Everyone was affected by the recent Covid pandemic; however, not everyone was challenged in equal measure. Some professions are inherently more vulnerable to the ravages of an international lockdown. For example, the IT industry went largely unaffected due to their worker’s ability to work remotely.
Famously, the delivery industry not only maintained but also made massive market-share gains.
Education was not so lucky due to the nature of its process. Having dozens of people crammed in the same room is not optimal, given that a virus spreads primarily in crowded indoor spaces.
Educators and legislators worldwide were forced to adopt certain measures to mitigate the damage done by the pandemic. We will analyze some of these trends and see which of them can continue to see widespread use:
The Use of Online Education Aids
Are online essay writers legit? Can you trust spellcheck software or online tutorials? Do online education aids help or hurt the teaching process? These are the questions asked by every parent and teacher.
Those who disagree with any outside help, claim that it gives students a shortcut and an unfair advantage. After all, students were better at math when everyone did not have a pocket calculator.
And there is truth to that observation. If used as a crutch, technology tends to weaken the person using it. You will get plumper if you have a robot carrying everything for you, and your math skills will suffer if you calculate everything on your phone.
But that is not an argument against technology but an argument against its misuse. For example, household appliances save us hundreds of hours per year by washing dishes, doing the laundry, and even vacuuming.
You aren’t learning anything by doing the same repetitive task, and automation can free you to pursue new avenues.
For example, online essay services can help you to meet the requirements of a tedious and bloated college curriculum. Sites such as Wikipedia offer quick and fast research opportunities, while Excel can help teachers manage and keep track of every grade and situation.
In essence, while the education sector was one of the slowest to adopt and integrate software and technology, things are now changing.
Remote Learning
Remote learning is arguably much worse than traditional education. It consistently struggles to maintain student engagement levels, and it is straightforward for pupils to fall behind. All of these facts became evident when almost every school in the world was forced to adopt online classes.
However, that is not the entire story. It is true that strict adherence to online classes for children will severely reduce academic performance. Yet, the same cannot be said about older students.
Millennials and Generation Z are trapped in a vicious cycle. The corporate world swallows more and more workplaces, and most of these companies are very credential-heavy. The ideal path through life is for your parents to pay for another 4-6 years of education. Unfortunately, that education (at least in the US) costs somewhere between tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
A growing number of people cannot afford this luxury. Those hailing from single-parent homes, low-income homes, or recent immigrants do not have the required support structure to go to college.
They have to work low-paying jobs, as all the high-paying positions require you to have a diploma.
Remote learning is a loophole in that system. It is cheap, more targeted, and can take the shape of almost any schedule. In addition, college-aged students have a more developed capacity for learning, making it easier for them to avoid the pitfalls affecting younger children.
Currently, online degrees represent the only way to break out of a vicious cycle of hyper-inflated tuition, a trillion-dollar college debt industry, and a credential-based market.
E-learning allows you to attend online classes while working that low-pay job. It gives disadvantaged students hope of succeeding in a system that seems set against them. It is still suboptimal, but it is better than nothing.
A Heightened Focus on STEM
It is human nature to be conservative with your resources when times are tough and more wasteful when times are abundant. Most countries have seen an unprecedented rate of growth and prosperity since the 1950s. That allowed society to accommodate activities that did not directly produce physical value.
Given the rise in college tuition and a globalized market, unproductive specializations will be quickly culled. As a result, most people will be forced to choose careers that produce tangible worth.
It is not uncommon for students to choose an easy college major to enjoy another four years of prolonged adolescence. However, as previously mentioned, more and more people lack the support structure that would support them while they study.
The only advantage of the current situation is that adversity punishes waste. Humanities degrees are often useless in the marketplace, while STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) degrees are sought-after. As a result, students will be forced to think twice about their specialization.
STEM graduates provide tangible and almost immediate benefits to their companies and communities. While there is also a benefit in the humanities and art, the starving artist archetype exists for a reason.
A globalized market means that your competition is global. Qualified individuals worldwide want the same jobs as you, and they can quickly move on a VISA or just work remotely.
The pressure is immense for young people to be productive and valuable for employers. As a result, STEM is on the rise, and it will continue to grow as the economic and political landscape changes.
Conclusion
Many day-to-day items were originally developed in times of war. Be it wartime or a pandemic; it is not uncommon for a crisis to force us to adapt and innovate.
In an ever-changing world, education was arguably one of our most archaic systems. The basic format of sending children to be taught by an adult remained essentially unchanged for centuries.
However, the recent pandemic forced us to rethink the entire system. It has to change in the face of a worsening economy, a globalized marketplace, the breakdown of the traditional support structures (i.e., the nuclear family), causing individuals to fall prey to a predatory loan system.
The internet promises to help relieve some of these pitfalls. Online aids such as essay sites, spell check software, video tutorials, free eBooks, and many other resources promise to help level the playing field.
In addition, the hyper-competitive landscape will push the students to maximize their efficiency via STEM degrees and not waste their time on other, unproductive pursuits.
