Impact of 2020 on Education — The Future Belongs to the Learners
Online education platforms have taken over this generation’s education needs. Apps such as BYJU’s digital classroom, UpGrad for online courses, Brainly for homework, social media apps for news, trends and entertainment, along with the YouTube KIDS have changed everything. Not to forget Visual Search lenses that converts physical learning to visual has completely revolutionised the way of learning today.
The closing of school & college worldwide as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic are projected to have far-long implications in the short and long-term future of children.
As of now, 317 million learners are affected globally (18.2% of the total enrolled learners), 29 country-wide closures have been in effect as recorded by the UNESCO Institute of Statistics and Data. The nationwide shutdowns are impacting hundreds and millions of students.
It’s become more important than ever to be digitally connected. Learning has started going online in most parts of the globe, paving the way and adding more significance to the need for a reliable digital connection.
On the brighter side, the shift or rather crisis management for continuity in education has been led by top management and technology universities.
While most of the universities in the QS top list have the advantage of extensive learning management systems, the tier 2–3 Universities have coped up pretty well by shifting classes and learning on video conference platforms. Certain Apps like Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, etc. have invaded the internet in these past months due to their high demand in the work-from-home scenario.
Challenges of teaching subside the transitional teaching methods increasing the digital need for adaptation, preparation, support, and engagement. Some of the capabilities we can work to manage this digital change can be by:
1. Curating, co-creating & leveraging good quality content & context
to support the ordination of new era digital learners into a connected atmosphere.
2. Using various digital learning platforms & tools effectively to deliver using real-time methods: engaging, managing, reinforcing & facilitating.
3. Empowering learners to adapt to empathy, design thinking & a growth mindset.
One major shift has been towards digital skills. Learning interests have slowly seen a shift from mainstream academic topics to skill development.
Digital transformation skills: We are facing a re-skilling habitat according to WEF (World Economic Forum). The effects of COVID-19 have accelerated this gap even more. Digital skills are at the center of this re-skilling revolution and are an unavoidable prerequisite for future job workforce and businesses.
The advent of 5G, IoT, large scale AI, Chatbots, Machine Learning dependence is taking us to new realities of real-time connectivity from one device to another decreasing the physical existence to perform a given task.
According to CBS, Kids & teens aged 8–18 spend an average of more than 7 hours a day on screens. The time that kids spend time watching online videos has doubled in 4 years, mostly on Youtube has roughly doubled to an hour each day.
Also, 100 billion hours have been spent watching gaming content on Youtube, the most in 2020. And all of this is only going to increase & this digital tech is going to be embedded in learning.
The fact that this digital space is not only used for marketing products or monetization but also provides a learning platform is euphoric.
This is all of us moving ahead without leaving anyone behind using this amazing technology in the right manner, at the right time, thoughtfully & co-operatively to address current digital inequities.
