Online learning gets its moment
due to COVID-19 pandemic: Here's how education will change
Digital
learning goes mainstream in a hurry and that's going to upend current education
practices, models, and processes going forward.
·
It
is online learning's big moment and education is about to be revamped just as
much the industries that are going to remote work due to the novel
coronavirus.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
From cancelled conferences to disrupted
supply chains, not a corner of the global economy is immune to the spread of
COVID-19.
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced K-12 school districts and
universities to close and send students home. This reality has forced a crash
course for online learning plans and technology for students and faculty.
In many
respects, the education industry's move to remote instruction rhymes with the
work-from-home move in enterprises. Video
conferencing platforms such as Zoom and WebEx are being used
heavily as are learning management systems like Instructure's
Canvas, Blackboard and Google Classroom. In addition, there are
enabling software such as Proctorio, a Google Chrome extension that
monitors students taking exams online.
And like the enterprises, education's giant online education
experiment is going to accelerate changes that were already in play. I'm
experiencing the online education experiment as a parent and an adjunct
professor at Temple University.
Must
read:
Here's a look at the moving parts and the ripple effects from
the grand online learning experiment.
THE
TECHNOLOGY
The only reason that universities and some school districts K-12
have been able to go to remote learning is that the technology stack has
evolved a good bit in the last four years.
·
Google
Classroom benefits because it is familiar to many.
·
Canvas has an ecosystem of add-ons and solid workflow, but user
interface could be cleaner.
·
Blackboard is similar to Canvas.
·
Video conferencing is critical to the education stack so there
is a big opportunity for a company like Zoom to make a play for a younger
almost-professional customer base.
·
Apple, Google, and Microsoft have various
parts of the education stack, but the process on the backend is
where online education is enabled.
In the end, learning management systems are a bit like ERP in
that they get the job done, but you're aren't going to get warm and fuzzy about
them.
Overall, I'd give the online education stack an average grade
with lots of room for upside. But, yes, online education is possible, and the
stack works just in time for COVID-19.
UPSKILLING
TAKES CENTER STAGE
The educational process is going to be recast on an accelerated
timetable due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Is education about continuous learning or landing a degree and a
career? Is education about self-exploration and being more well-rounded? Or is
education in a physical setting too rigid? And perhaps the biggest question of
all: What are the returns on education in relation to current debt loads?
All those questions move to the front as I watch this crash
course in digital learning unfold. As a parent, I watch my high schooler suffer
from sleep deprivation due to sports, starting times, and homework load. I
watch the discipline required for online learning. I look at a falling 529
college savings plan and wonder about how digital learning may stretch tuition
dollars. I also think about how learning can be time-shifted to address
multiple issues.
Also: Technology in education: The latest products and trends
(free PDF) TechRepublic
I'm not going to pretend I know how these questions get
resolved, but I'd argue that the recasting of education is probably going to
revolve around continuous learning. Time being sheltered in place due to social
distancing has enabled folks to think more about their own learning and
interests.
There are
enterprises like PwC that have invested heavily in upskilling and reskilling.
Should the population get used to digital learning, it's going to make upskilling more likely and credentials
more fluid. Platforms like Coursera have always looked interesting,
but there's a mental hurdle involved with going completely digital to learn.
That mental hurdle will dissipate in the months to come and may make Coursera
more of an option. LinkedIn Learning and badge-based skill
acquisition systems from companies may also be more of an option.
Should upskilling become a mainstream concept, the very idea of
spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on a four-year degree may be in
question.
CORONAVIRUS UPDATES
THE
CULTURAL CHANGE
Like all technology shifts and transformation efforts the
biggest challenges usually involve cultural change. A few items worth
pondering:
1.
Online learning requires discipline. Education requires
discipline too, but online learning has less handholding. That reality is going
to favor a certain type of student over ones that are trying to find their
bearings on their own timetable.
2.
Learning will be digitized. Paper is somewhat comforting, as are
overpriced textbooks. Both are going away (not that I'll miss the textbook
price gouging). This process change will mean the faculty has to go digital and
change styles.
3.
Existing faculty may push back and usher in a new generation of
instructors.
4.
Analytics will become more prevalent. All you need to do is see
some of the analytic capabilities in learning management systems to know that
there will be a barrage of new learning metrics to ponder for students' and
faculty's effectiveness.
THE
DIGITAL DIVIDE ISSUES
The biggest concern with this digital learning acceleration
revolves around the digital divide. All you need to do is talk to two teachers
-- one from a well-funded school district and another from a poor one -- to see
the digital divide at work.
Some students aren't toting Chromebooks with digital lesson plans.
Some students don't have broadband. Some students lack structure at home. And
some students need paper packets and supervision.
Also: How to work from home: IT pro's guidebook to
telecommuting and remote work TechRepublic
This digital divide problem will appear at every level of
education whether it is something as simple as needing a webcam or something
more severe like Internet access and a computer. The issue is most pronounced
K-12.
The digital divide problem in education isn't new, but it is
magnified by the COVID-19 pandemic and school closures. Physical schools
provide a structure, respite, and shelter in ways that digital learning never
can.
WHAT'S
NEXT?
The fallout in education from COVID-19 and the mass move to remote
learning is going to be dramatic. Here are just a few issues that are going to
appear in the months to come.
Possible
margin compression for universities. The debt load for
students has been unsustainable and the issue is going to become more acute. Consider
the following:
·
College savings are taking a hit from stock market declines.
·
Parents with college students who paid for a spring semester
that went digital may want some fees refunded.
·
Is an online degree from an Ivy League school (or any other one
charging $70,000 a year) as valuable as a traditional one?
·
Universities love real estate and buildings. What happens if
half the student base goes digital? On one hand, universities save money by
going digital yet can't raise tuition and fees to pay for new libraries.
K-12
digital divide issues escalate. The school year is likely
over already in multiple areas. How is that learning gap closed for those on
the wrong end of the digital divide?
Hybrid
models emerge. Given the financial moving parts of tuition, affordability,
and costs to deliver online education versus physical, look for universities to
offer hybrid models to deliver returns on investment.
The
mainstreaming of remote education. COVID-19 has already pushed
remote learning mainstream and some institutions are going to be caught
flat-footed. As learning goes digital, there will be budget upheaval ahead that
administrators will have to navigate.
Quantifying
the intangible. There are significant benefits to finding
yourself in college. What should those intangible benefits cost? This question
has been emerging as tuition annually creeps higher. Digital learning just
brought that question to the forefront.
New
entrants to education. If there was ever an industry
waiting to be disrupted, education is it. Now, education is digital for the
foreseeable future, and there are alternative models on a back of a napkin
somewhere.
ZDNET'S MONDAY
MORNING OPENER:
The
Monday Morning Opener is our opening salvo for the week in tech. Since we run a
global site, this editorial publishes on Monday at 8am AEST in Sydney,
Australia, which is 6pm Eastern Time on Sunday in the US. It is written by a
member of ZDNet's global editorial board, which is comprised of our lead
editors across Asia, Australia, Europe, and North America.
About the Author
Larry Dignan is
Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet's sister site
TechRepublic. He was most recently Executive Editor of News and Blogs at ZDNet.
Prior to that he was executive news editor at eWeek and news editor at Ba
