An Easy-To-Solve Problem of Virtual Learning
The projected $325 billion market of e-learning got a fast-track when the pandemic closed classrooms, and it was far from perfect.
The COVID-19 pandemic shut the doors of classrooms, leaving schools and colleges with only one option: virtual learning.
Virtual learning, or distance learning, is projected to pass $370 billion by 2026 as an industry. While vaccines and reopening efforts offer a pathway back to traditional teaching, an estimated 33% of post-secondary schools are expected to keep remote/online learning options available indefinitely. Although, many drawbacks of e-learning remain unaddressed: lack of motivation, “zoombombing” and glitchy lecture sharing.
Nearly half of surveyed students reported “staying motivated” was the biggest hurdle of online learning. A lot of respondents looked to “zoombombings” as the most interesting/engaging times in their virtual classrooms.
“Zoombombing” is the act of an unwanted guest stealing, or being given, the credentials to join a Zoom meeting, then disrupting the Zoom call. Oftentimes, the “zoombomber” would have control indefinitely unless the instructor knows enough about Zoom’s controls. Teachers are doing their best to adapt to a digital classroom, but cannot always be expected to tackle these types of nuances.
The FBI has even issued a warning to teleconferences and virtual classrooms about “zoombombing”. While platforms like Zoom, and its users, continue to adapt and overcome these types of setbacks, there are still problems in non-live learning spaces like recorded lectures.
“Most of the class was just pre-recorded videos,” said Trevor Tokita, a student at Los Angeles Valley College who made the shift to online learning during the pandemic. “And then half the time, the videos wouldn’t even work or the link would be broken.”
Institutions like Valley College use third-parties to create portals for their students. More often than not, these portals/services are designed utility-first, functionality-second. For this reason, sharing materials like video lectures can be a serious headache for instructors and students alike.
Some teachers will naturally turn to sites like Vimeo or YouTube to host their learning materials, which creates new hurdles: incessant ads, unmoderated comment sections, faulty links and unrestricted access. Another approach has been cloud storage like Google Drive, which only serves to add another step of permissions and access that further slows down learning.
Thanks to services like MediaZilla, however, video delivery can be one less area for online-learning communities to worry about. Lectures, video projects and the likes can be shared securely through MediaZilla with customizable invitations, ad-free forever access by recipients and a straight-forward viewing experience that cuts out any distractions. This is why organizations like Harvard Business School use MediaZilla for their video-delivery needs.
With easily-distracted students, rogue “zoombombers” and an ever-changing digital landscape, virtual learning has a lot of work to do to meet its potential, and an important first step is proper delivery of video assets.
Check out an example of education-meets-MediaZilla here!