Education and the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Prospects (Paris) Vol. 49; no. 1-2; pp. 91 - 96
• Main Author: Daniel, Sir John
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.10.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Admission Criteria; Admissions Counseling; Advanced Placement Programs; Assignments; Asynchronous Communication; Capacity Building; Career and Technical Education; Classrooms; Computer Mediated Communication; COVID-19; Creative Teaching; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Distance Education; Distance learning; Education; Educational Assessment; Educational Change; Educational evaluation; Electronic Learning; Family Environment; Home Study; Influence of Technology; Instructional Materials; International and Comparative Education; Learner Engagement; National Curriculum; Online Courses; Online instruction; Pandemics; Parents; Postsecondary Education; School Counselors; Student Evaluation; Student Participation; Teaching; Time; Viewpoints/ Controversies; COVID-19; assessment; crisis; learning; teaching; curriculum; pandemic
• ISSN: 0033-1538; 1573-9090
• DOI: 10.1007/s11125-020-09464-3

The COVID-19 pandemic is a huge challenge to education systems. This Viewpoint offers guidance to teachers, institutional heads, and officials on addressing the crisis. What preparations should institutions make in the short time available and how do they address students’ needs by level and field of study? Reassuring students and parents is a vital element of institutional response. In ramping up capacity to teach remotely, schools and colleges should take advantage of asynchronous learning, which works best in digital formats. As well as the normal classroom subjects, teaching should include varied assignments and work that puts COVID-19 in a global and historical context. When constructing curricula, designing student assessment first helps teachers to focus. Finally, this Viewpoint suggests flexible ways to repair the damage to students’ learning trajectories once the pandemic is over and gives a list of resources.