Chapter 6 Major Findings and Discussion for Primary School Sector Sector
6.7 Promoting Community–wide Support and Community Building
6.7.1 Home-school Co-operation and Parents’ Involvement
6.7.1.4 Parents as Supporters and Motivators for Students’ Learning with IT IT
“To provide IT facilities at home” and “to monitor their children’s use of Internet and assist them to develop the right online learning attitude” were the two most important types of parental support perceived by school heads
When school heads were asked to rate the level of importance against parental support for students’ learning with IT (Table 6.110, [P2]HQ12a-f), as reported in MS1, most of them indicated that monitoring children’s use of the Internet and assisting them to develop the right online learning attitude (rated as important or very important by 97%) as well as the provision of IT facilities at home (rated as important or very important by 95%) were the two most important options. These were followed by understanding their children’s learning situation through visiting the school e-learning platform (93%) and homepage or intranet (92%) as well as setting a good example by learning in a new era through learning about IT (91%). Choosing “suitable digital resources for their child apart from those provided by teachers” was considered as the least important types of parental support among the listed items by school heads, but the perception was still positive (86% felt important or very important). These findings showed that school heads expressed high expectations on parental support for the implementation of ITEd. The mean ratings of all items fell in the range of 4.07 to 4.56 (SD:0.57-0.66) on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was
‘totally not important’ and 5 was ‘very important’. No statistically significant difference was noted in MS2 for these items.
Most students had computers and broadband Internet access at home
As indicated by school heads, provision of IT facilities at home was one of the most important parental support for students’ learning with IT after school. When parents and students were asked about the home ownership of computers, 89% or more of the parents and students (93% of parents, 89% of P4 and 93% of P6 students) reported that they had computers at home in MS1 (Table 6.111, [P7]PQ11, [P6]SQ8a). Regarding connectivity to the Internet, most of the parents and students (94% of parents, 87% of P4 and 93% of P6 students) reported that they could access the Internet at home with 92% of the parents reported using broadband and 8% dial up connection in MS1 (Table 6.111, [P7]PQ12a,b, [P6]SQ8c). A statistically significant increase was noted in the percentages of parents (from 94% to 95%) and P6 students (from 93% to 96%) having Internet access at home in MS2. This broad picture indicated that computers were quite widely available at home for primary school students.
Students perceived the IT facilities at home as sufficient and they were satisfied with the speed of Internet connection at home
Regarding the extent of opportunity for students to use computers at home, 72% of the parents in MS1 reported that their children had opportunity to use computers frequently or very frequently at home, with a mean rating of 4.12 (SD:0.98) on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was ‘never’ and 5 was
‘very frequently’ (Table 6.112, [P7]PQ13). The percentage was significantly decreased statistically to 70% in MS2. Regarding students’ perception of the adequacy of IT facilities at home, about three quarters of the students in MS1 (79% of P4, 74% of P6) considered that they were sufficient or very sufficient, with mean ratings of 4.15 (SD:1.06) and 3.99 (SD:1.04) respectively on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was ‘totally insufficient’ and 5 was ‘very sufficient’ (Table 6.112, [P6]SQ8b). A statistically significant increase was observed in P6 students’ perceived level of sufficiency of IT facilities at home (from 74% to 76%) in MS2. Similar percentages of the students (76% of P4, 73% of P6) in MS1 were satisfied or very satisfied with the speed of Internet connection at home, with mean ratings of 4.08 (SD:0.99) and 3.98 (SD:1.03) respectively on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was ‘totally not satisfied’ and 5 was ‘very satisfied’ (Table 6.112, [P6]SQ8d). No statistically significant difference in the level of satisfaction with the speed of Internet connection at home was found in MS2.
Table 6.110 School heads’ perception of the importance of parental support/encouragement to students’ use of IT in learning ([P2]HQ12a-f)
MS1 MS2
Mean SD N Count (%) of Students choosing the option Mean SD N Count (%) of Students choosing the option (1-5)
Very
important Important
Quite important
(一般)
Not important
Totally not important
(1-5)
Very
important Important
Quite important
(一般)
Not important
Totally not important
P-value
a. 4.56 0.64 539 338 ( 63 ) 171 ( 32 ) 25 ( 5 ) 4 ( 1 ) 1 ( 0 ) 4.48 0.70 439 248 ( 56 ) 164 ( 37 ) 17 ( 4 ) 8 ( 2 ) 2 ( 0 ) 0.055 b. 4.07 0.65 539 123 ( 23 ) 342 ( 63 ) 62 ( 12 ) 12 ( 2 ) 0 ( 0 ) 4.06 0.63 439 95 ( 22 ) 284 ( 65 ) 53 ( 12 ) 7 ( 2 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0.780 c. 4.55 0.57 539 316 ( 59 ) 204 ( 38 ) 18 ( 3 ) 1 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 4.57 0.54 439 260 ( 59 ) 168 ( 38 ) 11 ( 3 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0.753 d. 4.27 0.58 539 183 ( 34 ) 318 ( 59 ) 38 ( 7 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 4.20 0.65 439 137 ( 31 ) 260 ( 59 ) 38 ( 9 ) 2 ( 0 ) 2 ( 0 ) 0.186 e. 4.28 0.60 539 193 ( 36 ) 304 ( 56 ) 41 ( 8 ) 1 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 4.24 0.65 439 149 ( 34 ) 252 ( 57 ) 34 ( 8 ) 2 ( 0 ) 2 ( 0 ) 0.475 f. 4.32 0.66 539 225 ( 42 ) 263 ( 49 ) 48 ( 9 ) 2 ( 0 ) 1 ( 0 ) 4.36 0.61 439 188 ( 43 ) 221 ( 50 ) 30 ( 7 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0 ( 0 ) 0.444 Parental support/encouragement
a. To provide IT facilities at home
b. To choose other suitable digital resources for their child (children) apart from those provided by teachers c. To monitor their child’s (children’s) use of the Internet and assist them to develop the right online learning attitude d. To visit the school e-learning platform# so as to understand their child’s (children)’s learning situation e. To visit the intranet/school homepage so as to understand their child’s (children)’s learning situation f. To set a good example by learning in a new era through learning about IT
Mean: 1=“Totally not important” and 5=“Very important”; Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
# E-learning platform is a learning system developed on the environment of the Internet/Intranet which provides various learning tools such as learning material/download, assignment submission, online tests and learning records etc.
Table 6.111 Students’ home ownership of IT facilities ([P6]SQ8a,c, [P7]PQ11,12a,b)
P4 students P6 students Parents
MS1 MS2 P-value MS1 MS2 P-value MS1 MS2 P-value
Having computers at home
(N=1787) (N=1953) (N=1949) (N=2057) (N=3264) (N=3633)
YES 89 89 93 95 93 94
NO 11 11
0.496 a
7 5
0.176 a
7 6
0.093a
Having Internet access at home (N=1591) (N=1741) (N=1822) (N=1949) (N=2814) (N=3254)
YES 87 88 93 96 94 95
NO 13 12 0.321 a
7 4 0.000*** a
6 5 0.019* a
Type of Internet connection (N=2648) (N=3053) χ2 (df=1) P-value
Broadband - - - - 92 92
Dialup - - - - 8 8 0.028 0.867b
a. Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001; b. Chi-Square Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
Table 6.112 Parents’ perception of the opportunities for students to use computers at home ([P7]PQ13) and students’ perception of the sufficiency levels of IT facilities at home as well as their satisfaction levels with the speed of Internet connection at home ([P6]SQ8b,d)
Mean SD N Count (%) Parents choosing the option Stakeholders
(1-5) Very
Frequently Frequently Occasionally
(間中) Rarely Never
P-value
Opportunity for students to use the computer(s) at home (Mean: 1=“Never” and 5=“Very frequently”)
MS1 4.12 0.98 2946 1428 ( 48 ) 698 ( 24 ) 666 ( 23 ) 135 ( 5 ) 19 ( 1 ) Parents
MS2 4.07 0.97 3297 1446 ( 44 ) 848 ( 26 ) 809 ( 25 ) 179 ( 5 ) 15 ( 0 ) 0.000***
Mean SD N Count (%) Students choosing the option Class levels
(1-5) Very
sufficient Sufficient Quite sufficient
(一般) Insufficient Totally Insufficient
P-value
Levels of sufficiency of IT facilities at home
(Mean: 1=“Totally insufficient” and 5=“Very sufficient”)
MS1 4.15 1.06 1591 774 ( 49 ) 472 ( 30 ) 214 ( 13 ) 70 ( 4 ) 62 ( 4 ) P4
MS2 4.22 1.00 1741 891 ( 51 ) 504 ( 29 ) 227 ( 13 ) 77 ( 4 ) 42 ( 2 ) 0.270 MS1 3.99 1.04 1822 690 ( 38 ) 660 ( 36 ) 295 ( 16 ) 121 ( 7 ) 56 ( 3 ) P6
MS2 4.08 0.98 1949 787 ( 40 ) 707 ( 36 ) 318 ( 16 ) 94 ( 5 ) 43 ( 2 ) 0.017*
Mean SD N Count (%) Students choosing the option Class levels
(1-5) Very
satisfied Satisfied Quite satisfied
(一般) Not satisfied Totally not satisfied
P-value
Levels of satisfaction with the speed of Internet connection at home (Mean: 1=“Totally not satisfied” and 5=“Very satisfied”)
MS1 4.08 0.99 1379 574 ( 42 ) 470 ( 34 ) 248 ( 18 ) 49 ( 4 ) 38 ( 3 ) P4
MS2 4.13 0.98 1536 673 ( 44 ) 525 ( 34 ) 238 ( 15 ) 62 ( 4 ) 38 ( 2 ) 0.269 MS1 3.98 1.03 1702 625 ( 37 ) 618 ( 36 ) 315 ( 19 ) 86 ( 5 ) 58 ( 3 ) P6
MS2 4.01 1.06 1867 735 ( 39 ) 660 ( 35 ) 294 ( 16 ) 107 ( 6 ) 71 ( 4 ) 0.172 Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
The most common parental support was allowing their children to read IT-related books
Parents were further asked about ways in which they showed support for their children’s learning with the use of IT (Table 6.113, [P7]PQ15). In MS1, the most common support was allowing their children to read IT-related books (36%), followed by allowing them to attend IT courses (33%), encouraging them to make use of community resources such as computer facilities in community centres and digital resources in libraries (32%) as well as buying educational software (29%) and IT-related hardware or software (28%) for them. No more than 20% of the parents indicated that they supported their children by reading IT-related books themselves (20%), attending IT course themselves (15%) and participating in IT learning with their children (14%). A statistically significant decrease to13% in the percentage of parents attending IT courses themselves was found in MS2.
Table 6.113 Ways of parental support for their children on using IT in learning ([P7]PQ15)
Percentage (%) P-value Ways of parental support
MS1 (N=3338)
MS2 (N=3587)
Allowing your child to attend IT courses 33 32 0.519
Attending IT courses yourself 15 13 0.008**
Allowing your child to read IT -related books 36 36 0.938
Reading IT-related books yourself 20 19 0.057
Buying IT-related hardware/software for your child 28 28 0.675 Encouraging your child to make use of community resources (e.g. computer facilities
in community centres and digital resources in libraries)
32 31 0.241
Buying educational software for your child 29 28 0.270
Participating in IT learning with your child 14 12 0.016
Other support 27 25 0.007*
No special support 21 23 0.019
Multiple responses items; Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
Primary school students were satisfied with the technical and learning support from family Other types of family support include technical support and learning support. In MS1, more than 70% of the students were satisfied or very satisfied with the technical support (78% of P4 and 71%
of P6) and learning support (83% of P4 and 75% of P6) from family. A statistically significant increase was observed in P6 students’ level of satisfaction with the technical support from family (from 71% to 74%) in MS2 (Table 6.114, [P6]SQ9b.ii, SQ15c.ii). Students’ responses revealed a reasonable level of satisfaction with the support from family.
Table 6.114 Students’ levels of satisfaction with the technical support and learning support from family ([P6]SQ9b.ii, 15c.ii)
Mean SD N Count (%) choosing the option Class levels
(1-5) Very
satisfied Satisfied Quite satisfied
(一般) Not
satisfied
Totally not satisfied
P-value
Levels of satisfaction with the technical support from family
MS1 4.18 1.09 1783 932 ( 52 ) 456 ( 26 ) 250 ( 14 ) 64 ( 4 ) 80 ( 4 ) P4
MS2 4.20 1.04 1953 1006 ( 52 ) 530 ( 27 ) 285 ( 15 ) 57 ( 3 ) 76 ( 4 ) 0.998 MS1 3.96 1.07 1947 743 ( 38 ) 640 ( 33 ) 391 ( 20 ) 95 ( 5 ) 78 ( 4 ) P6
MS2 4.04 1.01 2057 825 ( 40 ) 698 ( 34 ) 392 ( 19 ) 75 ( 4 ) 67 ( 3 ) 0.048*
Levels of satisfaction with the learning support from family
MS1 4.30 0.94 1139 621 ( 55 ) 316 ( 28 ) 154 ( 14 ) 16 ( 1 ) 31 ( 3 ) P4
MS2 4.35 0.87 1242 688 ( 55 ) 346 ( 28 ) 176 ( 14 ) 14 ( 1 ) 18 ( 1 ) 0.562 MS1 4.06 0.99 1209 489 ( 40 ) 418 ( 35 ) 229 ( 19 ) 35 ( 3 ) 38 ( 3 ) P6
MS2 4.13 0.90 1300 533 ( 41 ) 474 ( 36 ) 242 ( 19 ) 30 ( 2 ) 21 ( 2 ) 0.525 Mean: 1=“Totally not satisfied” and 5=“Very satisfied”; Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.
Parents tended to be willing to invest more resources for their children to use IT in learning Parents showed positive attitude and contributed in various ways to support students’ learning with IT. In MS1, 47% of the parents were willing or very willing to invest more resources such as time and money for their children to use IT in learning, with a mean rating of 3.47 (SD:0.72) on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 was ‘totally not willing’ and 5 was ‘very willing’. No statistically significant difference was found in MS2 (Table 6.115, [P7]PQ16).
Table 6.115 Parents’ levels of willingness to invest more resources for their children to use IT in learning [P7]PQ16)
Mean SD N Count (%) of School Heads choosing the option (1-5)
Very
willing Willing Maybe (一般)
Not very willing (不願意)
Totally not willing
P-value
MS1 3.47 0.72 3226 194 ( 6 ) 1334 ( 41 ) 1504 ( 47 ) 172 ( 5 ) 22 ( 1 )
MS2 3.44 0.72 3526 165 ( 5 ) 1495 ( 42 ) 1634 ( 46 ) 196 ( 6 ) 36 ( 1 ) 0.164 Mean: 1=“Totally not willing” and 5=“Very willing”; Mann-Whitney U Test: *p<0.05; **p<0.01; ***p<0.001.