FEATURE
Education: learnings from the pandemic?
T
he pandemic forced almost immediate and fundamental change to teaching practices and the structure of education. New technologies were adopted for the short term but questions about the long-term future remain. AV News looks at the ways that the deployment of edtech, driven by the pandemic. could provide the infrastructure for the adoption of the emerging technologies of AI and VR.
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“During lockdown, it became clear that mental health and wellbeing is the number one priority for successful teaching and learning. Emphasis on this remains important, therefore we need to maintain high levels of support for students and teachers to maintain educational and personal outcomes,” says Simon Port, Head of UKI & ANZ at Promethean. He continued: “The pandemic highlighted how many students had access to resources and where they were more limited. Access to technology and infrastructure should be provided so all students can benefit from quality education regardless of geographical location or social-economic background. While standards are high across most areas of the UK and Ireland, we should remain vigilant to ensure equal access to quality learning experiences. While online learning remains an option in individual circumstances, in-person teaching, and social learning. should be prioritised”. Therefore, Simon Port believes that education technology should always be viewed in a teaching support role: “Edtech should always have a supportive role in teaching and learning; providing teachers with simple and robust tools that they can easily incorporate into their daily practice, so they prepare the children - not the technology. Edtech’s ability to create complex and variable simulations is an invaluable tool in developing complex competencies in students. It can be used to develop project work around the application of mathe-
matics to real-world problems, giving a far more valuable learning experience than simply doing sums”. The pandemic, and in particular lockdowns, enforced changes to education practice over the course of a few months that had previously persisted for decades. But, which of the practices and procedures adopted during the pandemic are likely to be retained going forward, ut which will see a reversion back to the former status quo? Samantha Bews, account manager at Sharp NEC Display Solutions, believes that the pandemic edtech rollout will drive change in the long term: “I think some adaptions will remain like Blended Learning, where many implemented this. Blended leaning allows for greater flexibility and accommodates diverse learning styles. The use of video conferencing solutions allows virtual meetings, collaborative projects, and communication among students, teachers, and parents. The Flipped classroom approach allows students to learn at home either by choice or illness etc. and remains a valuable tool. I do feel the pandemic has allowed Education to drive a more impactful digital footprint and teachers continue to receive professional development in digital literacy and technology integration to enhance their ability to effectively use online tools for teaching and learning.” The hybrid option Throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic periods the adoption of digital alternatives was always a mixed bag, with varying outcomes. For example, take the case of a school that offered a virtual alternative for parents’ evening, which actually led to an increase in ‘attendance’ from parents! While many schools are still keen to deliver face-to-face services, hybrid services are known to ensure everyone’s needs are catered for and so parents who cannot attend in person can dial in remotely to stay involved. Undoubtedly, some schools struggled with low attendance post pandemic because it became more widely known that lessons did not have to take place physically inside a classroom. Even though students were encouraged to return to school, reality encouraged adopting a hybrid approach to ensure that students did not fall behind in learning if they fail to attend classes in person. At the very least, it is now understood that if any situation should arise where a school cannot operate in its buildings, online learning can be effective in ensuring children still get an education. We have seen some circumstances where schools have lost power, suffer heating problems, flooding or fire damage and online learning has been a great alternative as a backup that ensures no interruption in learning. Tech and the curriculum
