Navigating the post-pandemic landscape: Transforming learning strategies
There is no doubt that much has been said about the COVID-19 pandemic over the last few years across spaces around the world. With humanity encountering a disruption of a scale never seen before, completely altering life and every aspect of it, there was an anxiety about not just the present but the future ahead. How does one respond to incomprehensible changes in the fundamental structure and operations of one’s life and surroundings? The sole solution was to adapt to these unprecedented changes, and this was what learning ecosystems and pedagogical strategies witnessed — undergoing radical transitions to meet the requirements of the times whilst also aligning these revisions to suit the needs of the post-pandemic future.
The idea of learning — not just in academic spheres but spaces of artistic and sports learning too, was required to undergo radical transitions to meet the requirements of the time. From teachers and students wondering how their important chemistry lab experiments could be carried out within the four walls of their homes to athletes without ample spaces to train at their homes clueless about navigating the unending uncertainties, it was imperative to devise accessible, safe, and inclusive solutions to a wide range of problems. Within the field of education, these changes ushered in the proliferation of a new subfield — education technology, also known as EdTech, that picked up considerable momentum during the pandemic, ensuring the seamless continuity of learning. If you’re a student yourself, you can recall how our classrooms transitioned into the four walls of our laptops or tablets in a span of a mere few days.
EdTech, a sector that was already in existence before the pandemic, emerged as a huge force that empowered and strengthened institutions to cater to the needs of students and teachers during the pandemic, fostering the development of new skill sets regardless of geographical barriers. Through the introduction of multimodal techniques of learning, EdTech infused technology and digital media with traditional teaching methods, improving flexibility and enhancing the possibilities of engagement to cultivate quality learning solutions. With asynchronous learning and accessible resources gaining prevalence, EdTech ushered in a new wave of accessible and inclusive education, previously unseen in any context, across the world.
As hybrid learning came to the forefront, offering an amalgamation of the best of online and in-person education, diverse learning styles that enabled a personalized and inclusive approach were made available to learners of all age groups and backgrounds. However, there was one limiting factor amidst the proliferation of EdTech solutions — the concerns about lack of access to internet facilities. In spaces without reliable internet resources and technology infrastructure, the digital divide and gaps in digital literacy had to be bridged to tap into the full potential of hybrid learning solutions offered by EdTech. For instance, in the case of India, children in rural areas, primarily those enrolled in government schools lacking ample resources, were the ones worst hit by the pandemic.
EdTech, undoubtedly, is the most resourceful tool to transform learning strategies in the post-pandemic world, and with careful attention to the respective needs of every socioeconomic context, one can harness the power of EdTech to create an equitable landscape wherein everyone has access to quality education.
Sources: