Distance learning during the COVID-19-related school closings: the perspective of students from secondary schools

Abstract

In the course of the school closings as part of the protective measures against COVID-19, German schools historically for the first time had the task of ensuring comprehensive distance education for all their pupils. Schools, teachers and students met this challenge of distance education with different practices, without being able to draw on former experience. In the paper, a theoretical framework for analyzing school distance education is developed based on Helmke’s “Angebots-Nutzungs-Modell” and research from the new situation. It serves as a base for an empirical analysis of the interrelationship between factors influencing the accomplishment of homework with data from a study with 1128 students from May 2020, with lays special emphasis on the use of digital media.