COVID19 – How eLearning could help our Education System ?

An Overview of the Virus:

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a large family of viruses that can make both animals and humans sick. This new illness can affect your lungs and airways. It can cause illnesses that can either be just a common cold or lead to more severe diseases. (Like the MERS virus and the SARS virus – both are coronaviruses) It was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. Since then it has broken wide open, spreading to almost 102+ locations internationally. All this despite Chinese cities being quarantined.

Some common signs of infection include:

respiratory symptoms, fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases: pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure and even death.

What to do for prevention? (Source: NHS UK)

wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds always wash your hands when you get home or into work
use hand sanitizer gel if soap and water are not available
cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards

try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell
do not touch your eyes, nose or mouth if your hands are not clean

Major Effects on Education System around the world

Here’s what Blendtolearn team has found.

The virus has spread to 102 countries around the world, with 111,356 cases and over 3800 total deaths. (Source: Business Insider) This has also been confirmed by NBC and WHO.

The compilation of schools closing all over the world:

Coronavirus outbreak has taken a toll over the education sectors of international communities. Nearly 300 million children are missing classes according to the NY Times and the United Nations. Governments are trying to help, but in several cases, they have had to tell schools to shut down too. In the UAE, schools are closed for the next 60 days. They are being told to overstock food supplies over the wake of this international crisis. In the US, Seattle-area district has shut down schools for 2 weeks. Northshore schools are closing up to 14 days too. 11 countries and the Chinese districts of Hong Kong and Macao have all shut down schools, affecting millions of children. (UNESCO). Italy is said to be closing all schools because of the 107 deaths there from the coronavirus says the Guardian. Some schools have been closed in parts of these countries as well: France, Germany, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Japan has nearly closed all schools till spring break or early April while 120 schools closed in France this week as France 24 reports. In Pakistan’s Karachi Sindh region, over 26 schools are shutting off. They have also closed down schools in Balochistan (Gulf News) even though there have been 6 cases overall. Officials say that is because of the terrible spread in the neighbouring country Iran, where schools and universities are being shut down for a month. Source: Middle East Eye. Moreover, UAE has shut down schools for 4 weeks (CNBC) and today (10th March), some universities and schools in Qatar are being closed down too.

There is said to be more schools closing as well, and this can easily mean over 200 million more students being deprived of their rightful education. There is more hysteria than ever. And it may only increase if the educational disruption stays. More and more schools are being closed to protect their students. This causes fear and frustration, both from parents and students. The question is, how is this going to affect overall learning? What’s the way out of this issue?

The solution: eLearning preparing to save the day

There have been reports saying that most schools didn’t have to consider online school before. But because students’ health and safety is the No #1 concern, they seem to be looking for alternatives. This is where eLearning comes in. In the UAE, they are looking to start ‘distance learning initiatives’ in the last two weeks of the holiday. They have sent messages to private schools to encourage to share their distance learning plans with parents & students as well. (CNBC)

WHO said that within 10 days of the coronavirus outbreak, more than 25 000 people across the globe have asked for information on how to detect, prevent and control the new coronavirus. They had to make an online course as soon as possible and publish it before coronavirus was declared a public health emergency. More than 3000 users registered and a lot more than that have viewed YouTube for the introduction video.

China was already ahead of the epidemic outbreak. Coronavirus hasn’t stopped students in China from learning. This has been made possible through eLearning platforms offered by their schools. There was a communication app DingTalk that took rise in a school in the Zhejiang Province, where a student Shen uses this app to take classes.

“School notices, homework, daily health checks and videos sent by teachers are all available on the platform,” Shen said, reported by Xinhuanet.com.

This proves that we too need to quickly turn our heads to eLearning platforms. Learning & training needs more attention in order to educate and help people. They need courses that would reach millions of people across the world in real-time and accessible learning materials.

For this, it is crucial to:

– develop training and eLearning courses

– get proper know-how to those who most need it.

In these rare situations when a global crisis hits and education is massively affected, eLearning can help fill the gap. Whether eLearning will be used to inform about coronavirus or help students get back to their lessons and classes at their homes. The point is, it is needed. When SARS came in 2003, Asian countries did just this – they went to virtual instruction and online learning.

It goes without saying that online learning is still unfamiliar to students and untested by lots of schools. But right now, eLearning is the hope of millions of teachers and students to continue education. It can definitely be done, but it needs to happen fast.