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Hello, everyone! We hope that you’re keeping healthy and safe, as well as navigating some of the roadblocks that COVID-19 has created. Here at our Beijing office we're working hard to try and bring back some normalcy to our everyday lives with about half of our staff returning to the office. With everything moving online, it's easy to feel isolated. Reaching out to each other and working as a team helps us feel connected and empowered to help and support each other!
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While there's still a future after COVID-19, there's also a lot of uncertainty about how it'll unfold and what it's long-term effect on education might be. In this issue we'll be taking a look at how online learning is helping to work around the virus, as well as how COVID-19 might impact the future of education.
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Online Learning
Students worldwide are logging on to computers and phones as schools of all levels are rapidly moving online. While moving classes online does help mitigate health risks, online education is far from perfect. From limited access to internet and electronic devices, to the difficulty of keeping students active and engaged in online classes, students and teachers alike are struggling to adapt to this new status quo. Some teachers in China are also finding that they have to contend with government internet regulations in the virtual classroom, leaving many wondering what exactly triggered the infraction.
In spite of these setbacks, online education is seeing a boom thanks to COVID-19. Many online education companies are offering their services at reduced or no cost to help facilitate the transition to online learning. Between the increased awareness of their products and increased innovation to deal with many of the problems that are arising by moving classes online en masse, many wonder if the future of education is online.
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Long-Term Impact
The future is still very uncertain, and many are worried about the long-term effects COVID-19 will have on their future and education. For students, delayed high school exams and prospective job hunting in a market still saturated with the virus are weighing heavily. Many universities, however, are becoming more flexible with standardized testing requirements for international students. Thanks to International ACAC members, there is an ongoing list of these changes to help keep the community up to date. With their financial dependence on tuition from Chinese students, many western universities are also concerned over future application numbers from China.
To try and better understand how COVID-19 will affect students and their school applications, we sent out a survey to our network of counselors. Considering the number of students respondents work with, their answers touch on the opinions of anywhere from 2200 to over 4000 families in China, most of which are applying to university. While 50% expect a drop in application numbers for the 2021 season, most only predict a drop of 20% or less. We'll be continuing to send out surveys to help keep our information as up to date as possible.
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Online learning has highlighted China's economic inequality. With the rush online around the world, other countries will soon face similar problems.
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Online learning has rushed to fill the gap created by COVID-19 in education. Despite some growing pains, observers are wondering if the future of education is online.
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With rising discrimination and health concerns, many are predicting application numbers from China to fall in response to the virus. Western universities may be forced to break away from their dependence on Chinese tuition money.
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In the face of increasing health risks, exams, including the Chinese Gaokao, face delays and possible cancellation. As graduation looms near, many students also raise concerns about entering the job market in the middle of a pandemic.
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Chinese teachers aren't just contending with new and imperfect technology for their online classes — they're also maneuvering around China's unclear internet regulations.
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