Amid the chaos caused by lack of experience in this new pandemic, academic learning persists. Or so it seems.
Due to the sheer novelty of the situation that we are in, many nations, South Korea in particular, is having trouble getting used to the phase that is ‘online learning’.
The rapidly spreading COVID-19 is making real-life classes obsolete; Zoom meetings, Classum sessions, and Google meet are all the rage now. Because South Korea’s schools usually do not use laptops or online media for the sharing of work or interaction within classrooms, the country’s transition into the new plane of education has proved to be more challenging than expected.
Take, for instance, these laughable yet serious problems that South Korean schools have faced in the past few weeks. Some students were unable to join their designated Zoom meetings. Muted mics, flipped screens, and limited server capacity hindered class progress.
The professor didn’t press the ‘play’ button while filming a video for his/her class. Students couldn’t upload their work onto Google classroom because of internet instability. Teachers and students both struggle with assignments, deadlines, and online examinations.
The prime responsibility of the South Korean Ministry of Education is to change the education system radically in order to ensure the fluency of the online classes.
Here is a list of possible actions that the Ministry can take:
1. Establish Gmail infrastructure for every school.
There is a G-Suite in Gmail, so every student of a school receives their school email account. With G-Suite, students can contact any and all members of the school community with ease. Since everybody is in the same ‘Suite’, they don’t have to search for private email accounts; they already have access to all the email addresses of their peers and their teachers, and they can message each other via Hangout at any time.
It’s relatively easier to invite students to Google Classroom. Google Classroom is a platform through which teachers can post assignments, set deadlines, and return assessments online.
2. Encourage the utilization of meeting platforms like Classum in conjunction with Zoom at schools.
Classum is an effective classroom tool that has captivated the attention of many colleges with its design and functionality.
Classum has different tools like ‘Questions’, which enables a student to ask the entire group a question. The group can respond to the question in various ways like ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Understood’.
It has other tools like polls or notices, which makes it easier for teachers to run the classroom.

Coronavirus is not the end of this. There are at least 300 more viruses out there, all undiscovered and probably zoonotic and equally, if not more lethal/dangerous than COVID-19.
Our world will soon undergo drastic changes in both technology and lifestyle. We are in the thick of it even now. Our lives will literally change; we all must be prepared.
With this pandemic, the meaning of ‘school’ as both a place and an educational system will change. We must stay up to date with technology and be prepared for long periods of online learning such as these by adapting the changes above for smoother transitions in the future. It is imperative that change starts at schools, so that students can better adapt to these viral situations.