Between Transition and Back to Normal: Empirical Insights into Post-Pandemic Digital Education at Primary Schools in Germany

The Covid-19 pandemic had a massive impact on school education around the world. Digital media thus became an integral part of school life, and the question arises as to how this development has affected digital education in primary schools and what the long-term effects of this change have been. Digital education encompasses the pedagogical use of digital media to foster digital competencies, as well as the use of technologies in teaching and learning processes. The paper discusses the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on digital education in German primary schools and the current situation. It presents results from ten qualitative focus group interviews with 45 stakeholders in primary education, including school principals, teachers’ association representatives, and school administrators. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Interviewees report only limited sustainable development of the technological infrastructure and the use of digital media in education driven by the pandemic. Overall, teachers were reported to be very willing to test and experiment with the pedagogical possibilities and potential of digital technologies, especially during the pandemic. They perceived structural conditions, such as technical infrastructure, bureaucratic processes and inconsistent data protection requirements, as significant barriers to the use of digital media. The findings thus highlight the importance of analyzing the interplay between teachers' personal factors and the structural conditions of digital education.