【Post-pandemic distance education thinking and solutions.】

This article discusses the major global crisis faced in 2020, known as the COVID-19 pandemic or Coronavirus Disease 2019. Despite having passed a year since its outbreak, the number of confirmed cases and deaths in many countries continues to rise, indicating that the impact of the pandemic is still spreading globally. The article highlights the significant effect of the pandemic on education. When COVID-19 rapidly spread across the world in February 2020, many countries implemented lockdown measures and closed schools to prevent further transmission among students and communities. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) also closely monitored the number of students affected by school closures due to the pandemic.

The article emphasizes that distance learning has become an essential educational approach in the post-pandemic era to ensure continuous education. This aligns with SDG4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to provide inclusive and equitable quality education for all and promote lifelong learning opportunities.

However, the article argues that the establishment of a thoughtful approach is more critical in implementing distance learning than simply selecting tools. This includes reevaluating and planning teaching methods such as curriculum design, syllabus arrangement, course content, and expected learning outcomes to adapt to distance teaching. Only after developing a thoughtful approach in teaching methods can appropriate tools be selected to support distance education.

The article presents eight modules for thoughtful consideration: curriculum planning, class rules, equipment connectivity, software selection, mental connection, teaching connection, course interaction, and learning effectiveness. These modules serve as guidelines for educational institutions and teachers in planning distance learning courses.

Finally, the article emphasizes that the thoughtful establishment of distance learning can bring about various positive benefits, such as providing quality education, fostering students' self-directed learning habits, and facilitating connections between institutions, teachers, and students for educational research. Therefore, the promotion of distance learning is not only a temporary measure to cope with the pandemic but also a crucial direction for educational innovation and sustainable development.

【Excerpt from the issue No. 04, 2020 of TWAEA’s ePaper】