Institutions of higher learning have been offering online and distance learning to international students for a long time now, but this is the first time for many countries to rely on remote education for learners as young as K-1 students. Distance education is currently the only viable means of keeping learners in school while at the same time limiting the spreading of the virus.
Learning institutions all over the world are under immense pressure to ensure that all learners have access to the technology needed for remote learning, where urgency is of the essence. They also must train educators and parents on how to adapt to the new dispensation. All these are revolutions that the education sector is experiencing during the crises. Here are more notable ways of how remote education is evolving:
Notable ways of how remote education is evolving
- Multilingual online classes
Online learning bypasses geographical borders. Learners who are relying on YouTube videos and other online resources during the crisis need unique pathways to bypass the language and cultural barriers that exist online. This need has brought about multilingualism in online classes. One tool that has proven useful has been Google Translate because it enables learners to translate text into their preferred language without charging a dime.
Video remote interpreting has also proven useful for learners who want to have live bilingual conversations with educators. VRI involves an off-site interpreter translating content shared between learners and their teacher or lecturer and in the case of a live virtual classroom, the interpreter interprets conversations between learners and their educators in real-time from an off-site location. Overall, multilingual remote education and learning has generated a great necessity for various translation services.
- Increased investment in remote learning tools
Governments and private investors have started investing heavily in remote learning tools. Tencent classroom, for example, has become pretty popular since Chinese students started attending their studies through online platforms in February. Almost 900,000 K-12 students have already subscribed to the Tencent K-12 Online School in Wuhan. The Chinese government has invested substantially on the platform.
DingTalk is another online platform that has done tremendously well according to its CEO, Chen Hang. The distance learning solution by Alibaba seeks to provide a one-stop-shop for teachers and students to interact affordably and conveniently.
In Singapore, the Lark distance learning platform is enhancing collaboration between teachers and students through unlimited video conferencing. The platform comes with inbuilt auto-translation and co-editing features. The platform has invested heavily in improving its digital infrastructure and engineering capabilities in readiness for the probable upsurge in demand outside Singapore.
In addition, the use of file compressing and converting tools have been particularly useful in terms of the zipping of files too large to send otherwise, and as you can imagine, e-learning greatly revolves around the sharing of academic materials and information over emails or other platforms.
- Increased multi-institutional collaboration
Institutions within the same zones are forming unique collaborations to improve the remote learning experience their learners have. PBS SoCal/KCET and The Los Angeles Unified School District, for example, have partnered to create educational broadcasts for learners of different grades. The institutions have come up with separate channels for multiple ages across the school-going bracket, with the channels supported in a wide range of digital options. Non-educational organizations, especially in the media industry, are offering curriculum-based learning for kids as a way of enhancing virtual learning. BBC UK is one such organization.
- Integration of VR
VR has been gaining popularity in the education sector for its ability to make learning fun and effective. With the spread of coronavirus, however, this technology is being used to make quality education accessible by as many kids as possible over the internet. It is particularly helpful when teachers need to illustrate concepts to learners, something that is technically impossible via a podcast or a video call. VR allows learners to immerse themselves into concepts and processes as illustrated by their virtual teachers. They feel just like they are in a physical classroom, if not in a better learning environment.
- Online exams
With tools like Proctorio, it is now possible for institutions of higher learning to administer exams to their students from remote locations. The online proctoring tool operates as a Chrome browser extension and acts as a supervisor so that students don’t cheat during exams. It leverages facial detection technology, among other security features, to keep online tests credible. It’s worth mentioning that data encryption through reputable VPN providers, is making online exams safe in such a way that only assigned students and supervisors can access the question bank throughout the assessment.
Conclusion
The coronavirus pandemic is transforming the global education landscape in more ways than we can discuss. The good thing is that this transformation has been a long way coming, only that it has been rushed by the pandemic. Many education stakeholders will agree that traditional classroom learning was running a little too outdated. This transition might prove to be the silver lining to this pandemic in the long run.
