Covid-19, as a global pandemic, had several effects on different fields. Each sector felt positive or negative effects, while some got both negative and positive effects. The health, production, and education sectors were not left out. In education, many positive effects of Covid 19 were recorded and appreciated. In most instances, the adverse effects are the ones documented and weighted (Thomas & Rogers, 2020). They include interruptions in the school calendars, increased mortality rates, anxiety, and poor economic developments affecting school fees payment. On the other hand, students could learn at their own convenience and even had more time with the learning materials, which meant they could do their own self-directed learning. These positive effects are addressed in this article in detail (Thomas & Rogers, 2020).
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, there was mass panic and tension globally based on the myths everyone had and the lack of feasible information relating to Covid 19. As the pandemic progressed, there was a better understanding of the mechanics of Covid 19. Everyone had to adjust to moving on with their lives regarding the measures suggested by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2020) to prevent Covid 19. Education, for example, had to continue after the long break. Newer methods were devices to ensure the continuation of education delivery to all students regardless of their location. This brought up and strengthened the aspect of open and distance learning, which has brought revolutions to education.
Advantages of Online Education during Covid-19
Through online education, a lot of benefits have been realized. Students can access the learning materials and course contents more equally among themselves easily, unlike in the face-to-face system where printouts are given, and some might miss them. The students and their tutors can interact more closely in a one-on-one or class group system, which gives the teacher more understanding of their students, their concentration, and their ability to adhere to self-directed learning settings.
There is freedom of accessing the learning materials and course content without regard to the time that happens, unlike in a school setting (Thomas & Rogers, 2020). The students had free access to their materials and could do it as numerously as they would like. In this mode of learning, there are no backbenchers. All students in the class are awarded front-row seats as the instructor can quickly shift between the screens and see all the students in real-time, ask questions and evaluate their concentration.
There was also easy problem-solving among the students, who could share the quizzes through emails, SMS, and social media platforms. The ease of access implied they could understand the concepts better among themselves without the teacher. The students could also learn new computer skills by solving problems on their laptops and desktops. Operating laptops and other computers can get challenging even for adults. Covid-19 made it easy for these students to learn new computer skills early (Thomas & Rogers, 2020).
Online learning also gives students freedom, and there is no limitation to what should be learned by the students at any time. The students have access to all materials they need to learn new concepts. There is no limit to what the strengths of the students end. They can learn new subjects and nurture their talents independently and in their free time as they continue their coursework.
The new generation of students finds it more comfortable learning from their technological gadgets than using books and paper. Online learning allowed them to use their favourite gadgets for learning. Their understanding of concepts is improved when they are comfortable in their learning environments.
Other than online learning, Covid 19 also presented a lot of advantages to the students and the teachers throughout the entire period.
Advantages of Covid-19 to teachers
Covid 19 was a new era for teachers. They had to do what most had never encountered or thought would happen. Distance learning was the means of teaching throughout the entire duration. Most teachers had to earn new concepts like preparing PowerPoint (PPT) presentations and preparing their notes for softcopy consumption and online presentation. Accessing online teaching platforms was also a new concept for teachers. New pedagogical techniques were presented to the teachers through webinars and physical training in schools to equip them with the required skills for online teaching.
Preparing videos to send to the students, organizing video conferencing, and summarizing notes to send to the students for their learning is hectic being a new concept for the teachers. The skills learned by them were essential in improving education. The teachers learned better methods of presenting their information to students. Combining the old and the new teaching methods will improve student outcomes from the new teaching experiences.
Advantages of Covid-19 to Students
The students benefited the most from the Covid 19 benefits. They could adapt quickly to the technological methods of education delivery (Firdaus & ShubhadaRamesh, 2021). They could access the learning materials online and had to learn this new skill in a short time. Integrating the technological and old learning methods also improves their understanding of the taught concepts.
The Covid 19 pandemic was also crucial in changing students’ primary use of mobile phones. Mobile phones are primarily used for entertainment and interaction on social media platforms. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the primary role shifted from an entertainment gadget to an educational and informative gadget (Firdaus & ShubhadaRamesh, 2021). This improves their health as well as reduces their screen time. The students also had extra time to undertake short courses in computer-related fields like programming. This improved their scope of understanding as opposed to what would happen if they were doing physical learning.
Advantages of Covid-19 to Research
Covid-19 was a new disease at the time it became a pandemic. Therefore a lot of research had to be done to understand it and how to treat or prevent it. Teachers pursuing their Ph.D. programs also had enough time to complete their research, reducing the time they would have taken to complete their program. The development of vaccines for Covid 19 was also hectic to produce, and a lot of research was put into it. New systems were developed to accomplish these objectives, thus improving the base for further research on their effectiveness in the future (Firdaus & ShubhadaRamesh, 2021).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Covid-19 was an unforeseen guest. It attacked without notice and has stayed on longer than was anticipated. It has affected most of the systems, interrupting their regular operation. In the education sector, there have been both positive and negative effects of Covid-19. The positive effects addressed include the autonomy awarded to students to do their work independently. They also learned new technological concepts through online learning, and the teachers developed new teaching methods thanks to the pandemic. The research was also significantly improved as there were new concepts to be looked into relating to Covid-19. Generally, in every bad, there has to be good in it. The pandemic presented both negative and positive effects on the education sector.
References
Firdaus, M.Y. & ShubhadaRamesh, J. (2021) Positive impact of Covid-19 on Education.
Thomas, M. S., & Rogers, C. (2020). Education, the science of learning, and the COVID-19 crisis. Prospects, 49(1), 87-90.
World Health Organization [WHO] (2020) Impacts of Covid 19.
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