Study Finds Technology Inspires Self-Directed Learning

New research finally supports what I told my parents all through middle and high school: Computers may be useful in homeschooling.

Researchers at Liberty University and Bath Spa University (UK) conducted a small pilot study late last year examining how homeschooling families use digital technology in their education. While the study’s limitations prevent us from drawing strong conclusions, the initial findings are definitely worth a look.

The researchers found that participating students commonly used digital technologies to support real-world learning and increase collaboration with their peers. The students also reported a love for self-directed learning and said they commonly use digital technologies “constructively and productively.”

What is self-directed learning?

Self-directed learning is when a learner takes the initiative and responsibility to direct and achieve their learning goals. It’s a vital skill for adults, and can help someone effectively deal with change, avoid skill obsolescence, and independently pursue knowledge. Yet various studies have shown that many adults are not competent self-directed learners.

The researchers argue that these skills should be fostered in childhood education to equip adults for the future. And yet, according to the study, traditional educational settings rarely have an environment that fosters self-directed learning.

The method has long been a notable feature of homeschools. Some methodologies are more explicit in this regard, but most homeschool graduates, myself included, articulate that homeschooling taught them not only the facts, but also how to learn.

Technology and self-directed learning

The researchers focused this study on examining how technology could be used to support self-directed learning, particularly in a homeschool setting. They wanted to see how homeschooling families utilized technology, which technologies they used, and why.

Previous research on technology in traditional education found students are competent with technology, but it’s a distraction to learning. In some cases, students used the devices to play rather than to learn, and in others, students did lack digital literacy and were overwhelmed with the prospect of using technology for learning.

Similar patterns have been found in studies of adults, who also struggle to use technology for the purposes of self-directed learning and often get overwhelmed by the breadth of information available. These researchers are the first to specifically study homeschooling, self-directed learning, and technology.

The study

They conducted interviews with ten homeschooling mothers in the United States, asking questions to determine how and why their students used digital technologies to support their learning, and which technologies they used. Nearly all of the parents expressed that learning to use digital technology in some way was necessary for future success, particularly given how widespread its use has become.

The parents also overwhelmingly shared that their choice to use technology in their homeschool was driven by a desire for enjoyable student-led education. They noted that technology opened new pathways for their children to pursue their interests in compelling and engaging ways. Additionally, they said use of technology helped their children grasp concepts that would be challenging to visualize through other means.

Parents were split on how they chose to monitor their children’s use of technology. Some adopt a more hands-off approach, while others monitor their children closely. Some parents reported that their students used digital technology as a means of collaboration, while others explained that their children either preferred to collaborate in person or were too young to use technology in that way.

The researchers finally noted that a wide variety of devices and applications were used, and that the choice of which technologies to bring into the homeschooling environment was either a collaborative effort between parent and child, or more child-led.

What is the study missing?

The format of the study and the small sample size mean that we shouldn’t generalize from this study’s findings. (This is something the researchers themselves acknowledge.) Homeschooling is so individualized that it is nearly impossible to represent the full breadth of its practice. And the interview format of the study means that we do not have empirical data to examine if the reported instances of self-directed learning are, in fact, effective.

Though it would have been outside of their stated scope, the authors could have included perspectives of homeschool families who choose to limit or avoid the use of digital technology in their homeschooling. This comparison could shed more light on the ways parents think about the role of technology in education.

The researchers were unable to determine why some families chose to adopt a more closely-monitored approach to technology, but they suggested three possible reasons. First, that teachers desire to maintain control of student learning, second, that parents may be adapting learning processes to specific students, and third, that parents have concerns about the risks of online learning.

I applaud the researcher’s efforts here to refrain from wild speculation. However, I have no such obligation, so I will submit a fourth option. We must remember that, in a homeschool setting, parent and teacher are one and the same. The three theories provided by the researchers all examine this issue from the perspective of the educator, not from the perspective of the parent.

There are many reasons that a parent may want to limit or monitor a child’s use of technology (educational or not), ranging from religious or philosophical, to developmental, to the innate desire to protect their child from harm. As a result, it may not be a great mystery as to why a parent might not allow their child to have unrestricted access to the internet.

Our third and final observation relates to the comparison between technology in homeschool settings versus non-homeschool settings. The authors note that technology use does not seem to be as effective for promoting self-directed learning in traditional settings as it is in homeschool settings. They attribute this to a generally higher application of self-directed learning in homeschool settings. While this could be a factor, there may be another explanation.

The authors separately note that child-directed learning is a key motivator for many homeschooling families and that parents and children together choose the specific forms of technology. I do not believe these two things to be unrelated.

It is possible that technology aids self-directed learning in homeschools because parents have the flexibility to choose technology which will benefit their child. In contrast, a traditional setting must be able to provide the same technology to a large numbers of students, and while a particular device or application might work for a few students, it will rarely work for all of them.

Conclusions

As mentioned earlier, this study is merely an initial investigation to determine whether the topic is fertile ground for future research. But the findings so far are interesting enough to warrant further investigation.