The Future of Education: A learning perspective

Striving through social unrest and coronavirus, the past academic year has been both challenging and rewarding. Tough times teach us the best lessons and 2020 has taught us the importance of resilience, adaptability and flexibility in the face of adversity.

For the first time, online education is rolled out across the city on a mass scale. Having experienced remote learning, we’ve seen the value in face-to-face interactions and delved into the possibilities of virtual connections. We took this opportunity to challenge ourselves to imagine how schools would look like 20 years from now. Introducing ‘The Future of Education’ series, where we asked teachers, technology professionals, students and parents share their thoughts, concerns and experiences of adapting to this new era of learning.

In our third instalment, we interview two high school students on their experiences switching to online classes amidst the global pandemic.

Students Esther Yeung and Winston Luk

As a high school student Esther Yeung, aged 17, returned to Hong Kong after her school closed in England. She spent two weeks in quarantine when she returned home and is now working remotely via online classes.

“I learn the best when I can interact with other students and have discussions and debates about certain topics with teachers,” Yeung says.

High school topics are more complex and abstract, pure chalk and talk via video conferences are not as effective as face-to-face classes. “I think people really want to get back to school and see their friends. It can get quite boring being at home by yourself. I really do want to get back.”

Winston Luk, aged 17, is also a high school student in the UK who returned to Hong Kong due to the pandemic. Like Yeung, Luk finds learning and studying from home to be quite the challenge.

“Trying to focus and do your own work is the worst part, I struggle to focus and there are too many distractions at home,” Luk says. The fast and wide-spreading coronavirus leaves no time for students and teachers to adapt to the innovative learning environment. Besides coping with sentiments of leaving school in a blink of an eye, Luk has to do Zoom lessons in UK time, which makes the process a lot harder.