In the spring of last year, the transition to online education was unexpected for Hungarian public education. Following the announcement of distance learning due to the epidemic, teachers had a weekend to consider what new platform they would continue to work on. Teacher-efficiency surveys revealed that respondents felt that digital education meant a higher burden and a less than average sense of efficiency (Kóródi, Jagodich, Szabó, 2020).
In addition to research on the Bourdieu theory of social capital (Pusztai, 2009), several studies prove that the socioeconomic status of the family and parental involvement have a major influence on pupils’ effectiveness in school. (Manstead, 2018, Fidinist, 2016, Kraus and Stephens, 2012, Csapó-Molnár-Kinyó, 2009). The classical interpretation of parental involvement has been greatly transformed by digital education, since in many cases parents also performed teaching tasks.
The purpose of the empirical, non-representative online questionnaire, conducted among parents (n=203), was to assess how parents tried to support their children in managing the altered educational situation. It was also designed to reveal their views on the effectiveness of extra-classroom education and to receive feedback on what characteristics teachers of digital education should have, with which they can support the effective learning of students and the effective involvement of parents in their children’s home education.
The results of the research can help parents and educators collaborate in order to better educate pupils.