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IMUN Online Conference 57.0

Study Guide

Committee: United Nations Children’s Fund

Topic: Increasing accessibility to E-learning
during the pandemic

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Table of Contents
About the committee ........................................................................................... 3
Introduction ..................................................................................................... 3
Mandate ............................................................................................................ 3
Introduction to the topic ..................................................................................... 4
Current Situation ................................................................................................ 6
Possible Solutions ................................................................................................ 9
Questions A Resolution Must Answer ............................................................10
References ..........................................................................................................10

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About the committee

Introduction

The United Nations General Assembly (UN-GA) agreed to the formation of

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) in 1946
through resolution 57(1). The major objective after inception was to help children
across Europe who had been left helpless after the Second World War. The main
purpose of the fund was to help in building shelter, provide food, enhance security
for children and reduce the rising child mortality, particularly in times of crisis as
after the Second World War. Maurice Pate, the first Executive Director of
UNICEF agreed to take his position on condition that all children regardless of
their nationality or creed would be assisted by this fund. Ever since, this has
always been the primary goal of UNICEF. However, in 1950 the attempt to close
the fund, the UNICEF leadership together with Member States requested the
continuation of the fund and expanded its scope. Hence, in 1953, the General
Assembly resolved to change it from an Emergency Fund to a permanent
Specialized Agency of sections 57 and 63 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Mandate

The mandate of UNICEF was shifted from providing temporary relief to ensuring
long-term sustainable development goals. Moreover, help countries be able to
provide for their own children in future. Hence, its mission has been extended to
Africa and Asia that were not previously under its mandate. It was noticed that
children could not be viewed in isolation but as an important aspect within the
society; children were found to be the most vulnerable in the society. For
example, in cases of wars, children formed part of the refugees, homeless and
died of vulnerable diseases. UNICEF thus, realized the importance of improving
the livelihood through enhanced development projects. ''A World Fit for
Children'' is a document that emerged after the United Nations General Assembly
Special Session on Children (UNGASS), which voices out specific goals in
achieving a 'child friendly' society. This document integrated the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) that highlighted clear guideline of UNICEF's
objectives at least for the next twenty years.

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Introduction to the topic

The COVID-19 pandemic has created the largest disruption of education systems
in history, affecting nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries and all
continents. Closures of schools and other learning spaces have impacted 94 per
cent of the world’s student population, up to 99 per cent in low and lower-middle
income countries. The crisis is exacerbating pre-existing education disparities by
reducing the opportunities for many of the most vulnerable children, youth, and
adults – those living in poor or rural areas, girls, refugees, persons with
disabilities and forcibly displaced persons – to continue their learning. Learning
losses also threaten to extend beyond this generation and erase decades of
progress, not least in support of girls and young women’s educational access and
retention. Some 23.8 million additional children and youth (from pre-primary to
tertiary) may drop out or not have access to school next year due to the
pandemic’s economic impact alone.

On the other hand, this crisis has stimulated innovation within the education
sector. We have seen innovative approaches in support of education and training
continuity: from radio and television to take-home packages. Distance learning
solutions were developed thanks to quick responses by governments and partners
all over the world supporting education continuity, including the Global
Education Coalition covened by UNESCO. We have also been reminded of the
essential role of teachers and that governments and other key partners have an
ongoing duty of care to education personnel.

But these changes have also highlighted that the promising future of learning, and
the accelerated changes in modes of delivering quality education, cannot be
separated from the imperative of leaving no one behind. This is true for children
and youth affected by a lack of resources or enabling environment to access
learning. It is true for the teaching profession and their need for better training in
new methods of education delivery, as well as support. Last but not least, this is
true for the education community at large, including local communities, upon
whom education continuity depends during crisis and who are key to building
back better.

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There are a vast number of technologies available for online education but
sometimes they create a lot of difficulties. These difficulties and problems
associated with modern technology range from downloading errors, issues with
installation, login problems, problems with audio and video, and so on.
Sometimes student finds online teaching to be boring and unengaging. Online
learning has so much of time and flexibility that students never find time to do it.
Personal attention is also a huge issue facing online learning. Students want two-
way interaction which sometimes gets difficult to implement. The learning
process cannot reach its full potential until students practice what they learn.
Sometimes, online content is all theoretical and does not let students practice and
learn effectively. Mediocre course content is also a major issue. Students feel that
lack of community, technical problems, and difficulties in understanding
instructional goals are the major barriers for online learning. In a study, students
were found to be not sufficiently prepared for balancing their work, family, and
social lives with their study lives in an online learning environment. Students
were also found to be poorly prepared for several e-learning competencies and
academic-type competencies. Also, there is a low-level preparedness among the
students concerning the usage of Learning Management Systems.

Meanwhile, for many developing countries, e-learning is considered a solution to

the increasing demand for higher education. In Pakistan, online education is
promoted as “education for all” as it aims to reach out to students living too far
from the cities and unable to afford the cost of conventional higher education. In
Botswana, e-learning solves the problems of large classrooms, increasing
enrollment, and limited staff. The author stated that the decision to integrate e-
learning “was not borne out of a desire to join an elite club of technologically
savvy universities but was out of the need to solve practical problems related to
access and the quality of learning experiences”. E-learning is also expected to
help improving students’ computer literacy – the skill needed in the current
workforce.

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Current Situation

A number of studies focused on computer access, ownership, and computer skills,

based on the assumption that these factors contribute to computer literacy that
influences the adoption of e-learning. Bediang et al. (2013) conducted a survey
to students in Cameroon and found that two-third of the students were not familiar
with the concept of e-learning and that 17 % of students did not own a personal
computer. Most students who used the Internet had only basic email and Web
search computer skills. In another study from Jordan, Akhu-Zaheya et al. (2011)
found that most students did not own computers at home and for the most part,
they used word processing, email, and web searching. The students with limited
use of computer developed computer anxiety, which led to computer illiteracy.

Bhuasiri et al. (2012) explored critical success factors with e-learning experts
(faculty, ICT experts, and researchers) in developing countries. The top four
factors that emerged from the data as ranked by ICT experts were computer
training, perceived usefulness, attitude toward e-learning, and computer self-
efficacy. The top four factors, ranked by faculty, were perceived usefulness,
attitude toward e-learning, program flexibility, and clear direction. The
researchers concluded that people in developing countries are less familiar with
technology and therefore are far more critical of e-learning.

While the existing research informed us about several challenges, few studies
attempted to connect these shortcomings to users’ acceptance of e-learning. As
Moore and Benbasat (1991) argued, the potential adopters’ perceptions of
innovations were so critical for the success of the integration. In the next section,
we outline the theoretic frameworks that influenced the design of the current
research.

During the current global pandemic, ensuring learning continuity during the time
of school closures became a priority for governments the world over, many of
which turned to ICT, requiring teachers to move to online delivery of lessons.
Countries report that some modalities have been used more than others,
depending on education level, with variability across regions.

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In areas with limited connectivity, governments have used more traditional

distance learning modalities, often a mix of educational television and radio
programming, and the distribution of print materials. Relatively few countries are
monitoring the effective reach and use of distance learning modalities. However,
estimates indicate variable coverage: distance learning in high income countries
covers about 80–85 per cent, while this drops to less than 50 per cent in low
income countries. This shortfall can largely be attributed to the digital divide,
with the disadvantaged having limited access to basic household services such as
electricity; a lack of technology infrastructure; and low levels of digital literacy
among students, parents, and teachers. School closures have necessitated changes
in – and in some cases caused serious disruptions to – how students are evaluated.
In most countries, exams have been postponed; in a few, they have been
cancelled; and, in others, they have been replaced by continuous assessments or
alternative modalities, such as online testing for final exams. Innovative
continuous assessment methods have received a lot of attention. Student progress
can be monitored with mobile phone surveys, tracking usage and performance
statistics from learning platforms and apps, and implementing rapid learning
assessments to identify learning gaps. Every solution has its own challenge,
notably in terms of equity.

Some students without reliable internet access and/or technology struggle to

participate in digital learning; this gap is seen across countries and between
income brackets within countries. For example, whilst 95% of students in
Switzerland, Norway, and Austria have a computer to use for their schoolwork,
only 34% in Indonesia do, according to OECD data.

In the US, there is a significant gap between those from privileged and
disadvantaged backgrounds: whilst virtually all 15-year-olds from a privileged
background said they had a computer to work on, nearly 25% of those from
disadvantaged backgrounds did not. While some schools and governments have
been providing digital equipment to students in need, such as in New South
Wales, Australia, many are still concerned that the pandemic will widen the
digital divide.

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For those who do have access to the right technology, there is evidence that
learning online can be more effective in a number of ways. Some research shows
that on average, students retain 25-60% more material when learning online
compared to only 8-10% in a classroom. This is mostly due to the students being
able to learn faster online; e-learning requires 40-60% less time to learn than in a
traditional classroom setting because students can learn at their own pace, going
back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose.

Nevertheless, the effectiveness of online learning varies amongst age groups. The
general consensus on children, especially younger ones, is that a structured
environment is required, because kids are more easily distracted. To get the full
benefit of online learning, there needs to be a concerted effort to provide this
structure and go beyond replicating a physical class/lecture through video
capabilities, instead, using a range of collaboration tools and engagement
methods that promote “inclusion, personalization and intelligence”. Since studies
have shown that children extensively use their senses to learn, making learning
fun and effective through use of technology is crucial, according to an expert.

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Possible Solutions
The challenge to educational institutions is not only finding new technology and
using it but also reimagining its education, thereby helping students and academic
staff who are seeking guidance for digital literacy.
1. PROTECT EDUCATION FINANCING AND COORDINATE FOR
IMPACT: The pandemic has pushed the world into the deepest global
recession in living memory which will have lasting effects on economies
and public finances. National authorities and the international community
need to protect education financing through the following avenues:
strengthen domestic revenue mobilization, preserve the share of
expenditure for education as a top priority and address inefficiencies in
education spending; strengthen international coordination to address the
debt crisis; and protect official development assistance (ODA) for
education.
2. BUILD RESILIENT EDUCATION SYSTEMS FOR EQUITABLE AND
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Strengthening the resilience of
education systems enables countries to respond to the immediate
challenges of safely reopening schools and positions them to better cope
with future crises. In this regard, governments could consider the
following: focus on equity and inclusion; reinforce capacities for risk
management, at all levels of the system; ensure strong leadership and
coordination; and enhance consultation and communication mechanisms.
3. REIMAGINE EDUCATION AND ACCELERATE CHANGE IN
TEACHING AND LEARNING: The massive efforts made in a short time
to respond to the shocks to education systems remind us that change is
possible. We should seize the opportunity to find new ways to address the
learning crisis and bring about a set of solutions previously considered
difficult or impossible to implement. The following entry points could be
to the fore of our efforts: focus on addressing learning losses and
preventing dropouts, particularly of marginalized groups; offer skills for
employability programmes; support the teaching profession and teachers’
readiness; expand the definition of the right to education to include
connectivity; remove barriers to connectivity; strengthen data and

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monitoring of learning; strengthen the articulation and flexibility across

levels and types of education and training.

Questions A Resolution Must Answer

1. How can the committee ensure that students without enough educational
resources (internet connection, devices, non-conducive learning
environment, etc.) can access high-quality education during pandemic?
2. How can the committee ensure that students that are not proficient in digital
education will be able to access the high-quality education?
3. Is there a need to conduct trainings for school faculties and administrations
regarding conduct of e-learning? What necessary things that we have to
teach the schools about e-learning? Do schools need to revise their
modules, syllabi, course contents, etc.?
4. What necessary laws that each country must implement to ensure equal
access to education and assure that no one is left behind?
5. How to strengthen international coordination to address the debt crisis
caused by the pandemic in the education sector?

References
1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342378341_E-
Learning_during_Lockdown_of_Covid-
19_Pandemic_A_Global_Perspective
2. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-
covid19-online-digital-learning/
3. https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-
content/uploads/sites/22/2020/08/sg_policy_brief_covid-
19_and_education_august_2020.pdf
4. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0047239520934018
5. https://educationaltechnologyjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s
41239-016-0034-x
6. https://www.intechopen.com/books/e-learning-instructional-design-
organizational-strategy-and-management/increasing-access-to-higher-
education-through-e-learning
7. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ837472.pdf

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