Luke Orlando

Reference:
Kundu, N. D., & Ngalim, A. N. (Eds.). (2021). Covid-19 impact on education and beyond. VIJ BOOKS
       (INDIA) PTY LTD. 

COVID-19: Impact on Education and Beyond is an anthology of contemporary

papers published by various authors during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic

with the objective of promoting awareness and understanding of the state of

education for policymakers, professionals, and learners. It examines the

challenges, attempted solutions, and results of educational adaptations to the

pandemic across the world, with particular attention paid to developing or less

developed nations such as Cambodia, Egypt, Cameroon, and ASEAN countries. 

Much of its conclusions are universal, with some broad brush strokes coloring the whole of the planet. It is revealed that every country was, in some way, unprepared for the pandemic, but some were serendipitously more prepared than others. For example, the geography of Cameroon has resulted in disparate communities of learners who, for a long time, have been under-equipped and understaffed, so a shift from in-person education to synchronous or asynchronous online learning environments such as WhatsApp and Google Classroom was a less jarring transition for the tiny Central African country than the gargantuan nation of India, in which digitization of the classroom was almost nonexistent prior to the pandemic. No matter the country, however, the conclusions of every paper indicate that distance learning and digital education solutions are a double-edged sword. They simultaneously manifest opportunities for education for millions of unreachable students and expand the already widening gap in equity between the digital haves and the digital have-nots. In today's rural vs. urban America, this digital divide is not only present, but growing at the same rate as many smaller countries. As a teacher in an area with a large number of low-income families, this knowledge is key to how I approach accommodations, lessons plans, and connections with my community in the wake of the pandemic.