Description: In this article GCSE Maths and Science tutor, Robert, shares his views on how the pandemic has affected our children’s education.
How Education Changed
Millions of children have had their education disrupted by the pandemic.
Exam grades have had to be modulated to consider the effects of lower standards in teaching.
This is due to not all pupils being fortunate enough to have access to a computer.
A great many of them have had their social development affected by virtue of not being able to interact with peers and friends.
Of course, the country needs a comprehensive and coherent plan to kick start a post pandemic recovery in education; an ambitious, long-term plan to support young people’s educational and emotional needs.
The Positive Consequences
On a macro level, one idea is to devolve the National Citizen Service and Youth Investment Fund money to local authorities to enable them to run education recovery programmes.
Spend the money closer to the people that can benefit from it post-pandemic.
But at a micro, operational level, another idea is to take any positive consequences of the pandemic and build upon them for future benefit.
By that, I mean the widespread adoption and assimilation of video conferencing into our everyday lives.
Not only does this prove the effectiveness but it’s also the most environmentally-friendly way to learn.
No more travel to and from lectures or lessons. No unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions.
Evolved Digital Age
March 2020 – the first lockdown.
We were a couple of weeks in when I first heard the word “Zoom” mentioned.
They were talking about the video-conferencing platform.
It had been around since 2012 in Beta but now its time had come to take the world by storm. Everyone was using it.
Zoom has allowed people to interact and socialise virtually on a mass scale.
It has also been invaluable in helping to maintain students’ education in a remote, effective and low-cost way.
It’s been a natural progression for it to develop and innovate into specific online tutoring platforms with sophisticated functionality which adds to its effective and user-friendly experience.
What Does the Future Hold For Online Tutoring?
Someone cleverer than me once said that knowledge has a beginning but no end.
With virtual reality meetings already taking place within business settings, it won’t be long before virtual reality technology is deployed in tutoring.
So, you will actually be able to sit in the same virtual classroom as your tutor or teacher. Perhaps other students, and smell dinner being cooked in the kitchen.
Moore’s Law states that the number of transistors on a microchip doubles about every two years, though the cost of computers is half.
Never as true as today. When I look back over 40 years of being in business and tutoring and see how things have developed, it’s mind-boggling to think where we might be in 40 years’ time.
By tutor Robert. Contact Us