Distance learning during the pandemic: opinions and attitudes of young students

During the pandemic, school closures and distance learning were one of the main instruments to contain the spread of the virus. Even if the tool of distance education did not originate with the pandemic, as the virus spread and schools closed, the use of online tools became more and more conscious and widespread. This scenario has amplified the scientific (and non-scientific) debate on the role played by technologies and online education. The aim of the paper is to study the effect of distance learning on the (self-perceived) performances of students in Italy. Studies carried out in other countries about school performances during the pandemic show that the performance seems to have been negatively influenced, and the young were reported to have suffered more. The study exploits the data collected in 2021 by the Italian Institute of Statistics (ISTAT), with the support of the Ministry of Education, through a survey on “Children and Teenagers: behaviours, attitudes and future projects”. The use of regression models allows us to understand the connections between personal and familiar characteristics of the students and the perception of the effects of distance learning on their school performance. Our results indicate that foreign students appear to have a greater probability, compared to native, of a negative influence on school results, as do those who feel they belong to a fairly or very poor family.