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Adapting to covid-reality has become a necessity of the present. People have to learn to live with it, and countries have to determine the consequences of a pandemic and work actively on it. The sphere of education did not lag behind this covid chaos. This sphere received a rather strong blow. First the learning process was stopped everywhere and then, all over the world had to continue the learning path in a new format.
The World Bank released a special report in 2020 on the impact of COVID-19 on higher education. As a result of the situational analysis of Europe and Asia, the report identified several important problems that affected the higher education institutions of these two continents as a result of the pandemic. It has been found that the problem of internet delivery is equally troubling to people on different continents - low speeds fail to provide a dynamic online learning process, and better quality service is an expensive pleasure for many of them. In addition, access to personal computers was a problem. Added to all this was the fact that the higher education institutions themselves did not have the necessary infrastructure for online teaching, which would have been targeted at a large number of users, nor were members of the academic team ready to fully digitize the lectures. In addition, the World Bank report also states that distance learning is not always effective, especially during activities such as discussions, interactive group work, and more. That is, everything that helps the student to develop the necessary skills. The report also noted that the focus on cognitive skills was often at the expense of socio-emotional skills, which is also a significant challenge.
According to international studies, the pandemic has affected the lives of more than 200 million people worldwide, including more than 157,000 Georgian students. Along with the main actors in the field of higher education - students, members of the academic and administrative teams of universities also found themselves in this whirlpool of uncertainty. Following in the footsteps of the transformed learning process, at ACT we decided to find out how ordinary Tbilisians value online learning and what they consider to be the biggest problem. As the results of the survey conducted in June show, in general, taking into account all the factors, the surveyed Tbilisians evaluate negatively online learning [out of a maximum of 10 points, this impact is assessed at 4.1 points]. Assessing the specific impact it has had on our country's higher education, the answer is even more negative [3.3 points out of a maximum of 10 points].
We asked our respondents what the difficulties were / are related to the transition of universities to online education due to the pandemic. 18% said that not everyone had / does not have access to the Internet; The other 18% cited the lack of the necessary material and technical base for online learning as the main difficulty, which combines the lack of a personal computer, lack of workspace and other technical problems. Among these difficulties, unequal access to the Internet was named as the "most problematic" for 19%.
Chart # 1. Difficulties Faced with Higher Education Institutions Switching to Online Education Due to Pandemic
At the end of last year, we conducted a survey for the United Nations Population Fund to assess the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on young people, and it is interesting to note that similar views and problems were identified with young people directly related to online learning. Young people living in Tbilisi, Imereti, Kakheti, Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti participated in the study. Difficulties with online learning were cited as low readiness and technical problems for students and academic staff in online learning: low access to the Internet and lack of the necessary material and technical base for online learning. The latter problem was particularly acute in families with several members having to study and work online.
Another result of our survey is interesting - according to one in ten Tbilisians surveyed, the transition to online education has turned out to be quite negative for a certain group of society, which is associated with asociality and related stress. 11% of respondents named the lack of socialization as a serious problem, which in the future may create mental health problems for both young people and people of different generations. Incidentally, this challenge was also named as one of the topical problems in the above-mentioned survey conducted for the UN Population Fund.
It is true that online learning has been and still is associated with many difficulties, however, this method also has its advantages. We asked Tbilisians what they think is the positive effect of online learning. One in ten respondents found it difficult to assess this (12%), and 21% do not think that switching to online learning can have any positive effect at all. However, when talking about the benefits of online learning, the majority of respondents identified two important factors - saving time by 21% and protecting against the spread of the virus in a pandemic, or safety by 20%.
Graph # 2. Positive effects of online learning
As it turns out, online learning directly for young people also has its positive effects - in addition to saving time and financial resources, it allows students to easily combine learning for other jobs. These positive aspects of online learning were revealed by a survey of young people at the end of last year. The same study then also showed that because of the advantages listed, the transition to a hybrid learning model was considered important by young people.
Talking about the positive aspects of online learning, young people mentioned one more thing - the introduction of this new format has increased the opportunity and made it accessible to both Georgian and international online training courses. This is an important and strong argument for those who want to learn and develop.
Respondents were also asked what they thought the university teaching format should look like after the pandemic ended. It was found that the majority of Tbilisians surveyed (57%) support the idea of only offline (audit) teaching. However, the hybrid learning format also has enough proponents - 39%.
Graph # 3. What should be the format of university teaching after the end of the pandemic
Despite the difficulties associated with online learning, the idea of hybrid learning is uniquely welcomed by young people. Because the main positive effect - "combining learning with other things" turned out to be quite a weighty argument for them. That is why it is quite natural that young people will be happy to meet the existence of a hybrid learning format in the post-covid reality.
However, despite the positive attitudes of young people towards hybrid education, the transition to such a model of the Georgian university system may be premature. At this stage, the mixed model of teaching in universities is a forced response to the challenge and not a new format of teaching, which was developed to create an effective university education system.
According to the World Health Organization, the pandemic will not only be defeated, but will regain strength by the fall, and there is a high probability that distance learning and work will become an inevitable reality in the near future. That is why, with regard to the future prospects of online learning, the European Commission has developed the Digital Education Action Plan (2021-2027) for the coming years, which outlines the priorities to be focused on outcome-oriented learning. Conducting more digital specialists, as well as creating user-friendly mechanisms and secure platforms that adhere to e-privacy and ethical standards.
Naturally, all these issues will be relevant for Georgia as well, and we can confidently assume that distance learning will become an essential component of higher education. Only time will tell how our country will be able to cope with this challenge and provide quality education for future generations. However, one thing is clear - the need to switch to forced online learning will at least help increase the digital competencies of both students and academics, enhance digital capabilities by universities, improve software, and create quality content for e-learning. It undoubtedly has the advantages that can be used effectively and boldly in the post-pandemic reality of education.
[1] COVID-19 Impact on Tertiary Education in Europe and Central Asia
[2] საქსტატი
[3] Farnell, T., et al., 2021. The impact of COVID-19 on higher education: a review of emerging evidence. Analytical report. European Commission. EU Publications.
[4] Assessing the Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 on Young People in Georgia
[5] Assessing the Socio-economic Impact of COVID-19 on Young People in Georgia
In April, people or organizations interested in the matter are particularly active in their effort to draw attention of wide society to issues related to autistic spectrum disorders. As decided by UN General Assembly, April 2 is World Autism Awareness Day recognized by many countries of the world since 2008.
As reported by US Center of Disease Control and Prevention, as of March of the current year, frequency of Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) prevalence in babies and young children increased by 10% compared to the last year. If frequency of ASD prevalence was 1 out of 59 children in April of 2019, for April of 2020, this frequency is already 1 out of 54 children. Frequency of ASD prevalence has increased by 40 and more times over the past several decades which is partially explained by improved diagnostics and awareness.
Source: www.autismspeaks.org
There is no precise statistics of children with ASD in Georgia. Based on various data, there might be approximately 7 000 children with ASD. The first Autism Center in the country was formed with cooperation of Autism Association of Georgia and Ilia State University in 2010 where initially only 10 beneficiaries received therapy. Now up to hundred beneficiaries are recipients of the therapy.
First autism Habilitation State Program came into force on 1st July of 2015. Within the framework of the said program, Mayor’s Office of Tbilisi Municipality provides funding for services relevant for 2-15 year-old children. In 2020, upper threshold for beneficiaries of the program has increased and became 18 years instead of 15. Habilitation State Program is available for children with ASD not only in Tbilisi, but in several municipalities of Georgia.
In April of 2019, a decision was made to build National Center of Autism in Georgia which will serve 16+ individuals with ASD and assist them in developing skills necessary for independent life. The center is being constructed by “Autism Research and Support Foundation”. To this day, only one out of six cottages envisaged in the project is constructed. As construction of the center is mostly funded by private individuals and companies, it is unclear when necessary financial resources will be available, respectively, there is no set date for completion of construction.
For development of various skills and integration in society, it is critically important for children with ASD to attend various therapy courses, which together with language and speech therapy may involve occupational therapy, sensor integration or development of academic skills. Success of the therapy significantly depends on its regular and systematic character. Due restrictions introduced because of pandemic situation related to Coronavirus all over the world including Georgia, children cannot attend therapy courses in centers. If we also take into account that one of the main challenges for people with ASD is adaptation with social environment, it is crucially important to have a routine of interacting with this environment. Due to spread of Coronavirus and related restrictions, people who suffer from ASD are under disproportionally high risk as even temporary cancellation of therapy courses makes negative impact on their development and may significantly worsen achieved progress.
Leaving house is critically important for people with ASD so that the environment they feel doubtful about not to become a scary place. In response to existing challenges, in Italy where citizens are under lockdown for weeks and can leave house only under special circumstances, a new regulation was activated in the city of Rimini – namely, children and adults with autistic spectrum disorder are allowed to walk around one of the parks of the city for several hours per week. As decided by the government of UK, citizens with ASD are allowed to leave the house several times a day and walk nearby their houses even under lockdown. According to specialists, such practices are important as it helps preserving the routine of leaving house. However, therapy is still believed to be particularly important.
As demonstrated by international practice, one of the most efficient mechanisms during self-isolation is therapy intermediated by parents. Organizations working on ASD issues use so called tele-intervention and by engaging parents, they offer distance therapy courses to people with the respective needs. If we take into account that one of the main challenges people with ASD face is adaptation with social environment, working on development of the said skills remotely is even more difficult objective. However, it is also worth mentioning that not attending the therapy is far serious challenge than attending the therapy course remotely.
As it turns out, practice of distance therapy is used in Georgia too. Based on international experience, “Mental Health Center” offers two services to people with special needs. Namely, the center will be offering tele-consultations and tele-interventions from April 1. Doctors, psychologies, therapists with various specialization will be providing tele-consultations while tele-intervention enables behavioral and other types of therapies intermediated by parents. For those families who, due to several problems, are unable to attend online consultations or intervention, the Center posts relevant recommendations on its Facebook page. Currently 95 beneficiaries utilize remote therapy.
Attending therapy course in physical environment is much more effective than remote therapy, but specialists believe that attending some of therapy courses even in online regime is critically important. This way, it is possible to preserve achieved progress and keep different kind, but still routine, which is crucial for individuals with ASD. Apart from the fact that availability of online services engages children in activities, it also helps them to keep in touch with therapists, which is also crucially important. Furthermore, availability of online consultations enables parents to receive advices on managing various situations or behaviors.
It is less likely remote therapy to replace physical therapy or even be as effective, but specialists may utilize remote therapy as additional, auxiliary mechanism of therapy. Furthermore, remote therapy may appear ultimate therapy for those who do not have access to respective centers because of various reasons (e.g. lack of financial resources, remote location and absence of centers near home). It is quite possible this practice to spike in realization of various interesting ideas and therapy to be used by far more children or adults, than it is available nowadays.