Remote Learning: Then and Now

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.
Bill Gates

This quote of Bill Gates is very much related to what I want to share with all of you today. I could start by saying how education is an integral part of our lives or how technology has diversified our lifestyle and/or work or anything and everything in our lives, but I will not do that. I'm not writing an essay here or any thesis. I'm sharing my views with you. What I want to share with you is Remote Learning. We have been talking about online classes and exams, etc. etc. But here, in this part of the world, we don't use this term. So what is remote learning?

Remote Learning occurs when the learner and instructor, or source of information, are separated by time and distance and therefore cannot meet in a traditional classroom setting. Information is typically transmitted via technology (email, discussion boards, video conference, audio bridge) so that physical presence in the classroom is not required; otherwise, it would be Hybrid or Blended Learning. Remote learning can occur synchronously or asynchronously. Also referred to as Distance Education, Virtual Instruction, or Remote Training.

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To simply put remote learning is when the teacher and student are not able to meet face to face but with the help of technology, the learning process is still ongoing. To put it even more simply, the online classes on Webex or Zoom that the kids and teachers are participating in these days are a part of RemoteLearning. In many terms, remote learning is also called Distance Education.

Although it may seem like the newest thing or trend, itis not. Remote Learning has been practiced in the past, just like it's being practiced now. We can find examples of Remote Learning in the past. In the time of the influenza pandemic in 1918-19 New York City, Chicago and New Haven are the only cities that didn’t close down like all the others throughout the USA. Schools of these cities took special medical inspections and quarantined facilities to provide education. During the polio outbreak of 1937, the Chicago school system used to demonstrate classes to the students through radio systems. The greatest impact of distance learning would be made by The University of South Africa as it has become a champion and innovator of remote learning when it reshaped its mission back in 1946. In 1969, the establishment of British Open University has impacted greatly as it was trying to reach out to a vast number of students in undergraduate, postgraduate, and associate students, providing print-based learning material and managed to deliver lessons to over 100,000 students at that time.

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And now we see remote learning helping students throughout the globe, providing students with their reading materials through online classes. Many of the universities provide online classes and online courses which helps students get a degree from foreign universities. Many students are getting benefitted the technology is being helpful towards their education. Teachers use Zoom and Webex applications to deliver their class and even exams and assignments are being taken online. I only wonder what the future holds. Technology will be upgraded all the time and not just during this pandemic.

Even though many people are getting the full use of technology; in some remote places students don’t have access to the latest technology and make do with what they have available at the time. But even with difficulty, the flow of learning is somewhat hampered but not stopped completely.

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Children are facing a lot of challenges due to technological relapse. As many rural areas are still not getting enough access to the latest techs, still trying their best to learn from what they have access to. It hasn’t been an easy task, but it hasn’t been impossible too.

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As the traditional way of learning is changing radically, we can only hope that in remote places, the students will have access to the latest technology to ensure their proper education. Even though it is still hard to reach out to everyone, but the possibilities are endless. We can only hope that with technological advancement, remote learning gets even more spread out so that neither pandemic nor any other crucial circumstance can come in between education and those who are eager to learn.