Challenges in Education/Higher Education during COVID-19

Dear Colleagues,

Perhaps there is no sector where COVID-19 has had such a major and immediate outcome than education.  Previously dependent on in-class meetings, overnight learners were challenged to become self-directed, distancing themselves from their instructors and other learners.  The pandemic brought with it an urgent need for online education, usually through commercial platforms outside the control of education administrators. These imposed changes affected all levels of education.

In pre-school learning, the focus became social distancing and the proper wearing of masks.  Learning to develop apart from close contact became the norm.

Elementary learning revisited 19th century ideas that children should speak only when called on and otherwise work quietly. In these first days of public education, the reason may have been to teach a sense of discipline—with COVID-19, it is to ensure that minute droplets from vocalization are not passed from person to person.

Secondary education has been enormously altered by the pandemic in those subjects most likely to spread the virus. Music (vocal and wind instruments) and physical education have generally been unable to be accommodated, as the expression of breath necessary for the activities engaged in during these courses is the primary culprit in disease transmission.

Whereas in the past, undergraduate students in popular courses could expect classes in the hundreds delivered in great halls, these courses are now taught online by professors who may feel that they are teaching to a black Zoom void if students elect not to use their video during synchronous online class meetings.

Graduate students have been greatly and inequitably affected in their ability to continue with their research and meet with supervisors and mentors. This is detrimental to both their mental health and time to completion of their degrees.

Professional education depended on the apprenticeship model, requiring close, physical contact between instructors and learners. These meetings, previously considered necessary to effective learning, have now been halted as a result of the pandemic. What this will mean to the expertise of these professionals in the future is a concern.

Beyond these specific challenges to each level of learning that has been brought on by COVID-19, there are other changes to education that span the full range of learning.  For example, the huge increase in homeschooling, the new role of parents as supervisors of their children’s online learning, the overnight demand for pre-packaged instruction and evaluation, the interest in promoting self-directed learning, the loss of special education, and the immediate and ongoing need for programatic creativity by educational administrators in delivering education.

With the vaccination process for COVID-19 currently underway throughout the world, the severity of the virus regarding the mortality and morbidity on the world’s population may soon be at an end. How these changes to education seen during the pandemic will influence a return to normal remains speculation while still in the midst of the impact of this virus.

This Special Issue would welcome submissions in any area of education related to COVID-19.

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Challenges is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Educational Theory
• Social Distancing
• Online Learning
• Self-Directed Learning
• COVID-19