Nowadays, remote learning has come to the forefront, overshadowing traditional classroom learning and underlining the importance of leveraging technology in the education and online education sectors.

Education Sector Is Being Redefined

So, as we have it, being versatile is the key to ensuring efficiency in these highly unpredictable times. So, just like businesses embraced remote work, aka work from home, schools also embraced remote learning to ensure that students’ learning progress does not take a significant blow.

Let’s look at how education has evolved in the last few years. And how it presents itself in a new avatar in 2022.

1. Leveraging technology

Due to the enforced lockdown after the outbreak of COVID-19, all aspects of schooling were shut down at once. Project screens, blackboards, manual attendance, and in-person teaching were gone. That’s when remote learning was implemented, and it’s still in practice in many parts of the world.

While hugely popular online platforms became an automatic go-to application for hosting online video classes, other helpful project management and team collaboration tools have become a quintessential part of the daily schooling process for seamless collaboration among administrative staff, faculty, and students.

For example, feature-rich project management software like ProofHub, Basecamp, and Wrike enables students and teachers to be on the same platform. Teachers can mark attendance, assign tasks to students and monitor their progress through different tools. Similarly, students can upload, store, and organize all their digital files in one place and collaborate with others. In addition, students and teachers can easily communicate through group chat, email, voice messages, and audio and video conferencing.

2. Hybrid schooling

Now many countries are opening schools in a phased manner. As a result, many educational institutions are more likely to embrace hybrid schooling worldwide. But, quite clearly, when it comes to students’ health and well-being, neither the school management nor parents want to take any risk.

Like the hybrid work model, the hybrid schooling process strikes a delicate balance between traditional in-class and virtual learning. The hybrid schooling model is also ideal for students returning to conventional schooling. This way, they will not overwhelm by the sudden transition to in-school learning from virtual education and vice-versa.

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3. Dynamic teaching

Remote learning has given a golden opportunity to teachers to step up their game by imparting education to widely distributed teams through various online tools. Teachers are also learning to read vital non-verbal cues (facial expressions, eye contact, gestures, body movement, posture, etc.) during teaching sessions and one-on-one discussions to understand students’ behavior and general mood better.

Not all teachers are up to speed with evolving technology, leading to challenges in effectively using tools that enable a seamless teaching and learning experience for students. While they have done commendable work, training is still necessary to ensure they can utilize all the tools required to provide quality education efficiently.

4. More support for students’ mental health

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, comments, “Staring at a screen all day is not optimal. Fatigue is very real.” These remarks highlight the mental health challenges faced by many students who are experiencing anxiety or depression. School administrators around the world have recognized this critical issue. Consequently, they are increasing their staff and forming partnerships with community mental health providers to address these concerns.

Antoine Hickman is the chief of Broward public schools’ student support initiatives. He says, “The 2020-21 school year opened with a focus on mental health, mindfulness, social-emotional learning, and equitable support distribution. Mental health services will continue because the problems caused by the COVID-19 situation are not likely to go away soon.”

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5. Edtech is a supplement for in-school instruction

“Remote learning is a supplement, not a substitute, for in-school instruction,” says Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. This statement emphasizes that classroom learning is still the best mode of learning for most students and that virtual learning, at best, can be a supplement rather than a substitute for conventional in-school learning.

Many families in low- and lower-middle-income countries do not have internet, television, or radio access. As a result, edtech companies and education ministries are launching many learning apps to facilitate virtual learning for kids. However, there is no evidence that it can be a long-term substitute for traditional classroom learning. It has even sometimes failed to be temporary for schools and teachers.

Conclusion

Education will never be the same as it was a few years ago. Change is inevitable in human life. Education has gone beyond concrete classrooms and in-school teaching to computer screens and virtual classrooms. It is done more out of compulsion (lockdown, social distancing) rather than choice.

Many schools consider implementing a hybrid model to balance traditional schooling and remote learning. Hence, using technology in various online tools has become quintessential for schools to keep teaching staff, students, parents, and administration on the same page.

In other words, the future of education lies in the widespread adoption of technology only if it’s accessible and affordable to all.

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