Whether it be from dining room tables turned work desks or the comfort of ones own bed, students in Anthropology 238 made sure to log into their twice-a-week Zoom session at 1:40 PM. It was another hour and 15 minutes spent trying to avoid the temptation other avenues of the internet bring, all whilst zeroing in on the voice emanating from one of the 20-something virtual boxes.

The professor, who left Queens, NY for Pennsylvania during the pandemic, was in the middle of his lecture until he no longer was. He couldnt be, not after a bear wandering into his backyard caught his attention.

The professor let out a genuine Oh f*ck, leading his students to tune out of the lecture and look at him with intrigue. The professor turned his camera and, sure enough, a bear could be made out through the low-resolution lens strolling across his back lawn.

Thats something thats only gonna happen on Zoom, one of the attendees claimed after class.

Queens College students are no strangers to online learning during the fall semester. They made the transition into Zoom meetings and Blackboard Collaborate Ultra sessions once COVID-19 reached the United States last spring.

Back in March, April and May, the coronavirus was viewed as no more than an unexpected challenge QC would do anything to put in the rearview mirror. The goal for most, if not all classes, became to successfully end with as little duress as possible.

Now, the effects of a global pandemic on QC have settled into an unsettling permanence. Technical difficulties cut into lecture time and bears interrupt the class. The college experience has become a mindless cycle of near-identical assignments to submit on a weekly basis, many of which include hoards of readings teachers assign in an attempt to close the comprehension gap online learning can create.

Asynchronous classes have been an invaluable workaround to the varying schedules of QC students, but those lectures also require time and energy students have become responsible to find on their own. Rather than having a set schedule anchoring their day-to-day actions, students must keep pace or fall behind while maintaining habits that ensure they never get buried too deep under their respective workloads.

The readings are already homework, an anonymous student said. But I have to watch powerpoints and do readings. I have to watch lecture videos and do the readings. Theres a lot more work.

Unfortunately, professors dont have a handbook to afford themselves guidance. Pages are being filled with newfound procedures by the day. Some have even actively taken it upon themselves to make the lives of their students easier with open-note tests and fewer requirements to earn a reasonable grade.

Im basically deciding everyone gets an A if they just do everything in good faith, Media Studies Professor Douglas Rushkoff said of his students. I gotta bend over backward because I dont know what peoples situation is.

Theres long been an inherent give and take to the traditional in-person college experience. Students burn themselves out trying to bump up their grade point average, but walk away with added life experience that lays a foundation for their future selves. Memories are created. Voices are shaped. Perspectives change.

Without the take, students are finding it much more difficult to invest in the give. Some students have yet to hand in any assignments or muster the sliver of enthusiasm needed to click on just one of their Zoom links. Poor grades and a lower GPA are no longer able motivators. Not when the pandemic has life tugging at them harder than ever before.

(College) is a community of humans gathered together in the pursuit of knowledge and intelligence and a society and a community of learning, Professor Rushkoff explained. You couldnt help but (have) your conversations and interactions informed by the stuff you were learning. The online thing makes it much more like college is this stuff that youre learning in order to get a degree in order to get a job. Thats not really what its about.

That might not be what college was about, but thats what its become. And just like every other issue causing stress in 2020, its on us to find ways to make it bearable until we no longer have to.

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The unfortunate reality of an online college education The Knight News - The Knight News

Revenue from online education is creating new sales tax obligations for higher ed institutions, but the rules vary widely by state.

Many higher ed institutions have been battling budget woes in recent years due to decreased funding and dwindling enrollments, which has prompted some to diversify their revenue streams. Amid ongoing struggles, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a further negative impact on public and private institutions alike. As a result, many institutions are expanding into new digital channels to reach students based in other areas to lift enrollment numbers and increase revenues.

Still, expanding online isnt as clear cut as it may sound at first. Colleges are finding creative ways to provide virtual classes that span from continuing education to professional development, and some are even going beyond the traditional bounds of higher education. As colleges and universities expand their online footprint and wander into new non-traditional education services, its likely that they will encounter new sales tax obligations that they would otherwise not face while solely operating in-person courses.

In June 2018, the Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. made it possible for states to tax the transactions created by remote sellers regardless of the sellers physical presence in the state in the form of economic nexus laws. Today, economic nexus laws exist in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and parts of Alaska (where there are local sales taxes but no statewide sales tax). What many dont fully understand is that state and local governments tax many different types of services. So, not only do economic nexus laws apply to businesses selling goods into other states, but they could also apply to the sale of online education to students in other states.

Determining whether or not online education and training sales are subject to sales tax can be inherently complex. There are two main factors that can impact taxabilitythe format education is delivered and the type of program or school.

Format. The format in which a class is provided to students can affect taxability. A nuance as simple as the class or content being provided via a live-stream or pre-recorded video can change taxability. For example, the Tennessee Department of Revenue recently issued a ruling that explains that while live, instructor-led online courses arent subject to Tennessee sales and use tax, self-paced online classes that provide no live online instruction are taxable. In this scenario, when the class isnt taught live the state considers what the student is paying for is the use of the computer instead of the instruction itself.

In some cases, the move from live, in-person education to online learning changes the definition of a service (which are often tax-exempt) to a digital good. While many states tax the sale of digital goods, its unclear whether online education came to mind when the laws were created. Still, some states, like Wisconsin, have clarified the taxability of online education sales by stating that the sale of live digital online educational services is not taxable, but the sale of pre-recorded seminars and webinars is generally taxable.

Type of school or program. The taxability of online education can also hinge on what type of institution is selling it. For many states, education is exempt if taught by a nonprofit or government, but for-profit institutions dont always have the same type of general exemption. When it comes to the program type, the rules vary widely by state. Traditional degree-focused education is often exempt while education granting certificates is not always exempt. For example, in Texas, training and education services that are instructional in nature are not taxable, including online training courses and classes that provide accreditation, certification or continuing education credit.

Online higher education providers can run into new tax complexity even if they are not required to pay a single cent to tax authorities. Economic nexus laws can in many instances require an institution to register even though they may have few sales of online education that are actually taxed. One of the often-unspoken requirements of a sales tax is the requirement to provide and collect exemption certificates. Ultimately, the need to register and file exemption certificates depends on the states definition of economic nexus and whether it includes exempt sales as part of the economic nexus threshold.

We are just beginning to understand how the tax complexity that education providers are facing and will encounter as they expand online. One thing that is certain is that business practices will continue to change, and the law will struggle to keep up. The Wayfair decision upended decades of tax policy. As more goods and services are sold online, its likely that tax laws could adapt and expand to include historically exempt sales, including education.

As education providers navigate a new world that hinges on the flexibility and convenience driven by technology, building sales tax compliance into their operations will become critical. Sales tax law is complex and nuanced. When the law, which is often very old, is applied to changing products and changing business processes, it can be very difficult for organizations to understand and manage their sales tax obligations as they grow their business online. Getting compliance right is essential for higher education providers to successfully scale their enrollments online and stay ahead of the curve.

Scott Peterson was the first executive director of the Streamlined Sales Tax Governing Board, where he was devoted to making sales tax simpler and more uniform for the benefit of business. He is also vice president for U.S. tax policy at Alavara, a provider of tax compliance software.

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As higher education expands online, what's subject to tax? | - University Business

The escalation and global impact of COVID-19 catalyzed a sudden shift to the university experience as we know it. By March 2020, 14 million students pivoted to online education. College enrollment in the United States is now down 20 percent going into the fall 2020 semester, and typical activities such as sports and on-campus events have been canceled. This new reality has pushed educators across the United States to rethink how theyre delivering online education and implement new ways to engage students during this crossroads.

Related content: Faculty approaching remote learning with uncertainty

For most classrooms, standard video conferencing formats are a lackluster replacement for dynamic in-person learning. Zoom fatigue and the lack of one-on-one interaction in online classrooms has had a detrimental effect on students ability to successfully comprehend information.

In the wake of the uncertainty of the fall 2020 semester, without a scalable answer to online education, how can universities recreate the collegiate experience online?

Virtual event platforms provide a unique channel for universities to successfully bridge the gap between the current state of online education and returning to an in-person format in the future, allowing for students to regain the ability to social network and collaborate.

By going beyond traditional video conferencing, theres an opportunity for educational systems to create a virtual environment with inherent collaboration and better aptitude for learning.

The biggest gripe universities have within the new era of remote learning is an inability to collaborate within video conferencing in one survey, 65 percent of university students reported that opportunities to collaborate with other students on coursework were lacking in their online classes. Conversely, when instructors provided the ability to break into groups during a live class, student satisfaction went up 25 percent.

Traditional video conferencing platforms emerged as a simple alternative to in-classroom learning, Many factors, including pass fail grading, Zoom bombing, and a lack of connection have left instructors with a more disoriented classroom experience three-fifths of instructors reported theyve struggled to keep students engaged.

One big benefit: the classroom and events are similar in many ways, with pre-determined presentations, tight schedules and clear objectives virtual event platforms have this thinking built into their product, providing a plug-and-play option for educators shifting to an online format.

Beyond the classroom, a collegiate experience is all encompassing and provides students the ability to network and connect with their peersa massive missed opportunity for students that have shifted to remote learning environments.

With most universities now fully remote, for many students, activities such as job fairs, mentorship, and networking events have for the most part been canceled without an acceptable replacement. Some universities have turned to various video and chat-based options to replace these offerings, but they often fail to provide the same organic relationship building that an in-person event does.

As the fall 2020 semester is already off to a rocky start, universities have a unique opportunity to salvage the networking opportunities that are often offered to students by utilizing virtual event platforms.

From running resource fairs, conferences, speaking panels, to networking events, virtual event platforms offer a similar experience at a fraction of the cost, with minimal logistical conflicts, and can be made available to all students both domestic and international. Due to low overhead costs and minimal set-up, universities can create brand new virtual experiences for their students, bring in speakers from all over the world, and create more opportunities for genuine human interaction.

While the typical back-to-campus model may be in flux for this Fall, universities can source creative ways to engage their student bodies in academia and extracurriculars.

Universities have been placed in a tough spot with the drastic shift to online education, and while most have managed thus far, virtual event platforms provide an important outlet for educators who are looking to reinvigorate their students and revive the human connections that are integral to campus-life.

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Rethinking Online Education with Virtual Event Platforms - MarketScale

Dean Van Doleweerd, assistant head of learning, and a student during orientation week at Lakefield College School.

Simon Spivey/Lakefield College/Handout

After Lakefield College School had to close, like everyone else, because of the pandemic, they came up with the idea of offering virtual French cooking classes and other topics for the larger community.

Surprisingly, they found that their own students signed up in droves, which made them realize something: Students were interested in learning; they were not tired of Zoom, they just needed some variety, says Dean Van Doleweerd, assistant head of learning.

With about 40 international students unable to start the year in person, the school, near Peterborough, Ont., is still functioning partly in remote mode.

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The private schools pivoted fantastically to move students online, says educational consultant Elaine Danson, who works with families with children in the public and the private school systems.

Nicola Camirand, assistant head of Academics at the Calgary French and International School, says because the school is part of international networks, it allowed them to get insights from schools in countries that were further into the pandemic.

Here are some key ideas schools learned about remote learning.

Students cannot spend the same amount of time on screens as they can in face-to-face classes.

Although it varies by age, 40 minutes of instruction, is about what students can handle, Mr. Van Doleweerd says. Then, they need a break. This can be group work, individual work or one-on-one meetings with teachers.

One change the Calgary French school made was to have more teachers and projects overlap, so that students are learning about different subject areas on one project. Lakefield moved from eight courses at a time to three.

The technology has permitted the opportunity to greater individualize the experience for each student, Mr. Van Doleweerd says.

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At Calgary French school, slots were built into the timetable for teachers to have advisory calls with students one on one, where they discussed issues such as time management and social-emotional management.

Grade 11 Lakefield College School student Harper McGowan in class.Students are required to wear masks when indoors and on their feet or in motion.

Simon Spivey/Handout

Schools need to be consistent with how they post work and they need to be clear with students about their responsibilities, Mr. Van Doleweerd says. These are details that get relayed verbally in a face-to-face class but need to be explicit in an online environment.

One of the challenges with remote learning is how to foster connection with others. We insisted community and co-curricular events continue online, Mr. Van Doleweerd says.

This included activities such as soccer skills clinics through Zoom and cooking challenges.

It also meant students continued meeting with their advisors online and the school also continued assemblies through webinar software.

Sometimes the solution is as simple as giving students some free time before a Zoom class starts for being goofy, having fun, time to giggle with each other, Ms. Camirand says.

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Balancing live classes over video with recorded lessons that students review on their own, Mr. Van Doleweerd says, means making sure kids had enough personal interactions with teachers but were also required to be off-screen each day.

Parents may hear debates about how much synchronous teaching, or live classes, is appropriate compared with asynchronous, or recorded, lessons.

At Calgary French school, teachers are recording short demonstration videos of about 10 to 15 minutes, whether for students staying home because of illness, or for review purposes.

Assessing student progress is a skill the staff are still working on, Mr. Van Doleweerd says. The school is experimenting with different software and consulting with other schools.

For tests, students are on Zoom, but it doesnt take a genius to figure out there are ways around that. The school has found that more teacher interaction with students online gives them a better sense of how students are progressing.

What many educators echo is the fact that for online learning to work, it is not just the students who need support.

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Teachers need support, parents need support, Ms. Danson says.

In fact, a recent study in Alberta indicates that is the case, regardless of the system, either public or private.

Sharon Friesen, a professor in the learning sciences department at the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, conducted research in May and June in two public-school jurisdictions as part of a four-year study involving public, Catholic and private schools. These two jurisdictions took only a couple of weeks to start providing engaging online education when schools were closed, compared with others.

The key, she says, is that the school districts provided teachers and students with the technology they required, offered teachers extra professional development, and while principals supported the teachers, the school district supported the principals.

Schools need to prepare for another pandemic-related shutdown or even students having to stay home because of illness or quarantine. We have a parallel remote schedule that current teachers can default to if needed, Mr. Van Doleweerd says.

Longer term, though, we are all a little Zoomed out people dont want to just lose some of the good ideas.

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For instance, virtual meetings can allow staff, as well as teachers and students, to meet when there is less time or space to do it in person, he says.

And the school will continue recording instructions for students to review on their own.

As time has passed, students have become more sophisticated in their ability to conduct themselves in a remote-learning environment. Now, there is so much more possible, Mr. Van Doleweerd adds.

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Lessons learned from the forced experiment in online education - The Globe and Mail

DataIntelo offers a detailed report on Global Online Education Market. The report is a comprehensive research study that provides the scope of Online Education market size, industry growth opportunities and challenges, current market trends, potential players, and expected performance of the market in regions for the forecast period from 2020 to 2027. This report highlights key insights on the market focusing on the possible requirements of the clients and assisting them to make right decision about their business investment plans and strategies.

The Online Education market report also covers an overview of the segments and sub-segmentations including the product types, applications, companies and regions. This report further includes the impact of COVID-19 on the market and explains dynamics of the market, future business impact, competition landscape of the companies, and the flow of the global supply and consumption. The report provides an in-depth analysis of the overall market structure of Online Education and assesses the possible changes in the current as well as future competitive scenarios of the Online Education market.

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The report is prepared with a group of graphical representations, tables, and figures which displays a clear picture of the developments of the products and its market performance over the last few years. With this precise report, it can be easily understood the growth potential, revenue growth, product range, and pricing factors related to the Online Education market. The report also covers the recent agreements including merger & acquisition, partnership or joint venture and latest developments of the manufacturers to sustain in the global competition of the Online Education market.

Key companies that are covered in this report:

Ambow Education CDEL New Oriental Education and Technology TAL Vedantu iTutorGroup EF Education First Chegg Knewton Tokyo Academics Tata Interactive Systems N2N Services Microsoft Saba Software McGrawHill YY

*Note: Additional companies can be included on request

The report covers a detailed performance of some of the key players and analysis of major players in the industry, segments, application, and regions. Moreover, the report also considers the governments policies in different regions which illustrates the key opportunities as well as challenges of the market in each region.

By Application:

Pre-primary School Primary School Middle School High School

By Type:

Structured Tutoring On-Demand Tutoring

As per the report, the Online Education market is projected to reach a value of USDXX by the end of 2027 and grow at a CAGR of XX% through the forecast period (2020-2027). The report describes the current market trend of the Online Education in regions, covering North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa by focusing the market performance by the key countries in the respective regions. According to the need of the clients, this report can be customized and available in a separate report for the specific region.

You can also go for a yearly subscription of all the updates on Online Education market.

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The following is the TOC of the report:

Executive Summary

Assumptions and Acronyms Used

Research Methodology

Online Education Market Overview

Online Education Supply Chain Analysis

Online Education Pricing Analysis

Global Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast by Type

Global Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast by Application

Global Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast by Sales Channel

Global Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast by Region

North America Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast

Latin America Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast

Europe Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast

Asia Pacific Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast

Middle East & Africa Online Education Market Analysis and Forecast

Competition Landscape

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This report offers a concise analysis of the Online Education market for the last 5 years with historical data & more accurate prediction for upcoming 6 years on the basis of statistical information.

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The report also answers some of the key questions given below:

Which end-user is likely to play a crucial role in the development of the Online Education market?

Which regional market is expected to dominate the Online Education market in 2020-2027?

How is consumer consumption behavior impacting the business operations of market players in the current scenario of the Online Education market?

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Online Education Market 2019 | How The Industry Will Witness Substantial Growth In The Upcoming Years | Exclusive Report By DataIntelo - The Daily...

As a former state legislator my top priority was and still is education. Perhaps one of the most memorable and heartfelt moments occurred when I chaired an Iowa House subcommittee hearing on a bill proposing Education Savings Accounts (ESAs). A mother testified that her public school does not offer my child what he needs, and I cant afford anything else. This mothers top concern was for her childs education. Expanding school choice in Iowa by allowing educational dollars to directly follow the student will open new opportunities for all children.

The COVID-19 pandemic is drawing attention to school choice as public schools struggle to provide instruction, whether in person, online, or a hybrid of the two. Many parents are attempting to balance working and overseeing their childrens online education at home. Through these struggles, options like education pods, which are small groups of students who are taught by one teacher or tutor, are beginning to surface. The problem is that many families across Iowa cannot afford an alternative to public schools.

The pandemic is demonstrating the old model of funding school systems instead of students is obsolete. Education dollars should follow students and parents should decide which school best fits their childs needs. Educational opportunities should not be restricted by ZIP codes, socio-economic status, or other roadblocks.

Almost everyone agrees that education is a priority in Iowa. State and local taxpayers provide an estimated $16,314 per student (preK-12), which equals $326,280 for a class of 20 students. If education is a priority, then it should not be controversial that taxpayer dollars should follow the student. This is where ESAs come in as a common-sense solution, not only empowering parents with a choice for their childs education but also creating competition within Iowas educational system, likely forcing schools to innovate and improve.

An ESA would allow dollars to follow the student to the school of their choice. The design and dollar amount of ESAs can vary. The funding can either be based on public (tax dollars) or private dollars (tax credit scholarship). ESAs can be universal, tailored to families with lower incomes, or to families with children who have disabilities.

Results across the country demonstrates that providing parents more options actually increases student outcomes. In fact, ESAs are proving especially beneficial in providing choices to lower income parents.

Taxpayers are already paying for education with their tax dollars and parents should be allowed to use those dollars for the best possible educational outcome. Many families across Iowa are working hard, paying their taxes, and sacrificing to send their children to a non-public school, but there are not nearly enough families who can come up with the financial resources to do the same. Parents all share a common goal of providing the best opportunities for their children and household finances should not be a limiting factor. Parents should have another option besides a one size fits all government monopoly.

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Ensuring that dollars follow the student will remove barriers to educational opportunity and place our kids first.

Walt Rogers serves as deputy director of TEF Iowa, a public policy think tank, and is a former state legislator from Cedar Falls.

Original post:
Put Iowa kids first in education with greater school choice - The Gazette

Noah Faison graduated virtually from Columbia University in 2020. William Pang is a final year student at McGill University.

Back in March, as professors hurriedly transitioned from in-class lectures to Zoom-based virtual learning, many college students ourselves included were forced to get a glimpse of what a part in-class, part virtual learning experience was like.

The experience was far from perfect: Some professors streamed math lectures with their web cameras awkwardly angled at a chalkboard or piece of paper, while others hurriedly condensed hours worth of class time into an hour-long Zoom session. Collaborative exercises, such as conferences and lab sessions, were cancelled or significantly retooled, depriving students of a valuable experience to retain and apply lecture material with friends and peers.

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It is no wonder that many students and parents have expressed serious misgivings about technologys ability to enhance education, given the impromptu attempt at virtual education last spring. But what if there was a way to deliver a seamless hybrid of online and in-person classes while making university more affordable?

This is not a radical idea. In fact, it is a transition that has already begun in graduate-level education. Many graduate programs across North America have implemented hybrid models, with the main selling point, as University of British Columbias website puts it, of providing the flexibility that students need in order to balance their studies and other responsibilities. The financial flexibility such programs offer is also significant. In the United States, the average price per credit for an online-centric degree program offered by private universities is at least US$750 cheaper than for on-campus programs.

Given these advantages, why hasnt hybrid education been offered to more undergraduate students? First, there remains a huge stigma within the education sphere, especially at elite schools, that equates online education to an inferior education. Many institutions maintain that the on-campus experience with professors and peers is irreplaceable, but this claim is dubious. Even before COVID-19, students were regularly crammed into crowded auditoriums where a professors ability to interact with students was hamstrung by time constraints, while interactions with peers in class were often reduced to a perfunctory greeting.

Another selling point of the traditional university experience is that students will gain irreplaceable experiences by spending their four years exclusively on campus. Indeed, keeping undergraduates cloistered on campus probably held water in an earlier era in which a university degree was itself enough to place graduates ahead of competitors in the job market. However, students today are more than willing to simultaneously juggle work and school, pouncing on work opportunities even unpaid internships and volunteer research positions because employers expect work experience even for entry-level positions. More undergrads, especially those that take on debt to finance their education, have woken up to a reality where they require the flexibility to balance work and school life. The pandemic is likely only to exacerbate such pressures.

If educators take the pandemic and the pressures it puts on students seriously, they will seriously reassess the value of hybrid education. This will require leaders in undergraduate education to be as creative and flexible as students. Thankfully, a growing number of universities have proved that, with technological finesse, it is possible to create dynamic and engaging classes that are superior to the in-person experience. Weve also seen how our professors can still record quality lectures on their personal laptops.

But more has to be done to avoid repeating the same mistakes we saw last semester. Given that technological expertise is more commonly found among students than professors, teaching faculty should be especially open to sourcing ideas from their students about how to deliver content online in a clear and engaging way. Faculty should lean into the benefits of asynchronous learning as well, whereby students can listen to online course material at their own pace and as many times as they want.

One silver lining of the pandemic is educators are provided with a unique opportunity to reshape the role of the campus as a place to provide targeted support for students. Having online lectures shouldnt mean students have to sacrifice the one-on-one interactions that are a hallmark of the university experience; on the contrary, we students would have a better experience if we could use the online learning portion at our own pace and use the on-campus portion to receive targeted support from faculty and teaching assistants. This means that we should gradually phase out 600-person auditoriums; instead, campus spaces should be reconfigured to facilitate small group collaboration and one-on-one discussions with teaching assistants.

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A hybrid learning model can benefit universities as well. With the technology to monitor student engagement baked into online learning platforms, universities might be able to refocus their resources where students need them most and cut unneeded costs. Leveraging the benefits of an online platform also translates into universities being able to increase their enrolment numbers while reducing the cost of administering lectures (is it really necessary to deliver a new iteration of introductory calculus every semester when the subject hasnt changed much since Newton?).

We know that hybrid education is not a revolutionary idea, as some professors have attempted to complement in-person classes with some form of online component. But rather than relegating hybrid education to the status of a pet project among select faculty, administrators should acclimate to a new reality where classes are no longer held in jammed classrooms. This means universities have to seriously invest in training and technology that will last beyond the current pandemic.

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Hybrid education is the solution to one of the challenges of COVID-19 - The Globe and Mail

BBK DAV College for Women is the only women college in the city that is being run by a private institution. The college was founded in 1967 and is a multi-faculty institution that aims to blend professional and vocational education with traditional courses. It runs an illustrious sports programme and is the alma mater of two international cyclists Elangbam Choaba Devi and Sushikala Durgaprasad Agashe and international Kayaking player Komal Bisht. Among its other noted alumni include comedy artiste Bharti Singh, actors Sonia Mann and Tania.

In an interview with Neha Saini, principal Pushpinder Walia says during the pandemic, the college has realised the true potential of its faculty as well as students. Excerpts

The college is conducting online exams for exit classes under GNDU guidelines. This is the first time that exams are being conducted via a virtual mode. What challenges are you facing in the exercise?

As we know that the sanctity of our education system lies in examinations, so it is important to conduct exams for exit courses, as they have a direct impact on a students career. Of course, it is a challenge to undertake online exams in this rush for such a large number of students. But we have tried to streamline as much as possible. We have formed several teams of faculty including a trouble shooting team that is set to help any student who faces any problem during or after the exam. We send question papers to students 15 minutes before the start of exam and we double check the papers for any irregularity. Once students finish the exam, they email the answer sheets in a PDF format which we get printed and send for evaluation. The area that we are looking to work on is reaching out to private candidates and students facing accessibility problems.

The current pandemic has put a sudden pressure on faculty as well as students as the education system has shifted to the online mode. How are you, as an institution, coping with the stress?

It is true that the shift towards online teaching was a forced one and not voluntary. So, the initial response was slow and had many gaps. But as we got the hang of things, I feel, it brought out the true potential of both faculty members and students. Many of our teachers developed new skill sets and so did the students. The initial anxiety among the students has also now faded and they are more confident and have adapted to the change.

How has the online admission process of the college been? Have you introduced any new course that is related to the new normal?

Initially, due to stress among students and the prevailing uncertainty, the process of online admissions was very slow. But now that the students have settled in and faculty is equipped to conduct online classes, we have added five more skill-oriented courses to our academic itinerary. These courses have been approved by the UGC. Keeping in mind the acute shortage of healthcare workers in the country that was felt during the pandemic, we have started courses in hospital management and healthcare resources; diet and nutrition counseling and retail management.

What is your prediction of the future of higher education in the post pandemic-world?

This sudden change in our individual as well as institutional existence has radically changed our perceptions about things. In education, though I feel there is no substitute for classroom teaching, virtual classrooms have opened up a whole new set of possibilities. For instance, webinars have become more effective, crisp and engaging. It allows maximum participation sans any limitation. As far as technology is concerned, it has only now proved its true potential as a tool of learning and education. And this is what the future is going to be.

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Online education presents both challenges and opportunities - The Tribune India

Skill-development needs experiment and experience, which may not be feasible in online learning

The countrywide lockdown to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), entwined with health and safety concerns, has brutally disrupted Indias economy.

The economic consequences of the pandemic as well as local lockdowns have been well-discussed and have surfacedin the gross domestic product and industrial production numbers. But there is another side to the ramifications: The lack of skillful imparting ofeducationmay translate into an economic adversity over time.

Indias gross enrollment ratio in higher education was a mere 27.4 per cent for 2017-18, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). This is not great news compared to other developing countries. The situation could befurther battered by the possible decline in enrollment due to limited access to online education.

There are a few important points that need to be addressed in such a scenario: Is online education viable? Will our future of the nation contribute to the human capital and participate in reviving the economy?

The internet and digital infrastructure with a significant penetration is a boon for education. The Pradhan Mantri e-Vidya Programme was launched in May to amplify the efforts for a better shift online.

The top 100 universities in the country were permitted to start online courses in May, without the need to seek approval from education regulators. States such as Karnataka announced their own policies to make online education accessible.

However, challenges remain. Online education has not only changed how students are learning, but has also significantly altered the methods deployed by teachers and parents.

A fundamental enabler is the digital infrastructure, which includes high-speed internet and supporting devices such as desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile phones.

These prerequisites have expanded the gap between upper- and middle-economic sections,as well as urban and rural populations of our country. The infrastructure challenges in online education have rendered unprivileged learners helpless.

Education and skill-development are dependent on each other. It is difficult to imagine students learning physics and chemistry only outside of laboratories. Similarly, an engineer cannot simply have the knowledge of combustion engine without the skill to design and operate it.

It is, therefore, important to differentiate between knowledge and skill. While knowledge can be delivered and learned, skill-development needs experiment and experience that may not be feasible online.

The industry-academia gap has existed in India for a very long time. A McKinsey report flagged the issue a decade ago: Only a quarter of engineers in India were truly employable.

Online education producing graduates without skills may aggravate the employability issue further. This may lead to a deteriorating human capital and underemployment in the economy.

This adulteration in the education system may have a long gestation period. A large pool of unskilled human capital will come out of the online pedagogy to join the future workforce and face employability challenges. This may also mean that they will take longer to gain the requisite skills.

We must acknowledge and address these challenges. The lack of digital infrastructure in rural and underdeveloped sections has posed implementation challenges on the ground, leading to social inequalities in the country. Students, teachers and parents are sailing through the operational challenges to cope with the new online regime.

Its high time that we start thinking about bridging the gap between rural and urban digital infrastructure for online education.

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COVID-19: How viable is online education? - Down To Earth Magazine

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Lynda.Com, Coursera, Tata Interactive Systems, TutorGroup, Docebo, Pearson Education, Blackboard, Edmodo, EdX, Blackboard, Aptara, McGraw-Hill Education, Knewton, Adobe Systems, 2U, PowerSchool Learning

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Based on application, the market can be categorized as follows:Students, Aldults

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Online Education Technology Market 2020 Assessment and Trend Analysis After the Covid-19 lockdown: Impact And Recovery - DailyHover