Researchers from the University of Hong Kong have warned of a “tsunami-scale” divide in digital learning after a months-long class suspension that about 10% of Hong Kong students could be weathering without any electronic devices at home.

The university study’s findings, released on Tuesday, also found about 40% of more than 2,000 primary and secondary pupils polled said they needed to share electronic devices with their family members, according to data collected during the 2018/19 school year.

About 900,000 kindergartens, primary and secondary school pupils have been out of class since February due to the Covid-19 epidemic, and with most switching to online learning, children from low-income families have faced an entirely new set of challenges.

Nancy Law Luk Wai-ying, a professor at HKU’s Faculty of Education who spearheaded the research, said when the data was collected last year, students were mainly using electronic devices for communication with family and friends and leisure purposes.

While a complete lack of digital access represented a clear disadvantage, an analysis of student performances showed there was a relatively small difference between those who had to share a device and those who had their own.

“Having access or no access, it makes a real difference. But having to share, when it wasn’t the main means of learning, it didn’t hurt the students’ digital competence,” Law said.

But that was last year.

While data for the past few months was unavailable - a batch of data covering the 2020/21 academic year will come later - Law believed the sudden emphasis on digital learning would likely have an adverse impact.

“When you have to be online a lot of time when you are learning, if you don’t have your own device and have to share, will it affect [one’s performance]? It probably would,” Law said, adding she had recently heard of a family of four sharing one or two devices between them.

Elizabeth Loh Ka-yee, assistant professor at HKU’s Faculty of Education, said many teachers had found it challenging to help children lacking online infrastructure such as electronic devices or Wi-fi.

“There is not much teachers can do in terms of students’ lack of devices. Some teachers have even worried about a ‘tsunami-scale’ digital divide [between students with and without digital access] when face-to-face classes eventually resume,” Loh said.

Over the past few months, some schools have lent electronic devices to families in need, while principals and non-governmental organisations have provided children with internet services, including giving out pocket WiFi routers and SIM cards.

Law suggested primary and secondary schools should both expand their scope of e-learning and trace students’ progress during the online learning period, so different aspects could be improved.

She also encouraged the government, schools and community to work together to provide better infrastructure for disadvantaged students, including donating devices and assisting them with Wi-fi access.

Stanley Kam Wai-ming, principal of SKH Bishop Hall Secondary School, added that schools should be spending more effort in promoting students’ digital literacy and competency, something that should go beyond traditional computer or IT classes.

“Parents’ input is also particularly important,” he said. “During the pandemic, kids will make better use of [time] if parents spend time with them during online learning.”

 - SCMP