Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by Country

Before the COVID-19 pandemic most courses were taught synchronously in person. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers have had to choose whether they want to offer class lectures/discussions in a synchronous, asynchronous, or combined format. The effectiveness of these formats for facilitating appropriate online learning is an upcoming area of research.

Synchronous v. Asynchronous Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

- Higher education
- High school
- Middle school
- Elementary school

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by Education Level

COVID-19 pandemic's affects by time

- Mental Health
- Learning
- Participation
- Study habits

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic by Outcome Measured

- Online Learning: A Panacea in the Time of COVID-19 Crisis

Advantages of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education

•Egypt

•Germany

•Australia

•China

•Hong Kong

•India

•Indonesia

•Italy 

•South Africa

Initial Higher Education Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic by Country

A study done by Kunal Chaturvedi, Dinesh Kumar Vishwakarma, and NidhiSingh in 2020 investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education, health, and lifestyle of students from different age-groups.

COVID-19 and its impact on education, social life and mental health of students

The COVID-19 pandemic greatly affected how students were educated. Notable classes moved to an online format and schools adopted many policies to compensate (e.g., grading, testing, etc.)

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The World Health Organization declared the pandemic on March 11th

COVID-19 pandemic

Online learning refers to any kind of education or learning effort that takes place over the internet.

Online Learning 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lot of implications on policy decisions and the political spheres in many countries and regions 

Politics, Policy and the COVID-19 pandemic

How the pandemic has affected global, national and local economies

Economic impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

There are worldwide curfews, quarantines, and similar restrictions (variously described as stay-at-home orders, shelter-in-place orders, shutdowns or lockdowns) related to the COVID-19 pandemic and established to prevent further spread of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns

Health authorities in China contacted the World Health Organization (WHO) that there was a cluster of viral pneumonia cases of unknown cause in Wuhan, Hubei. By January 30th, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). At the time there were 7,818 cases confirmed globally, affecting 19 countries in five WHO regions.

Epidemiology of COVID-19

- Realtime Coronavirus Statistics
- Universal COVID-19 Trends (UC Davis CALSERVE)
- World COVID-19 Statistics

-John Hopkins University and Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center

List of Websites With Useful Statistics on COVID-19 Pandemic

The psychological effect COVID-19 is having on the populations affected by the pandemic

Psychological Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic

The effects of COVID-19 on the nervous system and the human brain.

Neurological impacts and neuroscience (neurobiology) of COVID-19

Numerous organizations such as Johns Hopkins University, IBM, and Tableau have released interactive databases to track real-time Covid-19 statistics. Data Scientists all around are working closely with medical professionals and utilizing this data in order to help combat the virus. 

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-track-the-coronavirus-dashboard-delivers-real-time-view-of-the-deadly-virus/


Using Data Science to understand COVID-19

Altered human activity as a result of COVID-19 produced various effects on the environment, both positive and negative. These effects often correlated with lockdown periods and included variations in types of manmade pollutants. While some research indicates these effects are due to natural fluctuations and cannot be attributed to the pandemic, understanding how human activity may or may not impact the environment is important for predicting future environmental health. 

COVID-19 Environmental Effects

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education

How health information technology is being used to fight COVID-19

Health Information Technology and COVID-19

The media portrayal of older adults as “frail” and “difficult” and the younger population to be immune to the virus to a large degree perpetuated ageism. The intergenerational division was also furthered by the need for younger adults to avoid or isolate when in proximity to older people to avoid spreading the virus to the more vulnerable. Essentially, this placed the burden to protect the geriatric members of society on the younger population and caused a change in generational dynamics.

COVID-19 and Ageism

During the COVID-19 pandemic, scarce medical resources force healthcare systems under crisis standards to make difficult decisions regarding triage, allocation, and reallocation. These decisions must be guided by ethical principles and should not be made by individual bedside clinicians. Additionally, healthcare workers must maintain transparency, clear communication, and a dedication to providing the highest quality of care to patients, including palliative care.

Healthcare Systems During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This article looks at the application of self-determination theory into the format of online learning. It goes into detail about what the theory is as well as the idea that certain types of motivation, such as intrinsic motivation, may have better outcomes compared to extrinsic or no motivation. To test this idea, the research study in this article looks at how online students may be motivated by their teachers in ways that encourage intrinsic motivation. The results suggest that, when the teachers were able to support the students' autonomy and competency, it positively affected how the students perceived their own autonomy, competency, and relatedness as a result. The students gained a higher amount of self-determination in the end. 

Motivation in Online Learning: Testing a Model of Self-Determination Theory

Using OLS and regression models, Xu & Jaggars found that students' performance and persistence in online courses were overall worse in comparison to in-person classes. Data analysis of students enrolled at Washington State (p=40,000) found that:
- Previously existing disparities and achievement gaps found between student subgroups were exacerbated; students that were male, African American, or low-performing would continue to perform worse in an online setting.
- The degree of difference in performance varied by major, with some majors (i.e English) being more negatively impacted by being online when compared to other majors (i.e natural sciences)

Online vs In-Person Learning - Xu & Jaggars

Other countries have various ways that they have adapted to the Covid-19 pandemic by using online learning in education.

Differences in online learning between countries

References for online learning can be found in the child nodes below

References for Online Learning

- Collaborative writing refers to the creation of a document through the combined efforts of more than one author. The scope of CW involves not just the writing process, but also challenges such as group coordination, team formation, and planning.
- Online collaborative writing poses further challenges due to poorer quality of communication and social awareness in online environments.

Online Collaborative Writing

When it comes to using online learning, especially during the pandemic, one aspect that often comes up as an advantage in using it is the idea that it provides flexibility for the student and teacher. No matter the time or location, online learning ensures that education can occur as long as there is access to the technology. However, there is the idea that normal methods of learning are not as effective, such as exams, assessments, and teaching complex topics, because of several factors. The fact that the online platform has yet to provide a suitable method that properly captures being able to take an assessment the way it was possible for in-person learning is an issue. There also appears to be concern over how to effectively communicate online, as a commonly cited problem is the feeling of isolation in communication despite the accessibility of online classes and lectures. This suggests that students need to get used to the idea of arranging communication over online platforms and apps so that the feeling of isolation becomes less so. Online learning has yet to adapt to all aspects of in-person education, which is why blended learning seems to be popular. However, in the time of the pandemic, blended learning may not be as viable as it otherwise might be.

Online Learning During COVID: Advantages and Disadvantages

Different methods of online learning did not significantly affect the student learning outcomes. 13 different methods were analyzed as potential causes of variation when making online learning more effective than in-person learning, including hybrid classrooms and allowing more time per tasks. The other 11 were not significant variables. However, the number of studies that included information about this was too small to make any solid conclusions. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effects of Different Online Media on Learning

On the whole, students with online instruction who spent more time on task than students with in-person instruction did better than students with in-person instruction. When in-person students spent more time on task than online students, they performed better than the online students, but not to the extent of the opposite circumstance. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effects of Spending Time on Task for Online and In-person Students

Online learning appears to work for different material and learner types. It is more effective for college undergraduate students than college graduate students and professionals. The data seem to suggest that it also works for K-12, but there is not enough data to be confident about that conclusion. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online Learning with Different Material and Learner Types

Hybrid instruction is generally preferred to online instruction and in-person instruction. Note that the studies did not attempt to make sure the curricula, learning media, and learning time were comparable, so advantages may not be due to media of instruction. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Student Preferences of Hybrid Instruction vs Online and In-person Instruction

Students who did at least part of their class through online instruction tended to perform better than those who took the same class entirely in person. Note that online vs in-person was not the only difference in these classes (e.g., the amount of time spent on task), so the advantages of online instruction may have come from somewhere other than the medium of instruction. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Partial Online Instruction Can Lead to Better Performance

Learning was more effective for both online and in-person classes when curriculum materials and methods of instruction were more varied. Analysts identified 6 methodologies that could account for the effects, including sample size, type of knowledge tested, strength of study design, unit of assignment to condition, instructor equivalence across conditions, and equivalence of curriculum and instructional approach across conditions.

Varied Materials and Instruction Media Are Beneficial

With online instruction, more media (like videos or quizzes) does not enhance learning. These data are from before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Effects of More Media on Learning

1. Let the students have control over their interactions with the class media and making them reflect on their learning.

Suggestions to Improve Online Learning

Users are more likely to have a strong intention to continue e-learning when they demonstrate satisfaction with the system. 

Satisfaction stems from:
- The perceived usefulness of the system and its perceived ease of use

- Continued confirmation that the system is useful

User Retention in Online Learning Communities

There are key factors that influence perceived social presence in online learning. Social presence influences online user behavior.


Social Presence in Online Learning

-Distance learning-learning that is used for people who are physically distant from one another (and can also include learning that occurs at different times)
-E-learning-a type of distance learning-defined as "strictly being accessible using technological tools that are either web-based, web-distributed, or web-capable"
-Online learning-more recent and improved version of distance learning-"described by most authors as access to learning experiences via the use of some technology"

Distinctions between online learning, distance learning and E-learning 

Online learning communities are peer-to-peer learning environments conducted through the internet. 

Online learning communities

Online distance learning is often viewed positively for the convenience and flexibility it provides, but its educational quality is frequently questioned when compared to traditional in-person learning. Key quality concerns involve the usability of online platforms, the level of academic rigor, and issues such as academic dishonesty. Studies indicate that the quality of online education can be improved when teachers provide immediate, specific feedback, offer technical assistance to make platforms easier to use, and actively encourage interaction among students.

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