scholarly journals The Use of Digital Educational Resources in Times of COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 205630512110492
Author(s):  
Ismael Sanz-Labrador ◽  
Miguel Cuerdo-Mir ◽  
Luis Miguel Doncel-Pedrera
Keyword(s):  
Family Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Resources ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Digital Resources ◽  
National Education ◽  
Search Intensity ◽  
National Education Systems

COVID-19 has profoundly disrupted national education systems, affecting the future well-being of school-age children. Bacher-Hicks and colleagues showed that the intensity of the search for online learning resources in the United States doubled with respect to pre-COVID-19 levels. However, areas of the country with higher incomes, better internet access, and fewer rural schools experienced significantly greater increases in search intensity. Using a similar method to study the case of Spain, we analyze the evolution of search intensity for a selection of digital educational resources over the period 2015 to 2021. Special attention is paid to the period of COVID-19 pandemic, namely, March 2020 to June 2021. The findings include a widespread rise in the use of digital resources with respect to the use in the last 5 years, which varies by digital educational resource and region. However, the use of digital resources in Spain does not seem to vary according to family income, at least in relation to open access digital educational resources. In addition, there appears to be a steady decline in search intensity for digital educational resources and a certain degree of substitutability following the surge due to the pandemic and the school closures.

Going to School in Unequal America

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Willliam Elliott ◽  
Melinda Lewis
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
National Education Association ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
National Education ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Education Association ◽  
Developed World ◽  
Great Equalizer

In the United States, the education system is more than just a mechanism for transmitting knowledge. It is the nation’s most powerful tool for creating economic opportunities and helping individuals secure a good quality of life and parents’ primary plan for securing the well-being of their children. As such, educational attainment is often touted as the proverbial “key to the kingdom” that puts those who hold it on the path to prosperity. This link between economic mobility and education sets the United States apart from much of the rest of the developed world, where most countries have strong welfare systems that allow individuals to succeed routinely without postsecondary education. This international contrast provides an important framework for understanding how the role of education aligns with how Americans see themselves and their futures. More specifically, Americans vest their hopes in education as a means of getting ahead instead of relying on a generous welfare state that ensures that “nobody is in need”—the predominant view, for example, among Europeans. Crucially, the institution of education is supposed to work equally for all Americans, regardless of their starting point. This belief in education as a force for equity as well as opportunity was ensconced in its foundations, as articulated by Horace Mann in 1848, “Education then, beyond all other devices of human origin, is a great equalizer of the conditions of men—the balance wheel of the social machinery.” It persists, extolled by Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education in the Obama Administration, “In America, education is still the great equalizer” and National Education Association President Dennis Van Roekel, “Education is the great equalizer . . . opening doors of opportunity for all.” However, there are signs that Americans increasingly doubt the viability of these egalitarian ideals and question whether education can truly realize the promise of a better future. In 2014, only 64% of Americans reported that they still believe in the American dream.

scholarly journals The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health and Well-Being of Children and Youth in Nova Scotia: Youth and Parent Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilary A. T. Caldwell ◽  
Camille L. Hancock Friesen ◽  
Sara F. L. Kirk
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Children And Youth ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Physically Active ◽  
Anxious Youth ◽  
Health And Well Being

Objectives: The COVID-19 pandemic led to school closures, cancellations of major events, and loss of in-person social interactions for children and youth. These restrictions undoubtedly impacted the lives of children and youth. This study describes the well-being of children and youth in Nova Scotia during the COVID-19 pandemic and their thoughts and feelings about the return to school, from the perspectives of both youth and parents.Methods: A province-wide survey was conducted in August 2020 with parents of school-age children and youth and youth to measure youth well-being since the pandemic began.Results: Parents of children and youth in grades pre-primary to 12 (n = 699; 53% girls) and youth in grades 3–12 (n = 279; 69% girls) completed the online survey. Perceptions of parents about children's emotions during the pandemic were: bored, safe, lonely, happy, and anxious. Youth reported feeling bored, relaxed, depressed, safe, and worried. Sixty-three percent of youth and 72% of parents reported that they/their child felt they were missing important life events. Parents reported that being with parents, being physically active and being with friends made their child feel positive. Youth reported that being with friends, pets and watching TV made them feel good during this time. Seventy-six percent of parents and 62% of youth reported they/their child were getting more screen time than before the pandemic. With schools closed, participants most frequently shared that they missed friends and social interactions, in-person learning, and extra-curricular activities. Youth and parents expressed worries about COVID-19 outbreaks and related restrictions when schools re-opened to in-person learning.Conclusion: The well-being of children and youth in Nova Scotia was greatly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures in 2020. It is essential that pandemic recovery plans prioritize the health and well-being of children and youth.

scholarly journals The New Normal?

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 56-64
Author(s):  
O. A. Donskikh
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Growth Trend ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
National Education ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
National Education Systems ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Individual

The article discusses the preliminary results of the forced transition to entire online learning in the higher education system in the context of the general growth trend of the corresponding form of education in various universities around the world. The ideology defining this trend is considered. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the reality of a sharp increase in the level of control of both teachers and students by the creators of training platforms, as well as the possible consequences of this situation. It is shown that universities in different countries are seeking suitable forms of supplementing regular education with remote ones. The overall trend is a steady growth in online learning with significant variations across countries (examples include the United States, Australia, Germany, and China). It is obvious that national education systems differ significantly from each other, and with certain general trend towards online learning, each educational system is looking for its own, most suitable for the national culture, forms of education. It is also necessary to understand how online learning can be integrated into existing system without harm. At the moment, this is not clear either on the content level or methodological one. The article analyzes the temporary and long-term problems associated with the transition to distant education. The problem of technical support is probably the easiest to be solved. More serious and requiring new technologies is the problem of changing the nature of communication, which requires quite different efforts of both teachers and students if compare with the usual ones. Working on the platforms that are intended to radically change the educational environment under the slogans of ensuring an individual educational trajectory, in fact leads to the opposite. The author dwells on the problem of possible widespread replacement of conventional courses with recorded ones and, especially, the ideology of transition to online learning in the format of virtual reality, which allows the creators to exercise full control over the individual. The problem of monitoring of educational activities is discussed, which already in the current conditions makes it possible to record any actions and states of all participants in the process. The article is a reaction to the beginning of the process of widespread introduction of online technologies, and this approach, according to the author, allows to observe vividly the most painful aspects of the new situation (like the first impression of a meeting with the unknown).

National Education Systems

2019 ◽  
pp. 163-181
Author(s):  
Nancy Beadie
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Public Education ◽  
North America ◽  
System Development ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Authority ◽  
Historical Explanation ◽  
National Education ◽  
National Education Systems ◽  
Publicly Supported

The three major countries of North America present three different models of system development in education. As compared with Mexico, with its strong central authority, the systems of the United States and Canada are federated rather than national, with virtually all matters of funding, curriculum, licensing, and accreditation administered at provincial rather than national levels. These differences pose a problem of historical explanation. All three countries exhibited similar levels of rhetorical commitment to the idea of publicly supported systems of mass education in the 1820s. During the mid-nineteenth century, all three also adopted basic legal and administrative infrastructures for public education at provincial levels. After 1870, however, the three countries developed different patterns of national education policymaking. Based on a synthesis of focused national studies and comparative and transnational scholarship, this chapter advances an argument about how the divergences among the three systems developed and what factors help explain those differences.

Comparison of Three Modes of Measuring Stress, Coping, and Humor in School-Age Children

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 79-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel T. Fouladi ◽  
Lynn Rew ◽  
Sharon D. Horner
Keyword(s):  
Public Schools ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Stress Coping ◽  
School Age ◽  
Score Distribution ◽  
Paper And Pencil ◽  
The Impact

Computer-assisted administration of surveys is gaining popularity among many researchers, but the equivalence of this method to more traditional approaches such as using paper and pencil has not been determined for many commonly used questionnaires, particularly among school-age children. This study examined systematic differences in the responses of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders to measures of stress, coping, and humor among three modes of assessment: paper-and-pencil questionnaires, computer-assisted self-interviewing (CASI), or a combination of paper-and-pencil and CASI. Participants were 1,245 ethnically diverse children enrolled in public schools in the central region of the United States. Psychometric and score distribution characteristics were examined using item analyses and analyses of mean and covariance structure as a function of mode of assessment. Differences in response patterns, primarily at the scale score level, were documented on some of the key measures. In general, CASI medians and means were higher and correlations among CASI measures tended to be lower than those obtained with paper-and-pencil and mixed mode assessment, and CASI variances were lower. This study suggests the importance of the continued examination of the impact of mode of questionnaire administration when assessing these and other domains of well-being in school-age children.

Rising Family Income Inequality: The Importance of Sorting

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Debbie Reed ◽  
Maria Cancian
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Work Behavior ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Income Sources ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
The Impact

The distribution of family income reflects the distribution of personal income and the composition of families. We develop a non-parametric measure of the impact that changes in family income relationships have on the distribution of family income. Using data from Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March files) of the Current Population Survey (CPS) (1968-2003), we find that changes in "income sorting" account for more than half of the increase in family income inequality in the United States over the last three decades. Furthermore, income sorting accounts for an even larger share of the growing gap between middle-income and low-income families. Our results demonstrate that understanding inequality of economic well-being requires going beyond labor earnings and other income sources to examine the composition and work behavior of families.

Race, Class, and Family Structure: The Case of Family Income

1992 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melvin E. Thomas ◽  
Hayward Derrick Horton
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Family Structure ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Family Income ◽  
Married Couple ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Negative Effect

African Americans continue to represent one of the most disadvantaged groups in the United States, lagging behind whites on most measures of well-being. Most explanations for the black-white disparity focus on the continued effects of racial discrimination. Other explanations attribute disadvantage to differences in social class origins or family structures. This study provides a critical test of the “racial discrimination,” “social class,” and “family structure” perspectives in regard to family income using data from the 1968 and 1988 Current Population Surveys. Major findings include: 1) race continued to have a negative effect on family income after controls in both 1968 and 1988; 2) race declined in importance by a very modest amount from 1968 to 1988; 3) in both 1968 and 1988, the negative effect of race was stronger for higher-status African Americans than for lower-status African Americans; and 4) the negative effect of race was greater for married-couple families than for female-headed families. Explanations for the findings are offered.

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