Use of Web for Education During a Pandemic
How the COVID-19 Pandemic Pushed Education into the All-Digital Era of No Return
Future generations will look back at 2020 as the year when COVID-19 struck the world. In the face of never-before-seen adversity, education worldwide retreated into an online medium. Schools, teachers, and students were forced to switch to remote classes with short notice.
In the beginning, some saw this crisis as a temporary solution, going as far as saying that the new online courses will be poor substitutes for the originals (Horn, 2020).
However, nearly a year after the pandemic outbreak, most of us realize that there will be no return from the digital era of education.
COVID-19 spread across the world like wildfire. Due to the increase in infection rates worldwide, it is estimated that more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries have been affected by school closures due to the pandemic (UNESCO, 2020).
In this new climate, online applications for educational purposes have become more relevant than ever. It is unclear what the long-term circumstances of the current pandemic will be. So, providing a wide range of free, teacher-to-student solutions is crucial for the development of present and future generations alike.
How ready is education for the all-digital era?
Moving from the physical classroom to the online one may seem like a big challenge, but the world is not entirely unprepared for it. As early as 2019, the global edtech investments had reached $18.66 billion (Business Insider®, 2020).
This type of investment went into various applications related to online education throughout the past decade. From language apps to link-sharing services and video conferencing tools, there was not a single niche of digital learning software that did not increase in use and popularity during this time.
The United States and China are the largest investors in the online education market, which experts predict will reach $350 Billion by 2025 (Research and Markets®, 2019).
The global pandemic caught everyone by surprise. Naturally, some teachers and students have found this transition difficult. A national survey of more than 1,200 K-12 teachers in the US taken in mid-March revealed that more than half (56.7%) of the teachers are “not prepared to facilitate remote learning.” (Newton, 2020)
Fortunately, this is where free web applications like LinkiBag become extremely useful. Even the simplest tasks in teaching, such as sharing links with groups of students, require high-performance, secure applications.
How LinkiBag helps students during the pandemic
LinkiBag® is a free service for sharing and storing links in optimal security. It enables users to access the same content, work on the same project, and use the same information seamlessly.
In the new format of online teaching and learning, collaboration is more important than ever. Thanks to the simple, free registration, LinkiBag® enables entire classes of students to work together in real-time.
On LinkiBag®, students can easily store and share links from their research with other classmates. Also, they benefit from the teacher’s support on the same platform.
Alternatively, the teachers can create entire “bags of links” including research, studies, and other materials that they can instantly share with their students. The app is beginner-friendly, so even novice teachers can learn to use it quickly enough to make online teaching less of a hassle.
References:
LinkiBag is an effective tool that fits perfectly with the requirements of the new all-digital era of education.
● Horn, 2020, Michael B. Horn, Covid-19 Boost to Online Learning May Backfire, Education Text®, 2020, https://www.educationnext.org/covid-19-boost-online-learning-may-backfire/
● UNESCO, 2020, UNESCO, Education: From disruption to recovery, https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse
● Business Insider®, 2020, Business Insider®, 2019 Global Edtech Investments Reach a Staggering 18..66 billion https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/2019-global-edtech-investments-reach-a-staggering-18-66-billion-1028800669
● Research and Markets, 2019, Research and Markets, Online Education Market & Global Forecast, by End User, Learning Mode (Self-Paced, Instructor-Led), Technology, Country, Company https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4876815/online-education-market-and-global-forecast-by?utm_source=dynamic&utm_medium=GNOM&utm_code=lww8wt&utm_campaign=1334315+-+Online+Education+Market+Study+2019+%7c+World+Market+Projected+to+Reach+%24350+Billion+by+2025%2c+Dominated+by+the+United+States+and+China&utm_exec=joca220gnomd
● Newton, 2020, Derek Newton, Most Teachers Say They Are ‘Not Prepared’ To Teach Online, Forbes®, 2020 https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2020/03/26/most-teachers-say-they-are-not-prepared-to-teach-online/#5bc60d1b7f2c
