The COVID-19 pandemic pushed education from schools to educational technologies at a pace and scale with no historical precedent. For hundreds of millions of students, schools closure lead to formal learning becoming fully dependent on technology.
This new book published by Unesco “An ed-tech tragedy? Educational technologies and school closures in the time of COVID-19” shows how technology-first solutions left many students behind, amplifying inequalities, and details the many ways education was diminished even when technology was available and worked as intended. It reveals the harm and unintended consequences that resulted from endeavours to transition from in-person and school-based education to technology-reliant distance learning. It shows that education was narrowed and impoverished and that immersion in technology was unhealthy. Because of persistent digital gender divides, it also shows that girls and women were at a serious disadvantage when formal education suddenly shifted from the physical sites of schools to technology-enabled remote learning.
Consistent with UNESCO’s vision, EuCARE study aims to prevent schools’ closure by halting SARS-CoV-2 transmission chains through Lolli pool testing and to better understand the psychological and learning consequences of SARS-CoV-2 related preventive measures.
To know more about the book go to: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000386701