When students and professors return to campus in the autumn, there will be no turning back to before the pandemic. Instructors and executives in higher and lower education must apply what they've learned about student engagement and accessibility to their course design and lectures.
The pandemic caused the greatest disruption to schools in history, and many people were baffled by the magnitude of the shift. While COVID-19 exposed flaws in our infrastructure, processes, and practices, new ways of doing things have emerged amidst the health crisis. The following are lessons that schools and universities will further incorporate in a post-pandemic education landscape.
How COVID affected education
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a particularly negative impact on education. It has affected 87.6% of the world's total enrolled learners, with 1.53 billion students out of school (source). On the other hand, it has led to the meteoric rise of remote learning and the adoption of technology to create a unique learning experience.
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What is blended learning?
Blended learning, also known as hybrid teaching and learning, is a modern approach to education that combines online educational materials and learning experiences with conventional place-based classroom methods.
Here are examples of blended learning:
- Flipped model
- Face-to-face model
- Virtually enhanced learning
Types of blended learning
- Flipped model
By providing learners with training materials and presentations before the actual class, this blended learning methodology allows teachers to prioritize active learning during class time. Teachers can use a school planner or other techniques to distribute the content.
- Face-to-face model
This is the structure that most closely resembles a traditional classroom. Instead of visiting a real classroom, students log into a webinar or meeting session, such as a Zoom Meeting. Learning is done entirely online, with assignments assigned thereafter. This integrated learning technique can be simply delivered using a learning management system (LMS). Before or after the event, teachers can utilize the LMS to provide training sessions and assign responsibilities to students.
- Virtually enhanced learning
This is an alternative to full-time online training that allows students to complete the majority of their courses online while also participating in live webinars with an instructor. The learners' attendance is ad hoc and at their discretion, allowing them to learn at their own speed.
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4 technologies transforming education
Here are 4 technologies transforming the education landscape:
- Digital planners
- Open courses
- Gamification
- VR and AR
Digital planners
Students should utilize a digital planner since it will help them adjust to modern learning environments. More processes will become numeric in the near future since technology will undoubtedly play a role in the society of tomorrow. This explains why kids should become familiar with technical tools as early on.
A cloud-based digital planner can help instructors and parents alike to keep track of students' progress and make sure they're on track. By viewing an actualized learner's report, a digital planner can make necessary changes to the e-learning content and even design personalized learning experiences for individual students based on their performance.
The ultimate goal of any virtual campus is to provide a better learning environment. More than merely a virtual learning environment, digital planners contribute to a more comprehensive learning experience. Studyo's school planner enables users to self-manage, take initiative, and handle problems both in and out of the classroom.
Students are more likely to succeed when they are given clear instructions to follow. Our digital planner includes progress tracking, customizable templates, and step-by-step assignment breakdowns, making it easier to stay organized and plan for classes. Studyo is the only digital planner that helps students achieve their goals by revealing challenges and trends that may block their progress.
In addition, our school planner assists kids in developing strong study habits, learning more effectively, and gaining confidence when working on difficult project plans. All of these are excellent resources for assisting students in learning more effectively!
Open online courses
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are also gaining popularity as a means of obtaining higher education. Adult learners, in particular, are using these courses, which are free to anybody with a computer, to improve their skills or learn new ones to change their professional occupations.
From February to March 2020, Udemy recorded a 425 % rise in enrollments. Professional talents (e.g., Adobe Illustrator, technical drawing) and child-oriented content, such as painting and computing, are among the most popular courses on the platform. The edtech startup saw its sales increase year over year from March to May 2020.
In January 2020, Outlier, the brainchild of Masterclass co-founder Aaron Rasmussen, raised $12 million in Series A funding. Students can use the educational platform to take classes at the University of Pittsburgh and get college credits.
Gamification
Gamification in education aims to increase learners' motivation and engagement in educational contexts by combining game design features such as storytelling, problem-solving, badges, levels, and points. Educators motivate students to face and achieve various difficulties and goals by designing lessons like a game. This encourages student participation and may help students retain information more successfully. It also aids them in recasting subjects that they may find cumbersome or uninteresting as engaging and enjoyable.
VR and AR
A person can explore an immersive 3D learning environment created using virtual reality (VR). On the other side, augmented reality (AR) superimposes digital features such as graphics, sound, and text onto a user's environment. Both technologies can be used separately or in tandem in the classroom. Virtual reality can be used to boost learning and engagement by enabling students to experience directly a virtual replication of what is being studied. Imagine how immersive history classes could become!
Students can use Google Expeditions to take more than 900 virtual reality tours, including tours of the seven wonders of the world and the Great Barrier Reef. It also gives users access to over 100 augmented reality tours on themes ranging from Shakespeare to magnetism, art history, and botany.
MEL Science, based in the United Kingdom, offers a monthly subscription service for chemistry and physics experiment kits, the first of which includes a Google Cardboard VR headset. Parents and students can then learn at home using the MEL Science mobile app and the contents of the experiments they get. Students with learning disabilities, such as autism, may benefit from virtual reality. A 2007 study found that children with autism could efficiently integrate skills taught in a virtual environment into the actual world, such as fire and street/road safety.
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What does this mean for the future of learning?
When it comes to tech innovation, the education sector is falling behind, and events like COVID-19 demonstrate the inefficiencies in the education landscape. One thing is certain for the future of learning and it is that edtech and digitization have the potential to dramatically enhance the learning experience of students.
Apart from allowing for a smoother transition to remote learning, technology can also assist in providing tailored learning solutions as well as new and exciting ways for students to participate in school. We can expect a larger use of technology in education in the post-COVID era, notably in hybrid forms that combine classroom instruction with digital approaches like live broadcasts and virtual reality.