How COVID-19 Is A Watershed Moment For Online Tutoring

Online Tutoring Platforms And COVID-19
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Summary: Online Tutoring is a beacon of hope amidst school closures and to parents who are finding themselves as accidental homeschoolers. COVID-19 has disrupted young lives, but in times of pandemic, eLearning is providing hope to millions of families.

eLearning: A Beacon Of Hope During COVID-19

COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic by WHO and the pandemonium has been reigning ever since. Just one microscopic entity brought the world to a halt and nothing has been the same. With school closures worldwide, it has even threatened the right to education, but like every other great crisis, it is seeing a sharp rise in online tutoring. Just like the Cold War led to a race in armaments, EdTech companies are seeing a boost as the demand for online education surges across the nations.

A lot of confusion has also ensued, and a virus that was first seen in Wuhan, China has now gripped the world. Rising numbers across the world, such as in Italy, Spain, and now that the United States has become the epicenter of the novel coronavirus, is surely distressing. The result has been closures of schools in over 120 countries! Even the disruption in the field of education is also unparalleled in the current scenario.

In these uncertain times of the COVID-19 crisis, where everybody is urged to follow social distancing and handwashing has become the norm, online tutoring seems to be the only beacon of hope and a way of life for students. Like Maya Angelou once said, “God put a rainbow in the sky”; eLearning, as an industry, is offering assistance and is rightly the need of the hour as schools, universities, and campuses have been shut down worldwide. It marks the defining moment where most of the students have turned to online tutors while their parents and others put themselves under quarantine or self-isolation.

How Online Tutoring Platforms Have Stepped Up During The Coronavirus Crisis

Although the world has come to a standstill during the coronavirus crisis, technology has proved to be a boon in a time like this. With everything now shutting down and every day one is witnessing an exponential rise in the cases of infection, online tutoring platforms have stepped up to provide learning.

Even the number of cases reported among the children is low, children are seen as the hidden victims of this pandemic. As the regular means of education, such as the schools, colleges, etc., stand shut, experts worry that there are going to be short as well as the long-term impacts on their well-being. Online education is truly acting as a lifeline to young scholars while their parents and caregivers face the very risk of losing their jobs and livelihood.

Some eLearning startups have offered free assistance to the students of many countries. On the other hand, few online tutoring platforms are letting parents upgrade who are finding themselves as accidental homeschoolers. Other tutoring platforms are directing students to free resources and stepping up when learning is truly threatened at a time like this.

The UN is also advocating alternative learning whether through radio, television, or online classes because it fears the mental health of the child is at stake. While nature is providing check and balance, and truly the forces of natural selection are at play, an online tutor is like Santa Claus, cheering up a student and providing some semblance of normalcy. Online tutors are acting as the guardian angels while Easter break is around the corner. Some take as many as twenty classes a day as the sense of social responsibility washes over them.

Though the world may seem to be baffled and paralyzed, online tutoring as a business has flourished and is reaping dividends today. There is not a shadow of a doubt that it is helping students cope in these challenging times. For a student can simply enter a virtual class and take a live whiteboard study session at their convenience. Remote learning with accessibility to a 24/7-available online tutor has removed any difficulty that a student might face.

As the classes move online and students may seem to miss out chatting with their friends in person, they have a chance to emerge as COVID-19 warriors. They can unleash the power by learning online and continue to upgrade to one day take up STEM studies (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math). They can hope to take up virology to eliminate such viruses, respect biodiversity and wildlife conservation.

Way Forward

Information is power and spreading awareness is the key in times of distress. Today online tutoring is helping parents give their undivided attention to their children and collaborate with a tutor so that their learning does not suffer. Though regular education may seem disrupted, students should view this as a different situation that they are in and will overcome. Online tutoring is a lifeboat as learning has not come to a standstill—no matter how grave the situation may continue to become in times ahead.

In such times when online learning has become a support system for many around the world, it is also helping families combat stress and anxiety. While one is forced to take shelter within the confines of home and may have an epiphany of some kind, one thing that truly stands out in this battle is that both the students and parents have to constantly upgrade and emerge as winners.