The Blended Learning Revolution: A GLOWSIMS Perspective
Education is transforming before our eyes, and it's essential to grasp the reasons behind this shift. What are the big challenges that led us to this educational revolution?
What sparked the change?
In this article, we'll explore GLOWSIMS' viewpoint on the blended learning revolution, covering:
We recommend you read this article in order without skimming through it. To get a full-picture view on this topic.
2 Biggest Challenges for Institutes in the 21st Century
Covid-19: A Transformative Wake-up Call
It's easy to think of COVID-19 as yesterday's news, but let's confront a stark reality:
“COVID-19 has directly impacted 40 million Students from pre-primary to higher-secondary levels, in a context where school enrolment, completion and quality of learning are already low, especially for girls.”
UNICEF Pakistan
The year 2019 marked the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic, a threat that took the world by surprise.
As a nation, we were ill-prepared, grappling with inadequate IT infrastructure in our schools and high levels of illiteracy.
Our educators faced an uphill battle, struggling to navigate digital platforms like Zoom, Google Classrooms, and WhatsApp communities.
Our Digital literacy was sorely lacking, and COVID-19 brought this deficiency into sharp focus.
This deficiency came at a great cost – the precious time of our students. An entire year, a critical phase of their educational journey, was lost in the tumult of the pandemic.
Yes, We wasted over a Year.
Many school businesses were completely closed after COVID-19.
There is a common saying that “History will repeat itself.”
You see, COVID’s variants are still evolving and the war with COVID hasn’t ended yet. The next pandemic doesn’t seem far.
As Rafiki wisely said in "The Lion King”,
"The past can hurt. But from the way I see it, you can either run from it or learn from it."
The pandemic, rather than an unfortunate chapter to be forgotten, can serve as a transformative wake-up call that propels us toward a more resilient and technologically-equipped future.
2. Artificial Intelligence: Transforming Education or Replacing It?
Now this is another big challenge.
There is a huge debate on the internet about a question:
Will Artificial Intelligence (AI) replace schools and teachers?
Some even prophesy that students will outgrow the need for traditional schools as early as grade 5.
Indeed, platforms like ChatGPT are already showcasing AI's prowess in reducing human efforts while enhancing productivity.
See, technology has a democratic nature.
This means that when it comes into the market it's accessible to all.
Whether you are living in a 3rd world country or an industrialized superpower country.
The access to Artificial technology will be the same for everyone.
Look at ChatGPT, it can now design new curriculums tailored to your students’ specific needs. So no matter where you’re living in the world. If you have access to the internet. You can do anything leveraging technology these days.
The debate is still there:
Is artificial intelligence transforming or replacing schools and teachers?
At GLOWSIMS, we firmly believe in George Kouros's insight:
"Technology will not replace teachers but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational."
All we need is to embrace technology.
Yet, here lies the challenge – our nation stands on the precipice of an AI-driven educational transformation, but are we truly prepared?
So, the pivotal questions that beckon are:
How can we empower our teachers to harness the potential of these AI platforms?
How can we leverage technology to bridge the education gap and enhance learning outcomes?
How can we ensure our students are not only consumers of technology but also creators, adept at using technology to innovate and solve real-world problems?
When you ask these questions to yourself try to think in such a way.
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The paramount challenge before us is to transform our learning environment into one that is tech-friendly, where every educator, parent, and student is not only familiar with technology but also leverages it effectively to enhance learning outcomes.
The question is: How can we?
Blended Learning: The Only Way Out!
Before throwing our perspective on Blended learning we want you to know about blended learning.
So, What exactly is blended learning?
Blended learning combines the best of two training environments – traditional face-to-face learning and eLearning – to meet the evolving needs of new-age learners.
Blended learning takes learning outside the walls of the classroom, making it possible to access resources both online and offline.
We won’t go too deep into the topic as we have covered it before in this Article.
We will be more focused on how to overcome the big challenge to transform our learning environment into a Tech-friendly one.
The big challenge is digital literacy which can be only achieved through blended learning.
We can’t make our teachers and parents prompt engineers or A.I. experts on the first step.
We need to build their foundations first.
Because these basics cover 80% of the work. All we need is to make them digital literate and Blended learning is the only way to do it.
And that is Why it is so important today for us to accept this approach.
But, there is one big piece of the puzzle that is still missing:
“How will we achieve blended learning?”
As a nation, we have three big challenges:
We don’t have a digital infrastructure that will ensure blended learning. We don’t have the digital literacy to develop digital solutions and we have financial limitations to invest in expensive high-tech solutions.
We understand that, for the last 10 years GLOWSIMS has been working with schools at different levels in Pakistan. We have also faced these challenges and we are on a mission to provide technology to every school in the world.
GLOWSIMS is empowering education by building standards. We are a big advocate of Blended learning. Team GLOWSIMS has been researching for the last 5 years and has come to a single conclusion.
“Blended Learning is the only way to revolutionize the education system.”
We have been working silently on a secret project. After putting in a lot of development efforts. We have built two tech solutions that will meet all your needs.
Both of these solutions tend to change the trajectory of education in your school.
We have finally revealed our cards.
We call these solutions:
TALIB and MUALLAM both of them are mobile apps dedicated to building a tech-friendly environment. These apps will help your school to overcome the enormous challenge of a Tech-friendly environment for your school.
So what exactly are these?
TALIB - Your Ultimate Learning Companion
TALIB is like having a treasure chest of knowledge at your fingertips. Imagine a library filled with interactive lessons, engaging videos, and practice quizzes aligned with your students' learning. With TALIB, you become a super teacher, making learning an exciting journey that every student will love. It's time to say goodbye to boring textbooks and hello to a world of interactive education!
MUALLAM - Bridging Connections, Fostering Success:
MUALLAM is the bridge that connects you, your students, and their parents. A place where you can easily share announcements, assignments, and updates. Parents can be part of their child's education journey, seeing their progress and staying engaged. MUALLAM makes communication super smooth, creating a strong support system for your students.
Together these apps will act as a foundation for your institute’s first step toward blended learning.
GLOWSIMS is covering the extra miles
We are covering the extra miles. GLOWSIMS is hosting many events on blended learning where we make sure that your institute can achieve blended learning excellence.
We are going to hold the next exclusive training on September 26, 2023.
As you have made an effort to this article, It seems that you are interested in investing time to grow your institute and make it future-proof.
We would love you to join our upcoming event on September 26, 2023.
Fill out the form and Join us to make your school future-proof with blended learning.
Fueling Growth with Strategy | EdTech marketer | Copywriter | Omnichannel Strategists
1yWanted this article to be to the point and break all the myths and challenges when it comes to Blended Learning approach.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) at GLOWSIMS
1yThe blended learning model as the way out is not very far. We need to invest today for a better, more certain future of education.
Public Relations Manager at GLOWSIMS
1yGlowsims' innovative approach to blended learning seamlessly combines the best of online resources and in-person instruction, enhancing student engagement and knowledge retention. A remarkable evolution in education
Tire 1 Support Manager at Glowsims
1yIndeed, #GLOWSIMS is making impressive strides in education technology with solutions like #TALIB and #MUALLAM. Their commitment to bridging educational gaps and enabling blended learning is truly commendable, paving the way for a brighter future in education.📚💡✨💥 #FutureReadyPakistan #Education #BlendedLearning #GLOWSIMS #COMPANY
Chief Technology Officer at GLOWSIMS
1yAn insightful read! Blended learning, facilitated by GLOWSIMS, is revolutionizing education. Embracing this innovative approach opens new doors for interactive and effective learning.