo significant digital transformation, and yet so many learners are being left behind because of the digital divide.”

“And as our research shows, it is not just about ensuring people have access to the relevant devices, or improving connectivity; unless we fill skills gaps and make sure teachers, learners, and parents know how to use digital tools effectively, the digital divide will only continue to grow,” he added.

Fathima Dada, managing director of OUP’s Education Division, said: “It is imperative that [the] governments and policy experts come together on a global scale to address the issues identified in our report.”

“We know where the problems lie, and we now need a forward looking approach to fix them. We owe it to [the] students to ensure that digital learning is fit for [the] purpose, not just in times of crisis, but as we start to look ahead to the future of learning,” she added.

The Oxford University Press is a department of the Oxford University with the objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

OUP is the world’s largest university press with the widest global presence.