With the COVID-19 outbreak worsening daily, education systems worldwide are resorting to virtual learning to deliver educational resources to the students.
How educational systems adjust to the COVID-19 outbreak
To follow the guidelines in social distancing as a pre-emptive measure against the spread of the coronavirus, schools from basically all around the world have suspended classes indefinitely. Most countries with the capacity and technology have resorted to virtual learning as an option to continue learning of their students while staying at home.
In Jerusalem, to cater to students without access to a computer and internet connection, their Education Ministry coordinated with three television companies in the country to air school lessons in their channels.
In western countries where most parents are made to work from home due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the idea of distance learning irks them and finds it very inconvenient, especially when they themselves are busy working from home. These sentiments apply to parents that are both working from home and do not have the time to multitask and supervise their children in virtual learning while they work.
Virtual learning companies see an opportunity
The technology in virtual learning is already out there before the COVID-19 outbreak occurred, but it never came to the developers of different online learning platforms that the demand for it will spike this much. The interim CEO for the Online Learning Consortium mentioned educational institutions not prepared enough for the sudden integration of online learning in schools worldwide.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has already consulted with different companies and non-profit organizations to come up with a web of online platforms that can help address the problems in virtual learning worldwide for it to be an effective alternative.
Now, online learning platforms like Coursera is becoming a very viable option for those wanting to continue on with their education and come up with a degree despite not being in a physical classroom setup. In countries like the U.S. and Australia, online degree programs already exist long before the pandemic.
For companies serving online degrees and certificate, this is the perfect time for them to assess the effectiveness of their programs on a larger scale active users. This might be the turning point or these companies if virtual learning can thrive in the future.
