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Rebeca Blancas

Unlimited resources, limited learning?

"If a child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn". -Ignacio Estrada.


From school to out of school education


According to numbers from UNICEF, in 2014 around 263 million children weren’t going to school due to many factors that went from infrastructure issues to economic ones.

In 2020, COVID-19 left close to 1600 million children out of school due to restrictions from governments and educational institutions. This has the potential to worsen some problems that relate to the loss of knowledge, rise in the levels of desertion, and limited or restricted access to technology in the next decade.


Technology has been merging with education for many years and has changed the way teachers and students relate in and out of the classrooms. There is the digitalization of reality in which knowledge is not acquired but created with the help of digital platforms that allow a personalized education with experiences focused on a creative and independent study.




How the world is coping


With the help of new educational tools that help create suites for education like LearnAla, Blackboard, Canvas, and Google Classroom, the disadvantages lessen and the advantages become more relevant.


There are also new alternatives to online schooling around the world in order to reach students who don’t have access to this resource. In Mexico, there is a TV program called Aprende en Casa that is broadcasted publicly in order to reach households that don’t count on internet access. In Uruguay, there is an alliance between the public education system and the largest telecommunication company so that all academic material can be accessed without using cellular data. Countries in Africa and Asia use the radio as a way to broadcast to areas where there is no other way to communicate. (UNICEF, 2020)


Advantages and Disadvantages


The pandemic accelerated the transition of non-digital to digital education as well as the integration of technology and education which has brought many advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that with having a smartphone or a computer with internet access, the students can reach unlimited online resources as well as be able to communicate with teachers and their peers. The disadvantage is that if there isn’t an appropriate use of these resources, the student can distract themselves or find information that is not reliable and end up affecting their learning instead of benefitting it.


There is also the advantage of new TIC, LMS, and online digital platforms that support education making it more interactive and didactic, increasing motivation and encouraging independence and individualism.

The disadvantage is that if students don’t have stable internet or access to appropriate devices, their learning can be hindered. According to numbers presented by UNICEF, there are around 1.3 billion children between the ages of 3 and 17 that don’t have internet access.

“Lack of internet access is costing the next generation their futures.” Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.




This digital division accentuates the inequalities that divide countries and communities which present a complication for education around the world.

The truth is, this change was going to happen due to the constant technological innovation that has been going on during the past few years. It has definitely been a challenge to adapt for people and educational institutions however, the disadvantages allow for a positive change since it is possible to see where the weaknesses are.


The integration of technology with education should be seamless so that it can reach every student around the world, regardless of where they are. It is vital to increase the number of people with internet access in their homes and communities so that current and future generations have the possibility to gain the knowledge and the skills to build a sustainable future for themselves. It is a change that came to stay as well as transformed the way we all learn.

 

Sources:

The Yale Tribune. 2018. Teaching Tomorrow’S Skills Today. [online] Available at: https://campuspress.yale.edu/tribune/teaching-tomorrows-skills-today/ [Accessed 17 January 2021].

Saavedra, J., 2020. COVID-19 y Educación: Algun

os desafíos y oportunidades. [Blog] Education for Global Development, Available at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/es/education/educational-challenges-and-opportunities-covid-19-pandemic [Accessed 17 January 2021].

Ritchie, H., 2019. How many children are not in school?. [Blog] Available at:

https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-children-are-not-in-school#263-million-children-were-not-in-school-in-2014 [Accessed 17 January 2021].

UNICEF, 2020. “Unequal Access To Remote Schooling Amid COVID-19 Threatens To Deepen Global Learning Crisis.” [online] Available at: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/unequal-access-remote-schooling-amid-covid-19-threatens-deepen-global-learning [Accessed 18 January 2021].

United Nations Children’s Fund and International Telecommunication Union, 2020. “How many children and young people have internet access at home? Estimating digital connectivity during the COVID-19 pandemic.” UNICEF, New York, 2020. Available at: https://data.unicef.org/resources/children-and-young-people-internet-access-at-home-during-covid19/

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