This mini-blog focuses on the world of education, specifically the niche of digital education.
The impact of the pandemic on the education space has been profound. A recent UNESCO report estimated that the coronavirus pandemic will adversely impact over 290 million students across 22 countries.
Universities, colleges, and schools around the world are adopting a virtual approach to educate their students and continue with their academics. As a response to this situation, Google recently rolled-out Google Classroom to more than 1.3 million students in New York City so that they can continue their school year virtually at home.
The University of Phoenix is offering free academics, online advice, and other career services to schools, educators, parents as well as the general public. Similarly, Harvard University has transitioned to virtual instruction for all their graduate and undergraduate classes to meet all their academic requirements – remotely.
That’s not all. UNESCO has compiled and published an exhaustive list of learning platforms and tools patronized by countries across the world.
A recent article published by Forbes talks about the disruptive trends in education to look out for this year. These trends include more accessible education, data-driven insights, personalized education, and use of Extended Reality and automation.
The long-term impact on the education sector of the current situation could be transformative. The sector could learn to embrace location-independent learning over the long term. Social distancing concerns could mean regular classes could be delayed for a while yet. International student enrolments could be impacted due to travel restrictions and economic factors. This will also affect student activities, sports, and community practices. Many of these could have a significant impact on the fund-raising and revenue-generation capacity of universities and colleges that depend on these funds. Some experts fear that this could be devastating for smaller or mid-rung educational institutions. What is clear is that digital education will continue to see an upsurge even in the post-pandemic era.
