Changes & Challenges to Conventional Didactic Interventions due to COVID-19 in the Financial Sector.

The ongoing pandemic has had a very intense and transitioning affect on learning and development in financial sector which was heavily relying on Didactic interventions.

Adjustments to being learner centric by L&D facilitators in banks and other financial sectors had to be done abruptly. While these institutions were using Didactic pedagogy from time to time but they did not entirely rely on e-learning as a mode of imparting knowledge.

The pandemic however changed this . Incidentally the financial sector has started heaving depending on “The Banking Model of Education”( as described by Pablo, Brazilian educator)to impart training to its employees.

It may not be the best of pedagogues but it was the easiest and the fastest way of imparting knowledge available in these challenging times.

How they Do it

Banks and other Financial institutions have purchased softwares that help them in connecting to its employees for the purpose of Learning & Development. Now the facilitators share the learning assets in a presentation discuss the same at length with people who join them . Similar to a zoom meeting that all of us have been using of late or the way schools have been operating through this Pandemic.

Challenges of E-Learning

Although the facilitator may be explaining the content of the training, but it is usually a one way traffic. The discussion is usually brief and held only towards the end of the session. In fact the participants hardly get to exchange any ideas and most of the discussion is between facilitator and participant.

This may tend to make the program dull and insipid. With hardly any brainstorming, the underlying idea of learning is challenged.

Challenge the Challenges

It’s not that the challenges faced in the e-learning mode which essentially is a didactic pedagogy has been lost on institutions using it as an active model of imparting knowledge to its employees. They are trying to make things more involving and interesting by starting a concept called Gamification

Gamification is new concept of engaging a learner, to learn a context by providing a platform which is more engaging visually. It creates a competitive environment by including badges & rewards with an intent of augmenting the desired outcome of learning.

Conclusion

We have to understand that many learning institutions and departments were left with little options during the pandemic and had to make swift changes and adjustments to sustain its onslaught.

A paradigm shift was observed across the learning verticals of most financial institutions as they shifted gears and moved from a Didactic centric learning to a learner based learning model. We have to appreciate that most departments have managed to been able to successfully outlive the challenges posed by the pandemic with whatever model of pedagogy they found at their disposal.

The idea was to impart knowledge and most facilitators did their best with whatever, pedagogical method available, not withstanding the shortcomings of the same.