What can educators learn from pandemicinduced disruptions?
In early 2020, a bewildered world watched as news tickers across the world warned of a strange new virus. The resulting global devastation is now etched in stone as one of the grimmest chapters in the tome of world events.the surreal new normal life as we came to terms with the global pandemic has impacted children beyond measure. Younger children have been cloistered at home and stressful reactions such as bedwetting, disturbances in eating and sleeping patterns and temper outbursts have become commonplace. Older students have sadly missed out eagerly awaited school life markers that sports events, graduation day, college visits, internships, and the sheer joie de vivre of being together. Alongside has been the tragic cost of serious illness, deaths, loss of income and job losses in most families.
How then are schools navigating this hitherto unknown reality? The questions are many and no one answer fits all. All stakeholders have worked together to help all our children journey these past two years. Online- hybrid teaching and learning have changed the educational canvas. School communities and homes have learnt to navigate the world of digital learning, albeit unequally, given the disparate socio-cultural and economic realities in our country. Online examination, counselling, community events, hobby classes and teacher connect time have all been part of the smorgasbord of education in a pandemic.
It is no surprise that studies have shown these two years have seen extreme burn out of educators and school administrators. Even as they dealt with the pandemic in their own homes and families, they continued to courageously hold fort for the students. Mentoring has helped to scaffold these tough times, and soft skills training is enabling them to confidently chart this journey.
Everyone in the education system has learnt tough lessons these past two years. As we step forward, schools continue to reset to gear up for future pandemics that may disrupt educational paths ahead. The world of learning has been redrawn, with adaptability taking centre stage and hence, hybrid education models appear to be nonnegotiable. hybrid teaching is an instructional model which integrates face-to-face (F2F) and online instruction and activities. The online components are intended to replace a portion of the face-to-face class time
The world of education has had to reimagine learning to equip students with the cognitive, creative, social, emotional, and physical skills required to navigate an uncertain future. It cannot but be said that careful planning is just one part of this complex ecosystem. Seamless uniform implementation presents myriad challenges in a diverse social landscape like ours.
Learning management systems (LMS) help to streamline online learning, share reading materials, and grade assignments, and help track student progress. Virtual Reality (VR) creates an immersive 3D environment that a user can explore, and Augmented Reality (AR), superimposes digital elements such as visuals, sound, and text onto a user’s surroundings All the above along with restructured physical education classesare all on the drawing board to stay. Integration of technology into the classroom has necessitated an upgrade of teachers’ technical skills.
The pandemic has cost the world two very expensive years. Alongside, it has been a watershed event that has forced us to build a more resilient education system. This transformation must be sooner than later. We owe it to our children to tarry no more. Our children are future change-makers. For their sake, we cannot but hasten to transform education to enable resilient learners.reforming our education systems and reimagining learning can wait no more.