According to UNESCO, the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the lives of many school and college-going students worldwide, leaving many educators, parents, and students wondering whether schools will reopen again or not. Online classes have become the new normal leaving no other option left among students and universities offering online programs.
Students are now referring to virtual tutoring, videoconferencing, or other online learning software to get an education and complete their degree. But online learning isn’t a newer concept. According to the World Economic Forum, businesses were spending a total of $18 billion in global educational technology in 2019 alone, the overall marketing cost of online education is expected to reach $350 billion by 2025. Many universities have introduced new and more attractive ways of making online learning platforms more purposeful.
Community and engineering.com, one of the popular educational platforms, are helping students by offering a place to organize and share their projects online. This platform is helpful for the students and teachers to collaborate and share different project-related work including images, files, videos, whiteboards, etc.
Many renowned universities including SAITM Gurgaon are now offering engineering programs through online learning and tailored courses helpful for engineering students to take classes from their homes. But many educators believe that online learning infringes on education as they are not completely prepared for the same and even there is a lack of training for educators. School-going students, specifically those studying science and engineering struggle to get comparable and effective education options while taking classes online. Many students are not able to take online classes mainly due to poor Internet connection, shortage of online resources, and no option to have lab experience virtually.
Educators still are trying their level best to look for ways to offer hands-on courses and labs through online platforms or project-based virtual communities so that engineering students don’t have to compromise on anything. The majority of the universities have closed labs due to the lack of resources and software. But it is something all engineering students are missing, as lab courses permit students to do experiments that improve their theory-based learning.
Due to the absence of labs in online classes, students are missing out on the hands-on experience that is important to get decent job opportunities in the future. But still, engineering colleges are doing all possible things to make online courses beneficial. Online learning has resulted in the creation of a new, more effective method of educating students, offering an opportunity to all age group learners in this pandemic time. Though it is a difficult time for the engineering and science students to know how they will do their lab work, resilient educators and students are leaving no stone untouched in making online lectures more beneficial. The wider availability of online resources and videoconferencing applications has certainly proved a boon in this COVID time.
Blended Learning will dramatically surge
The remote teaching and learning efforts that all our engineering professors and students are now engaged in are completely different as compared to traditional online education. Quality online learning programs are more engaging and need both time and effort. Many of the engineering students are worried that a rapid shift to remote learning might not prove beneficial while learning subjects like engineering.
Online education can never supplement traditional classroom learning and will prove beneficial only after our professors and students return to their physical classrooms.
Online Education is the Priority at Every Institution
There were only a few colleges and universities that were doing nothing regarding online education pre-COVID-19. But things changed a lot after COVID-19. Now the majority of colleges and universities offer online learning as a supplement to traditional learning. Now online education has been recognized as core to every school’s plan for institutional resilience and academic continuity.
This post-pandemic will surely change how schools plan for and manage online education. No in addition to offline education, universities need to create some online courses as well for the people living in far-flung areas.
A spirit of collaboration
Perhaps the most important requirement in engineering education is the spirit of collaboration that helps sail the ocean. Many projects showed that engineers can still do much without the usual business constraints, and with the pooled talents of experts from different fields if all work together, this situation will also pass away. At this point, when the entire world is dealing with COVID-19, it’s time to stay united and deal with the situation without panicking. SAITM Gurgaon also understands the growing uncertainties in the present world and thus offers extended support by making online courses accessible to you.
