Educational apps essential for learning

Hazel Marimbiza
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to the closure of most schools across the world. As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.

Research suggests that e-learning has been shown to increase retention of information, and takes less time, meaning the changes coronavirus have caused might be here to stay. While countries are at different points in their Covid-19 infection rates, research indicates that worldwide there are currently more than 1.2 billion children in 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.

According to research even before Covid-19, there was already high growth and adoption in education technology, with global online education investments reaching US$18.66 billion in 2019, and the overall market for online education projected to reach $350 billion by 2025.

Whether it is language apps, virtual tutoring, video conferencing tools, or online learning software, there has been a significant surge in e-learning usage since Covid-19.

In Zimbabwe some teachers in rural areas are also responding to innovative ways of teaching to counter effects of Covid-19. Mr Wayne Ncube, a teacher at Dimpamiwa Primary School in Nkayi has introduced an educational app to help the pupils’ access learning from the comfort of their homes.

“The app was launched early June to automate the physical classroom activities and drive efficiency in the era of remote learning. Developed with an idea to provide comprehensive students’ activity management platform, the app is the one-stop solution that makes it convenient for teachers to make all class-related communication available on a single platform,” said Mr Ncube.

The app comes after the outbreak of Covid-19 presented the Zimbabwean education sector with challenges in learning delivery especially in rural areas.

“Education apps can assist teachers in overcoming the challenges of setting an interactive teaching environment that boosts student engagement and efficiency,” said Mr Ncube.

While some researchers believe that the unplanned and a rapid move to app learning – without much training, insufficient bandwidth, and little preparation – will result in a poor user experience that is unconducive to sustained growth, others believe that a new hybrid model of education will emerge, with significant benefits.

Mr Ncube concurs with the latter group of researchers.

He said the app comes with a lot of advantages.

“The newly launched app assists teachers in boosting classroom interaction with its intuitive features such as enabling teachers to share the study materials in the form of text, pictures and videos for better understanding of the students. Furthermore, the app features tools that upscale teachers’ productivity by allowing them to create and share assignments with students, evaluate assignments and grade tests.

“It is also an offline app (does not use the internet) and carries all the lessons for one month,” said Mr Ncube.

He said the school now has a group of teachers who generate the lessons for the children.

“After the teachers compile the different lessons, I then upload the lessons. These lessons are stored in the app for the whole month and then we upload new lessons at the end of the month,” said Mr Ncube.

According to Mr Ncube, so far 30 learners in Nkayi have benefited from using the app.

He also highlighted that the pandemic has opened up multiple avenues for the learning app to tap the unexplored domain in the market.

“We are working on expanding our outreach in the rural schools with a core focus on strengthening footprints in urban schools too.”

The app is good in enhancing education but Mr Ncube indicated that there are some challenges which deter all children from accessing lessons from the app.

“We have a challenge because the tablets at the school are too old and are not compatible with the app. This app is only for android phones. So, some children are left behind,” said Mr Ncube.

With the challenges noted by Mr Ncube, it becomes crucial for Government and well-wishers to support such initiatives so that all children can benefit. Besides major world events are often an inflection point for rapid innovation – a clear example is the rise of e-commerce post-SARS. While we have yet to see whether this will apply to e-learning post-Covid-19, it is one of the few sectors where investment has not dried up. What has been made clear through this pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge through technology across borders, companies, and all parts of society. If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.

Across the globe, many are already touting the benefits of these technologies. Mr Andrew Jones, a teacher and researcher in South Africa said using educational apps has positively changed his way of teaching.

“They enable me to reach out to my students more efficiently and effectively through document sharing, especially during this pandemic. My students also find it is easier to learn using the apps. I will stick to the apps even after coronavirus, I believe traditional learning and apps can go hand in hand,” said Mr Jones.

For those who do have access to the right technology, there is also evidence that learning through apps can be more effective in a number of ways. Some research shows that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. This is mostly due to the students being able to learn faster online; e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a traditional classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of online learning varies among age groups, experts say. The general consensus on children, especially younger ones, is that a structured environment is required, because children are more easily distracted. To get the full benefit of online learning, there needs to be a concerted effort to provide this structure and go beyond replicating a physical class/lecture through video capabilities, instead, using a range of collaboration tools and engagement methods that promote “inclusion, personalisation and intelligence”.

Since studies have shown that children extensively use their senses to learn, experts say making learning fun and effective through use of technology is crucial.

Over a period, researchers have observed that a clever integration of games has demonstrated higher engagement and increased motivation towards learning especially among younger students, making them truly fall in love with learning.

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