CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19):  A NEW ERA FOR ONLINE EDUCATION?

 

Angie Parker

Dr., American College of Education, U.S.A. angie.parker@ace.edu

 

Abstract

The Coronavirus has disrupted life in the United States as well as around the globe. Businesses, economics, and even education have been at the epicenter of this pandemic. This research is centered around 412 university students who are also K-12 teachers in seven countries.  The research focuses on the changing needs of these online students from before the pandemic to the days when the quarantines disrupted life as we know it.  Drawing on current literature, this study seeks answers related to how today’s adult learners want to learn and how that learning will undoubted be changed. The eight-question survey identifies evolving trends in the online classroom.  The utilization of interaction and a sense of presence in online learning has in the past been essential to engagement. Much research has also focused on interaction and retention. During and following social distancing and quarantine, the wheels of education were turning to accommodate new learning methodologies and new shifts in interaction. This study then explored how interaction will evolve in the months and years to come.  Subsequently the study considers at the impact of the Coronavirus on education today, and how the role of the educator is being altered. Finally, the study addresses the potential for reopening schools and how that process will impact distance learning. 

Keywords:  Coronavirus, education, adult learning needs, K-12 education, distance education