Every day we capture the dilemmas many sectors have found themselves in when hit by the COVID-19 crisis. While more quality time, low levels of pollution and a slower pace to our day-to-day activities have been at times positively experienced, the ‘new normal’ can drain economies, disrupt mobility and in education, it has rocked the very foundation of the process itself: human interaction.
More than 60 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America have announced or implemented closures of schools and higher education institutions due to the coronavirus crisis. They are striving to ensure the continuity of the education process in the ‘new normal’ while safeguarding the health of their students and employees.
On the other hand, a number of educational institutions have reopened their doors with extraordinary measures. After the initial shock of the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide semi-lockdown, education institutions across Malta are slowly coming to terms with a new way of providing education in a COVID-19 scenario.
School administrators, educators, children and parents have switched to an academic life in a virtual classroom at home, one that is driven by technology, social distancing and innovative approaches. As opposed to the pre-COVID-19 euphoria that technology has the potential to answer all questions, reality is showing us a completely different picture, one which reminds us that we are social beings after all.
No matter how predictive one could aspire to be, the impact on education is unquantifiable. Bearing in mind that change in education is always seen in the context of a fatigue, one expects negative impacts of this crisis on education policy, provision and expectations for educators, students and stakeholders.
What is certain is that the pandemic brought about more change. Some students have not been able to manage the transition to self-directed learning, e-learning and online guidance. Some other students need the more direct, more hands-on, more guided type of education. Lecturers have adapted to this change much quicker than anticipated. Most students are being provided with their entitlement; some others also with hardware and software equipment at home.
It would be presumptuous to make radical predictions about the immediate future of education. Nevertheless, I believe that when a vaccine makes COVID-19 no longer a threat to human life, the following residual aspects will become a reality in education:
• Schools and educators will be selective on technology; the marketing glamour has not proven to be as effective after all – there is more to virtual and augmented reality than we were led to believe.
• Teacher training will move to include blended pedagogies that combine the power of online, on-demand learning with fewer in-person practice sessions.
• The practical aspects of vocational education lost during the pandemic will require more substantial investments if it were relying on technology; doing is not the same as watching!
• More sophisticated sanitisation measures have to be taken in the ‘new normal’scenario.
Ad hoc measures
Due to COVID-19, online learning became the cornerstone of modern education; however, with unpredictability and rapid changes taking place, the degree of success has still to be verified. What has happened can be summarised as follows:
• education had to adjust to technology and not the other way round;
• online classes were designed specifically for digital devices, rather than merely transferring offline content to a digital format;
• digital platforms already being used made the virtual classroom look simpler to organise and somehow familiar;
• although retention has surfaced as a real problem, educators are becoming more conscious of the use of constructive communication taking place with students to improve the online learning experience;
• timetables have somehow been challenged and education is taking place anywhere anytime; in some cases, interacting in education through technology is taking longer than expected;
• some students struggle with online classes as they are more used to an intimate style of teaching, one-to-one communication and the physical relationship with the infrastructure outside their home and in a formal education setting which incorporates social interaction.
• education systems needed to review expectations for their students and ensure that the learning outcomes are achieved during and after the COVID-19 period.
Intrusion or submission
The questions policymakers must ask are somehow the following: how will our educational structures, pedagogy and learning processes look like in a year’s time? Should we really need to rethink the whole pedagogy or are we stressing ourselves unnecessarily with this issue? Will change be perceived as an intrusive process or are we ready to change as an inevitable step for better education?
Education institutions should be prepared for a scenario where students and staff will not want to return to freshly-reopened campuses
With changing employment practices and scenarios, education and training will also need to adapt; however, it need not abandon the experience and practices which have shaped it through years of experience.
Education institutions need to continue doing their job: educating people for life. They need to build on their long-standing good practices, integrate the newly-improved digital learning practices and, in the case of vocational education, continue to liaise with industry in order to ensure that acquired skills are relevant to the needs in workplaces.
Unfortunately, this pandemic has instilled the “fear of getting ill” which, in return, affects the education sector substantially due to the centrality of human interactions. Schools and campuses bring together hundreds of young people, from diverse family backgrounds and social circles. Traditional teaching instigates very close physical interactions in confined spaces.
Until a vaccine is available for all, some administrators, lecturers, teachers and students will feel uncomfortable to risk interacting without taking the necessary precautions. Hence sanitisation measures can never be overlooked or downplayed.
A strain on practical learning
Under the COVID-19 conditions, the major strain on education is putting theory into practice. If we want this sector to have a quick recovery from the COVID-19 phase, a vocational college for instance would need more funding to transform physical to virtual practical learning and assessment and gain back what has been lost.
Technology will not substitute the real workshop or the real laboratory. Nothing will substitute real human interaction. But we have to be content with the use of technology to avoid losing momentum, visibility and the sense of belonging and accomplishment.
But for online learning to flourish, education institutions must be equipped with fast internet connection systems that sustain simultaneous online learning. Institutions also need to ensure that students and lecturers operate from homes that are conducive to online learning.
Education institutions should also be prepared for a scenario where students and staff will not want to return to freshly-reopened campuses. Therefore, institutions need to gear up for a transition phase and for a school, campus reopening where the physical presence on campus must be staggered, respecting social distancing guidelines and avoiding gatherings. Sanitisation bays and the reorganisation of every physical space, including offices and leisure spaces, need adjustments based on the principle of social distancing and minimum physical interaction.
The mechanisms by which education funding is governed, distributed and monitored will henceforth play a key role in ensuring that resources are directed to where they can make the most difference. Persons with disabilities, with learning difficulties, with health issues and those who can only learn while they put theory into practice should top the list of those supported with most resources and care.
At the same time, we should not miss this opportunity to soul-search the essence of education and strengthen the crucial rapport teacher-learner which technology can make or break.
Joachim James Calleja is principal/CEO, MCAST