The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in closure of schools across the globe, with more than 1.2 billion children. This led to a dramatic change in the education system with rise in online/remote learning. The sudden shift from classrooms has left many wondering if online learning will be sustainable post-pandemic.
The pandemic has laid bare the inequalities that exist in the education sector with those that have robust systems to deliver online learning being at an upper hand. However, lack of internet, electricity, and devices, has seen millions of children go without learning.
Access to technology has created education inequalities in different parts of the world. Schools that have access to education technology are able to continue learning while those without have completely closed. In addition, digital gap has exposed institutions that are just content suppliers and those that go out of the way to deliver learning in different forms.
One of the biggest challenges that learning institutions have faced during this sudden shift is delivering well planned and carefully selected online learning with proper mechanisms to monitor progress. In addition to delivering learning materials, digital learning should be focused on generating active feedback and engagements. This go a long way in creating a learning and teaching experience.
The use of technology to fill the education gap
Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of education and remote learning. This enabled universities and some school districts K-12 to continue offering learning amid the pandemic. There are various tools that schools are using to deliver content to students including:-
- Google classroom,
- Canvas which has add-ons and solid workflow,
- Blackboard, which is related to Canvas,
- Video conferencing, and
- Apple, Google, and Microsoft offer different packages to facilitate online learning.
The pandemic is likely to change the education system with interest shifting from just landing a degree or career to a continuous process involving self-exploration and better-rounded. Online learning requires a lot of discipline due to lack of supervision. The level of progress and success are largely determined by the student’s ability to stick to their schedule and exercise high levels of discipline with time management.
