The education landscape across the globe has evolved to the next level, something which sounds like an episode from a futuristic documentary. Covid accelerated the growth and transition for the education space, where technology for study abroad has emerged as a key area of focus.
The year 2020 and 2021 became all about “Ease of Access”. The obvious connotations that COVID brought with it simply accelerated the speed of implementation across many sectors- retail, FMCG, health, and education. Needless to say, manufacturing was only a few steps behind with the heavy adoption of automation. Education along with health were the most impacted industries across the globe, and also the first ones to bounce back and improvise. The process for educational institutes on all levels - from school to college has been transitional on all levels. The hiccups, if any, were on the manual side, and not something that would derail the process. We saw schools and colleges adopting online learning but the technological divide was tough for some students and teachers as well, students passing out and preparing for their future ahead, in the same way, they would do a year or so before the Pandemic.
Let’s look at the highlights and a glimpse of how studying abroad has changed for students/parents/teachers in the post-pandemic world.
Post pandemic world has given birth to new ways of doing things but the process was not seamless altogether. Ease of access to curriculum, courses, countries, and colleges were some of the highlights for students aspiring to study abroad post 2021; however, it came with its own baggage of adoption by technology naive colleges/universities across the globe. The transformation in the admission process is only second to it. Students and their parents got the flexibility to access all the information on a single platform. They get the support of counselors in each and every step right from choosing the type of courses to learning style. The counseling platforms gave various offerings to the students both in the pre-enrolling and post-enrollment phases.
The problem with the adoption of new methods was observed, the lack of awareness led to many students taking a gap year. In Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities across India, and globally the lack of technological support caused fear of applying online and taking admissions virtually. A large chunk of students got comfortable with the process but many students did not adopt the new method quite well. To this effort, Edtech platforms added new and trustworthy feedback exchange methods using Artificial Intelligence-driven feedback and assessments. Such assistive tools are useful for teachers and students to align and understand where they are facing difficulties.
Hybrid and technology-based learning have had a significant impact on all professions, including academia. Technology has made the process more personalized, and students can now construct their timetables based on what works best for them while still having access to the tools and resources they require to succeed on their academic front. Though the traditional shift of imparting education offline to online, has grown stronger during the pandemic, its expanding benefits will take time for all parties to completely align with it.
In the same vein, The WorldGrad initiated access to the university's hybrid learning courses for the students and ensured their migration to overseas campuses for later sessions. This comes with complete assistance throughout the admission journey, to make the process easier for the students in terms of learning and comfort, as well as for the parents financially.
Then there's individualized learning, which has helped institutions broaden their perspectives and educational learning processes well beyond what we previously imagined. The epidemic has proved that academic programs and collaborations encourage 'virtual internationalization,' which means that on-campus students can electronically engage with classmates at international universities and professionals in their field of study.
A few universities, on the other hand, reopened and worked on the infrastructure to "build back better" with new standards and policies, as well as monitoring and adopting new techniques to get the education system back on track. Not only has the pandemic changed the contexts in which curricula are implemented, but particular knowledge and competencies are also more relevant in the contemporary context. Several decisions have been made, and some are still being made, to make resources available to students, staff, and parents, resulting in a seamless framework of school systems, educational institutions, and teachers.
With the increased demand for international talent following the epidemic, key locations such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand rely heavily on young talent for economic growth and even economic stability. According to current trends, students recognize the global prospects that await them, so parents are financially prepared for their children to seek foreign education from the start. Again, the awareness part here comes into play, where traditionally parents relied on offline mediators to get things done, now they have to trust the online process. The learning on the part of the parents and students had to be done from scratch.
International students have been provided access to financial aid and the entrance procedure has been simplified in some countries, such as Canada. Canada has even announced a one-time immigration process via which 90,000 students will be granted permanent status. The projected outcomes are expected to favor Indians significantly, as Indians made up the majority of students who sought a residency last year.
The prospects for the students are even better post-pandemic because it is devoid of borders, financial worries, and pressure to perform amongst new faces in a foreign land. However, the awareness for the same across all cities, at least, in India is still missing. The likelihood of taking a new country which is not US/Canada/Aus or UK and even the likelihood of sailing or acing their courses have become high. Students are keen on taking overseas education at graduation and post-graduation levels more than ever. The pandemic has surely taught us all-new ways of living and education and students and parents are adapting to it well. Henceforth, it can be inferred that students and parents are quite open to change and prepared for whatever comes through to fulfill their children’s dreams. It still does not take away the fact that students, educationists, and parents- all three decision-makers have to align themselves to the new technology-driven learning methods. The government of each country also has to participate and increase this adaptability by providing measures like robust internet infrastructure, accessibility to devices like smartphones, tablets, computers, etc., and a clear framework for the public to understand that partners like The WorldGrad exist for them to rely on.
