An investigation of the role of parental support in learners' readiness for online learning

With the Covid-19 pandemic, face-to-face education has been replaced by distance education. One of the factors determining the success and satisfaction of students in distance education is their readiness for online learning. Readiness for online learning includes student characteristics, such as self-directed learning, computer and internet self- efficacy, communication self- efficacy and motivation, which are required for effective participation and commitment to the distance learning process. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the role of parental support in readiness for online learning for high school students during the Covid-19 pandemic. More specifically, the capability of parental support for learning, besides demographic variables, to predict the readiness of students for online learning was determined. As a research methodology, survey research design, which is one of the quantitative research methods, was used. The study was carried out with 868 high school student participants studying in Samsun during the 2020-2021 academic year. As the data collection instruments; parental support for learning and readiness for online learning scales were used. Descriptive analyses, independent samples t-test, MANOVA, Pearson Correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were performed to answer the research questions. The results of the study show that the online learning readiness of high school students and parental support for learning are high. The factors of readiness for online learning (self-directed learning, motivation for learning, learner control, computer and internet self-efficacy and online communication self- efficacy) demonstrate variation by gender. Based on the findings, female students have higher levels in self-directed learning factor, while male students have higher levels in computer and internet self- efficacy, and online communication self-efficacy factors. The factors of readiness for online learning demonstrate variation by age and education levels of the parents. In terms of variation, 14-year-old students have higher self-efficacy than 16-year-old students for online communication self-efficacy, and 18-year-old students have higher self-efficacy than 16-year-old students. Based on parental education level, students whose parents are graduates of higher education have higher scores for the computer and internet self- efficacy factor compared to students whose parents are not graduates of higher education. The perceptions for the learning support offered by the parents of high school students demonstrate no variation by gender. The perceptions for the learning support offered by the parents of participants do not vary by age. The perceptions for the learning support offered by the parents of student participants vary by the educational status of their parents. The perceptions for the support offered by parents do not change by the education level of mothers. In terms of paternal support for learning, the children of fathers with higher education degree have higher perception of support compared to children of those who do not have higher education degree. There is a positive and significant correlation between parental support for learning and students' perceptions of readiness for online learning. While computer and internet self-efficacy and communication self-efficacy of a student can be predicted by paternal support for learning; they cannot be predicted by maternal support for learning. Similarly, while self-directed learning factor can be predicted by maternal support for learning, it cannot be predicted by paternal support for learning. Finally, the learner control factor and motivation factor for learning can be predicted by both maternal and paternal support for learning. The findings obtained from the analyses were discussed on the basis of the relevant literature and suggestions are presented for futurework.