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 –

1. 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.

2. 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.