Adult Education: Upskilling in the COVID Era

The Coronavirus pandemic has caused unprecedented upheaval across the world. Life as we know it has been brought to its knees as we scramble to find ways of restoring normality. While lockdown restrictions are easing up globally, there is no telling the full extent that the virus has had on the economy. 

Many people have been working from home for the last few months. However, a large amount of the world’s workforce is now unemployed. A tremendous financial strain has been placed on families. Parents are trying to balance work and homeschooling. I have just got back into the classroom after 4 months away from my students!

Stress is natural in such circumstances, but it’s not helpful to panic. Take positive actions and look at working towards getting out of the rut.

One such action is upskilling. Improving your professional skillset is hugely beneficial, and you may never encounter a better time to do so. 

Here are six effective ways to upskill from the comfort of your home. 

Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels.

1. Take an online course

There is a myriad of information available online to help you enhance your skillset. Websites like https://www.udemy.com/ and https://www.skillshare.com/ offer thousands of courses across a wide range of subjects. Specialized websites exist that offer courses in more niche markets. 

Whether you want to learn computer coding, digital marketing, graphic design, or another language, there are courses out there for you. Maybe you want to change profession, or learn new skills now could well be the time.

2. Attend webinars and online events

Many businesses and services are being forced to adapt to a remote audience. There are free webinars and online events where companies are giving workshops or demonstrating their services for customers. 

Webinars can be interactive and may be a great way to learn or gather information. These appear in Facebook groups and university pages all the time so keep your eyes open!

3. Read books and study

Take the time to read and study books that will benefit your career or skillset. If you are part of the 81% of Americans who said they wish they read more; now is a perfect time. 

4. Improve your business admin skills

Having the knowledge to write a business plan, a marketing strategy or other business documents is advantageous in most industries. There are websites available, such as https://www.templafy.com/business-document-templates/, that provide business document templates to help familiarise yourself with such activities. 

Spend some time learning how to craft a business plan.

5. Learn to operate new software

Improve your I.T. proficiency by learning to operate new technology or software. This will not only make you more desirable as an employee, but it is an engaging activity that will have many other benefits. Some of the links above will help with this, but if one thing is clear its that, at least in teaching we were not as prepared for this as we should have been!

6. Apply for a remote job

For many people, remote working is a new craze. However, the remote working industry has been thriving for many years. There are thousands of online-based jobs that you can do from anywhere. 

Although people are starting to go back to work, remote offices have been a revelation for many companies. Some are speculating that we could see a further rise in remote based jobs. 

Remote work is empowering and allows for a large amount of flexibility and freedom in your routine. 

There is a fast learning curve in the online workspace, and there’s no ceiling to your progress potential.