COVID_19 - Lockdown - Education.

 By S Adeeb Mujtaba Ali 

Offline and Hybrid courses were taken online

A herculean task which was implemented overnight by managing and collaborating educators, learners and the functional resources (online platforms). 

Pro's

Interactive teaching - learning process, student centred, flexible, convenient.

Con's

Not suitable for all the learner's, dependable on internet and electronic devices (Desktop, Laptop, Smartphone, Tablet etc)

Realisation of significance of  new-age skills to work on online platform 

Several Edtech are collaborating with schools, college and universities for continued and smooth flow of teaching-and-learning process.

Pro's 

Good interpretation and delivery of data. Pre recorded or pre loaded courses and course material. 

Con's

Neither all the educators nor all the learner's have knowledge of the technology. A major drawback. 

Individuals investment for self up-skilling or learning.

Individuals who wants to equip themselves with more degrees, certificates and qualification will invest on their own. No enforcement of rules.

Pro's

Freedom to choose the courses based on type kind and duration. No strict deadlines or any other kind of restrictions.

Con's

Only the previlaged sections of society will have access to higher education, the tech savvy individuals can grasp things faster than slow technology learner's. 

Change in Learning formats based on different segments of learner's.

A basic orientation followed by EdTech is they are student centred. Based on the learning requirements, ability and liking of learner's the courses are curated.

Pro's

Revolves around the need, requirements and liking of the learner's. Learner enjoy the sessions. Flexible and convenient.

Con's

Their will be a huge gap created between the learner's based on the courses opted. Since it's student centred, their is a high level of specificity and options are narrow in terms of job.

In conclusion, their could be many pro's and con's about edtech, a root fact we should not forget is, edtech and non traditional education model was our saviour during the pandemic crisis. Hence, instead of being critical or having opinions and if's and but's we should accept and adapt to the change gracefully.

COVID_19 and higher education since 2020

 By S Adeeb Mujtaba Ali

COVID_19  pandemic has not only successfully devasted economies throughout the globe but also disturbed the smooth-flowing education system in both developing and developed countries. It is plightful to know that around 1.5 billion primary, secondary and tertiary school-going students do not have physical access to schools. COVID_19 impact however was not only dramatic but also transformative. Transformative in the sense it has made educators/tutors come up with strategies to let not pandemics affect the teaching-learning process. But in the emerging market, it has given an additional challenge like finances and infrastructure. 

Key points to be noted:

•  Due to pandemic university courses are made online.
• A new teaching-learning model can be expected in near future.

Among the different levels of education facing their own challenges, it's higher education that has to revolutionize. Even though the students here are old enough to explore technology and navigate platforms but are the Universities following the traditional campus education system, ready to makeshift, in order to approach and engage students, in terms of technology familiar manpower and infrastructure? 

At present platforms like Zoom, Google meet, WebEx, etc are serving as major support and a major lifeline to universities, however, it was noticed that the educators- lecturers or professors are still struggling with the technology. They are still trying to get themselves familiarised with these platforms to host online classes or other virtual activities. Not only this, but the struggle is also in maintaining a classroom setting environment and rapport with learners. The experts advise them to find a solution because now this is new normal and in order to maintain quality of education without compromising they should buckle up. Apparently, the most constructive solution to deal with such an issue is to either make digital platforms like Coursera work for them or work with them.

 According to HolonIQ (a market intelligence firm), higher education comprises only 2% of the $2.2 trillion global higher education marketplace (ripening for disruption). 

Even before the onset of COVID_19, it's been observed that students were more inclined towards online courses offered by the universities in comparison with their traditional courses. Universities that started taking online courses as a threat are now trying to acquaint themselves with the online teaching and learning process. Since COVID_19 has introduced Edtech as new normal. 

The online solutions since 2020 were adopted unprecedentedly by educators across the globe which are however considered as an experiment at an infancy stage. It is expected to flourish in the coming days and the association between tech companies and universities will grow strong beyond the pandemic crisis.

The present situation, no doubt has been painful but it has also helped all the stakeholders (society, policymakers, educators, and learners) to understand and realize the shortcomings of our education system not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. 

In conclusion, like the first industrial revolution, which was responsible for  present education system, the emergence of digitalized education model is expected from COVID_19.