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What students are experiencing during the coronavirus outbreak while learning at home

Last week, we began the series on students’ perceptions of coronavirus with a blog summarizing the technological devices available to students at home as well as their internet access and quality. This week, we highlight students’ responses related to learning experiences at home.

Learning at Home

We asked students how well learning at home is going, online and otherwise, compared to when they attended school.

Overall, students expressed concern that their learning experience is not as effective as in classroom settings.

In late March, the majority of students (89%) reported a continuance of class-related work even when their schools were closed. And of those students, 95% reported receiving at least some form of instruction from at least some of their teachers.

However, the format differed depending on where students live. Rural students, in particular, reported receiving more printed learning materials and less access to online learning than counterparts in urban, suburban and other communities.

In all, seventy-six percent of students reported receiving online instruction for classroom materials, while 15% received printed instructional materials.

It was clear from their responses that students miss their access to informal, real-time teacher feedback and interaction with peers. Without this traditional approach, learning new material is difficult, particularly during the sudden shift to an online setting.

Comments from students reflect a range of concerns about learning without the physical presence and support of teachers:

• "It’s a little harder to learn the material because the teachers are not actually present, and it’s all through the internet."
• "I feel like I’m not learning as efficiently and effectively at home rather than school. It is very hard to learn new topics at home without the instruction of a teacher right in front of you. I prefer learning at school than at home."
• "It is much harder to learn online especially when many teachers are not actually teaching, they are just dropping new materials. I am a person who needs physical interaction to be able to comprehend and learn well."

New Normal

Students also expressed concern that they are not able to focus as well at home as they are in a classroom and feel less motivated. This creates challenges for maintaining academic success, which may impact further educational pursuits.

Thirty-seven percent of students said school closure will affect their academic preparedness “a great deal,” and another 51% said “somewhat.” Students clearly expressed strong preference for their traditional classroom setting.

• "I feel more engaged and motivated in school than at home. It is harder to learn new topics at home."
• "Online classes do not take into account the attention span of teenagers and it is sometimes difficult to communicate with teachers outside of class or do online work when the internet cuts out."
• "It was better in school because it was easier to ask questions. Also, the school environment improved focus."

Teachers are Essential

Our survey results highlight the importance of instruction and the significant role that teachers play in students’ ability and willingness to learn new materials.

For this reason, while CARES Act funding to states will potentially enable students to have greater access to technology (e.g., one-to-one devices and internet services), technology in and of itself will not wholly fulfill students’ academic needs.

Exploring ways to improve the delivery of online education—for example, funding professional development and support for teachers to conduct effective distance learning—will be a critical investment in our current environment as well as in the future.

ACT Student Survey Series

At least 55 million students are now learning at home after approximately 124,000 public and private schools have closed their doors due to the coronavirus.

ACT wanted to hear from students about their experiences during the pandemic. We invited 130,000 college-bound high school students who registered to take the national April or June 2020 ACT test to participate in an online survey. A total of 13,000 students participated between March 26 and April 1, resulting in a 10% response rate.

We sought to gather students’ responses related to…

• the technological device and internet quality that they have access to at home for school-related activities.
• how well they are learning at home and online compared to when they were in school.
• whether their basic needs (e.g., housing, food) are being met during the pandemic.
• their current living situation, including whether they are employed, need to care for others, or are home alone.
• the types of health behaviors (e.g., eating healthy, exercising) they are engaged in during the pandemic.

Read More from the Series:

· Inequities in Technological Devices and Internet Connection Persist During the Coronavirus

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Whether you’re a parent, teacher, counselor, or administrator, we’re all grappling with how to best keep our families safe and our children learning from home. One way we’re working to proactively respond to rapidly changing needs, while also providing helpful resources to keep learning and career growth on track, is through Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).

Social and emotional skills are important for a broad range of reasons, especially in times of uncertainty. Social and emotional skills are key to academic growth and personal well-being. They focus on the identification and management of one’s emotions, goals, and mindsets.
What are social and emotional skills?

ACT focuses on five social and emotional skills for learners:

• Grit: persistence, goal striving, reliability, dependability, and attention to detail at school
• Teamwork: collaboration, empathy, helpfulness, trust, and trustworthiness
• Resilience: stress management, emotional regulation, a positive response to setbacks, and poise 
• Curiosity: inquisitiveness, flexibility, open-mindedness, and embracing diversity
• Leadership: assertiveness, influence, optimism, and enthusiasm

Over the past five weeks, ACT’s SEL Curriculum and Assessment team (Mawi Learning™ and ACT® Tessera®) have discussed different social and emotional skills and provided downloadable lessons and worksheets that students can do at home with teachers (virtually) or parents to practice these skills. We’ve highlighted a few of those here.

Resilience

Resilience describes how well you manage stress, regulate your emotions, and respond to setbacks. It can help you deal with the uncertainty of current events. You may be feeling worried and anxious about the COVID-19 pandemic. You are certainly not alone in feeling this way. Worry can be an adaptive tool, which signals that a change is needed. It can prompt you to develop plans and creative solutions to problems. However, excessive worrying can be problematic.

Help yourself and your loved ones get through this by practicing your resilience skills:

• Be mindful. Mindfulness, also known as meditation, can help you focus better, relieve stress, and boost your mood.
• Be clear on what you can and cannot control. Worry often preys on things that are outside of a person’s control. Make a list of the things that are within your control and refer to that list when you are feeling worried.
• Write about your feelings. Research has shown that even 10 minutes of writing can help reduce anxiety.
• Give your emotions a name. We are all experiencing a wide range of emotions right now. It is normal to experience these emotions and identifying and discussing them can help alleviate feelings of stress.

Read the full blog on resilience and download the full lesson.

Grit

Grit includes persistence, reliability, attention to detail, and goal-striving. A hallmark of grit is persevering, particularly when things get tough. COVID-19 is creating adversity for all of us, and developing grit can help you deal effectively with this adversity. Here’s how:

• Think about your goals. Even during tumultuous times, we can remain focused on our goals and/or set new goals that are consistent with what is meaningful to us. If we think critically about why we have certain goals in place, we are better able to evaluate which goals are really important and then will be more likely to achieve those goals.
• Overcome obstacles. Events like COVID-19 are bound to interfere with plans and goals. Rather than feeling discouraged and giving up, it’s important for us to figure out ways to overcome the obstacle or “roadblock.”
• Manage your time. Particularly when our schedules are disrupted, and we don’t have a structured schedule to follow, it’s easy to waste time and feel unproductive or unfocused—or even worse, spend a lot of time worrying. To avoid this, it’s helpful to track how we spend our time and become familiar with time management tools.
• Plan how you will achieve your goals. Research shows that we are more likely to achieve our goals when we unpack them into smaller goals and create a reasonable timeline for reaching each sub-goal.

Read the full blog on grit and download the full lesson.

Leadership

Another social and emotional skill that can help us get through this difficult time is leadership. Leadership is defined as the extent to which a person’s actions demonstrate assertiveness, influence, optimism, enthusiasm, and social interaction with others.

You can work to demonstrate leadership at this time—to advocate for things that are necessary to reduce the spread, to stay optimistic despite trying circumstances, and to be a leader others look to for guidance and support.

• Reach out (and really listen) to others. Just because social distancing calls for cutting off physical contact with others, this doesn’t mean that social connection needs to end. Take this time to check in and connect with those closest to you—friends, family members, colleagues—and engage in meaningful conversations with them.
• Try to find the silver linings. Even when things go awry, it is always possible to try to find the positives in every situation. We challenge you and your students to find positives in every situation, including the pandemic.
• Speak up. Being able to communicate assertively about your needs and the needs of others is key right now. Learn how to confidently communicate effectively, while remaining respectful to others.
• Encourage others. It is likely that you and others have faced some challenging circumstances by now, but it’s important to find ways to lift one another up.

Read the full blog on leadership and download the full lesson.

We are all feeling some effects of the current situation, which may last for a while; that’s the bad news. Here we offer good news: By practicing the social and emotional skills, you can better navigate these unstable and unstructured times.

If your schools and districts are looking for more formal social emotional learning curriculum, ACT | Mawi Learning™ is pleased to offer free access to select student curriculum programs until June 30, 2020. Courses are available for grades 6-12, as well as a specialized program for English Learners. Core SEL lessons and tools, like relationship building and goal setting, are covered in each course.

Be sure to check out all of ACT’s COVID-19 resources for students, parents, educators, advocates, and the workforce at act.org/covid19.

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On-Campus Testing is a proven solution to help students achieve their goal to begin college

For the first time in the organization’s 60-year history, ACT rescheduled national, international, and state and district ACT® test dates. This action was taken to protect the health and safety of students and test center staff in response to concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19. We understood the effect this would have on the 2020-2021 college admissions cycle, and we are offering a number of testing dates during summer and fall and other solutions to help students obtain a score for their admissions, scholarship, college course placement and career guidance decisions.

Students’ desire to attend college is not wavering—and neither is ACT’s commitment to give them every opportunity to do so.

Many colleges have announced plans to temporarily adjust requirements and extend deadlines during this unprecedented time.

ACT commends the colleges that have made deadline extension decisions, as those extensions will help the hundreds of thousands of students who are at home and currently grappling with the idea of whether “going to college” this fall will actually happen. A recent report indicated nearly 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past three weeks, including many parents of a potentially college-bound child.

The recovery process will certainly challenge higher education as we navigate into what is perhaps a “new normal.” Now, more than ever, we are faced with a collective need to work with a commitment and urgency to provide equity and access as we do our part to aid in a swift economic recovery from this pandemic.

ACT is trying to help by providing a range of free online learning resources for students, parents, educators, schools, workers and employers during this challenging time, as well as delivering services and solutions to assist colleges with enrollment efforts upon re-opening.

Upon re-opening, for instance, hundreds of colleges across the country will utilize our on-campus testing program for the ACT test to help students who need a college reportable score or who simply desire to retest. This proven program allows colleges to administer the ACT test themselves and benefit from the trusted data that comes with an official ACT score. On-campus testing is administered in a proctored test environment and immediately scored on campus—on any day of the week. The test results, which are used only by the school that administers the exam, enable colleges to immediately use scores to assist with important admission, scholarship and course placement decisions.

Higher ed professionals across the country recognize the value of this on-campus solution. In their words:

"We offer the ACT test on our campus. It is a great solution to offer to our local high school students who are seeking dual credit or regular admissions that may have missed a national ACT test."
- Justin Pearson Executive Director of Enrollment Management University of South Carolina System

“Northern Oklahoma College has been using the easy-to-administer ACT on campus tool for many years. We give it during the weekday to any students who may have missed the state-wide ACT or want to retake for NOC admissions, course placement and scholarship decisions.”
- Rick Edgington Vice President of Enrollment Management Northern Oklahoma College

“We offer the ACT test for students interested in applying for admissions to Kent State University. We make it easy for students to schedule and we proctor at any of our campuses for their convenience.”
- Judy Huber Coordinator, University Testing Services Kent State University

During this time of unprecedented challenges, on-campus testing provides colleges with an effective solution they can utilize upon re-opening their campuses. When that time comes, it will certainly be celebrated as a signal of recovery across the nation.

Learn more about on-campus testing: act.org/on-campus

Don Pitchford, Ph.D., manages on-campus testing for the ACT. He consults extensively with higher education leaders, professional organizations and college administrators nation-wide in developing enrollment management strategies associated with admission and scholarship policy, market analysis, predictive modeling, recruitment, best practice communication flow, financial leveraging, placement, retention, completion and accreditation efforts.

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What students are experiencing during the coronavirus outbreak

At least 55 million students are now learning at home after approximately 124,000 public and private schools have closed their doors due to the coronavirus. This has resulted in uncertainty in the minds of high school students, including whether they will attend prom, what graduation will look like, and how to navigate the college-going process in the current environment.

ACT wanted to hear from students about their experiences during the pandemic. We invited 130,000 college-bound high school students who registered to take the national April or June 2020 ACT test to participate in an online survey. A total of 13,000 students participated between March 26 and April 1, resulting in a 10% response rate.

We sought to gather students’ responses related to…

• the technological device and internet quality that they have access to at home for school-related activities.
• how well they are learning at home and online compared to when they were in school.
• whether their basic needs (e.g., housing, food) are being met during the pandemic.
• their current living situation, including whether they are employed, need to care for others, or are home alone.
• the types of health behaviors (e.g., eating healthy, exercising) they are engaged in during the pandemic.

Today, and in the coming weeks, we will highlight students’ responses related to these topics in a series of blog posts. We begin with a summary of the technological devices available to students at home as well as their internet access and quality.
 


81% of students who had access to only one device had a device that would allow them to complete school related activities.

Of those students who had access to one device, 81% had access to a device that would easily allow them to complete school-related activities—a desktop, laptop, Chromebook, or a tablet—given the devices’ bigger screens, easy applicability of word processing software, and use of educational apps. The remaining students (19%), however, had access only to a smartphone at home to complete school-related work. We specifically draw attention to students whose sole device is a smartphone—who make up 2% of all students in the survey—because during the pandemic both the school building and the libraries that these students rely on for computers are likely closed. These students are, therefore, left with only a smartphone to complete school-related work such as writing papers, a task that can be difficult to do on a smartphone.

Taking a deeper dive into the data on students with access to only one device, we also looked to see how many of them had to share their device with someone else in the home. So, even if they have access to the technology, they might have access during only certain windows of the day, limiting the amount of time they could allocate to completing school-related work on a device. In total, 23% of students who had access to a desktop, laptop, Chromebook, or tablet had to share that device with another person. If students had access to only a smartphone, only 11% shared it with someone else in the house.

It is also important to keep in mind that students are likely to be asked to use those devices in many ways not previously asked of them. For example, students might be asked to video chat with their teacher or with other students, to audio or video record themselves and upload recordings to a learning management system, or to download an assignment from a website when they would have otherwise received it in class. Among other things, these activities require reliable and consistent internet service.

Approximately three of four students had access to the internet that was separate from their cell phone.

Recent estimates show that between 9 and 12 million students do not have internet access at home. And while some internet providers are offering to provide free access to students during the pandemic, gaining such access can be a challenge.

Most students (79%) reported having access to the internet that was separate from their cell phone; a small minority reported having access only from their phone (4%) or from a hotspot (1%). The remaining percentage of students (16%) weren’t sure how they got internet at home, but they did report having access. Not surprisingly, 30% of students who relied on their cell phone for internet services reported that the service was “unpredictable” or “terrible,” nearly three times the proportion of those who had access to the internet separate from their cell phone (11% reporting unpredictable or terrible service). Furthermore, first-generation college students, students from rural communities, and Hispanic and African American students were more likely than their counterparts to report that their internet connection was unpredictable or terrible. For some rural students, access to any internet connection remains scarce, and adapting to the new normal of online learning, even if temporary, poses a huge challenge to rural students and schools as technological infrastructure lags in remote areas.

First-generation college students, students from rural communities, and Hispanic and African American students were more likely than their counterparts to report that their internet connection was unpredictable or terrible.


ACT is doing its part to close it by conducting research, advocating for policy change, and partnering with communities to improve internet access.

ACT has been focused on issues related to the digital divide for several years. We have researched the learning implications that living in a technologically sophisticated society has had on underserved populations.

We have and continue to encourage the adoption of policies that close the digital divide for all students. We continue to recommend that device access and internet access be expanded and made reliable for those who lack them. Now, more than ever, students need access to technological devices and the internet to complete school-related work. First-generation college students, students of color, and students in rural settings reported having access to fewer devices and lower-quality internet than students who were not disadvantaged. Inequitable access to electronic devices and ineffective internet connections will only compound these existing inequalities as students continue to learn from home.

In addition, ACT has partnered with businesses to address the digital divide in their communities by leveraging the Community Reinvestment ACT (CRA). These efforts work to address potential equity issues by helping students who would otherwise lack access take advantage of digital learning tools, including our upcoming launch of online and at-home testing. Programs that help to rectify device and internet access can help improve educational opportunities for those in need.

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ACT’s remote proctoring launches this fall/winter for students in the U.S.

IOWA CITY, Iowa—In response to uncertainty and school cancellations due to COVID-19, ACT announced today it will offer a flexible schedule for summer 2020 test dates and remote proctoring for fall/winter 2020.

“Our mission compels us to provide as many opportunities as possible for students to take the ACT test, particularly now as other admission information, such as grades, courses, and GPAs, may be missing or partial,” said Marten Roorda, ACT CEO. “The insights provided by ACT scores are more important to students and institutions than ever during this critical time, when colleges are forced to make decisions in such a disruptive climate.”

ACT is committed to providing options and flexibility to ensure that students can test and schools will have scores. The organization’s primary concern at this time is the health and safety of students and its testing staff.

“During this time of crisis due to COVID-19, we understand that students need more flexibility in taking the ACT test, and these steps are intended to help students stay on track with college planning and career exploration,” said Roorda. “We aim to ensure that all those who want to take the test are provided with a safe environment and test options to do so. We are also committed to providing solutions that address the needs of the majority of colleges that require students to submit a test score to support their applications. And while some colleges are making temporarily test optional adjustments to admission requirements, we remain committed to helping provide scores for students who have planned to test and submit scores in preparation—and selection—in their college search.”

ACT’s new remote proctoring option coming in the late fall/early winter builds upon the extensive research and development work that underpins the new online ACT test option, section retesting and superscoring enhancements that will be available at national test centers starting in September 2020.

“We are working closely with our partners in higher education and relying on their guidance in the development of this new option to ensure that it will meet their needs for score integrity,” Roorda noted. “We’ve been exploring the option of remote proctoring for some time. We are pleased to be able to launch this experience that provides greater access to the test for students but also upholds critical aspects of test security and score validity for colleges and scholarship organizations.”

ACT is committed to ensuring the new remote proctoring option is accessible, affordable and protects the longstanding integrity of the ACT test. Colleges across the country rely on ACT scores for decisions about admissions, scholarships, course placement and career guidance and academic advising practices.

ACT will evaluate the remote proctoring solution as a possibility in the future for state and district testing programs and international administrations. More details about the remote proctoring option will be available in the coming weeks.

In addition to these new testing opportunities this summer, students will have multiple chances to take the ACT this fall:

• ACT will continue to offer fall testing for states and school districts across the U.S., as it has for the past four years.
• Students can take the ACT on campuses of hundreds of participating colleges with the ACT On-Campus solution.
• ACT will be offering its new individual section retest option this fall for those students who wish to retake only one portion of the exam.

During this difficult time, ACT is also providing free digital learning and workforce resources to assist students, teachers, schools and workers impacted by COVID-19.

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The following blog is reprinted from ACT's Center for Equity in Learning. 

In California, shelter in place orders closed schools in March and, more recently, for the rest of the school year. Across the country, hundreds of thousands of students are at home with parents who are trying to juggle remote work responsibilities with childcare, instructional delivery, and a myriad of other stressors related to growing cabin fever. Online learning is touted as THE remedy, while solutions to the challenge of serving students with disabilities appear distant if not improbable. We are at an unprecedented moment in our nation’s history – one that is shining the light on the value and significance of teachers.