Panoramic view of digital education in COVID‐19: A new explored avenue

Abstract

The Covid‐19 pandemic has forced restructuring in several sectors to ensure the delivery of services are accomplished to the greatest possible extent. The Indian Government has imposed rigorous lockdown regulations, which has had an impact on all aspects of the economy and promotes the adoption of digital technology. The lockdown has accelerated adherence to online platforms for effective accessibility of the teaching and learning process without compromising on quality. Democratisation of technology has been a significant critical issue of the hour. In the closures since March 16, 2020 ‒ from nursery school to university level ‒ all scheduled examinations during this period were postponed. The teachers and students are in a dilemma with regard to current academic sessions and with upcoming semester examinations. The Covid‐19 pandemic gave momentum to the digital teaching‐learning mode with a transformation from chalkboards to Google Meet, Zoom and WebEx, etc. The study is based on primary data of 750 respondents in West Bengal, India, which includes teachers and students from school to university level. The effectiveness, accessibility and quality of this virtual mode of education have been investigated with the application of the Friedman test, and Wilcoxon signed‐rank test and effect sizes. The present study is an attempt to assess and understand the impact of Covid‐19 on the teaching and learning process in developing countries. The study reveals that students from school to university level are significantly affected by the novel digital teaching and learning modes resorted to during this pandemic crisis.

Effects of COVID-19-Related School Closures on Student Achievement—A Systematic Review

“…Less is known, however, about the impact of COVID-19-related school closures on student achievement. The primary focus of the literature on COVID-19-related school closures to date was on the reception and use of digital learning technologies and remote learning (Andrew et al, 2020;Blume et al, 2021;Grewenig et al, 2020;Maity et al, 2020;Pensiero et al, 2020). Moreover, the psychological impact of COVID-19-related school closures, the use of school counseling in connection with COVID-19 (Ehrler et al, 2020;Gadermann et al, 2021;O'Sullivan et al, 2021;Xie et al, 2020;O'Connor, 2020), and the effects of the school closures on student motivation (Zaccoletti et al, 2020;Smith et al 2021) were investigated.…”

COVID-19 in the Field of Education: State of the Art

“…Finally, as of June 2020, the evaluation processes began, which had to be carried out completely virtually [25]. Universities improved their virtual campuses, and the race began for the transposition of final exams that saturated the virtual university campuses because they brought together hundreds of students in a synchronous way to take tests for which very little time was allowed.…”

Qualitative Content Analysis of Teachers’ Perceptions and Experiences in Using Blended Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Most sectors, including education, have embraced technology to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Teachers have used technology to facilitate the teaching-learning process remotely (Maity et al, 2021).…”