Free Online Learning Platform

What learning methods will schools need for education in the post-Covid-19 world?

Covid19 pandemic has impacted our education system and learning methods dramatically leading to the closure of physical spaces in schools, colleges, and universities. This closing led to a sudden shift from offline to online methods, giving rise to e-learning or online learning whereby teaching is done through various online platforms.

The shift to online learning had an impact on students, teachers, and as well as parents for various reasons. For some – the reduction in family income, limited access to digital resources, and the high cost of internet connectivity have disrupted the students’ academic life. Initially, the adoption of the online method of teaching and learning was challenging as pre-covid, the teaching used to happen face-to-face through direct interaction with students. However, in a few recent studies, online learning, has been found to be effective.

Other than some negative impacts, some long-term positive impacts and changes have come about due to online learning. Learning has become more personalized for students. It proved to be the green and cost-effective method as it cuts the cost of traveling for students and teachers.

The ongoing pandemic should be looked at as an opportunity in disguise for online education. E-learning overcomes geographical barriers and ensures safety due to ongoing crises and equitable access to education. It facilitates convenience and 24*7 access to online learning materials on ease. Numerous colleges and schools have supported this opportunity to offer lessons interestingly and interactively to students. E-learning seems a feasible solution at the moment to fill the void created due to the absence of classroom learning.

With this sudden shift away from the classroom, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post covid19, and what learning methods schools need to adopt for better education post-pandemic. Let us look at few learning methods below.

A hybrid method of learning

After the reopening of schools, colleges, and universities, the best method for teaching and learning is the hybrid learning method. Hybrid learning method is basically using two ways where few students can attend offline, in-classroom lectures while some can choose to continue through online lectures at their homes in accordance with the safety and convenience factor for students and teaching staff using tools and online software. The goal of hybrid learning is to combine both in-class learning and online learning without any weak spots left behind.

The benefits of the hybrid learning method are flexibility. It ensures flexible lesson planning, communication, and collaboration with students and ease to learn from home environment, at their comfort and pace. We all are living in unprecedented times, and when things return to normalcy, a hybrid working model may become the future of learning.

Personalized learning

In a classroom with no “one size fits all approach”, kids learn in different ways at different places is what sums up the concept of personalized learning. Personalized learning is a teaching model adopted by many schools which can emerge as a need of an hour post covid because of online learning. Teachers can plan personalized lessons for each student. They can conduct quizzes, activities, exams, assignments for individual students customized and personalized according to student’s skills, ability, interest on topics, what they want to learn, and how. This learning model helps students take ownership of their learning.

Learning management online

Our future generations will think – “Learning management in a conventional environment was a tedious task for many teachers. Thankfully due to the advent of the internet, management of learning has been simplified.”

Learning management system, long-form for LMS is a software-driven application for providing the framework to all the teachers that handle all the learning aspects- lesson planning online, tracking the activity of the students, delivering the teaching content via several online teaching tools for teachers. LMS is designed to make life easier as it facilitates a smooth teaching process while reaching the desired goals. There are various tools or apps for learning management like tickLinks for organized lesson planning, NearPod, Common Curriculum, wikipedia for teachers, etc.

The benefits of LMS are cost-saving, measurable tracking, consistency of training.

While, the pandemic has made all shift to online learning and teaching but education post-covid can be beneficial and challenging at the same time. While these are few methods that schools can adapt but it is not universal. Students and teachers living in remote areas might have to go back to the face-to-face method of teaching due to a lack of technological resources. The development in education in these areas is still a pressing issue. Whereas, others can continue the online learning method. It is still a mystery to all how education would look like post-covid.