Date of Award

2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

First Advisor

Dr Dilshad Ashraf

Department

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

Abstract

This qualitative exploratory study aimed to explore the parental perceptions about the use of low-cost, non-internet-based technology by their children, students of government secondary schools in Karachi, to address the learning losses they had experienced during the COVID-19-related school closure.  These students were participating in an AKU-IED-based project that explored the efficacy of low-cost technology i.e., Interactive voice response (IVR) for addressing the learning losses that government secondary school students experienced in mathematics and English during the pandemic-related prolonged school closure. A total of nine parents participated in the study. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews while the analysis was carried out using a thematic analysis approach. The study’s findings highlighted that parents valued their children’s access to IVR-based lessons for their children's learning. They acknowledged that IVR helped their children to address learning losses that they had experienced during COVID-19. Parents also considered IVR a valuable source of support for their children to continue their education during a pandemic. Parents especially mothers of girls were happy and satisfied with learning through IVR as they argued that it allowed their daughters to study at home instead of going out for education, in a restrictive environment, where girls' mobility outside of their homes is not appreciated for girls. IVR provided a facility for home-based learning which parents appreciated. They also considered it an economical source for learning which helped them to save their money, energy, and time. The study recommended that low-cost technology (IVR) could help students from resource-constrained contexts who could not afford high technology to continue their education during a pandemic.

First Page

1

Last Page

71

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