The Impact of Distance Learning on the Future of Lower and Higher Education Programs

Boasting an innovative Live Learning Platform, a personalized approach, and highly credentialed instructors that make it easier to learn with confidence, Varsity Tutors connects expert instructors to students in more than 3,000 academic and enrichment subjects, kindergarten through college. In this video podcast, Brian Galvin, Chief Academic Officer at Varsity Tutors, chats with MarketScale’s Daniel Litwin, the Voice of B2B, to discuss not only how the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in an unprecedented disruption to the typical teaching methodologies employed in traditional brick and mortar schools, particularly four-year collegiate institutions, but also, how this shift to online learning is expected to transform educational strategies as we move into the future.

As schools across the globe have been compelled to implement and accelerate online technology strategies in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, ensuring students continue to learn in contactless, digital, at-home environments, many are wondering if this will trigger a more permanent exodus from brick and mortar campuses to virtual classrooms.

“Whatever technology happens to react to a crisis, someone will find a way to make it more mainstream, and I think there are enough factors in higher ed that are coming together that we’ve been waiting for an answer to the expensive four-year degree,” said Galvin. “This investment in technology will lead towards solutions that are more modernized for the new economy.”

However, Galvin believes that the on-campus 4-year collegiate experience cannot be denied, particularly for those highly-recruited, high-scoring students that still want that stamp of approval graduation from a prestigious university will provide them as they move into the job market. The viability of an online degree may also depend on a student’s major preference.

“I think the one tricky thing as this goes on probably into the fall is, you look at the way schools advertise themselves—it’s all robotics and labs and hands on experience and study abroad, and all those things that are hands-on that you can’t really get from a computer,” commented Galvin. “Certain majors are probably easier to do online—business, math. The sciences and engineering are harder to do because that hands-on experience is so important.”

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