How the Pandemic Changed Education

The author is Teacher III at Sto.Domingo Elementary School Keith Lander S. Baluyut

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped education drastically. Since the onset of COVID-19, all schools were shut down and billions of students are learning out of school premises. Because of the safety issues, the schools were left with no choice but to resort to e-learning wherein teachers and students communicate remotely and/or digitally. Some studies show that e-learning is somewhat effective in educating and could stay even after the pandemic. No one knows how long this setup will continue. Because of the increasing number of infected children all over the world, it is possible that online learning will be adopted by schools worldwide in the coming months and years. The insufficient internet bandwidth and lack of gadgets of students and teachers is also a major issue in less developed countries. Though online learning has greatly eased the communication and document exchange between teachers and students, there are still issues that need to be addressed. More teachers are required to learn digital means of communication and production of learning materials. It is a major difficulty for teachers who are not very well skilled in using computers and virtual applications. The impact of online learning is dramatic because it will change the face of the whole education sector and the market involved in it. Some educational institutions are offering free access to online learning platforms. Some application providers are also offering decreased rates for downloads and subscriptions for educational purposes. The shift to online learning has been a very rapid move but without any prior preparation or training for education providers. This equates to poor experience that may affect the quality of education and effectiveness of learning. Adequate support for students must be provided for students belonging to lowincome families. Computers and training must be provided for teachers. This should be addressed so that e-learning can continue to be an effective means of education even during a pandemic.