WiSe 2021/22 Bachelor Thesis How did the student’s relationship with educational technology develop during the distance education period and how did it impact their family environment? First supervisor : Dr. Robert Rapoport Second supervisor: Prof. Dr. Jan Müggenburg Date of submission : January 24 th , 2022 Sophia König 6 th Semester Major Digital Media Table of Contents 1. Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 1 2. Literature Review ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 3 2.1 Educational technology in a school environment ................................ ................................ .......... 3 2.2 Technology in a family system ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 4 2.3 Distance Education ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 5 2.4 Current state of research ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 6 3. Theory ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 8 3.1 Educational Technology ................................ ................................ ................................ ................. 8 3.2 Family System ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 8 4. Methods ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 9 5. Case Study ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 11 6. Analysis ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 11 6.1 Domestic resources ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 12 6.1.1 Learning environment ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 12 6.1.2 Technical equipment ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 12 6.2 Stud ent’s distance education skills ................................ ................................ ............................... 14 6.2.1 Implementation before the distance education period ................................ ................................ .......... 14 6.2.2 Implementation during the distance education period ................................ ................................ .......... 15 6.2.3 Implementation after the distance ed ucation period ................................ ................................ ............. 21 6.3 Impact on family dynamic ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 22 6.3.1 Mother - daughter relationship ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 22 6.3.2 Student - sibling relationship ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 25 6.3.3 Crisis and tension in the family system ................................ ................................ ................................ 26 7. Discussion ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 29 7.1 Findings ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 29 7.2 Limitations ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 32 7.3 Further Research ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 32 8. Conclusion ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 33 9. Figures ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 34 10. Works Cited ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................... 35 Statutory Declaration ................................ ................................ ................................ ................ 37 Annex ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........ 37 Table of Figures Figure 1 - iServ "files" ................................ ................................ ................................ .............. 34 Figure 2 - iServ "tasks" ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 34 Figure 3 - iServ Navigation ................................ ................................ ................................ ...... 34 1 1. Introdu c tion When Germany went into lockdown in response to the accelerated spread of the newly discovered C oronavirus 1 in March 2020, schools were confronted with an unprecedented situation. After shutting down during the first weeks of lockdown, lessons continued online. With a combined effort of students, teachers and parents, classes were re - organized and taught digita lly. Although students were periodically allowed to return to campus in alternating classes throughout the s ummer of 2020, the rising number of cases led to a longer distance education period at the beginning of the 202 1 until s pring 2021 . Throughout this period, students experienced a fundamental change in their learning environment. Instead of going to class on campus, lessons took place in the student’s family environment. At the same time, educational technology was utili z ed in a novel way for students as well as teachers. A new form of learning was initiated which challenged established implementations of educational technology. The following thesis aims to analy z e how the student s worked with educational technology during this period and how the situation impacted the dynamics of their family system. The central research question will therefore address h ow the student’s relationship with educational technology develop ed during the distance education period and how it impact ed their family environm ent This serves to close the research gap of investigating how educational technology influenced the family system during the distance education period during the C ovid - crisis. Previous literature already covered the sociali z ation of technology in a family environment and technology in an educational school environment. The need for a n in - depth discussion around educational technology in a family environment has increased since the emergence of the C ovid - crisis The pandemic o pened up the question of how those work together on a broader scale. The central research question will be analyzed in regard to guiding questions such as w hich domestic resources were available to the student in the family environment and how they influence d the student’s learning experience Moreover, th e analysis will focus on h ow the student’s relationship with educational technology developed by looking at h ow the student u tilized educational technology before, during and after the distance education period s Lastly, 1 The virus is officially called SARS - CoV - 2. The Coronavirus disease ( COVID - 19) is an infectious disease caused by the newly discovered coronavirus (WHO 2020) . It is usually referred to colloquially as well as in the media as COVID or Corona. The time period from March 2020 onwards is generally referred to as the Covid - crisis or Covid - pandemic. In this thesis I will use the colloquial terms Covid - crisis or - pandemic throughout the text. 2 the thesis will examine h ow the increased use of educational technology impact ed the family system’s dynamic and to which extent this alter ed the family system’s feedback loop To answer the research question, the thesis starts off by examining the state of research regarding educational technology in a school environment and technology in a family system before the Covid - pandemic. Furthermore, the literature review outlines the current state of research since the beginning of the Covid - pandemic in March 2020. The theoretical chapter focuses on defining the terms educational technology and family system to ensure a profound analysis later on The designated theories and terms intr oduced in the first chapters provide the groundwork for the adjacent analysis in the main body Subsequently, t he experience of a family system during the distance education period is outlined b ased on an interview conducted with a family from Hamburg, Ger many. The analysi s examines the student’s experience with educational technology during the distance education period as well as its impact on the family dynamic. Here, the analysis focuses on the youngest interviewed student, Maria (12) 2 T he distance education period confronted her with an unprecedented use of educational technology in contrast to her elder sister, Han n a ( 18) . As a possible outcome , the thesis aims to identify strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of educational te chnology in a family environmen t It focuses on the student’s use of educational technology and how its implementation can be improved. As mentioned above , Germany went into lockdown in response to the accelerated spread of the Coronavirus in March 2020 (n.a. 2020) . Schools continued lessons online and prepared the students to return to campus in April. However, the situation remained uncertain, and the cases were not declining. Therefore, the first distance education period was prolonged several times and, in the end, lasted from March to June 2020. Aft er the summer holidays, new measures such as social distancing and wearing a mask in the classroom allowed students to return to campus again. Due to the rising number of cases, schools had to close again after the winter holidays (Albrecht 2020) The second distance education period lasted four months from January 2021 to May 2021. In s pring 2021, declining cases and measures such as regular testing made it possible for part of the student body to return to class again (n.a. 2021) In the beginning , g raduating classes were prioritized and the other grades followed Up to the date of the authorization of this thesis in January 202 2 , schools have remained open. However, the discovery of a new Coronavirus variant “Omicron” h as caused a rise in cases and fueled new discussions of a potential third distance education period in winter 202 1/2 2 (Kuhn 2022) 2 To protect anonymity, all names of the participants in this thesis are pseudonyms. 3 2. Literature Review T he research around educational technolo gy in a family environment has not yet been necessary to such an extent until the C ovid - crisis in 2020. However, in the context of this research topic there has been an ongoing discussion around educational technology in a school environment , technology in a family environment as well as distance education before the pandemic . The following literature review intends to present a brief overview of the ongoing discussion around these topics to facilitate a better understanding of the situation before the C ovi d - crisis. 2.1 Educational technology in a school environment Before the C ovid - crisis , the research and discussion around digital media in a school environment centered around educational technology’s impact on the individual student , the conducted lessons , and the institution. The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievemen t ( AECT) conducted the first International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) in 2013 with a second cycle completed in 2018. The study measures international differences in student s’ computer and information literacy by conducting different te sts and questioning students and teachers. All in all, the study conducted research in 12 countries in over 2000 schools worldwide (Fraillon et al. 2020, 17) In the following, the results from 2018 are briefly summarized to present an overview on the implementation of educational technology in a school environment before the distance education period. The results of the study show that students in Germany hav e lower media literacy compared to students on an international level. In addition, students in Germany receive less individual support through educational technology (Eickelmann et al. 2019, 219) . These results do not differ greatly from the first study which was conducted in 2013 (ibid., 13) . Moreover, the study states that socio - economically disadvantaged students are more disadvantaged in receiving a good media education than more socio - economically pr ivileged students (ibid., 22) Regarding the impact of educational technology on the level of conducted lessons, the study shows t hat educational technology is rarely implemented in “subject teaching” 3 (ibid., 19) From the respondents in the 8 th grade only 22.8% us e educational technology once a week or more in lessons for school relat ed activities (ibid., 249) . Moreover, the study concludes that educational technology is mainly used in the classroom to p resent information to the class . 44% of teachers noted using educational technology often or always for this purpose (ibid., 21 9) 3 German: Fachunterricht 4 Only 14.8% of teachers implement educational technology to individually support students or student groups during lessons (ibid., 219) The study notes that schools in Germany are lacking hardware, software, pedagogical concepts as well as education and training for teachers in regard to the use of educational technology (ibid., 146) T eachers expressed the wish to further implement educational technology in a more dynamic manner in lessons with the use of mobile devices (e.g. tablets or laptops). However, most respondents were met with an infrastructural barrier regarding the availability of mobile devi ces and a reliable wireless internet connection. In addition, it is important to mention that the increased implementation of educational technology does not equate an improved learning improvement for the students. Heike Schaumburg (2018, 37) states in her paper that educational technology can ob tain a higher learning effect if implemented in combination with methods defined as “constructivist” (e.g. open student and problem oriented forms of teaching). Subsequently, the overall learning environment and type of task need to be altered to utilize e ducational technology’s potential. This finding supports the result of the ICILS report (2019, 219) wh ich criticizes that educational technology in Germany is mainly used for “frontal lessons” to convey information. 2.2 Technology in a family system The research around technology in a family system has become more important in relation with a more widespread use of technology in a family environment. In regard to the research question, this thesis will focus on the research around parental mediation a nd family media education before the Covid - crisis to contextualize potential findings regarding the family systems situation during the distance education period. Wagner et al. (2013) q uestioned parents regarding their family media education. Their research focused on the parents’ subjective media education competence and their media educative actions Parents’ concerns regarding their children’s media usage include “ contact with wrong p eople on the internet” (32,7%), “harassment on the internet” ( 27,8%) and “ passing on personal information on the internet ” (24,1%) (ibid., 84) The study also ques tioned parents about the age until which they feel responsible for their child’s media education. From age 11 onwards the parents feel less responsible for their child’s media education when handling a TV in comparison to computer games and computer/intern et (ibid., 87) At the age of 15 , 7 0% felt responsible for their child’s media education when using the computer/internet while only 40% felt responsible for their child’s media education when using the TV (ibid., 87) Th e research 5 findings illustrate the parents’ higher assessment of media education in regard to the computer and internet as opposed to other devices such as the TV. Furthermore , most parents evaluate their media education skills as good or very good. Here, parents’ evaluation differs , depending on their child’s age (ibid., 93) Parents of children aged 7 - 8 asses their media education skills highe r than parents of children aged 9 - 10 and 11 - 12. In addition, parents of girls evaluate their media education skills higher as opposed to parents of boys (ibid., 94) 2.3 Distance Educa tion The term “distance education period” is used in this thesis to describe the period of education at home during several phases of the C ovid - crisis. Many media outlets and public voices also refer to this period as the “homeschooling” period. However, t his term does not suitably define this time period The term describes a form of distance education popular in North America which distinguishes itself in several key factors from the homeschooling situation during the pandemic. Firstly , it is characterized by parents voluntarily choosing this type of education for their children due to several reasons. Parents questioned in a study conducted by Redford et al (2016, 11) state “’safety, drugs, or negative peer pressure’ at schools”, “a desire to provide for moral instruction” or “ dissatisfaction with academic instruction at other schools” as main f actors and reasons for homeschooling. However, both forms of education exist parallelly and homeschooling is hereby an alternative to classroom education. Furthermore, parents take full responsibility for the education and curriculum of their children Ray (2020) defines homeschooling as “parent - directed and family - based education”. The distance education period during the C ovid - crisis is therefore not comparable to t his definition of homeschooling. During the pandemic, the distance education period was mandatory for all students. As a protective measure against the virus, the students were temporarily not allowed on campus and had to show up in class digitally. In addition, the institution was responsible for the curriculum and learning design According to Helm et al. (2021, 240) the research around “Distance Education” seems more promising and comparable to the situation during the Covid - crisis. Firstly, there is no alternative to d istance education . It is regulated by law in Germany and is specifically for families who can’t ensure their children’s regular attendance at an institution. Also , parents are not responsible for their children’s education as lessons are conceived by private or public institutions. However, it distinguishes itself from the situation during the Covid - crisis as it has its roots in adult education which is why parental support has not been researched thoroughly 6 in this context before Picciano ‘s (2017) theory on distan ce education focuses specifically on Online Education. His “Multimodal Model for Online Education” highlights learning methods and activities and their possible implementation with educational technology as part of Online Education Derived from several le arning theories such as Behaviorism and Cognitivism , central elements include presentation of “Content” with course management systems (e.g. “Moodle”) , “Collaboration” in shared documents , “Questioning” through a discussion board, “Reflection” with a journal or blog , “Evaluation” with online tools and “Independent Study” with adaptive software (ibid., 178ff) According to Helm et al. (2021, 241) t he integrated mo del offers indications for relevant aspects in regard t he implementation of educational technology during the distance education period of the Covid - crisis. 2. 4 Current state of research The contemporary discussion around the impact of the distance education period in Germany includes several research papers, studies and field reports. The paper “’I’m Starting to Miss School’ - Schooling during and after the Corona Pandemic” ( Fickermann and Edelstein 2020 ) was compiled on behalf of the German Union for Education and Science 4 . It was published in June 2020 and includes a collection of reports and research papers regarding the distance education period. The paper highlights several aspects regarding the new teaching environment and focuses on the teachers and students experienc es. The family system as well as the role of the parent during this period is not featured in this publication. The paper identifies the institution’s insufficient technical equipment and a dissatisfactory communication structure between families and schoo ls as the main issues which arise during this period (ibid., 27ff) Th e paper “Lernen auf Distanz – Einblicke in den familialen Alltag des Homeschoolings und Formen der Bewältigung” (Gerhardts et al. 2020) was published in June 2020. The research aim is to analyze the daily “homeschooling” environme nt of families as well as different ways of coping with the new situation by looking at contrasting case studies. By conducting telephone interviews with the family system and having the students keep a learning diary over several weeks, the authors wanted to analyze how the parents and students experienced the new situation and to which extent the use of educational technology has developed since the C ovid - crisis (ibid., 7) The study comes to the conclusion that educational techn ology is especially efficient in the context of independent learning phases (ibid., 21) . Moreover, the authors advocate that schools further develop digital concepts to ensure an independent learning 4 German: Deutsche Gewerkschaft für Erzi ehung und Wissenschaft 7 environment for the student . This includes an improved communication structure between the student and the tea cher as well as the parents and the institution (ibid., 22) . Lastly , the study emphasi zes that educational tasks should implement mobile devices more frequently and efficiently (ibid., 22) Huber et al. (2020) , Schwerzmann and Frenzel (2020 ) and Nidwalden (2020) conducted co mprehensive research regarding the first distance education period by questioning students, parents and teachers. Müller (2020) , Wildemann and Hosenfeld (2020) and Wößmann et al. (2020) focused their research on the parents’ perspective whereas Rathgeb (2020) and Holtgrewe et al. (2020) only questioned students regarding their experience of the first distance education period. Furthermore, Heller and Zügel (2020) , Trültzsch - Wijnen and Trültzsch - Wijnen (2020) , Vuorikari et al. (2020) and Langmeyer et al. (2020) conducted research on the domestic situation during the first distance education period by question ing parents and students. Forsa (2020a and 2020b) conducted comprehensive research regarding the teachers’ experience of the distance education period. In this context they questioned teachers in April 2020 and followed up in December 2020. The research cond ucted by Heller and Zügel (2020) , Tengler et al. (2020) , Rathgeb (2020) and Holtgrewe et al. (2020) comes to the conclusion, that the first distance education period was experienced as overall positive by all questioned parties. Huber et al. (2020, 7) highlights the positive impact the first distance education period had on the digitalization of families and schools. On the one hand, Schwerzmann and Frenzel (2020, 53) , Nidwalden (2020, 4) and Trültzsch - Wijnen and Trültzsch - Wijnen (2020, 5) conclude that most of the questioned parties were sufficiently equipped with technical devices Teachers questioned by forsa (2020a, 2) , on the other hand, criticize the student’s lack of availability of technical resources. Müller (2020, 60) and Wößmann et al. (2020, 39f) come to the conclusion that parents are overall supportive and open to the increased implementation of educational technology during this time. Heller and Zügel (2020, 5) and Langmeyer et al. (2020, 24) identified the lack of social contact as the biggest challenge for students. According to Vuorikari et al. (2020, 3) , students in Germany had significantly le ss interaction with their teacher during the first distance education period in comparison to other European countries. A follow up research by forsa (2020b, 2) in December 2020 remarks that most teachers struggl e with implementing hygiene measures such as regular testing and airing of classrooms after returning to campus. Most empirical research was conducted over a year ago in the context with the first distance education period from March to June 2020 During this time, the distance education period 8 lasted about three months. Since then, there has been a longer distance education period during the winter of 2020/21. This thesis’ s empirical research will take the longer period of distance education into account, and it will be of special interest to which extent the perspective on this topic has changed since the first distance education period. 3. Theory The following chapter defines relevant terms and theories to gain a better understanding of the research question. These terms form the thesis’ s theoretical framing of the analysis of the central research question and empirical findings. 3.1 Educational Technology I t is important to distinguish the term “educational technology” from technology in education. According to a study conducted by Hooper and Rieber (1995, 154) technology in education analyses how many devices are in use in a classroom as well as how they are used to support traditional classroom activities. Januszewski (2013, 1) define s the concept of educational technology in his publication as the following: “ Educational technology is the study and ethical practice of facil itating learning and improving performance by creating, using and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.”. The research on educational technology concentrates on creating improved learning environments, integrating technology efficient ly and, if necessary, by also changing the overall framework and curriculum. This thesis aims to analyze how educational technology was implemented during the distance education period and how the student’s relation to educational technology developed duri ng this time. 3.2 Family System The term “family system” originates from cybernetic theory. According to Pangaro (2015, 1) , cybernetic theory frames the world in terms of systems and their goals. The term describing the science of communication and control was greatly characterized by Norbert Wiener (Wetchler and Hecker 2014, 44) . His cybernetic theory focuses on the organi z ation of systems and their regulation thro ugh feedback. Systems are defined as a set of interacting elements (ibid., 45f) W ith regard to cybernetic theory, families are characterized as systems as well. The system includes individual attributes of the family members, their relationship to each other as well as the family members themselves (ibid., 46) . Together the group is organized into a unit with specific purposes, functions, and goals. Subsequently, a family syste m is influenced by feedback loops. Here, Wetchler and Hecker (2014, 50) di fferentiate between negative and positive feedback, depending on the impact a behavior has on a system and the response of the 9 system to that behavior. Minuchin (1976) further divides a family system into subsystems. He suggests that “the family system differentiates and carries out its functions through su bsystems” (ibid., 52) which can differentiate in generation, sex, interest or func tion. The three main subsystems within a family are the spouse, parental and sibling subsystem (ibid., 56ff) . The spouse subsystem consists of two people who come together with the explicit purpose of creating a family. This system is characterized by the spouse’s mutual support to each other (ibid., 56) . Subsequently, the parental subsystem is formed with the arrival of the first child. Now, the system needs to include nurturing and socializing the child while keeping the spouse subsystem (ibid., 57) . Lastly, sibling subsystem is formed with the arrival of another child and includes the siblings’ relation to one another (ibid., 59) . In addition, Kantor and Lehr (1984, 33) introduce the personal subsystem which consists of an individual with their biological, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components. Jennings and Wartella (2004, 598) highlight external influences such as the introduction and use of digita l technology that impact the subsystems as well as the family system as a whole. Th is thesis aims to analyze what impact educational technology had on the family system and its subsystems duri ng the distance education period and how the family system’s fee dback loop was altered. Of special interest during the analysis is the personal subsystem of the student as well as the parental and sibling subsystem. 4. Methods Empirical research will create the foundation of analysis t o answer the research question of how the student’s relation to educational technology developed during the distance education period and its impact on the family dynamics . More specifically, a semi - structured interview with a family was conducted in September 2021 to illustrate a concrete example of how a family system experienced school ing during the C ovid - crisis The interview thematizes the implementation of educational technology in lessons and its impact on the students and the parent . Moreover, problems and challenges of the implementation are discussed to frame the exemplary family environment. The publication “Interviews mit Kindern führen” (Vogl 2015) supported the development of the interview guideline for the youngest family member, Maria (12) Furthermore, it was importan t to create comparable interview guidelines for students and parents. Thus, both interview guidelines are structured similarly regarding experience of schooling during the distance education period with a focus on use of educational technology , evaluation of this 10 period as well as wishes and critique . They contain quantitative evaluative questions which assisted the comparison of the interviews during the analysis. The research was conducted in person with a family system living in Hamburg, Germany. Contact to the family was facili tated by a teacher who is working at the same school as the student s . T he younge st child , Maria, is 12 years old and attends the 6 th grade. The elder sibling , Hanna, is 18 years old and graduated from secondary school in summer of 2021. During the interview three family members were present , and e ach family member was interviewed separately. The father did not participate in the interview. It should be noted that during Maria’s interview all participant s were present as this was the option with which all participants felt the most comfortable with. Regardless of the circumstances, the interview was conducted in a relaxed atmosphere Maria opened up throughout the conversation and elaborated answers by recalling specific situations and examples. As a researcher, it was valuable to get an impression of the family dynamics and relations of the three interviewees. During Hanna ’s and the mother’s interview , Maria was not present. This was helpful as the parent talked more openly about Maria’s behavior. A ll interviews were held in succession ( first Maria, then Hanna and lastly the mother ) Thus, Hanna already knew the question s and direction of the interview which may have led her to having more time to think about their answers in comparison to Maria T he interviews were analyzed and coded according to the qualitative content analysis after Ku ckartz (2018) to identify similarities and differences in the statements of the interviewees Categories included the “fact ual category”, “content - related category”, “evaluative category” and “natural category”. The “fact ual category” includ es information such as classification of the interviewees and timeline information. The “content - related ca tegory” focuse s on identifying experiences during the distance education period , implemented devices and software and statements regarding everyday family life In addition, remarks regarding a typical distance education day, extent of support during this period and the use of educational technology before and after the distance education period were gathered in this category. The “evaluative category” compiles comments concerning the assessment of learning in a family env ironment , the introduction to the distance education period and positive as well as negative experiences. Lastly, the “natural category” contains interviewees’ statements regarding ideas, wishes and critique with reference to the distance education period. The qualitative research results will form the basis of identifying strengths and weaknesses of the implementation of educational technology in a family system. The qualitative research is not aiming to be representative. According to Herzig (2014, 13f) controlled experimental studies are not 11 necessarily assessed higher as they do not convey the daily environment as authentically as explorative studies. 5. Case Stud y The interviewed family system consists of a family of four with two students and their parents living in a semi - detached house in Hamburg, Germany . T he children attend the same secondary school ( Gymnasium ) Maria (12) attended the 5th grade during the first lockdown in March 2020 and advanced to the 6th grade during the second distance education period in December 2020. In March 2020 she started out participating in online lesso ns with her sibling’s laptop and her own mobile phone. In the 6 th grade the family acquired a stationary computer which Maria was allowed to share with their father. The older sibling , Hanna (18) , attended the 11th grade during the first lockdown and graduated amid the second distance education period She worked with her own laptop throughout the distance education period. Both parents worked during the distance education period. However, the father had t he possibility to go to the office whereas the mother worked from home in the beginning of the distance education period. T he interviewed parent , the mother, works in a primary school’s afternoon care program. She worked from home during the first distance education period and partially worked in the school during the second distance education period. The father has his own office space and was not required to work from home throughout the pandemic. As the father’s employer wa s unsure whether their employees were a llowe d to return to the office during the second distance education period , they equipped the father with a stationary computer and a printer as a precaution should home office be necessary. 6. Analysis The analysis evolves around the development of the student’s relationship with educational technology during the distance education period and its impact on the family system’s dynamics . More specifically, the analysis will focus on the available domestic resources , the student’s distance educ ation skills and lastly, its impact on the family system. The available domestic resources are analyzed in conjunction with the student’s learning environment and technical equipment. When looking at the student’s distance education skills, the analysis distinguishes between the student’s use of educational technology before, during and after the distance education period to examine its development t hroughout this time period . Regarding 12 its impact on the family system’s dynamic, the analysis focuses on student’s relationship with her mother and her elder sibling as well as conflict and tension in the family system during the distance education period T h e analysis is structured according to a simplified integrative model on distance education by Helm et al. (2021, 243) 6 .1 Domestic resources The features of analysis regarding the student’s domestic resources for learning at home include the student’s learning environment and the family system’s available technical equipment 6.1. 1 Learning environment During the first distance education period the mother and children of the family system worked from home. The father could continue working in his company’s office and was not present when the students had classes online. In the beginning , Maria preferred to study in her own bedroom (Wilk et al. 13.09.21, 3) . Later, she joined her sibling who was working in the kitchen and living room area which she thought was cozier, and where the internet connection was mor e stable. During the second distance education period th e mother had to leave the family environment during the day to go back to work , and Hanna was also allowed back on campus during selected days of the week (ibid., 28, 5) Maria was at home on her own on some days during the week and shifted her working environment to the guest bedroom because the family had set up a stationary computer and printer there (ibid., 4) She set up her desk in the room and treated it as her own office space. In a study lead by Schwerzmann and Frenzel (2020) students were questioned about their learning environment during the distance education period 91% of the students who attend a Gymnasium had enough space whilst participating in online lessons (ibid., 12) . In addition, 87% of the students had a quiet and calm working en vironment which allowed them to concentrate (ibid., 12) These results coincide with Maria’s experience. Although she chose to work in the common area during the first distance education period, she had enough space and the option to learn in her own room or guest bedroom . However, the poor internet connection on th e upper level of th e house required her to participate in video conferences in the common area of the house during the first distance education period. Here, Maria did not have the option to work in her own space. 6.1.2 Technical equipment As mentioned above, the slow internet connection prevented Maria from working in rooms on the upper level of the house during the first distance education period. Thus , all family members 13 had to participate in video conferences on the ground floor at the b eginning of the first distance education period . During the second distance education period the family invested in a WIFI - amplifier which allowed them to participate in video conferences on the upper floors of their home. Furthermore, t he family did not own sufficient number of technical devices at the beginning of the distance education period. Maria and her mother used their mobile phone s and Hanna’s laptop to participate in video conferences (Wilk et al. 13.09.21, 28) . Due to the father’s vocation, the family received a stationary computer and printer during the second distance education period . The father’s employer provided him with the necessar y technical equipment in case he had to start working from home (ibid., 28) Subsequently, Maria was allowed to use the stationary computer and printer during the second distance education period w