Challenges to parental engagement in K-12 online learning during the pandemic: Lessons learned and a tripartite model for future involvement

Abstract

Online learning became a central feature of education during the COVID-19 pandemic, as traditional classrooms were rapidly replaced by virtual environments within students' homes through platforms such as Zoom. This abrupt transition required parents of K-12 students to assume the unfamiliar role of at-home educators, often without adequate preparation or support. However, existing studies did not comprehensively examine the multifaceted challenges parents faced or offer a systematic synthesis of their experiences. Utilizing activity theory as a conceptual framework, this systematic review analyzes 47 empirical studies conducted between 2019 and 2024 to uncover the key obstacles parents encountered in supporting their children's online learning. These challenges include balancing multiple responsibilities, limited access to technology, inadequate pedagogical and digital skills, and shortcomings in the online teaching practices employed by schools and educators. To address these issues, we developed a tripartite model categorizing influencing factors into three interdependent domains: internal, external, and transactional. Based on this framework, we propose targeted recommendations to enhance parental engagement, offering actionable and scalable strategies essential for building equitable, effective, and sustainable online learning systems in the post-pandemic era.