Half of Mayo teachers say poor broadband hampering online teaching

A MAJOR survey of second-level teachers by Studyclix.ie has found that unreliable internet access for teachers at their homes was a barrier to teaching for one in three teachers.

In Mayo, more than half of teachers are being hampered in their efforts by poor connectivity.

In terms of the bad internet connection, some 53% of Mayo teachers said their had slow/bad internet connection in their own homes,

The teachers in the county also reported that lack of device or internet access among students stood at 38%.

Over 29,000 second-level teachers are registered with www.Studyclix.ie, which has 190,000 student users. A total of 1,500 teachers responded to the survey, carried out on Monday and Tuesday of this week.

As well as bad connectivity, almost eight out of ten teachers (78%) believe that a lack of student engagement is a barrier to teaching with many students apparently not responding to or engaging with teachers.

One reason for that is that many second-level students do not have access to a device with 47% of teachers reporting that this is an issue for their students. Teachers themselves are struggling with the technology, with three out of 10 saying they lack the technical know-how to effectively carry out online teaching.

Commenting, Studyclix founder Luke Saunders said: “I welcome Minister McHugh’s recent announcement of €10 million top up funding for ICT hardware such as laptops. Schools have now been closed for almost six weeks and I think it’s vital we get these devices to exam-year students who need them as soon as possible to avoid them being disadvantaged for any longer.”

When asked what tools they were using online, teachers said Studyclix.ie (70%); Google Classroom (41%); Microsoft Teams (41%) and Zoom (26%).

Commenting on the overall survey results, Luke Saunders said: “There is a clear disparity in the view on online learning from the teacher and student perspectives. Our recent student survey showed that 79% of students felt they could be getting better support from their teachers while teachers report an overwhelming lack of student engagement.

“Our results also show a really pronounced digital divide emerging whereby certain students and teachers are being disadvantaged by Ireland’s poor broadband infrastructure. I feel that students in remote rural areas and those in disadvantaged urban areas are being particularly left behind.”

But despite the technical challenges, it seems many teachers are working more hours and they are finding online learning more difficult than classroom teaching. Some 93% say it more difficult to work from home, with 79% saying they are working more hours.

On the state exams, an overwhelming majority (74%) of teachers say the Department of Education made the right decision to postpone the Leaving Cert with half of all teachers (51%) saying predicted grades would not work for Leaving Cert students.

* Pictured above are Senior Cycle students Alison McGovern and Sarah McKim with Luke Saunders, Studyclix.ie. Photo: Orla Murray/SON Photo