Pandemic Reshaping Education

 

  corona virus pandemic could reshape education systems

Well before the Pandemic COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption of technology in education, with global education technology ( ed tech) investments reaching billions of dollars and the overall market for online education projected to grow further. Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19.Consider the following points of interest:

1.     The corona virus pandemic has changed how millions around the globe are educated.

2.       New solutions for education could bring much needed innovation.

3.     Given the digital divide, new shifts in education approaches could widen equality gaps.

It has been a matter of weeks and corona virus (COVID-19) has changed how learners are educated around the world. These changes could give us a glimpse at how education could change for the better - and the worse - in the long term. As the pandemic spreads rapidly in Kenya and around the globe, countries have taken swift and decisive actions to mitigate the development of a full-blown pandemic. In the past months, there had been multiple announcements suspending attendance at schools and universities. As of March 13 going forward, the OECD estimated that over 421 million children were affected due to school closures announced or implemented in 39 countries. In addition, another 22 countries have since announced partial "localized" closures. As such, these mitigation decisions have led millions of learners into temporary ‘home-schooling’ situations, especially in some of the most heavily impacted countries.

These changes have certainly caused a degree of inconvenience, but they have also prompted new examples of educational innovation. Although it may be too early to judge how reactions to COVID-19 will affect education systems around the world, there are signs suggesting that it could have a lasting impact on the trajectory of learning innovation and digitization. While some believe that the unplanned and rapid move to online learning – with no training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is not conducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits. Gesci C.E.O. put it  right during a teachers’ training forum in Kenya when he said, “I believe that the integration of information technology in education will be further accelerated and that E-Learning will eventually become an integral component of school education”. Below, we follow three trends that could hint at future transformations:

1. Education -pushed to change - could lead to surprising innovations

Although the slow pace of change in academic institutions the world over is annoying, with archaic, lecture-based approaches to teaching and outmoded classrooms; all is not lost. Most interestingly, a pandemic by the name COVID-19 has become a catalyst for educational institutions worldwide to search for innovative solutions in a relatively short period of  time. To help slow the virus' spread, students in many countries started to learn from home, via different platforms. For instance, In China where the pandemic was first reported, 120 million Chinese got access to learning material through live television broadcasts. This was to be replicated in many other countries as the virus spread throughout the globe. Others may have used simpler-yet no less creative-solutions to help the learners who could no longer access physical classrooms.

In a similar manner, learners in Kenya began leveraging online learning, although at a lower  percentage. However, one school in Nairobi county was doing it so well even for subjects such as physical education. Learners shot and sent over their own videos of athletic training and sports to their teachers as "homework," pushing students to learn new digital skills. This was integrating of ICT in Education without the classroom .One student’s parent remarked, “while the sports exercise took a few minutes, my son spent three hours shooting, editing and sending the video in the right format to his teacher."Talk of work skills learned for future use! We see learners truly embracing the ‘learning anywhere, anytime’ concept 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. Learning could become a habit that is integrated into daily routines - a true lifestyle.

2. Collaborations between Public-private educational partners could breed new solutions

In  the past four months or thereabout, we have seen learning coalitions taking shape and place, with various and diverse  stakeholders - including governments, publishers, education professionals, technology providers, and telecom network operators - coming together to utilize digital platforms as a temporary solution to the crisis. In developing countries especially, where education has predominantly been provided by the government, this could become a prevalent and consequential trend to future education. In Kenya for instance, the Ministry of Education  in collaboration with the KICD has made great steps towards developing a new cloud-based, online learning and broadcasting platform to be used by all learners from pre-primary to high school. The resources on these platforms include videos ,e- books, assessment tools, and counseling services for free. The intention is to continue using and maintaining these platforms even after COVID-19 pandemic-if, we ever get there.

Looking at such examples as these, it is evident that educational innovation is receiving attention beyond the typical government funding or the Non-Government project based approaches. In the past years, we have already seen far greater interest, and investment, coming from the private sector in education solutions and innovation .For example, Microsoft, Google, Master Card and Samsung just to name a few corporations that are awakening to the strategic imperative of an educated populace even for their own business models survival. While most initiatives to date have been limited in scope, and relatively isolated, the pandemic could pave the way for much larger-scale, cross-industry collaborations to be formed around common educational ends.

3. Possible widening of the digital divide

Many schools are finding stop-gap solutions to continue teaching during the closure, but the quality of learning is heavily dependent on the level and quality of digital access. While virtual classes on personal tablets may be the norm in first world, for example, many students in less developed economies rely on lessons and assignments sent via Whats App or email or general broadcast over the mainstream media .Additionally, the less affluent and digitally savvy learners and families are, the further such students are left behind. 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. The digital divide could become more extreme if educational access is dictated by access to the latest technologies that keep emerging every day.