Digital learning platforms is an essential tool these days to promote knowledge and formal education amidst these troubling times. Recently, it has been reported that most developed countries have opted for the option of amalgamating digital learning for provision of formal education during this pandemic.
Although this platform still needs to be executed well in Pakistan, the problems come as a result of the lack of technical and administrative loopholes. The concern stems from a lack of connectivity through numerous cellular companies. More often than not, students who reside in major metropolitan/urban areas have access to faster connection and bandwidth in comparison to remote areas where there are no internet connections. Moreover, another prominent issue at hand is the lack of adequate training of teachers. As these teachers are not aware of how to use these applications and platforms, they struggle from a lack of handling of technical glitches while delivering their lectures on virtual platforms like Zoom, Google Classroom, Moodle and Adobe Connect.
The main issue is that the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan might not be aware of the lack of teacher’s awareness in these regions. Moreover, HEC need to still focus on the training and capacity building of teachers on completing their responsibilities in Higher Education Institutions. Institutions need to focus less on a short term gain rather than prioritize a long term approach. Another issue is that the government lack of focus towards the education sector owing to which higher education institutions are always overstretched.
In an effort to fix this issue at hand, the aim should be to direct students towards self-learning on available e-learning platforms online like Coursera, Future learn, edx etc. This is where they get access to tutors from renowned universities like MIT, Oxford University and Cambridge University etc. One reward can be incentivizing students to be awarded a greater portion of marks in their professional exam. Another method can be done towards restructuring the learning management system of universities while giving break to students by suspending online classes for a specific time. In essence, HEC should have a dialoges with countries from around the world like the United States, Malaysia and South Korea to focus on a holistic method for an online education platform.
