essay on experience of online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic
Answers
Universities around the world have had to adjust their teaching to now be carried out online in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To find out how this experience has impacted students, we spoke to four international students from St Petersburg University in Russia.
They shared their experiences of online learning, their tips for keeping productive during self-isolation and their thoughts on the future of education.
From my point of view, I think the university was able to adjust quickly due to the amazing technical team as well as the IT inclined nature of the School of Management. Since online platforms such as Blackboard are used and all the professors are conversant with its usage, the adjustment was made easily.
The studies are structured much better than I expected. I don’t really see a difference between the online and offline structures. Group work is done in separate channels, we have allocated time-slots for those discussions. When the time is over, we then join the general channel to continue the class.
My Russian language exam had to be done in a written form. The camera was switched on the whole time so that the teacher could see what we were doing. I think it was fair.
Hopefully, in the future, when a student cannot attend a class, write an exam, or present his/her thesis, we will give them an equal opportunity to do so, using what we have learnt in time of this pandemic. Going forward, I see a rise in online education that can increase efficiency and expand outreach.
Answer:
The COVID-19 has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.
As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.
Research suggests that online learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and take less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay.While countries are at different points in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. In Denmark, children up to the age of 11 are returning to nurseries and schools after initially closing on 12 March, but in South Korea students are responding to roll calls from their teachers online.With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.
Even before COVID-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global edtech investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019 and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 Billion by 2025. Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has been a significant surge in usage since COVID-19.How is the education sector responding to COVID-19?
In response to significant demand, many online learning platforms are offering free access to their services, including platforms like BYJU’S, a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring firm founded in 2011, which is now the world’s most highly valued edtech company. Since announcing free live classes on its Think and Learn app, BYJU’s has seen a 200% increase in the number of new students using its product, according to Mrinal Mohit, the company's Chief Operating Officer.
Tencent classroom, meanwhile, has been used extensively since mid-February after the Chinese government instructed a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online platforms. This resulted in the largest “online movement” in the history of education with approximately 730,000, or 81% of K-12 students, attending classes via the Tencent K-12 Online School in Wuhan.