Virtual Classrooms for Borderless Classrooms
Distance learning has been around for a while – NIOS, IGNOU and several institutes of higher learning (especially ones offering MBA) have offered distance learning courses for the past several years. However, most of them primarily relied on sending learning material to the students’ homes and then having them send submissions back through posts, couriers, and perhaps some of the institutes asked for certain online submissions.
Cut the chase to March 2020 – India announced a lockdown with immediate effect for one whole month, and the whole education industry went for a spin.
Immediate Crisis Faced by Educational Institutes
At the time, educational institutes across the country faced an immediate crisis – they could no longer deliver education the way they had for decades past. Students were no longer allowed to step out of their homes, let alone attend schools and colleges for their learning needs. Likewise, educational institutes were ordered to shut down for a month – the only personnel allowed to step out were those dealing in essential services.
Reaction of the Educational Fraternity
Different institutes reacted in different manner to this crisis –
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Those that considered the situation temporary – these institutes took to two different approaches
a. Announced holidays for their institutes or deferred that start of their academic session by one month.
b. Shared DIY projects with their students as a stop gap measure while keeping the full curriculum learning on hold. -
Those that immediately started offering education online – institutes that already had tech-enabled classrooms switched their classes to the virtual medium by piggy backing on existing platforms which enabled online learning.
However, as one month turned into two, two into three, it started becoming clear that educational institutes were unlikely to reopen their doors to students any time in the near future.
Virtual Classrooms as the Need of the Hour
Educational institutes now only had two options –
1. Move learning to virtual classrooms
2. Fold altogether
Virtual classrooms were now the need of the hour, enabling tech as part of the institute was
more of a hygiene factor. Institutes which already had tech as part of their philosophy had
the advantage of early adaption, while others decided to take up the challenge and ensure a
smooth transition for their students.
Going Beyond Hygiene with Virtual Classrooms
As the Covid pandemic led the way to extended use of virtual classrooms, several benefits
came to be realized of both hybrid modes of learning and online only modes of learning –
1. A student associated with the institute had the flexibility to attend classes from
anywhere in the world – this worked for people who had moved back to their
hometowns as work from home remained in force.
2. For the educational institute, offering hybrid modes of learning creates cost
efficiency of running a physical only infrastructure. At the same time, it makes staff
management easier as even the teachers have the flexibility to take classes remotely
in case they are unable to attend physically.
3. In the post-pandemic world, a hybrid approach is most prudent as it helps the
institute maintain covid protocols while ensuring that learning is not lost.
4. The biggest benefit, though, is the creation of borderless classrooms.
Why Borderless Classrooms?
Distance learning becomes remote learning with borderless classrooms, albeit with a
difference as compared to what it was prior to the Covid pandemic. Learning is truly
supported by facilitator guidance as well as peer group engagement as institutes find new
avenues for extending their reach.
1. Virtual classrooms truly ensure that educational institutes are no longer confined by
physical boundaries in extending their learning programs to a keen student.
a. Institutes can now create new programs which are offered exclusively
digitally and can be accessed even internationally – education can truly
become global instead of just local.
b. Institutes that can offer such programs can boast now of offering a truly
diversified learning experience.
2. Students are also no longer confined by location to attend a program of their choice,
with the best educators available globally. Imagine, sitting in Japan, and being able
to access the best learning content being offered by industry experts sitting in India –
how could learning get any better? And mind you, these need not just be pre-
recorded sessions anymore. This period has taught us that interactive learning can
be executed beautifully through virtual classrooms.
Building The Right Virtual Classroom
At the core of executing a new vision for your institute is also building the right virtual
classroom to cater to your program specifications. An institute needs a comprehensive
learning management system which syncs the virtual classroom with the experience the
institute wants to offer.
It is therefore important for an educational institute to assess the experience they want to
offer before opting for a learning management system which offers the right virtual
classroom to them.