Last year, the world faced something it wasn’t prepared for. The pandemic had not only got the better of the world order, but it had also disrupted the domain of education like never before. So much so, the impact of the catastrophic change is still continuing in 2021. The worst part is the fact that things don’t look quite promising till now. Almost every academic institution is being operated via remote access. As a result, there are several challenges coming in the way of an otherwise seamless global education system.
For example, a student, in today’s world, needs to buy expensive gadgets such as Smartphone devices and tablets if he/she wishes to follow up with daily classroom lessons. Reason? Things have suddenly gone virtual in full effect. According to a recent survey, the worldwide closure has impacted more than 60% of the student population, thus leading to long-term social and emotional downturns.
Thus, in an effort to help the scenario with further improvements, focus on reading this blog, explore the major challenges faced by the education system during the pandemic and what remedial measures can be taken to make a difference down the road.
Here’s everything you need to know.
1. Disruption in a smooth flow of communication
Communication is essentially the primary factor behind seamless learning methodologies. If you are not connected to your educator in the way it is supposed to be, you cannot expect to be a part of a healthy learning drive. According to a IKEA case study, Stacy James, a student of Computer Science, was exposed to massive upheavals pertaining to disrupted communication.
She was supposed to appear for an online exam. Right after a few moments of the exam commencement, her internet connection went for a toss. As a result, she was forced to sign out of the exam portal and waited for more than an hour for the connection to resume.
There are more such instances around the world which has caused and still causing a lot of trouble for the students, as well as the educators, in terms of maintaining a seamless communication funnel.
Let’s find out the remedies to fix such issues.
à Academic institutes across the globe must come together and take initiatives to streamline remote accessibilities in a better way.
à All students and educators should be intimated by the authority to ensure ethical and safe usage of communicational devices such as phones, tablets, laptops and the likes.
à Every online communication should be acknowledged in the right manner. Teachers should practice being prompt in sharing notifications and news.
à On the other hand, students should make it a point to acknowledge the message as soon as they would receive it.
à Any form of delay in communication leads to further delays and result in a major blockage in the funnel.
So, the idea is to monitor daily communication, acknowledge all messages and notifications, and abstain from surrendering to any form of disruptions.
2. The digital space is still new to many
Even though digitization has made its presence felt long back, few things are yet to be regulated, honed and understood by many people around the world. Not only the students, but there are some educators who are still oblivious of the right use and technical functionalities of digital devices.
Now that’s where the challenge lies. Unless the entire world gets tech-savvy, streamlining the educational struggles might turn out to be one futile attempt. So, before everything else, we need to hone technical skills and leverage the digital space in the best possible way.
Here are some suggestions on the actionable points one can consider and implement in this context.
à The government or other authoritarian bodies across the world must take active steps in educating each and everyone to make optimum use of technology.
à Every academic institute should foster the use of basic technological devices such as desktops, laptops, routers and the likes.
à Academic researchers and regulating officers should encourage the inclusion of “Technology” as a serious sub-disciplinary area in the curriculum.
à All operatively active NGOs should take a step ahead in an endeavor to distribute, install and demonstrate basic technological devices across all remote areas.
3. Educators cannot get around to everyone
In today’s date, where the world is under lockdown, most educators are seen to complain about not being able to get around to every student individually. Prof. Martin Wills, accounting assignment help expert associated with Allessaywriter.com, and guest lecturer at a reputable institute in Chicago, says, “It’s been a while I haven’t seen my students and I miss explaining them new lessons in a way I used to do. Now, either my students miss out on important class lessons or I miss out on delivering the same constructively.”
Now, this is a serious concern. Even though one can always fix the communication l gap, roping in a huge batch of students and getting them all together under the same roof is certainly no child’s play. This calls for the sector of education to be a bit more organized in its approach and get over the trying times in the following manner.
à Introduce the idea and encourage students to harness the functionalities of group video calls.
à One can carry it out via advanced applications such as Google Duo, Zoom and the likes.
à If you have a batch of 20 students, split accordingly and urge them to stay connected on either of the aforementioned apps.
à If virtual communication is a problem in terms of stable internet connection during an ongoing video call, then sign up for Skype audio calls.
à One can turn off the camera (if it is at all not needed) and carry on with the audio calling feature.
à That way, a weak internet connection can go easy on the platform as it eradicates the humongous data usage involved in video calling.
Parting Thoughts,
While these are some of the notable challenges and remedial aspects related to education during the pandemic, you can surely cultivate and implement other strategies. Lest we forget, our aim is to gift the young generation an academically prosperous tomorrow. No matter whether the pandemic gets the better of us or other challenges come crashing out of the blue; we should never back out.
Cheers!
