Preparing For College Post-COVID 19
The coronavirus pandemic has had a tremendous impact on the world and most sectors are still trying to bring adaptions and innovations to their industry so that they can continue functioning productively in such adverse circumstances. Higher education and other educational institutions have been especially impacted because most classroom settings happen in person, in lecture halls or classrooms throughout the country.
So, what is to be expected from the higher education sector in the emerging post-pandemic world? Well, as most people have pointed out, predictions revolve around three main points:
1- A Greater Focus on "Blended Learning"
Students and teachers alike have had to quickly adopt digital technologies to prevent their terms from going to waste due to lockdowns and movement restrictions worldwide. International organizations such as the WHO have contributed greatly to ease the transition by laying out guidelines. These technologies include communication platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, YouTube, WhatsApp, and Facebook, among others. After the pandemic, a sort of blended learning environment can be expected, where digital communication technologies can be used in conjunction with classroom learning practices to increase the pace of learning.
2 – Online Education May Become the New Norm
Universities and Higher education institutions are beginning to realize the importance of online learning platforms not only as a means of delivery of knowledge but also as an added source of potential revenue. As the world begins to recover from the pandemic, most universities are expected to begin rolling out fully online courses and entire degrees online to cater to the portion of the population not yet comfortable with returning to the old ways of socialization and interaction as people have pointed out on various forums. If you are a student who is not quite comfortable with returning to school or attending school in general, be sure to check to see if your college or university is offering online courses this coming fall.
3 – A Change in Instructional Interactions
After the pandemic, higher education institutions will have to rethink their mediums of instruction in courses and fields that require more hands-on training. In this regard, partially online courses may evolve where a part of the degree is theoretically taught online while the parts of the courses requiring physical interaction may be deployed on campus or at designated sites arranged by the institutions. Here again, a blended learning environment can be expected where online or remote tele-learning is paired with on-site classroom-style interactions for greater efficiency.
Conclusion
Whatever the current trajectory of the pandemic may be, the outlook for the future is not as bleak as some may put out. The resilience and adaptivity of human beings are most notable in the most challenging of times in our history. Knowledge is perhaps the most powerful tool any person can have. It has survived every global crisis since the beginning of time and will continue to no matter what barriers and challenges we may face in the coming months.
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