The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has drastically changed not just the appearance of K-12 education, but its very inner workings as well. The global lockdown of educational institutions has caused major disruptions in K-12 learning — such as interruptions of internal assessments, cancellations of public standardized tests and the complete transfer from physical classes to digital learning spaces. According to a study from Education Week, at least 55.1 million American students were affected by school closures related to the pandemic.
The education industry wasn’t prepared for a change of this magnitude, and a plethora of schools didn’t have proper software solutions in place to facilitate such an upheaval. Thus, the demand for the development of remote learning software solutions has increased. My company, for instance, has experienced an increased demand for developing custom edtech software solutions, and I expect this trend will continue.
Along with the increased demand came the realization that a hybrid schooling solution could be beneficial for K-12 classes even after the pandemic ends. With virtual services, teachers can have more time to interact with students directly. According to a study by McKinsey & Company, in a “normal” (i.e., fully physical) classroom, educators work 50 hours per week but only spend 49% of that time interacting with their pupils.
