In response to significant demand, many online learning platforms are offering free access to their services, including platforms like BYJU‘S, a Bangalore-based educational technology and online tutoring firm founded in 2011, which is now the world‘s most highly valued edtech company. Since announcing free live classes on its Think and Learn app, BYJU‘s has seen a 200% increase in the number of new students using its product, according to Mrinal Mohit, the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Tencent classroom, meanwhile, has been used extensively since mid-February after the Chinese government instructed a quarter of a billion full-time students to resume their studies through online platforms. This resulted in the largest online movement in the history of education with approximately 730,000, or 81% of K-12 students, attending classes via the Tencent K-12 Online School in Wuhan. Other companies are bolstering capabilities to provide a onestop shop for teachers and students. For example, Lark, a Singapore-based collaboration suite initially developed by By teDance as an internal tool to meet its own exponential growth, began offering teachers and students unlimited video conferencing time, auto-translation capabilities, real-time coediting of project work, and smart calendar scheduling, amongst other features. To do so quickly and in a time of crisis, Lark ramped up its global server infrastructure and engineering capabilities to ensure reliable connectivity. Alibaba‘s distance learning solution, DingTalk, had to prepare for a similar influx: ―To support large-scale remote work, the platform tapped Alibaba Cloud to deploy more than 100,000 new cloud servers in just two hours last month – setting a new record for rapid capacity expansion,‖ according to DingTalk CEO, Chen Hang.
Some school districts are forming unique partnerships, like the one between The Los Angeles Unified School District and PBS SoCal/KCET to offer local educational broadcasts, with separate channels focused on different ages, and a range of digital options. Media organizations such as the BBC are also powering virtual learning; Bitesize Daily, launched on 20 April, is offering 14 weeks of curriculum-based learning for kids across the UK with celebrities like Manchester City footballer Sergio Aguero teaching some of the content. Changes on the grading system, assessment and evaluation of student‘s performance will also be a challenge to every administrator.
In addition, laboratory activities in sciences and other subjects that require performance such as Physical Education and culture and arts would be limited to paper and pen test, unless schools will require students to be physically present to be assessed through performance tests. In addition, extra-curricular activities in school such as scouting, proms, sports intramurals, contests and foundation day will be reduced and discontinued.
In terms of teaching, teacher training to online instruction, blended learning and distance learning is also recommended in order to adjust to the new instructional format (Toquero, 2020). Teacher competencies in both pedagogy and technology should be reinforced. This transition to the new normal, from the four corners of the classroom to the borders of virtual reality, every learning institution needs to study how successful online learning is in providing quality education and outcomes-based education to students (Basilaia & Kvavadze, 2020).
By: Mrs. Lorna S. Macaday|Teacher III|Alternative Learning System, Olongapo City
