Coronavirus Quarantine Boosting Online Education

We can see that the Coronavirus pandemic disease has changed the work, business, and life of an individual. Possibly, it could be the most significant disease that has put an end to our social and professional life. The COVID-19 (a coronavirus disease) spread has led to public health emergency including social and economic complications in Australia, the USA, the UK, China, and all over the world. The impact of COVID-19 has not only affected the businesses or economy but also the education.

Almost every institution and universities are closed because of Coronavirus quarantine. In such a situation, there are many colleges, universities, and education centres offering online classes to students. Therefore, it can be said that this crisis can increase the demand for online education.

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Has COVID-19 Disrupted Education?

As we all know that Wuhan is the exact origin of this infectious disease. Till today, over 1,519,084 cases have been registered across the world. Students from Asian countries like India, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Pakistan, Thailand, Vietnam, etc. come to Australia, the USA, and the UK to pursue higher education. Thus, the Australian universities have changed the admission policies and amended requirements for those who have caught up in COVID-19 during their last year of education. 

There are few universities in Australia that already have begun taking possible steps to change the admission process and assignments as well. 

The University of Western Australia which has a huge contribution to the most prestigious tertiary education providers of Australia generally offers two new entranceways into undergraduate degrees. Apart from a normal tertiary admission rank of Australia, the University of Western Australia said that they will admit students based on a special tertiary test. Meanwhile, there will be few limits to the degrees offered under these new entrance pathways. Also, UWA said that it was important to make this announcement early to put student's mind at ease in this unprecedented pandemic situation.

Universities Australia said that every Australian university was making contingency plans in case if there is a widespread of COVID-19. Catriona Jackson (UA's chief executive) said that universities follow criteria as a part of the admission process. It is not possible to predict the reopening of schools and universities due to a rapid change in the uncontrolled situation.  Some Australian education experts say that the decision made by UWA should be adopted by other universities too.

Peter Hutton is one among many coordinators of the Future Schools Alliance, Australia says that there are a huge metal health impacts because of the current situation over the students and it is unfair to prepare them for their examination and assessment. 

However, students have a great chance to boost their knowledge during the quarantine. There are many online learning websites over the internet offering online education during the quarantine. Few of them are – 

Udemy

Udemy is a popular and one of the best platforms that have boosted online learning during coronavirus quarantine. This website has a huge database and course catalogue at an affordable price for students. It provides courses for finance, accounting, business development, marketing, designing, and more. Under this platform, you are allowed to pick topics of your interest rather than following a structured lesson plan. Therefore, it offers a flexible and easy to use educational platform. Also, during the quarantine time, it is offering numerous courses for free.

Source: Udemy.com

LinkedIn Learning

LinkedIn has emerged as one of the best job searching tools. People who are actively seeking jobs might have upgraded to the premium version. Such people have the right of entry to various online courses. It will help them in better career prospects. One can choose courses as per their convenience depending on the level and duration of courses. This platform also provides an opportunity to add certifications to an individual's LinkedIn profile which attracts more recruiters as compared to others. 

Skillshare

Skillshare is ranked 3rd in the list of the best online learning platform. It offers numerous imaginable topics related to business, programming, entrepreneurship, and technical subjects. Apart from this, you will also learn to paint, write, and other creative tasks. This platform works alternative to Udemy where you are required to pay a reasonable price for an individual course but here you will get a subscription which can be either monthly or yearly.

Source: Skillshare.com

Coursera

It is the most popular and widely used platform for online education. Coursera is known for its prestige and value. Also, this online learning tool collaborates with different universities in the world who develop the courses. It is the most preferred platform because it offers complete materials for graduate and master's degrees in the field of management, engineering, law, etc. Students can find many courses for free and need to pay for the official credential. On a personal experience, I would like to recommend Coursera for students studying in colleges and universities all across the world. 

FutureLearn

It is a UK-based platform for online learning. FutureLearn has a wide range of online courses and free certification programs that are easily accessible via tablet, mobile, laptop, or desktop. FutureLearn is retained by The Open University of the UK. It is generally a public research university who mainly offers off-campus study to students. 

Most of its courses are free such as engineering, digital marketing, history, psychology to nutrition, and politics. However, if someone wants to earn a certificate at the end of their course will be required to pay a certain amount of money which will allow taking certification and accumulating course materials.

Irrespective of coronavirus quarantine students can make the best use of these online learning websites to add new skills and subject-knowledge. No matter whether you are looking for a short term course or academic program just choose any of the platforms and start enhancing your knowledge. So, don't waste time and go for it!