A significant proportion of video lessons provided by the government’s online learning provider, Oak National Academy, were left unfinished by pupils last year, analysis shared with Tes reveals.
In the academic year 2021-22, just over four in 10 of the lessons were not completed.
Furthermore, pupils in deprived areas were slightly less likely to complete lessons than their peers in more affluent areas, according to an analysis carried out by SchoolDash and shared with Tes.
The analysis also notes that ”the way in which video lessons are used seems to have changed somewhat since the pandemic”, with “portions of videos” now also being “used to reinforce class learning or to serve as revision aids”.
The report states that as a result, “partial video views are not necessarily an indication that the material is not being used as intended”.
Here are the other key insights that the analysis reveals:
Large MATs more likely to use Oak National Academy
At secondary level, 96.2 per cent of large multi-academy trusts had teachers who had downloaded or shared Oak resources last academic year.
And the proportion of small MATs using Oak was close behind (95.6 per cent).
However, SchoolDash notes that large schools are more likely to have used Oak because they have more teachers, and therefore the probability of at least one of them using an Oak resource is higher.
It adds that this is taken into account “by looking at activity levels relative to the size of the pupil population in each group of schools.”
Among maintained secondary schools, only 45.8 per cent made “at least some use of Oak during the 2021-2022 academic year”.
The analysis shows “no clear trend” between Oak useage and a school’s Ofsted rating in schools overall, although it says there did seem to be higher useage among primary schools with “good” or above ratings from the schools’ watchdog.
Secondary use much higher
Under half of all schools in England (45 per cent) used Oak resources at some point during the year, the analysis shows.
However, usage was much higher in secondary schools (74 per cent) compared with primary schools(37 per cent).
During lockdown periods when schools were closed to most pupils, Oak sometimes delivered more than 10,000 teacher downloads a day.
While it “rarely exceeded that threshold” last year, it “regularly displayed usage of about half that level, especially during 2022”, according to the analysis.
And usage tended to increase markedly during periods of disruption to schools, such as during the Omicron Covid wave at the start of the year, Storm Eunice and the July 2022 heatwave.
During the heatwave, pupil lesson starts increased by about 50 per cent compared with the week before.
Dr Timo Hannay, founding manager director at SchoolDash, said this suggests that “Oak remained a popular resource during acute educational disruptions”.
Most lessons started on computers
The amount of time pupils tuned in for lessons varied according to the type of device they were using
While sessions on computers and tablets were “similar in duration”, those on mobile phones “were typically only about a quarter as long”.
Dr Hannay said that a “potential source of disparity” is “access to technology”.
Around 70 to 90 per cent of Oak lessons were started on a computer across the academic year, while 10 to 20 per cent of lesson starts were made on mobile phones.
Fewer than 10 per cent were accessed on a tablet.
Looking at the usage of devices by deprivation area, Dr Hannay said: “In general, more affluent areas showed higher proportions of lesson started on a computer, though the difference between the most affluent quintile (83 per cent) and the most deprived (79 per cent) was relatively modest.”
London has most downloads
SchoolDash analysis shows that London was the most active region, looking at teacher downloads per 1,000 pupils and pupil lesson starts per 1,000 pupils, which stood at 177 and 1,898 over the school year respectively.
The region with the lowest usage in terms of teacher downloads, pupil lesson starts and teacher shares was the North East. In this region, the number of teacher downloads and shares stood at 80 and 5.9 per 1,000 pupils respectively.
And there were 801 lesson starts per 1,000 pupils in the North East in the 2021-22 academic year.
Dr Hannay said the trends by local deprivation “are more clear cut: across teacher downloads, teacher shares, pupil lesson starts, relative activity tends to be higher in poorer areas”.
“As well as delivering a free resource for schools and pupils, the data Oak generates provide a window into ongoing educational activities and disparities,” he added.
Oak National Academy was relaunched at the beginning of September this year as a new government independent arm’s’ length body, with plans to spend £8 million on purchasing new lesson resources.
Oak is set to receive £43 million in funding over the next three years.
