JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Due to the widespread infection of COVID-19, an emergency homeschooling plan was rigorously implemented throughout China.

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the experiences and attitudes of elementary school students and their parents (two generations from the same family) towards online learning in China during the pandemic.

Methods:

A 16-item questionnaire was distributed at the 10 day- and 30 day-mark after the first online course to 867 parent-child pairs and 141 parent-child pairs, respectively. The questionnaire comprised of questions pertaining to the course and homework’s completeness, effectiveness, reliability, and abundance as well as the students’ enthusiasm to take part in online classes and their satisfaction with the courses.

Results:

According to the study, more than 91% of students exhibited high or moderate enthusiasm for participating in online classes. However, most students performed poorly in online learning classes and after-school homework. Regarding satisfaction, parents and students' average scores were 7.35 and 7.25, respectively (10-point scoring system). During the second stage of the study, parents' positive evaluations of online learning declined, including the effectiveness and reliability of the courses. Furthermore, the proportion of students who completed the courses and homework on time decreased; this difference proved statistically significant. The overall satisfaction of parents and students with online learning also declined during this second stage (7.21 vs. 7.23); however, the difference between the two stages was not statistically significant. Several of the parents, 36.2%, indicated that assisting and supervising the students’ online learning caused increased stress. Thirty-six percent of parents expressed dissatisfaction or suggestions concerning online learning; most parents and students hoped to return to face-to-face classes (94.9% vs. 93.5%). Finally, six main issues that parents are most concerned are summarized: (1) disappointment regarding courses lack of timely interaction; (2) worry about students not understanding the course; (3) increased burden of annoying adult responsibilities; (4) worry about the children's eyesight; (5) worry about teachers’ explanations were not detailed enough; (6) Worry about the decline of students' interest and attention.

Conclusions:

Online learning could prevent the spread of infectious diseases while still allowing elementary school students to gain knowledge. However, children’s completion of the courses and homework were not satisfactory. Furthermore, their parents often experienced stress and had many worries and complaints. Measures such as increasing the interactivity of the courses and prohibiting teachers from assigning task to parents could improve the effectiveness of these courses and mental health level of parents and students.