Saudi Arabia’s Digital and Distance Education Experiences from the COVID-19 Pandemic and Opportunities for Educational Improvement Overview Under the supervision and coordination of the Center for Research on Educational Policy and the General Administration of E-Learning and Distance Education The study was undertaken by the World Bank with support from a team from the Ministry of Education Objectives and Scope The objectives of the study were to review Saudi Arabia’s digital and distance education experiences in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, to evaluate its impact, and to identify opportunities to harness the most effective new practices to “build back better” from the crisis. The scope of the study extended from kindergarten to grade 12 (K–12) with a focus on elementary, intermediate, and secondary education. In-depth data gathering took place in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Research Questions The study aimed to answer three key research questions: How well did Saudi What were the What are the Arabia provide for, strengths of Saudi opportunities for and achieve, continued Arabia’s response educational improvement education of K–12 to the COVID-19 following the digital students during the pandemic in K–12 and distance education COVID-19 pandemic? education? experience? Themes of the Study • Enabling digital and distance education • New and adapted tools and materials for education continuity • Teaching and learning practices during the pandemic • Students’ engagement and well-being • Implications for next steps 2 Methodology Surveys A nationally representative sample of schools was selected using a two-stage, systematic, cluster sampling strategy. Surveys were given to school principals, teachers, students, parents, and supervisors within those schools. Separate samples for elementary, intermediate, and secondary schools were selected, 604 schools in total. Surveys: Intended Sample Size and Response Rates Principals Teachers Students Parents Supervisors Intended sample 604 2,617 22,218 22,218 1,334 Responses received* 368 1,832 9,352 5,575 858 Response rate (%) 61 70 42 25 64 * Compared to other similar surveys, the achieved response rates are similar or higher. Virtual classroom 7 Focus groups observations Interviews • Conducted with • A sample of 63 virtual • Representatives of teachers, supervisors, classes were observed key departments principals, parents, and by supervisors trained and institutions were students to use a custom- interviewed designed observation • In total: 7 focus groups tool • Enabled a rich with 51 participants understanding of • The data provided direct various aspects of • Informed the design of insights into actual the preparation and the surveys teaching practices delivery of digital and distance education • Provided insights • Follow-up in-depth and quotes from interviews with the stakeholders’ own teachers provided voices further insights 3 Key Findings Overall • Saudi Arabia’s journey toward a virtual school model, rolled out at scale from the start of the 2020—21 school year, has been remarkable. Innovation has taken place at all levels, particularly among teachers. There is now a greater awareness of how education technologies can support and enhance teachers’ work and students’ learning experiences. • There are now new methods and styles of communication and better awareness of what is happening in classrooms across the country. The resultant innovations and disruption to business-as-usual in Saudi Arabia’s schools will affect change in children’s learning experiences well beyond the pandemic. “The pandemic provided an opportunity for everyone to educate themselves. They are developing themselves in the technology of education; teachers are researching and learning more than before. We had 50 to 70% [previous] knowledge in technology, while now we have a higher technical knowledge rate, up to 90%.“ Female supervisor 4 Despite extraordinary circumstances, education continuity was mostly realized • 89% of teachers were able to teach all or almost all the expected lessons • In addition, teachers gained skills in digital education, according to principals, which helped them deliver continued education • Training was helpful: 78% of teachers found the professional development useful and 71% found advice from professional learning communities useful I have been able to deliver the lessons that were expected of me this year Only a few of them 1 Mo st of them 10 All or nearly all of them 89 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of teachers I would rate the skills of the teachers in my school for distance education 80 68 70 60 % of principals 50 44 37 40 28 30 19 20 10 5 0 Advanced Satisfactory Needing imp ro vement Before the COVID-19 pandemic Now *Note: The virtual classroom observations also found evidence of many good practices but also some variability in teachers’ performance 5 Good communication and engagement helped in the success of the rollout • 90% of parents had used Madrasati to follow-up on their child’s homework, educational activities, and exams • 76% of parents had contacted their child’s teacher through Madrasati • 74% of parents had attended their child’s virtual classes • Closer relationships were noted between teachers and students • Better opportunities for parents to engage in their children’s learning were also seen as a benefit Distance education leads to a closer relationship Communication and advice to 100 between teacher and student prepare for distance education was: 80 100 60 Too % 40 79 82 86 much 80 32 20 0 Parents Teachers Principals 60 % parents Better opportunities for parents to engage in their child’s learning 100 About 40 right 80 61 60 95 97 % 40 87 20 Too little 20 5 None 0 2 Parents Teachers Principals 0 6 Access and attendance were strong with a few challenges • 98% of students were able to access Madrasati—an impressive rate given the scale and speed of the rollout—and others were able to access in-person school visits • 89% of principals found teacher absence to be lower than in previous years • But 59% of teachers found poor internet connections to be a main problem for classes • And 67% of teachers found it difficult to engage students throughout the lesson • Some students did not have their own devices, particularly in elementary school I have my own device: 100 10 8 26 80 % of students 60 90 92 40 74 20 0 “There is a difficulty in learning at home Elementary Intermediate Secondary because of the lack of devices for large families like ours. Most of the time we had to Yes No take out my brother in the first class to send my sister’s assignments.“ Poor internet connection can make it hard Female student to study Secondary 43 44 13 Intermediate 39 44 17 Elementary 38 50 12 0 20 40 60 80 100 % of students A lot A little Not at all 7 There was high satisfaction with digital resources and tools • 98% of teachers said they would find Madrasati useful after the pandemic • 88% of teachers said they would find the recorded lessons useful after the pandemic • 94% of parents found the digital tools to be useful for their child’s distance education • There was high demand for more digital content and improvements in the quality of the digital content I would like to see: More digital content Improvements in digital content quality 100 80 60 97 98 % 87 88 94 40 81 20 0 Parents Teachers Principals “The Madrasati platform contains various tools “Distance education provides me with needed to give feedback. I ask students to do a easy access to content, if the student has specific application and then I correct the work a specific question or wants to watch a and provide them with feedback and Madrasati specific clip, I can go online and find a provides us with [means of] communication.“ video in one minute via YouTube…“ Intermediate teacher Male teacher 8 Most educators perceived digital and distance education as effective • 68% of teachers and 61% of principals thought that students’ academic achievement was higher than in previous years* • But around half of students felt that they would have learned more if they could have returned to in-person schooling If I could have gone back into school last year I Compared to previous years, the think I would have learned: academic progress of students in my school this year has: 100 4 10 11 80 38 % of students 40 40 100 60 Less 12 18 The same 23 40 58 Mo re 80 50 50 24 20 21 Decreased 0 20 Elementary Intermediate Secondary 60 % of principals Not changed 40 “Distance learning has provided many 64 Increased advantages to the teacher, the student and the 57 61 family, and it has consolidated the concepts of development and digital transformation, and the 20 culture of family cooperation and involvement in the educational process“ Supervisor 0 Ma le Female Overall *Note: Without a comparable standardized test, it was not possible to measure actual changes in learning pre- and post-pandemic. 9 Digital and distance education were perceived to help build certain skills • Teachers perceived that students gained skills in digital literacy, independent learning, digital etiquette, and time management, in particular • However, 76% of teachers found there was a lack of opportunity for students to learn social skills • Some concerns were revealed over students’ feelings of isolation, boredom, laziness, lack of physical activity, eye strain, and lack of social interaction with peers (in focus groups and interviews) 100 I think distance education has helped students develop skills “a lot” in: 80 60 % teachers 40 81 78 77 75 69 64 59 57 20 0 Digital literacy Independent Digital Time Cre ativity Problem Collaboration Critica l learning etiquette ma nagement s olving and teamwork thinking “[Distance education has helped in] breaking the barrier of fear of participation and error“ Male student 10 While there was overall satisfaction with digital and distance education, there was also an eagerness to return to in-person schooling Satisfaction with the quality of distance education this year A return to in-person school as soon as 60 possible 50 50 Parents 72 28 40 % of parents Teachers 63 37 30 25 19 20 Principals 75 25 10 7 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 Yes No Very Satisfied Somewhat Not satisfied satisfied satisfied When my school goes back, I am looking forward to: 100 92 83 85 76 75 80 % of students 60 40 20 0 Seeing my Me eting my Studying Getting more Participating in frie nds again teacher in better/Doing my help with my at-school person schoolwork schoolwork activities (e.g. better sports) 11 In summary, key strengths include: 1. Rapid provision of distance education at scale for education continuity 2. Prioritized student-teacher connections 3. Availability of a wide range of tools and resources 4. Regular monitoring of user data and feedback loops to improve tools and services 5. Low-tech alternatives for students without internet access 6. Provision of special distance education 7. High satisfaction with professional training and support 8. Good use of teacher communities of practice and coaching 9. Frequent and clear communication with stakeholders 10. Enhanced parental engagement “The helpful tools and applications “I did not have a laboratory available on the Madrasati platform are but now I use applications and helping teachers to succeed in meeting everyone uses devices“ many students’ learning styles and needs. “ Female teacher Teacher 12 Opportunities for educational improvement: The study identified the following strategies arising from the digital and distance education to achieve lasting improvements in children’s learning experiences and outcomes. 1. More explicitly target policies and resources on disadvantaged and struggling students 2. Plan for long-term purposeful blended learning models that best suit existing practices and conditions, such as the “Flipped Classroom” and “Flex and En- riched Virtual”, as outlined in the “Blended Learning Design Workshop” asso- ciated with the study 3. In the short-term, ensure that a plan for providing devices and connectivi- ty to all students who do not have them is feasible and enacted as a matter of urgency. For the long-term, set policies for teacher and student access to devices and connectivity. 4. Target professional learning to reduce variability in teacher performance 5. Support and require teachers to recognize and meet the socioemotional needs of their students 6. Ensure continuity in national assessments to provide crucial information on overall levels of student learning 7. Improve data and monitoring of student attendance and engagement with distance education and in-person schooling 13 Looking forward Beyond the digital and distance education initiatives • Redesign of curricula and teacher assessment is currently underway. It will be important to shift from predetermined lesson delivery to aligning instruction to students’ current learning levels, skills, and goals. This concept of skill building needs to permeate throughout the education system and be well understood by all involved. • Expected time for curricular reforms should be realistic and set accordingly. International examples suggest that around 5 to 10 years are necessary. • There is a rare opportunity now to build on the strengths created by the distance education due to the pandemic, the most important of which is likely to have been the successful communication processes and parental engagement strategies. The opening up of the classroom to parents through virtual classes, and the increase in communication between schools and families, bodes well for long-term benefits, particularly if this is sustained as students and teachers return to in-person schooling. “Education systems, more than ever, require effective teachers that facilitate and support learning instead of delivering content; that use a combination of in-person and digital methods to deliver lessons; that foster creative thinking, communication, and collaboration; and that instill a love of learning, how to persevere, and have self-control.“ Jaime Saavedra, Global Director of Education, World Bank 14