+Exploring the Effectiveness of Kindergarten Students’ Online Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Online teaching was adopted in Hong Kong and many other places worldwide due
to lockdown policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research explores the
effectiveness of kindergarten students’ online learning as measured by parents’
reports of their child’s satisfaction with learning, engagement in learning, effective
teaching strategies, and an environment conducive to online learning. Parents of
392 students from 40 randomly selected kindergartens in Hong Kong completed
questionnaires in March 2022, a few months after the end of online teaching. A
questionnaire was designed for this study, with reliability and validity supported
by Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)
was used to test hypotheses. The findings show that effective teaching strategies
and an environment conducive to online learning positively affected student
learning. It can cast light on the issue of whether online teaching is suitable for
kindergarten students, the appropriate teaching strategies, and the kind of learning
environment needed to enhance online learning processes and outcomes.