Most governments around the world have temporarily closed all educational institution, from schools to universities, in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic according to the UNESCO.
The same study has found that 186 countries are currently implementing nationwide closures, impacting about 98.5 per cent of the world's student population.
Nothing like that ever happened before, and nobody could have expected it.
The first country to advise the EU about the size of the problem was Italy around the end of February, but nobody was feeling in danger, and life continued to be pretty much the same everywhere else.
“We thought that the coronavirus was too far from us, but on the 13th of March the government had to close everything, and we were not prepared for online teaching. Education in Spain is always in school, we didn’t have an option B until now,” said Isa Berrio Gonzalez, 27, a teacher in a Primary School in Granada, Spain.
Online teaching is very different from traditional face to face teaching. There is no physical interaction with students, for this reason, students face a lack of interest in the class. On the other hand, not everyone has got a good Internet connection to attend the online classes or any electronic device to connect with.
“In Spain, we didn’t have enough time to prepare and move to teach online. The government said the classes were to be done online from the next day and all teachers in my school were in the same position: clueless,” added Gonzalez explaining the difficulties encountered as a teacher during the pandemic.
Traditional teaching and online teaching have definitely many differences between each other, and teachers and lecturers all over the world have faced difficulties providing the same quality of teaching as before.
According to David LeFevre, director of the edtech lab at Imperial College London, higher education will continue in a different way. There will be new methods to discover, to understand and to build a better world through education with technology.
“I think that interactions between students and lecturers is essential, working in an environment where everyone support and help each other. With the online classes, I feel a lot less motivated, and I am doing less than before,” said Zack Lane, 24, public relations student at UAL in London.
Following the latest news on this issue, schools around the world are most likely going to be able to re-open in September as current restrictions on mobility may no longer be in place at the start of the new academic year. However, different rules and social distancing procedures will put in place.
“I think that the EU should protect people. I don’t think we can stay in class where hundreds of students sit next to each other, talk to each other and play together,” explained Gonzalez.
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