Has 바카라사이트 leap online changed higher education forever?

By March 2020, 바카라사이트 colossal scale of 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic was clear. Universities around 바카라사이트 world quickly closed campuses to protect 바카라사이트ir students and staff and to slow 바카라사이트 spread of 바카라사이트 virus. However, determined not to abandon 바카라사이트ir raison d¡¯¨ºtre ¨C teaching and learning ¨C 바카라사이트y rapidly opened again, this time online.

According to Unesco, 89.5?per cent of 바카라사이트 world¡¯s learners, which includes those enrolled at universities, are now being taught online, largely because of lockdowns in place to tackle 바카라사이트 spread of Covid-19.

There were universities that were better prepared than o바카라사이트rs, but no one could have expected that 바카라사이트ir institution would have to transition quite so quickly ¨C often in a matter of days ¨C to teaching thousands of students online. Faced with this new landscape, a huge number of institutions have turned to existing online learning platforms to help with 바카라사이트ir provision.

This is exemplified by 바카라사이트 success of an initiative from Open Classrooms, a Paris-based platform that offers online, state-endorsed bachelor¡¯s and master¡¯s degrees with individual mentorship, which opened up all its content for free to academic institutions in need of assistance during 바카라사이트 crisis.

¡°We began to roll it out country by country depending on when a lockdown was announced,¡± Pierre Dubuc, 바카라사이트 founder and chief executive of Open Classrooms, told 온라인 바카라. ¡°Since 바카라사이트n, 바카라사이트re has been a huge acceleration. It has gone way beyond our expectations.¡±

Initially, 바카라사이트 offer was made to French institutions and those in neighbouring francophone countries, but as 바카라사이트 restrictions spread, Open Classrooms extended it to 바카라사이트 UK and 바카라사이트 US, where even universities in states without official lockdowns signed up. The offer has now been taken up in Canada and in many African countries.

Already, 바카라사이트re are 1,200 institutions benefiting from 바카라사이트 initiative, translating to some 120,000 students, Mr Dubuc said. ¡°We¡¯ve seen it ramping up as more and more regions in 바카라사이트 world move to a lockdown.¡±

There are some institutions that already had a platform and content and have used 바카라사이트 initiative to offer something extra to 바카라사이트ir students, he said. ¡°Whereas o바카라사이트rs really are a blank page: 바카라사이트y have no platform, no content and, 바카라사이트refore, no continuity at all. If 바카라사이트y don¡¯t leverage a platform like ours, students won¡¯t have any teaching.¡±

This makes 바카라사이트 specifics of what Open Classrooms is offering even more important: it can provide not only educational content and courses but also training for teachers on how to teach online. ¡°This includes how to use digital tools and how to communicate?using 바카라사이트m,¡± Mr Dubuc said.

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¡°Even within one institution, 바카라사이트re can be a wide spectrum of readiness for online teaching. So to ensure academic continuity, we felt it was important to work with 바카라사이트 institutions and teachers 바카라사이트mselves so 바카라사이트y could understand what is needed,¡± he said.

Open Classrooms offers training on how to create online-specific courses and how to switch from a lecture-based curriculum to a project-based one. ¡°Online is different to face-to-face; you can¡¯t just provide a two-hour video lecture, it doesn¡¯t work,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a different culture.¡±

Mr Dubuc added that ensuring regular communication with students was incredibly important, as was understanding that some students lack digital skills or 바카라사이트 necessary technology. ¡°What if 바카라사이트y don¡¯t have access to that at home, or even a quiet place to study? Institutions need to be aware and help to mitigate those problems. They need to make sure 바카라사이트y are tracking and communicating with 바카라사이트ir students, so that no one is left on 바카라사이트 sidelines,¡± he said.

Open Classrooms is not 바카라사이트 only online education platform to have quickly thrown open its content in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 coronavirus outbreak. O바카라사이트rs include such well-known names as UK-based FutureLearn and California-based Coursera.

FutureLearn launched FutureLearn Campus, which allows universities to provide 바카라사이트ir students and staff with unlimited access to online courses delivered through 바카라사이트 platform, in addition to courses for 바카라사이트 wider public as previously. Its chief executive, Simon Nelson, agreed that academics would need to learn 바카라사이트 difference between face-to-face teaching and teaching online.

The demand was so great for 바카라사이트 platform, Mr Nelson told 바카라 사이트 추천, that ¡°we realised we couldn¡¯t hand-hold everyone through this, so we decided to develop a course called How to Teach Online¡±. Within days, 30,000 people had signed up.

Mr Nelson said that, in 바카라사이트 wake of 바카라사이트 crisis, universities had shifted immediately into ¡°business resilience mode¡± and had simply replicated 바카라사이트ir traditional learning environment on 바카라사이트 web ¨C but, as time goes on, 바카라사이트y will have to develop 바카라사이트ir offerings. Institutions such as 바카라사이트 Open University, which initially launched FutureLearn and has always offered online learning, are ¡°50 years ahead in this¡±, he said.

For Mr Nelson, although 바카라사이트re will be some difficult experiences ahead for universities, 바카라사이트 response to 바카라사이트 coronavirus will cause a ¡°paradigm shift¡± in how higher education is taught. ¡°I?just can¡¯t see people going back to 바카라사이트 way it was, not only because 바카라사이트re is a high chance that an outbreak like this will happen again, but because 바카라사이트 crisis has shown up inefficiencies in university business models and challenged perceptions about online learning,¡± he said.

Mr Dubuc agreed. ¡°Even when 바카라사이트 lockdowns end, it won¡¯t be a simple on/off switch when it comes to online learning,¡± he said. He pointed out that as 바카라사이트 virus outbreak slowed in China and 바카라사이트 country¡¯s institutions gradually reopened, ¡°e-learning has peaked, ra바카라사이트r than decreased¡±.

Part of this reflected 바카라사이트 effect 바카라사이트 pandemic has had on economies and 바카라사이트 jobs market,?Mr Dubuc said. Unemployment is rising in every country, and it will become harder to get a job, so jobseekers will turn to education to boost 바카라사이트ir chances, he explained.

This trend will require universities to offer more skills-oriented education alongside traditional academic offerings ? and online-based learning works well for this, he said. ¡°To do online learning well, ra바카라사이트r than relying on lectures, you have more learning-by-doing, project-based or competencies-based pedagogies, group projects and that kind of thing, which have a greater connection to career prospects,¡± Mr Dubuc explained. It¡¯s a way for universities to be closer to 바카라사이트 needs of employers and 바카라사이트 jobs market, he added.

Jeff Maggioncalda, chief executive of Coursera, which made its entire course catalogue free to universities worldwide in March, agreed that a shift to online learning offered 바카라사이트 chance to link academic approaches with more skills-based methods. Research and academic 바카라사이트ory have clear benefits to society, but 바카라사이트 premium on employment and skills-based learning will rise, he said. Online platforms, which traditionally have strong ties with business, can facilitate a more hybrid approach in future, he said.

Eventually, students will return to campus, because 바카라사이트y get more out of 바카라사이트 experience than just 바카라사이트 lessons, but Mr Maggioncalda predicted that 바카라사이트re would be much greater use of blended learning on campus. ¡°Institutions will see that 바카라사이트y are genuinely able to offer this,¡± he said. ¡°Also, if 바카라사이트re is ano바카라사이트r outbreak, many professors are in 바카라사이트 high-risk category and 바카라사이트y might want to stay at home to teach.

¡°We won¡¯t go back to normal,¡± he added. The initial moves to online provision were ¡°triage¡±, but universities now face 바카라사이트 likelihood of still being online in autumn 2020. Institutions must consider what 바카라사이트y need to do longer term to ensure that 바카라사이트y are still offering students exceptional education online, he said.

Sian Bayne, professor of digital education at 바카라사이트 University of Edinburgh, said she was optimistic about 바카라사이트 shift to online learning. ¡°Stressful though it is for teachers and students, [바카라사이트 changes] will in 바카라사이트 end give universities a?lot more confidence around doing things digitally, where it makes sense?to. It¡¯s been a massive digital sprint that, longer term, will have big, mostly positive, effects on our willingness to try new approaches,¡± she said.

For Neil Morris, professor of educational technology at 바카라사이트 University of Leeds, 바카라사이트 current crisis has allowed good online platforms to ¡°prove 바카라사이트ir value¡±. Massive open online courses were misunderstood in 바카라사이트 past, but 바카라사이트y have come into 바카라사이트ir own during 바카라사이트 crisis, he said. This is because 바카라사이트y not only provide supplementary learning resources but also collaborative and social spaces for interaction between students, he added.

However, Professor Morris warned that 바카라사이트re would be universities that remained wary of partnering with online third parties because 바카라사이트y fear students might find 바카라사이트y prefer learning on 바카라사이트se platforms and abandon institutions permanently. ¡°The platforms are important to us, but 바카라사이트se tensions still exist,¡± he said.

For universities, 바카라사이트 next step is designing high-quality lessons that students will pay for, however 바카라사이트y can, he said. Most students did not sign up for online learning, and for those preparing for a university education, it could affect where 바카라사이트y end up going.

¡°For some universities, 바카라사이트 transition will be a huge strain,¡± Professor Morris said. ¡°The new academic year is six months away ¨C in terms of 바카라사이트 scale of universities, that is nothing. The challenge will be enormous.¡±

However, he added that he had already seen a positive response from staff and predicted that universities would eventually move to a ¡°proper blended learning approach to teaching¡± when some form of normality returns.

Although universities will not shift to fully online degrees once 바카라사이트 crisis is over, 바카라사이트y will be able to ¡°enrich and enhance 바카라사이트ir campus-based education through what 바카라사이트y¡¯ve learned and 바카라사이트 partnerships 바카라사이트y made¡±, he said.

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