How Can SMS Prove To Be Beneficial For Online Learning during the pandemic?

The current COVID-19 situation is a clear indication of the virus staying for long. To safeguard oneself from surviving this pandemic, government heads decided staying at home was a better option. While multiple businesses managed to work from home, certain industries, especially the crucial ones such as education, had to find innovative ways to engage teachers and students together. Education as we visualize was always learning in a four-wall classroom but the pandemic shifted all those physical classrooms into virtual ones at the comfort of our homes. While this is an innovative approach towards education, there are multiple flaws connected to it. Not attending classes on time, being absent for most classes, etc are all of the common issues. Setting up online learning isn’t enough to increase engagement between teachers and students; however, investing in a good communication platform can increase the efficiency of both. SMS proves to be an efficient communication platform. An online research paper supported this communication medium stating, ‘’Text messaging can be “effectively integrated into both the student and staff experience”. Administrative staff members were able to integrate the service into their current means of communicating with students while students were able to effectively receive and act on text messages. ‘’ While many consider SMS to be a basic traditional communication medium, living in such a crisis with the use of SMS can benefit several online learning actions. To prove how effective SMS is on online learning, this blog will be your guide. What to expect? Why SMS for education matter? How can SMS for education prove to be an asset for online learning during this pandemic? Let’s get started.

Why Does Online Learning Require SMS?

As a teacher, how many times have you witnessed a lack of attendance from students? How many times have you heard the late or overdue excuses when submitting assignments? How many times have you wondered why a student hasn’t attended your classes? Such questions have many doubts and the only way to answer all these ‘hows’ is through SMS. Have you realised that if one text message was sent, all the above problems would be eliminated? For instance, had an SMS reminder was sent to students regarding the assignment submission, all of them would have submitted it without delays. Also, in case a student is unable to attend a class, sending an SMS alert can inform teachers instantly. Whether you’re using text messaging for teachers or text messaging for students, SMS has the power to enhance strong communication between the two while ensuring daily and timely tasks are conducted on time. To emphasize more on SMS advantages, our next category will help you.

1. Send Timely Alerts

While institutions are sending scheduled calendars to inform students about their next class. It would be beneficial if SMS alerts were sent 10-15 minutes before the class starts. This will remind the students to be prepared and will encourage better attendance in those classes. This same practice can also be applied to teachers as well to remind them of their class schedules in order to not miss out or be late for any. Learning from home leads to multiple distractions such as spending long hours on smartphones, watching television, and more, hence sending SMS alerts proves to break such distractions. ‘’86% of students reported that texts prompt them to complete a task they haven’t done yet.’’

2. Send Important Reminders

For most institutions, online exams are being educated based on the pandemic situation. In such cases, missing out on even one exam can be a huge career loss for students. Hence sending SMS reminders well in advance can prepare students well during such exams. While this is one benefit, any other related tasks such as assignment submissions or sudden tests can also be reminded with timely SMS alerts. ‘’85% of students reported that texts informed them of something they hadn’t realized they needed to do.’’ All these SMS actions contribute to higher student-teacher engagement as well as increased efficiency in learning.

3. Inform About Relevant Information

SMS is considered to be a great communication medium when it comes to sending important information instantly. Few examples of such situations could be fee or deposit payments, institute reopening dates, exam information and more. ‘’84% of students reported they found text reminders useful in helping them get everything done for college.’’

4. Send Instant Notifications To Inform About Any Issues

Let’s understand this better with an example: Say that an online class is taking place at the moment. Due to sudden power issues, Sally is unable to attend the class. Sally is aware that her absence could impact her attendance hence, it would be wise to inform the teacher at that moment. Sending an email isn’t a preferred choice here because the teacher could see the email after class or after the attendance of the class has been registered thus leaving out Sally. ‘’ Email has a 20% open rate, while text messages sore at a 98% open rate.’’ But if Sally sends a text message instead of an email, the alert could prompt the teacher to open the message instantly and understand Sally’s situation ‘’90% of all text messages are read in under 3 minutes.’’ Hence Sally’s attendance will not be affected and alte ative solutions could be suggested for her sudden absence. The Bottom Line... ‘’Text messages have a 45% response rate.’’ This is because users are aware of the texts they receive. With mutual consent to subscribe to the texting service, users will be guaranteed to open the message. The education sector’s decision to conduct online learning is proof that education will not be neglected. As you initiate your steps to incorporate the education text messaging approach, conducting this action manually wouldn’t be a great idea. Instead, to make your SMS actions more efficient, it is wise to invest in a reliable and affordable SMS gateway. As you start, we suggest Guni SMS as your first choice. This SMS gateway is a convenient and easy-to-use SMS solution that provides tons of dedicated SMS features well suited for all your requirements.