Essay Sample on How Coronavirus (COVID-19) has Reshaped Education

The outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19) across the world has resulted in adverse effects in different sectors, and more specifically, the education sector. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by coronavirus that emerged in December 2019 in Wuhan, China (Almarzooq, Mathew and Ajar 3). Undoubtedly, the disease has significantly changed how students across the world are educated owing to its mode of spreading. The disease has exposed the education infrastructure across the world. The rapid spread of the coronavirus has caused many countries to adopt different measures aimed at mitigating the pandemic. In the past few weeks, the number of new cases has continued to increase in different countries and, more particularly, the United States (Miller 2). Social distancing has been considered to be one of the best measures that should be adopted to curb the rapid spread of the disease. In light of this, therefore, most countries have announced the suspension of learning in schools and universities. The paper will explore how coronavirus has reshaped the education system and the need to incorporate innovation to facilitate future learning even in the face of a global pandemic.

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Understandably, recent data has indicated that the coronavirus cases have surged to 3.8 million cases globally, with the fatalities approaching 270,000 people across the world (Miller 4). The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has indicated that more than 500 million children have been affected due to school closures that have been implemented by most countries (Karabag 1). Further, the announcement of lockdowns by most countries has meant that students cannot access schools, and this has undoubtedly crippled learning activities. Some of the heavily impacted countries such as Italy, Spain, the UK, and the United States, among others, have adopted risk-control measures that have led to home-schooling situations. It is worth noting that there are certain difficulties that have characterized online education that is currently used by most countries. Despite the advanced technology in most countries and the ever-increasing adoption of internet-enabled learning tools, coronavirus has exposed certain pitfalls that must be addressed to curtail the inconveniences currently witnessed (Almarzooq et al. 4). Equally important, evidence has pointed out that most educators have less experience in handling virtual learning, as the use of some tools often poses a great problem to them.

The pandemic has shown that innovation in education cannot be underestimated. Most countries have made efforts to develop a framework that will ensure that educators are adequately trained on how to promote online education and, more specifically, virtual classroom. The adoption of synchronous learning that involves real-time learning has been faced with different underlying problems (Miller 7). The approach has been adversely affected by poor connectivity and other technical issues that have consequently impeded the learning process. Moreover, the asynchronous approach that is premised on a remote instruction technique involves releasing lectures that have been earlier recorded to the students (Almarzooq et al. 6). The challenges associated with this approach are the inability of the educator to promote student engagement and the difficulty in reinforcing online presence. In addressing these difficulties, educators are often encouraged to break their lesson plans into easily consumable materials that would enhance engagement. Furthermore, the development of interactive apps embedded with learning tools has proved to be beneficial in facilitating online learning (Karabag 3).

Notably, in the past few weeks, the public and private educational partnerships have been reinforced to ensure that students are less affected by the raging coronavirus pandemic. Publishers, governments, technology providers, and educational professionals have forged a united front in utilizing the existing digital platforms to ensure that a temporary solution is provided during the pandemic (Almarzooq et al. 7). However, it should be noted the underdeveloped countries have been significantly affected as they have less developed educational infrastructure that can be embedded with advanced technology to facilitate learning. More often than not, governments are the predominant providers of education in emerging countries, and the crisis will redefine educational engagement and partnership to provide a roadmap to future education. Developed countries such as China have assembled some of its renowned innovators to help in developing a cloud-based online learning platform (Almarzooq et al. 8). It is argued that the technology will reshape education infrastructure in the country and assist students and educators in navigating the adverse effects of coronavirus pandemic on education. More significantly, the attention of most countries has been drawn to educational innovation. It is expected that the pandemic will enhance private sector interest in increasing investment in education innovation and solutions.

More importantly, tech giants such as Microsoft and Google have been developing technologies aimed at expanding the learning platform to different groups across the world (Almarzooq et al. 11). These corporations have adopted initiatives aimed at reinforcing global engagement in different sectors. The pandemic is expected to expand the scope of the initiatives adopted by these companies in achieving educational goals. Further, the pandemic has exposed the overriding economic disparity that has a bearing on education. Undoubtedly, the quality of learning is anchored on the provision of improved digital access. However, most people in poor countries have less capacity to purchase digital devices that can be used by their children to facilitate their learning. Recent studies reveal the global population with access to digital platforms stands at 60% (Miller 9). It should be noted that pandemic will expose less digitally savvy families across the world, as their students will be left behind as their counterparts in affluent households continue to learn. Additionally, the pandemic has illuminated the underlying gap in education quality and the need to develop less costly digital devices that will enhance their acquisition.

Furthermore, the pandemic has challenged parents and educators to prepare learners of different circumstances and encouraging them to be creative in improving their digital learning (Karabag 4). The socialization and coaching atmosphere of schools are often overlooked. The pandemic has cast light on the importance of embedding technological techniques that have the potential of reinforcing the social connection between learners during the times of crisis. Understandably, the pandemic has provided an insight into the need to promote human development and augment relationships with educators (Almarzooq et al. 9). Moreover, the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated that learners should be imparted with skills that will enable them to participate in physical education even in the absence of their instructors. Worth noting is that critical players in the education sector should rethink the architecture of school infrastructure. Social distance has been depicted to be one of the best approaches in mitigating the spread of the disease. Therefore, developing education structures that promote social distancing will inevitably be a game-changer in the education system, especially during pandemic (Miller 8). Also, the pandemic has exposed the vulnerable and disadvantaged groups and how their low socio-economic status affects their access to education, especially during the times of pandemic.

More fundamentally, the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the need to promote deeper involvement of parents in the teaching process. The crisis has necessitated the need to work from home. Most parents and guardians have been bestowed with the responsibility to oversee the day-to-day education of the children. Evidence has shown that while parents and guardians express willingness to help their children in the learning process, they have little understanding of the approaches that they can use in augmenting the efforts of their teachers (Almarzooq et al. 11). In some instances, parents and guardians have packed work-from-home schedules that deny them the opportunity to supervise the learning activities of their children. Still, most people, especially those employed in the hospitality industries, are currently furloughed, and the provision of necessities of life such as food, clothing, healthcare, and housing has become their primary concern. Equally important, the pandemic has shown the need to develop a contingency plan in the education system. Educators should develop special circumstances that will help in enhancing the learning of students, even during the pandemic (Almarzooq et al. 5). Further, the coronavirus has demonstrated the need to take a collaborative approach in instilling discipline in students to ensure that they effectively adhere to the risk-control measures announced by different authorities aimed at forestalling the spread of infectious diseases.

In conclusion, coronavirus has greatly redefined the education system across the world. The pandemic has woken different players in the education sector to develop vital educational infrastructure that will help in forestalling the inherent challenges. It is worth noting that the pandemic has illuminated the importance of technology in the education system. The announcement of full and partial lockdowns in different countries across the world has meant that most students can hardly access schools and universities. Despite some underlying challenges, such as poor connectivity and access to digital devices, technological advancement has greatly reshaped education so that students can learn online. Notably, creating a hybrid model that combines synchronous and asynchronous learning will undoubtedly help in forestalling challenges associated with the approaches when they are distinctly used. Further, as the pandemic continues to devastate the world, there is a need to address underlying inequities that have always created skewed progress in the education spectrum. The future direction should be decayed by the development of technologies that will enrich education infrastructure and promote online learning during a pandemic. More importantly, countries should adopt measures that will help in curtailing the rapid spread of the disease to save the world from the likely economic crisis that will inevitably bring further adverse effects on the education sector.

Works Cited

Almarzooq, Zaid, Mathew Lopes, and Ajar Kochar. "Virtual learning during the COVID-19 pandemic: a disruptive technology in graduate medical education." (2020).3 -11

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Zaid_Almarzooq/publication/340671780

Karabag, Solmaz Filiz. "An Unprecedented Global Crisis! The Global, Regional, National, Political, Economic and Commercial Impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic." Journal of Applied Economics and Business Research 10.1 (2020): 1-6.

https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1420844&dswid=8149

Miller, Eric D. "The COVID-19 Pandemic Crisis: The Loss and Trauma Event of Our Time." Journal of Loss and Trauma (2020): 1-13. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15325024.2020.1759217