Why the future of education is remote

With the COVID-19 pandemic wreaking havoc through the education system, students spent almost a full year at home. This led to the global adoption of new technologies and allowed people to discover the flexibility, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of remote education when compared to in-person education

As the world adapted to the new demand for online education, the quality of resources, and available platforms to provide it also improved. However, there are still technical limitations to interactivity and personalization that hold it back

As technology improves and more solutions start addressing these issues, the increased flexibility, accessibility, and cost-effectiveness of remote education will start taking over

👥 Big players:

• Meeting applications: Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Cisco WebEx
• Generic whiteboarding: Software from companies like Miro, Figma, and Microsoft Whiteboard. Often paired with one of the meeting applications above
• Note taking software: OneNote, and Goodnotes can be used with another application to call

Recently, remote education software has been targeted at large organisations such as schools and universities. This is usually a collaborative large group canvas space with document editing capabilities, catering to a single presenter or teacher guiding a large group of students

👍 Advantages 🌟

Remote education already boasts some advantages to in-person education

🕰️ Flexibility

Students want to learn at their own pace and on their own schedule. This allows for more time spent on other extracurricular and social activities while keeping up with school work

This is especially relevant to low socioeconomic status and rural students, who are likelier to live further away from educational centers. This group usually has less time to spend traveling as work and family commitments often take precedence

Remote education provides this flexibility by letting students partake in education sessions and study from any location at any time, assuming they have an internet connection

🌍 Accessibility

As populations grow and cities sprawl, remote education can increase access to education. Students in rural or remote areas often have fewer options for education or specialist assistance than their metropolitan counterparts

For example, a student learning quantum physics in a rural town will eventually need to relocate to a major city to find someone with relevant expertise to teach them. This can come at the expense of responsibilities and activities in their community and home. By removing the geographical barrier, remote education of similar quality may be the difference between pursuing it, or giving it up to maintain other commitments

💰 Cost effectiveness

Remote education is more cost-effective than in-person education, as it eliminates the need for physical classrooms and other facilities. Students can also save money on transportation, housing, and other expenses associated with attending physical classes or moving to major cities

Third-world countries and developing education systems can also leverage this and forgo the need for physical space, and buildings and sourcing local teachers. It’s much easier to set up a thousand tablets or PCs for students, than a campus to accommodate one thousand students

As technology continues to develop, remote learning also encourages students to develop technical skills and increases their familiarity with computers and tablets simultaneously

👎 Disadvantages 😕

Remote education also has drawbacks:

🏢 Infrastructure

Remote education requires a stable internet connection with appropriate hardware and software. This can be a barrier for some students who may not have access to these resources

However this is improving significantly, as the cost of entry-level devices and technology decreases. Developments in internet accessibility are also happening at a rapid pace. For example, satellite wireless internet is starting to deliver reliable internet to even the most remote communities in the world

👨‍🏫 Limited interactivity, functionality and personalisation

The biggest drawbacks with remote education options come from the limited interactivity, functionality, and personalisation

Most online whiteboards do not provide the same level of interactivity as in-person whiteboards, especially for education. They also don’t have the same level of functionality as in-person whiteboards, which makes drawing or writing more difficult. This means students and teachers can’t interact with the board or each other as they would in person

Unfortunately, most online whiteboards and meeting applications aren’t built for education. The inputs are clunky, and not designed for teaching. The education-focused whiteboards are targeted at large organisations and built to help one person teach a large group of students in a didactic way. The few education-focused inputs in these products are usually priced out of the reach of individual educators and students, leading to a frustrating experience

📈 Learning curve

Most online educational platforms and whiteboards come with a myriad of useless features and integrations designed for business, resulting in a learning curve to unlock efficiency. This shotgun approach of ticking boxes impresses IT admins and company management, while confusing end users by complicating the experience

💬 Distractions

Students on computers are prone to distractions, and are more likely to multitask or respond to other apps and notifications. The limited interactivity in remote education leads to didactic teaching, which is less engaging to students. Since attention is a scarce resource, didactic teaching loses out to applications that provide more instantaneous feedback, such as social media

As technology improves remote education can start becoming more interactive and less didactic. More interactivity encourages students to take an active role in their education with a live tutor, which increases engagement and holds their attention for longer

🚀 The future 📈

The advantages of remote education are here to stay, and advances in technology will amplify flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and accessibility. However, to unlock its true potential, software developers and technology providers need to address the disadvantages holding it back

As remote education improves, it will become better, faster, and cheaper than in-person education, and can one day become the gold standard of instruction globally. The reduced cost of remote education can also positively impact students in areas that are unable to set up campuses, therefore providing an alternative to achieving a global education standard

In person teaching

As the future of remote education gets brighter, in-person education will still always have a part to play, as the ability to develop hands-on experiences and physical interaction remain fundamental to human learning, especially at early ages

However, when students get to an age where they value flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and competing time commitments more, remote education will continue to provide an accessible, realistic, and highly convincing alternative to in-person teaching