The Coronavirus pandemic that caused global lockdown has caused significant damages to economic, social, political, and other domains of human life. Education has become one of the largest and most impacted sectors since a rapid shift from conventional facility-based learning to remote technology-driven one entails significant system complications. In line with the positive effects of filling the lockdown-related gap in learning, technologies have several positive and negative implications.
On the one hand, the more frequent use of technologies for learning will enhance the development in the creation and improvement of digital features of the currently used technological tools. The platforms that have already been designed specifically for schools and universities have demonstrated their usefulness in establishing the continuity of educational efforts (Schleicher 10). Indeed, during the time of the COVID-19 lockdown, teachers and students keep in contact, proceed in their curricula, and minimize the risks of losing learning opportunities due to Coronavirus. Access to online education will be increased, and the creators of platforms for remote studying will provide updated and more advanced versions of their products. Moreover, the omnipresent integration of technology into the educational process allows for improving the opportunities of remote learning in the future after the pandemic, when the options for online education will be more advanced.
On the other hand, numerous adverse effects result from technology use in the educational field. Firstly, the primary shift toward online learning increased income-related and social disparities in societies across the globe. The necessity to have an instant internet connection and digital devices for studying puts constraints on many individuals from low-income countries. As stated by the United Nations, “an estimated 40 percent of the poorest countries failed to support learners at risk during the COVID-19 crisis” (8). In such a manner, the ability to learn is impaired due to economic issues, which undermines the principles of equality in access to education.
Secondly, when discussed within the context of an everyday educational process and the interaction between teachers and students using online conferences or messaging, the issue of quality of education must be considered. Indeed, the inability of the teachers to establish relevant monitoring and control over discipline and quality of learning of each student disrupts the academic performance rates and is likely to lead to devastating long-term consequences. If the generation of children and young individuals who are subject to online education during the time of Coronavirus continues to learn through technological means, they might become incompetent and undertrained in their general skills and professions (United Nations 7). Similarly, since continuous remote studying diminishes the aspect of social interaction, the psychosocial dimension might also suffer from the integration of technologies. The generation taught online will be less socially active, which might result in complicated relations on interpersonal, state, and international levels.
Therefore, the use of technologies in education has both positive and negative effects on the future of the educational systems and the overall social landscape. While there are to technological advancement in education allows for ensuring learning continuity, adverse consequences prevail. Indeed, income-related disparities in access to education, diminished quality of teaching and learning, impaired academic performance, and negative psychosocial complications might result in the emergence of an incompetent generation. Thus, the omnipresence of technologies in education during the COVID-19 pandemic implies more negative features in a long-term perspective.
Works Cited
Schleicher, Andreas. “The Impact of Covid-19 on Education Insights from Education at a Glance 2020.” OECD, 2020, Web.
United Nations. “Policy Brief: Education During COVID-19 and Beyond.” 2020, Web.