How a Digital Intervention in Schools Contributed to Students’ Social and Emotional Skills, and Impacted Writing

Abstract

Published accounts of school interventions often focus on a small ‘slice’ of the complex systems and layers of learning across schools and homes. A series of studies into a digital intervention in low SES schools, is summarised here providing a fuller picture of how students’ engagement in digital contexts contributed to their social and emotional skills; and as a consequence, whether these skills impacted on achievement in writing. Overall, 9 to 13 year olds found self-regulation both harder and different when on line. The intervention was associated with higher levels of self-regulation when online, but had no effect on social skills. These patterns were related to specific features of the schools’ practices and instructional foci. Students’ use at home added to the general effects, with social media usages reducing ratings of self-regulation (e.g. chatting), others increasing social skills (e.g. commenting on blog posts), but high levels of parental monitoring positively impacted both. Parents’ own digital experience and their beliefs were related to their guidance. Higher levels of social emotional skills (specifically, response inhibition and cognitive empathy) were associated with gains in writing achievement. Putting the slices together enabled a more complete picture of the intervention, including how: (a) it supported the development of self-regulation online but needed more focus on social skills; (b) higher levels of self-regulation and social skills impacted writing; and (c) the coherence between settings contributed to these skills, underlining the need to provide support and advice to some parents.