Post-COVID-19: will a new education model emerge?

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically transformed economies around the globe but has also had a significant effect and transformation on the education system. According to UNICEF, close to 90% of all primary, secondary and tertiary learners in the world are no longer able to physically go to school. The virus has forced many schooling institutions to adapt to the current conditions and move online, bringing us one small step closer to answering the question of whether this pandemic will spark the emergence of a new and long-awaited education model.

COVID-19 has illuminated the need to go digital, and it is evident that educators, parents and learners around the world are seeing the benefits of e-learning. One of these benefits includes increased one-on-one time between educators and learners, which is not always possible in traditional classroom settings. Another is providing a safer and quicker place to store and retrieve learning documents and information, enabling learners to have anytime-access learning material, wherever they are. Online learning is also providing children with the opportunity to learn the importance of responsibility, dedication and internal motivation from an earlier age.

Although there is still a significant need for the implementation of face-to-face guidance or classroom-based learning at the primary and secondary school level, schools across the globe have indicated that they will continue learning and teaching online, even when classroom-based schooling resumes, thus making use of a blended learning approach.

The key to education at primary and secondary levels is to use digital components as a tool to support and enhance teaching and learning, not necessarily to replace it in its entirety. Incorporating online learning into traditional learning approaches is known to help improve learners’ engagement and retention, save time, expand on the types of learning material used and fill knowledge gaps that educators could overlook. Online learning platforms such as Lesson Desk play a key role in helping schools integrate digital learning into their traditional approach.

Prior to the pandemic, universities and other tertiary education institutions have seen a decrease in applications for traditional classroom-based programmes and an increase in interest for online courses. This could mean that the adoption of remote and online learning solutions, post-COVID-19, will grow even further or better yet, pave the way to something new. The role online education will play in post-COVID-19 tertiary education institutions is significant and most probably the only or main learning approach that universities and colleges will implement. The reason as to why it will be integrated so well in tertiary education is due to the age, level of responsibility, and digital savviness of students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed the education system to rethink, challenge and change the way they deliver and absorb education, which may result in one of the most significant shifts in education in a long time.