Impact of COVID-19’s on the Education

COVID-19 pandemic has created a major negative impact on numerous sectors out there in the world. Education sector holds a prominent place out of them. We can see near closure of universities, schools and colleges all around the world. Numerous countries came up with the idea that it is better to close down all the educational institutions so that they will be able to take complete control over the spread of the virus. By the end of September, more than one billion learners were directly impacted by it. Hence, it is worthy to deep dive and takes a look at the nature of the impact that the virus has created on the education system.

How has the COVID-19 impacted education sector?

Formal education is mostly impacted by the COVID-19 virus. Most of the primary schools and secondary schools are closed from the month of March. This was a measure taken in order to minimize the impact of students who attend primary schools and secondary schools to the virus. When you take a look at countries such as Australia, even the daycare centres are closed down.

Likewise, we can see closure on the colleges and universities around the world as well. These measures have been taken to ensure the protection of students, administrative staff and academic staff. Apart from temporary closures, we can see how some of the educational institutions are have delayed commencements period. On top of that, we can see them adopting digitization at a rapid pace.

There are millions of students, who are waiting to start their college and university education because their admissions are delayed along with the negative effects created by the virus. For example, academic programs are delayed and there are shortages in spaces in the universities. Due to the same reason, a large number of students who were supposed to start their studies during the 2020/21 academic year have been asked to stay for more time.

Some of the universities and colleges have taken decisions to offer refunds to the students on tuition. In the meantime, the country has made a $6 billion emergency fund available for all the students.

How would COVID-19 transform education?

Even though COVID-19 has created a negative impact on formal education, we can see how it is transforming the education sector as well. These transformations are quite impressive and we can see how positive results are being offered along with them. Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent transformations that have become mainstream along with the COVID-19 pandemic.

-          -: Online learning

Online learning is the biggest transformation that we can see in the education sector. It is true that online learning was existent even before the pandemic came into this world. However, we didn’t see any educational institutions or students using it. However, things have changed by now and we can see how numerous educational institutions and students are using it on a daily basis.

Along with the development of technology, it has become possible for the students as well as teachers to continue with their work through online learning platforms. Before online learning became mainstream, we assumed that it will not be possible for the students and teachers to collaborate with each other in a better way by going beyond traditional textbooks. However, online education has been able to transform that dream into reality.

Most of the schools and higher educational institutions started conducting classes through the video telephony systems such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. This is where both teachers and students understood the benefits that come along with online learning.

Students and teachers were forced to stick to online education by the pandemic. However, we will be able to see them sticking to online learning in the future. That’s because they have discovered that online learning is a better way to go forward than sticking to traditional textbooks and classes.

-         -:  Better access to educational resources

Along with the impact created by the pandemic, we can now see how students are provided with better access to educational resources. That’s because numerous initiatives were taken in order to offer open access to educational resources. Back in the day, this was not something possible due to copyright limitations.

For example, the International Council for Open and Distance Education went ahead and launched a dedicated portal to offer online teaching tips, webinars and numerous other resources that can benefit the teachers. Such initiatives further contributed to the effectiveness of online teaching and online learning.

Likewise, we can see how numerous other platforms that offer educational content for the students were made available. Likewise, the existing educational platforms started offering free access to the students to go through courses and gain more knowledge. Platforms such as Coursera hold a prominent place out of them.

-           -: The rise of digital credentials

Another trend that we can see taking place out there with online education is the increasing demand for digital credentials. Digital credentials are an excellent method available for the students to showcase that they have completed a course and gained a skill online. The concept of digital credentials was also existing out there in the world. However, it has started receiving attention because of the increased demand for online education.

Upon the completion of a specific course online, it is not practically possible to provide a physical certificate. That’s because students are in a remote location. In fact, there is no need to spend time and effort on it because there is a better way to recognize the achievement of a student. That method is none other than digital credentials.

As of now, a student can share their degrees online with the help of digital credentials. Higher educational institutions and the employers will be able to verify them and ensure that the student has acquired the knowledge needed.

Conclusion

As you can see, COVID-19 has introduced many changes to the education sector. We will be able to see these changes becoming mainstream out there in the world in future.