The role of technology in strengthening parental/caregiver engagement in children’s learning

• In Event: Improving education through technology-driven parental engagement

Proposal

EdTech played a key role in supporting parents and carers in their children’s learning during COVID-19 (⇡Munoz-Najar et al., 2021; ⇡Wolf et al., 2021; ⇡Islam et al., 2022). National lockdowns switched formal, classroom-based teaching and learning to one which took place - or not - in the home. This increased the responsibility of parents and carers in their children’s learning and placed a significant burden on them.
Three years into the crisis, it's a critical time to review existing and emerging evidence on the role of tech-enabled parental engagement in children’s learning outcomes as well as explore the types of reforms the education sector must undertake to optimise this (⇡Winthrop et al., 2021; ⇡Green et al., 2021).
Strong evidence exists on the role of parents and caregivers in building foundational skills needed for children to attend, prepare and excel in school, (⇡Dowd et al., 2017; ⇡Desforges & Abouchaar, 2003). A study of Save the Children’s Literacy Boost program across 424 schools in Africa and Asia found a ‘modest but consistent’ relationship between reading resources and the quality of parental/caregiver support for children’s literacy development they could access at home with their academic achievement (⇡Dowd et al., 2017). However, while the most marginalized learners are likely to benefit most from greater parental/caregiver engagement when it comes to their learning outcomes, the data would appear to suggest the poorest or else those with less education are less likely to engage in their child’s education (⇡Mishra et al., 2020); ⇡Hill & Tyson, 2009). Technology can work in several ways to help bridge the current gap that exists when it comes to parents from marginalized backgrounds engaging in their children’s education.
The presenter will showcase insights and framing from current evidence in terms of technology's role supporting parental engagement in children’s learning. Specifically, and drawing on desk-based literature review and key stakeholder interviews, the presenter will discuss:
• What are some of the underlying challenges and barriers in effectively using digital technology to engage parents in their children’s learning?
• What main factors facilitate improved parental engagement through the use of digital technology?
• What has been the impact of initiatives that use technology to engage parents on student outcomes?

The presentation will further set out framing that can be used to understand and analyse EdTech and parental engagement interventions. This includes both the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) model, which can provide an initial framing in regard to aims of different tech-based interventions. The KAP model originated from learning theory (Bandura, 1976) and initial development of innovation theory (Roger, 1995). Widely used in behavior change models, knowledge is seen as the understanding of information, attitude as positive or negative approaches to this knowledge, and practice as regular activities influenced by shared beliefs and social norms. The KAP model also has been developed as a popular survey method to assess the relationship among knowledge, attitudes and practice (e.g. USAID, 2011; World Health Organization, 2008).
Further review of literature and existing interventions has led to the development of an emerging framework that sets out approaches used in EdTech interventions in relation to parental engagement this includes: i) training parents, ii) informing parents, iii) providing feedback to parents, iv) incentivising parents, and v) nudging action by parents. Examples and current evidence surrounding each of these types of approaches will be presented, as well as research gaps in terms of effectiveness.

Author

• Susan Nicolai, ODI