The Impact of COVID-19 on Education
The Pandemic of COVID-19 is changing the entire world, and the domain of education is not an exception. After the latest school closings, millions of students in the US and other countries have to stay at home. It means that the impact of online education becomes much more significant. In this article, we will discuss the effects of the current crisis on education.
It Won’t Go Easy and Cheap
In times of crisis, the most significant flaws of any system become recognizable. COVID-19 showed which educational systems were flexible and prepared for emergencies and which were not. In the majority of countries, people cannot gather in groups for any purpose, including classes. Lots of educational facilities are closed. Universities lose big money because of the need to adapt to new conditions. For students, the situation is also unpleasant because their classes are not removed but replaced by online education. For lots of such people, it is even more difficult than traditional classes.
Video Platforms and Online Education
All classes are transferred to remote format, while digital platforms, such as Zoom and Skype, become essential aspects of education. They are useful for the majority of academic activities:
- lectures
- discussion classes
- presentation of projects
- collective work with audiovisual materials
- communication of teacher and a student in person
Unfortunately, not all academic activities can be arranged with the help of video platforms. Educators still have to evaluate the knowledge of their students.
Emphasis on Written Tasks
More attention is paid to written assignments because they become teachers’ best way to make sure that the students have learned the material. If you are a student, you are definitely familiar with diverse reflection essays and discussions in which you should show your understanding of course materials. In the conditions of the pandemic, the number of such assignments has increased dramatically. One can even state that writing has become the basic activity of the American educational system.
Surely, coping with immense loads of essays may be rather challenging for students. Not all of them are good at writing because such an activity requires talent and inspiration. More and more American students start searching for cheap essays on the Internet, thus, looking for an essay writing service that will help them with the most challenging assignments. Fortunately for them, finding such a service is not as difficult as it may seem. Quite a similar situation with essay assignments and the companies that help students is peculiar to the UK.
Online Tests
Apart from writing multiple essay assignments, education in the conditions of lockdown largely relies on online tests. Students in a wide range of countries, including the US and the UK, have to complete test assignments with fixed deadlines to prove their knowledge of the studied material. Believe me, sometimes, such tasks can be very challenging, and students may need assistance even no less than in cases of working on a paper. Limited deadlines and tricky questions can become a stressful experience even to the most diligent learners. Frequently, such students complain about the discussed custom of their educators.
Surprisingly, Opportunities
There exists an opinion that the pandemic of COVID-19 creates new opportunities for the development of global systems of education. As you probably know, tough times tend to unite people. The crisis related to COVID-19 makes diverse international organizations launch the cooperation between systems of education. It goes about various webinars, online conferences, and exchange of experience. Potentially, it may lead to the situation when American educational system problems will be removed through international cooperation.
The pandemic of COVID-19 has a significant impact on the system of education. Restrictions on public gatherings make educational facilities transfer their classes to the digital domain, where they are conducted with the help of Zoom and similar applications. Educators assign essays and online tests to evaluate the knowledge of their students. For lots of learners, this format of education is even more difficult than a traditional one. If you are an optimist, there is still an opportunity to find something positive in the current situation. The crisis spurs international cooperation and offers hope that collective efforts will help to solve problems of specific educational systems.