<p>Educational institutions across the world have deferred campus learning to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Thus, Covid-19 has forced schools and universities to adopt digital learning.</p>.<p>During this time, digital learning is helping people to learn, grow, and connect with learners and educators around the world. To help the community during this crucial time, various digital learning platforms are surfacing interesting courses, learning resources, collections, and expert teachers. Also, there are many low-cost, easy-to-use digital communication tools that allow for a range of remote learning solutions these days. </p>.<p>Digital learning appears to be a sustainable solution to fulfil the void for classroom education while reducing the chances of any infection to students until classes resume. Going forward with digital education is likely to be inculcated into mainstream education. It will not only enable comprehensive education to facilitate learning across diverse geographies in India but will also give an opportunity for educators to provide customised learning solutions for every student. Moreover, smaller screens and enhanced focus of ed-tech companies on vernacular modules will be the shot in the arm for digital education. The market of digital learning is also predicted to rise manifold in the next coming years at the back of several policy initiatives. Until then, it can be said that the Covid-19 may be an inflection point for the industry.</p>.<p>Many ed-tech ventures are trying to leverage the situation by providing free online classes and appealing discounts on e-learning templates. The measures have been met with an enormous response by students with some startups witnessing as high as 25% uptick in e-learning. It seems a viable solution to students during this time as they offer convenient, on -the- go and affordable access to lessons. These free 'open educational resources', are provided by publishers, private companies and non-profit groups, while in yet other cases, governments are quickly digitising existing content and putting it online. Here, digital learning also comes as an interesting and interactive alternative as compared to classroom teaching.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">Advanced technologies in education</span></strong></p>.<p>Some ed-tech platforms are also using technology-enabled AI, Supervision Technologies video conference and virtual cloud based platforms to enable virtual learning. It comprises a mix of online platforms for sharing files, conducting meetings and lectures in association with online services and resource providers. Apart from the classes, the performance assessment is also being done online. Several universities have also made significant investments in the server capacity, broadband connectivity, a photo or videography studio and have equipped the faculty with high-end laptops equipped for online teaching and interactions.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">Educational partnerships </span></strong></p>.<p>In the wake of Covid-19, many learning consortiums and coalitions are reshaping, with multiple stakeholders, including government, education professionals, technology providers, and telecom network operators. All these are coming together to enable utilisation of digital platforms as the appropriate solution to the predicament. The pandemic could carve the road to much larger-scale, cross-industry coalitions to be formed around a common educational goal, where most of the initiatives to date have been limited in scope. </p>.<p>If digital learning becomes a norm, no doubt, the benefits are many, including cost-effectiveness, easy accessibility to quality education, unlimited learning resource availability and many more. New solutions for education could bring much-needed innovation. Given the digital divide, new shifts in education approaches could also widen equality gaps. In fact, this outbreak could be a tipping point for education technology, which may have lasting impacts on how education and learning are delivered in order to best serve the coming future. </p>.<p>(The author is CEO, Globus Infocom)</p>
<p>Educational institutions across the world have deferred campus learning to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. Thus, Covid-19 has forced schools and universities to adopt digital learning.</p>.<p>During this time, digital learning is helping people to learn, grow, and connect with learners and educators around the world. To help the community during this crucial time, various digital learning platforms are surfacing interesting courses, learning resources, collections, and expert teachers. Also, there are many low-cost, easy-to-use digital communication tools that allow for a range of remote learning solutions these days. </p>.<p>Digital learning appears to be a sustainable solution to fulfil the void for classroom education while reducing the chances of any infection to students until classes resume. Going forward with digital education is likely to be inculcated into mainstream education. It will not only enable comprehensive education to facilitate learning across diverse geographies in India but will also give an opportunity for educators to provide customised learning solutions for every student. Moreover, smaller screens and enhanced focus of ed-tech companies on vernacular modules will be the shot in the arm for digital education. The market of digital learning is also predicted to rise manifold in the next coming years at the back of several policy initiatives. Until then, it can be said that the Covid-19 may be an inflection point for the industry.</p>.<p>Many ed-tech ventures are trying to leverage the situation by providing free online classes and appealing discounts on e-learning templates. The measures have been met with an enormous response by students with some startups witnessing as high as 25% uptick in e-learning. It seems a viable solution to students during this time as they offer convenient, on -the- go and affordable access to lessons. These free 'open educational resources', are provided by publishers, private companies and non-profit groups, while in yet other cases, governments are quickly digitising existing content and putting it online. Here, digital learning also comes as an interesting and interactive alternative as compared to classroom teaching.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">Advanced technologies in education</span></strong></p>.<p>Some ed-tech platforms are also using technology-enabled AI, Supervision Technologies video conference and virtual cloud based platforms to enable virtual learning. It comprises a mix of online platforms for sharing files, conducting meetings and lectures in association with online services and resource providers. Apart from the classes, the performance assessment is also being done online. Several universities have also made significant investments in the server capacity, broadband connectivity, a photo or videography studio and have equipped the faculty with high-end laptops equipped for online teaching and interactions.</p>.<p><strong><span class="bold">Educational partnerships </span></strong></p>.<p>In the wake of Covid-19, many learning consortiums and coalitions are reshaping, with multiple stakeholders, including government, education professionals, technology providers, and telecom network operators. All these are coming together to enable utilisation of digital platforms as the appropriate solution to the predicament. The pandemic could carve the road to much larger-scale, cross-industry coalitions to be formed around a common educational goal, where most of the initiatives to date have been limited in scope. </p>.<p>If digital learning becomes a norm, no doubt, the benefits are many, including cost-effectiveness, easy accessibility to quality education, unlimited learning resource availability and many more. New solutions for education could bring much-needed innovation. Given the digital divide, new shifts in education approaches could also widen equality gaps. In fact, this outbreak could be a tipping point for education technology, which may have lasting impacts on how education and learning are delivered in order to best serve the coming future. </p>.<p>(The author is CEO, Globus Infocom)</p>