Parental support and access for home-based elearning

Education has faced profound and rapid change during the COVID-19 pandemic, with large-scale reactive measures introduced to ensure continuity of learning. While some schools have established integrated infrastructures whereby each student is expected to have, or is provided with a personal mobile device, the majority have relied on students utilising readily available home devices. Device ownership varies. Although Alsop (2020a) reported that 88 per cent of the UK population has access to a home computer, only 36 per cent of students have one main device that may be used for e-learning (Alsop, 2020b). The percentage ownership of computers similarly relates to internet accessibility rates of 89 per cent (ONS, 2019). Potentially, a conflict arises between parents requiring computer access for home-working and students requiring computer access for e-learning. Furthermore, while mobile phone ownership stands at 95 per cent, only 78 per cent of these are smartphones suitable for e-lear