COVID-19 has caused an abrupt closure of learning institutions globally. The education center is facing various challenges during this pandemic, but thanks to the Digital transformation, things have been better because of it. Read more to know the impacts of COVID-19 on the education sector and how digital transformation can help.

1. COVID 19: Analyzing the Impact on the
Education Sector
The impact of COVID-19 on the education sector has led to the abrupt closure of
learning institutions in several countries. This sudden development has affected
students and educators alike, leaving them with no option than to switch to remote
learning. While some have adjusted to the new form of education, others are still
struggling to get the hang of it.

2. Additionally, the crisis has led to financial challenges for educational bodies.
Operational costs, parents demanding to waive off tuition fees, probable failure to

3. enroll new students this fall and the costs of ensuring the livelihoods of faculty and
staff are making things worse.
Nevertheless, one can’t ignore how digital transformation is acting as a virtual
anchor between the desks and the board.
Some global education bodies are acting out of altruism to work for the greater
cause and opening the doors of learning opportunities for all. UNESCO has listed
educational tools and platforms that are now available for students and teachers
for free.
Here we explore the various challenges the education sector has been facing during
the pandemic and the solutions introduced by digital transformation.
Challenges for the Education
Sector During COVID-19
Education continuity is at great risk due to the economic slump that has been
uprooting almost every industry worldwide. Here are some of the challenges
brought by the COVID-19 impact.

4. 1. Managing Cash Flows
The sudden change of events has jeopardized the enrollments that usually started
around March and April. Students are even considering not to enroll themselves
this fall, due to the absence of physical classroom setups.
Inasurveythataskeduniversitypresidentstonametheirprimaryworriesaboutthepandemic,
42%hadenrollmentatthetopoftheirlists.— McKinsey
The existing students are demanding tuition fee refunds as online learning is
cheaper than the traditional model of education. The revenue from residential
facilities for students, parking, and meal provisions are also falling significantly.
Conclusively, it is a challenge for institutions to pay educators and repay installment
loans.
Here are some solutions for the effective management of cash flows:
 Data Analytics: Leveraging data
analytics to analyze historical and
present data to understand the
enrollment interest. This should be
more about analyzing different
demographics and the student
enrollment numbers in the past, to
focus primarily on students who are
likely to enroll.
 Web & Social Analytics: Web
engagement and social media metrics

5. can also help prioritize students who
are continuously showing interest in
admissions.
 Forming Agile Teams: Set up an agile
team that can communicate readily
and immediately (over the phone or
email) with the students and parents.
Assure them that health will be
prioritized, and precautions would be
taken when everything reopens. Also,
ensure that effective remote learning
would be in place if the economies
continue to operate under a
lockdown.
 Fostering Communication: Consider
communicating with the faculty and
staff frequently. Maintain
transparency by letting them know
how things are. If salary cuts or
furloughs need to be considered, let
them know about that as well.

6. 2. Mending Technological Gap
With virtual learning becoming the sole medium of education, educators and
students are facing the everyday challenge of familiarizing themselves with
technology. They feel overwhelmed with so many resources and complicated
application interfaces.
Further, the absence of devices and internet connectivity for some students is
making education inaccessible altogether.
Twenty percent of Native American students don’t have computers or internet access at
home.— The Chronicle
Here are some solutions to bring cadence to the education sector during COVID-
19:

7.  Choose User-Friendly SaaS Products:
Experimenting with different SaaS-

8. based video communication
applications before zeroing on one.
The UX of these applications should
be evaluated, which should be —
user-friendly, responsive, and
interactive.
 Outsource Customized Products:
Outsourcing a customized education
and training product that suits your
requirements should be considered.
The platform will only demand one-
time investments and will continue to
serve students and teachers in the
coming times, too (when virtual
learning will become the new
normal).
 Enabling Offline Access: Handling the
low-connectivity issue is possible
through allowing offline access to
Google’s G Suite. Google has listed
steps for EdTech, and IT teams to
enable learning with minimal or no
connectivity.
 Providing Mobile Hotspots:
Providing mobile hotspots for

9. students by sending out Wi-Fi-
enabled buses in low-income group
areas.
 Mailing Printed Learning Materials:
Make arrangements to deliver
printed assignments for students at
their doorsteps.
 Facilitating Device Availability: If
possible, colocate desktops from
computer labs to low-income
families. Educational institutes can
also reach out to large-scale
businesses such as Amazon for help
regarding device availability.
TheAmazonFutureEngineerprogramisdonating4,000laptopstohighschoolstudentsacross
the U.S. and making new online computer science resources, including exam prep,
free.— Amazon COVID-19 Daily Updates
EdTech for Minimizing the
Adverse Impact of COVID-19
The role of the education sector right now is to prioritize the health of students and
teachers and facilitate remote learning at all levels.

10. Delivering education poses to be a challenge in the current scenario. However,
Edtech is easing the plights of the education sector to an extent.
Here are some recommendations to weather the adverse impact of Coronavirus on
education:
1. Choosing the Right Remote
Stack
Decide on the tools and platforms that you would want to recommend to teachers
and students. Analyzing the features of education applications should be a priority
for making an informed decision.
Remote stack recommendations for the education industry:

11.  Unified Management Systems:
Create a centralized management
platform for educators and students
that can be accessed remotely for
marking attendance, recording
leaves, uploading homework and

12. assignments, and making
announcements.
 Low-Bandwidth Applications: The
virtual learning platform and video
communication applications should
work fine with low-connectivity and
should be occupying minimal storage
space. Popular applications in use
— Hangouts
Meet, Skype, Zoom, WeChat Work.
 Tools with Offline Access:
Experiment with applications that can
be used on basic mobile phones with
no internet connectivity. An example
is Cell-Ed, a learning platform with
offline access.
 Multiple-Language Enabled Tools:
Applications that offer language
interoperability are an add-on. An
example is — Kolibri, a learning
application that can work offline and
offers over 20 languages.
 Open-source Learning Platforms:
This will help teachers and students
learn and grow. For example, Canvas

13. Network for teachers where they can
learn new courses and develop their
skills. Or iCourse, a learning platform
for students that is available in
Chinese and English.
 Self-Directed Learning: Motivate
students to try self-directed learning
applications such
as Byju’s or ABRA that support
gaming activities and other different
forms of educational content.
 Host-Live Sessions: Faculty and
management can host Youtube
Live or Facebook Live sessions for
critical discussions or even leaders’
Q&As.
 Lesson Creation Software:
Recommend applications to teachers
that facilitate the creation of study
materials. For example, EdPuzzle, a
video lesson creation software
or Thinglink that helps create
interactive images and videos.

14. 2. Ensure Data Privacy and Data
Security
Cybersecurity threats and attacks are on the rise since everything shifted online.
This brings a huge risk to students’ and educators’ data, test materials shared by
faculty, and other learning resources private to an educational institute.
The education sector has been vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks for a long time.
And, the COVID-19 scenario just aggravates the risk.
For cybercriminals,school districts, colleges,and universities were easy prey. Possible reasons
include large numbers of users (such as students) and decentralized security operations.—
Proofpoint’s Protecting People 2019 Report
Inference — Educational institutions need to be extra cautious, and every effort
should be made to safeguard the privacy and security of critical data.
Recommendations for addressing cybersecurity threats due to COVID-19 impact on
the education sector:
 Using Strong Passwords: Encourage
students and teachers to use strong
passwords when logging to unified
management systems and when
creating accounts across other online
learning platforms.
 Robust Antivirus Software:
Recommend installing robust
antivirus software on the devices. A

15. better option would be to pilot a
STANDARD antivirus solution that can
be used by all.
 Laying Down Ethical Guidelines:
Conduct online sessions or mail a list
of guidelines to parents, students,
and faculty. These guidelines should
focus on factors such as the necessity
behind installing VPNs, i.e., how it
protects data against phishing and
malware attacks.
 Spam Awareness: Spread awareness
around spam mails and demonstrate
by sharing screens on video
communication channels to inform
about the dangers of accessing such
emails. Educate them to not click on
links or attachments from senders
they do not recognize and report
them to the management.
 Relying on In-House SaaS Products:
Focus on in-house SaaS product
development efforts as they mitigate
security risks over publicly available
products. In this case, the educational

16. body enjoys full control of the
product without having a third party
to rely on.
 Conducting Webinars: Leverage
webinar software to conduct sessions
for parents and faculty to guide them
against the cybersecurity threats and
ways to protect their systems.
 Imparting Basic-Level Knowledge:
Most importantly, start educating
children about cybersecurity on a
basic level. This can be done by
including cyber education programs
that leverage storytelling to spread
awareness about cyber threats.
CyberPatrioteducationprogrammeoffersfreeteachingmoduleslike“securityshowdown” to
teach kindergarteners what information is safe to share with strangers online, and publishes
children’sbookslike“SarahtheCyberHero.”— World Economic Forum
3. Offer an Integrated Platform to
Eliminate Confusion
More the resources and tools available, the higher the confusion. The paradox of
choice takes a toll on students and teachers alike when the educational institutes
provide infinite resources to refer to. This needs to be greatly minimized.

17. Recommendations for minimizing confusions for educators and students:
 Evaluate Options: Educational bodies
should download multiple software
applications and should conduct a
detailed analysis of different open-
source resources available.
Recommend minimal tools and
resources only after they have been
thoroughly tested.
 Consider Integrated Platforms:
Invest in integrated digital
collaboration platforms that act as an
all-in-one solution. This one-time
investment would be helpful now and
in the future, as kids would become
self-reliant when they have working
parents around.
For instance, Net Solutions built a digital collaboration platform for EdPlace that
worked for students (5-16 years old), parents, and educators alike. The platform
manages the content in a clean manner without adding on to the complexities.
The application enables the upload of educational content in the form of
subjective, objective, and diagrammatic worksheets. EdPlace was built, keeping

18. user engagement in mind to encourage students to use it. The product features
included:
 Drag-and-drop feature on
worksheets to stir student
engagement.
 Auto-assigning of worksheets based
on the last performance.
 Student dashboards to track their
performance that helped recognize
their weaknesses and strengths.
 Badges and rewards for recognizing
students and encouraging them to do
better.
For an in-depth insight, refer to the EdPlace case study.

19. Conclusion
COVID-19 impact on the education sector has left them in a tight spot as economies
continue to be under lockdown. Managing the learning curve, reaching out to every
student, and creating a safe remote learning environment are some of the
challenges at hand. And with educational institutes facing financial difficulties — it
will take a while to restore normalcy.

20. However, digital transformation in education has been bridging the gap by
providing remote learning, irrespective of the demographic boundaries. The
educational institutes like schools, colleges, and universities need to take charge
and offer assistance to parents, faculty, and students at all levels.
The right strategy is to offer relevant remote stack tools, minimize the resources
and tools to trim down confusion and ensure resistance against cybersecurity
threats.
Let us put efforts to adjust to this new normal of education!
Source - https://www.netsolutions.com/insights/covid19-impact-on-education-sector/