QP Software: The Impact of COVID-19 on Education
With more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the COVID-19, the whole education system has been forced to evolve towards new formats of offering models. Prior to the pandemic, the online, more considered as a “nice to have” tool is now becoming a necessity.
During this period, it is interesting to see how online tools are being integrated into the academic environment and what solutions are being used in order to remedy the social distancing and study from home situation.
It is clearly shifting to online, but to what extent?
For some universities, such as Boston University,it seems the right time to launch their full on-line MBA program. Cambridge for example has already decided to give all their courses online until 2021. And Tencent is highly promoting its K-12Online School services.
Whereas other universities prefer to use online technology more as a supplementary resource, providing a better support for students to overcome changeable situation and needs, and ensuring that learning does not have to be interrupted in future.
Wellington University, for example, has been delivering homework and group classes though online and video streaming platforms. Rutgers University is announcing graduate education will return in September with a combination of in-person and remote online classes.
Arizona State University is proposing more flexibility in their offering with three modes of tuitions - the “on-campus in-person technology-enhanced learning environment” (Which is a more traditional on campus model), the “synchronous technology-enhanced” (with live video instructions/remote instruction) and the “fully interactive remote learning” (such as recorded lectures available at any time from anywhere).
In some fields, such as in the Research, in-person classes are still required for clinical experimentations for example. Contact-tracing App seems to be an alternative solution to stop spreading COVID-19 without being forced to maintain social distancing. In China, Alipay App released the Health Code, which has been used not only for universities but also for taking subway, checking into a hotel, getting into a shopping mall or an office.
According to Salim Bourezane, Product Manager at QPSoftware “Nowadays, the technology and e-learning platforms are not just a tool or communication medium between teachers and students, but it became part of the education environment. More sophisticated, it has to provide maximum assistance to everyone, even to parents and teachers.”
Beyond the threat, COVID-19 is alsoan opportunity for education to become more accessible, to provide more flexibility and even to innovate. Because, in the end, schools objective remains the same, it is about preparing students for the challenges of today and tomorrow.
