The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a huge change and shift to our economy and societal structures. The education system is one of them. Schools all over the world had to halt, and educators were forced to move away from traditional forms of in-class learning and had to re-imagine new educational methods.
Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been more shifts away from sole dependence on the traditional form of education. There has been a higher growth towards the adaptation of modern educational technology. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a sudden shift away from traditional forms of classroom education towards the incorporation of online education.
There have been many initial challenges in the last few months with numerous educators and institutions not ready to adopt these rapid changes. The problems resulted from a lack of training, insufficient knowledge, and little to no preparation. These resulted in a poor experience for students and frustrations.
However, this does not necessarily mean the use of online and virtual education models were not successful. Instead, it proved that we are in a modernized technological world where we could still deliver education virtually. It is just a matter of adequate preparation and training to successfully transition the quality of learning. This means our future of learning and education will be able to greatly shift into an online model or a hybrid model of education. Information technology can be further improved, and online education will be an integral component of the education system for our new generation of students.
More work is definitely needed to be done to provide a better quality of education through online methods. We need to move away from simply trying to translate our traditional educational resources into an online format and move on to
re-imagining and finding ways to provide interactive learning. With the right technology, tools, training, and education, there is evidence that online learning can be more effective in various ways.
The research from the Research Institute of America shows that students retain 25-60% more knowledge of materials in comparison to 8-10% in classroom settings. Online learning allows further flexibility, takes less time, and enables students to learn at their own pace, focus on materials they are not certain about, review, skip, accelerate on concepts as needed.
There has been work towards more advanced online learning that was gradual prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the sudden shift in the system, there simply was not enough time for educators to prepare the required materials to support education. After the COVID-19 pandemic, users will now be more familiar with online methods of delivery, and it is clear that the education imperative will be changed. Many researchers already emphasized the need to move away from the sole focus on traditional academic methods and skills to move towards adaptability and critical thinking for future success. It is still uncertain yet whether or not moving towards online learning could be the new catalyst or new normal. However, it provided an opportunity to clearly prove the potential and need for online education.
References:
Brandon Hall Study http://www.brandon-hall.com
Gutierrez, Karla. Facts and Stats That Reveal The Power Of ELearning [Infographic], www.shiftelearning.com/blog/bid/301248/15-facts-and-stats-that-reveal-the-power-of-elearning.
Li, Cathy, et al. “The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Changed Education Forever. This Is How.” World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/.
Loeb, Susanna. “How Effective Is Online Learning? What the Research Does and Doesn’t Tell Us.” Education Week, 1 June 2020, www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2020/03/23/how-effective-is-online-learning-what-the.html
“21 Astonishing E-Learning Statistics For 2020.” TechJury, 9 June 2020, techjury.net/blog/elearning-statistics/.
