Knowledge Platform (Private) Limited, Pakistan’s leading education technology company, has released a report entitled Education Technology and the Coronavirus Pandemic: Pakistan’s Experience and the Way Forward.
The report is based on a survey of 14,530 students, parents, teachers, and principals associated with schools across the country, together with interviews of many such students, parents, teachers, and principals.
The report provides an overview of education technology prior to the pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on education, edtech and remote learning practices adopted during the pandemic, and emerging best practices as the country hesitatingly begins to emerge from the pandemic.
The pandemic proved to be a pivotal moment for education technology in Pakistan, and the authors of the report state: “The coronavirus pandemic has brought education technology from the periphery to the center of education in our country.”
Mahboob Mahmood, Knowledge Platform’s founder and lead author of the report notes: “In the report, we tried to dig beneath the surface of the education crisis deepened by the pandemic and unearth edtech practices that may help shape the future. Most people in the education sector are now much more experienced in using education technology, and glimmers of the way forward are beginning to emerge.”
“We know, for example, that teachers and principals believe that real-time, synchronous, teacher-led lessons is the best way forward. We also know that students and parents much prefer split-time, asynchronous student self-study. In our view, this difference in perspective represents the emerging shift from the teacher being the prime agent of the learning journey to the student becoming the agent of his or her own learning pathways.”
The report identifies best practices that have started to emerge, including post-pandemic blended learning practices in which face-to-face teaching and education technology are combined in various ways to generate optimal results.

Dr. Shehzad Jeeva, Director of Aga Khan University Examination Board, who wrote a foreword for the report, adds: “The report is important reading for educators and policymakers who are thinking about the way forward as we start to move beyond the pandemic into an increasingly interconnected and digitally-enabled world. Educators will do well to reflect on the practices identified in the report and consider the application of these practices in their school systems. Moreover, the report will help the policymakers understand the significance of investing in IT infrastructure for better access to technology in classrooms across Pakistan.”

The report may be downloaded at http://blog.knowledgeplatform.com.pk/edtech-and-the-pandemic/

For additional information of Knowledge Platform, please visit www.knowledgeplatform.com.pk or contact Hammad Shafiq, Lead Manager Marketing Knowledge Platform, at hshafiq@knowledgeplatform.com.