In 2020, the novel coronavirus has caught the entire world off-guard. Establishments and institutions that cannot do without physical contact have naturally suffered the most.
What started out with a couple of 100 empty desks at Wuhan, China, has now snowballed into billions of students across the world facing an uncertain future of formal education. For overseas students and aspirants, it is a particularly challenging situation. While some institutions are reopening with fewer students in a classroom, stern mask-wearing protocols, and social distancing measures, the education industry is at the precipice of an encouragingly transformative shift.
Institutions Open Doors to Virtual Classrooms
The traditional talk-and-chalk model of education may have survived the past 100 years, but the system was clearly inadequate to serve the needs of the technology-fuelled world. COVID-19 has only served as a catalyst to precipitate the long-overdue introduction of modern technology in the delivery of education. It has now become clear as day that virtual classrooms are crucial for students to receive engaging and immersive learning experiences.
The education industry has responded to this evident demand – professors are conducting online sessions, universities are examining students’ progress via online tests, and faculty are being trained in the modes and methods of remote teaching. The entire education sector is now leaning on the promises of e-learning.
Some institutes like Pearl Academy seem to have been already prepared for the future of education. The academy had made technology a focal point and, as such, had invested in the right Learning Management Systems (LMS), virtual curriculum, and faculty training in digital teaching about 5 years ago. Students of the Pearl Academy have not had to miss a single teaching session, with even masterclasses being conducted by international professors ever since the beginning of the crisis.
LMS and VR: Making Learning Possible ‘Anytime, Anywhere’
With advanced Learning Management Systems such as the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology, students across the world are now able to access a whole new way of education. Designed specifically for managing the complexities of higher virtual education, such systems offer students the hope of overseas learning without the need to be physically present in classrooms.
A premium Learning Management System such as the Blackboard Learning Management System (LMS) allows students to enjoy personalized learning experiences at their own pace. The software is designed to deliver a 360-degree education – develop curriculum, upload assignments, conduct tests and quizzes, track students’ progress, and so much more. And the immersion needed to blur the lines between the virtual and the real is offered by the technology of Virtual Reality. Students can build a robot, dissect a mammal, carry out a chemistry experiment, and even design clothing. VR is a great tool to improve student engagement and knowledge retention.
Towards a Promising Future
The current pandemic is an intensive test of educational institutions’ organizational agility. Universities and colleges across the world have rapidly responded by taking their courses online amid the crisis. But, the need of the hour is not merely video-conference classes, but a complete and immersive virtual education experience.
Given the present circumstances, the future of education clearly rests on the efficient use of technology. Of the exact day and hour when the world returns to its “old normal” can no man tell; regardless, COVID-19 has been an eye-opener into the loopholes of the traditional system of education. Technology has had the answer all along, and now, the world of education is waking up to this truth.
