COVID-19 has disrupted the whole world and has made people think differently. Globally, various activities have been disturbed and human activities have been brought to a standstill.
Over a billion students worldwide are unable to go to school due to measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. This pandemic is expected to have a huge impact on global education.
But technology has stepped in to play a key role in educating future generations. Now knowledge is a mouse-click away. What this means is that the role of the teacher must change too.
Globally, this is the second time we are seeing educational institutions go into lockdown at around the same time. The first due to the second world war. While we know that the impact of this virus will be far-reaching, what might it mean in the longer term for education?
The COVID-19 crisis may well change our world and our global outlook; it may also teach us about how education needs to change to be able to better prepare our young learners for what the future might hold.
COVID-19 is a pandemic that illustrates how globally interconnected we are – there is no longer such a thing as isolated issues and actions.
Students should be able to gain access to knowledge, and even learn a technical skill, through a few clicks on their phones, tablets and computers. We would also need to redefine the role of the teacher in the classroom and lecture theatre. This may mean that the role of teachers will need to move towards facilitating young people’s development.
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in educational institutions across the world being constrained to suddenly harness and utilize the suite of available technological tools to create content for remote learning for students in all sectors. Teachers across the world are experiencing new possibilities to do things differently and with greater flexibility resulting in potential benefits.
NIIT Ghana as an IT institution didn’t face much challenges in the transition to classes online as many businesses are facing these days. Therefore, there is no doubt that information technology is playing a major role now in every industry.
>>>The writer is the Centre Manager at NIIT Accra
