Just
in a matter of few months, the face of education in India has also changed. With
the coronavirus spreading across the globe, countries have been taking numerous
swift actions to lessen the development of a full-blown pandemic. According to
a report, the OECD estimated that over 421 million children are affected due to
school closures announced or implemented in 39 countries. These closures of
educational institutes have caused inconvenience initially but later prompted new
heights of educational innovation.
Even
the decision of launching ‘PM eVidya’ program by Prime Minister Narendra
Modi-led government during the unprecedented times of COVID-19 is a stepping
stone towards revolutionising the education sector, which was reeling under the
adverse effect of the massive lockdown to cease the spread of the deadly virus.
The program aims to provide a multi-mode access to digital education so that
100 Indian Universities can start online courses immediately. Digital education
has emerged as a clear winner during this pandemic around the world. The ‘PM
eVidya’ program is also encouraging for students, who were quite perturbed
about their future thinking whether regular classes will take place this year
or not
With
no vaccination yet and lockdown getting extended, here are implication that
suggest the pandemic could have a lasting impact on the trajectory of learning
innovation and digitization. Here are the four trends that could be at the forefront
of future transformations:
Change in education could lead
greatest innovations
We
have lamented numerous times about the slow-pace change in the education
process be it outdated classrooms, lecture-based approaches to teaching.
However, with COVID-19, the whole world has adapted to the innovative solutions
in a relatively short period of time.
For
example: students in Hong Kong started to learning at home via interactive
apps. In China, 120 million Chinese got access to learning material through live
television broadcasts. . In one Nigerian school, standard asynchronous online
learning tools (such as reading material via Google Classroom), were augmented
with synchronous face-to-face video instruction, to help preempt school
closures. Similarly, students at one school in Lebanon began leveraging online
learning, even for subjects such as physical education. Students shot and sent
over their own videos of athletic training and sports to their teachers as
"homework," pushing students to learn new digital skills.
Even
4G and 5G technology in countries such as China, US, Japan and India, have
promoted the initiative of ‘learning anywhere, anytime’ of digital education in
a range of formats. Traditional in-person classroom learning will be
complemented with new learning modalities - from live broadcasts to
‘educational influencers’ to virtual reality experiences.
The digital divide has expanded
Most
schools in affected areas have come up with digital teaching to continuethe
education process. But, it has been seen that the quality of learning is dependent
upon the quality and access of the digital platforms. After all, only around
60% of the globe’s population is online. Many students are relying on lessons
and assignments sent via WhatsApp or email.
The situation is not the same in less-affluent societies. When classes
transition online, these children lose out because of the cost of digital
devices and data plans.Unless access costs decrease and quality of access
increase in all countries, the gap in education quality, and thus socioeconomic
equality will be further exacerbated.
Time to build resilience
The
wide spread of COVID-19 has at least taught us how to become resilient during
this pandemic time. We have to be quick in adjusting with various threats right from pandemic
disease to extremist violence to climate insecurity, and even, yes, rapid
technological change. The most important skills, which are needed based on the
informed decision making, creative problem solving, and perhaps above all,
adaptability. To ensure those skills remain a priority for all students,
resilience must be built into our educational systems as well.
Public-private educational
partnerships have come for the rescue
The
moment the lockdown was announced, we have seen many collaborations taking
place ., with diverse stakeholders -
including governments, publishers, education professionals, technology
providers, and telecom network operators. They all are coming together to promote
how to utilize digital platforms for a better future. This initiative has been
a saving grace for many emerging countries, where education has predominantly
been provided by the government. it is evident that educational innovation is
receiving attention beyond the typical government-funded or non-profit-backed
social project.
