University of Canberra PhD student Megan Jackson is investigating ways digital technology can keep chronically ill students engaged with teachers and fellow students, even when they cannot make it to the classroom.

The secondary school teacher said adolescents with a recurring illness often missed out on the rich learning experience of being at school, including asking questions and working in groups.

''Children are not empty vessels that get filled with information, children work together to construct understanding and construct new knowledge, so the child with chronic illness doesn't get to do that,'' she said.

It is problem she has seen firsthand, as the mother of two children who suffer from several health conditions.

Mrs Jackson said her daughters had often been forced to miss school due to illness, then returned to find they had piles of work to catch up on.

She completed a master's degree looking at how chronically ill teenagers managed school and found many faced the same educational hurdles as her daughters and it often affected their motivation.

Chronically ill young people were at risk of not finishing school, she said. ''If we can get these students connected to their learning, connected to their school environment, then they've got academic support, they've got social support and they've got a better chance at a better future.''

Mrs Jackson is researching how to keep chronically ill students motivated and wants to trial connecting them to their classroom via an existing video calling program such as Skype or FaceTime.

If she secures funding, she will link three chronically ill ACT students to their classrooms next year via digital tablets, so they can participate from home or their hospital bed. Mrs Jackson said she would measure student engagement and motivation after using the technology and is seeking teachers and students to be involved.

She said some of the biggest challenges to the project would be ensuring the technology was good enough and making sure all parties were comfortable using it.

Her elder daughter is now at university, the younger in year 12 and both are supportive of her work.