Maslow’s hierarchy of needs dictates that after a person’s physiological needs are met, they prioritize personal, emotional, financial safety, and security before anything else less critical for survival. “Ignoring technological change in a financial system based upon technology is like a mouse starving to death because someone moved their cheese.”– Chris Skinner Fintech, which technology describes as developing and distributing financial products and services, is one of the most involved innovation areas in startups. A rich area of research is the relation between technology and innovation. Information technology is commonly recognised as an essential component of internal process optimization, as well as new product creation and new service creation. The question is what is Fintech? Fintech is defined as design and delivery of financial products and services through technology. Industry surveys suggest that novel fintech offerings may be particularly appealing to young, high-income, high-value customers. As time passed and new security measures were introduced, the finance industry began transforming itself into what is called fintech. Read: How to Digitalize Traditional Business Practices? Fintech Cybersecurity and Stability Undoubtedly, the digitization of financial services may be of interest to most customers because the technology was not considered to be 100 percent effective. The risks most people were preoccupied with were identity fraud and money laundering. In 2020, more fintech firms will be taught how to secure their business operations and survive a cyber attack. Fintech in Big Data Fintech companies used unstructured, structured data known as big data for customer segment detection, fraud detection and risk management. In Fintech, big data can be used to spot fraudsters more quickly than a human eye can. The collected big data is analyzed to classify consumers’ usual purchasing behaviors and behaviours. Fintech firms will also be able to use big data to identify consumers and give them more customized deals. Fintech in AI The AI-powered systems being introduced help to reduce banks’ and other financial institutions’ operating costs. Experts will be among the most common factors to expect to see the relationship between AI and fintech grow stronger by 2020. Fintech traditional stacks weren’t efficient in real-time scenarios. However, what else one can have a stack that can adapt to customer requirements in real time? AI & machine learning is proving very successful when processing data streams in real time. It can also improve customer interactions and reduce risk. Fintech in Banking Fintech equips the banking sector with tools that make it more efficient than ever before. Banking institutions use technologies such as chatbots to improve customer service, mobile applications to provide consumers with real-time insights into their bank accounts, and machine learning for fraud prevention. Fintech-Next Generation Privacy SecureKey is a leading provider of identity and authentication which simplifies the access of consumers to online services and applications. SecureKey’s next-generation privacy-enhancing services empower consumers to easily and privately claim identity information using trusted providers, such as banks, telecom companies, and governments, helping them connect with a digital credential they already have and trust to essential online services while ensuring that information is only ever shared with specific user’s permission. “People are tired of having so many passwords.” -Greg Wolfond
Online Education Challenges During COVID 19 in Pakistan
Article Summary: Present study examined the experiences of teachers regarding online education challenges during COVID 19 in Pakistan. Findings of study illustrated that the majority of faculty members had no previous experience of online teaching while few faculty members reported previous experience of online teaching. According to findings of current study, the majority of teachers reported satisfactory online teaching experiences during COVID-19 and agreed to the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. Moreover, findings illustrated that barriers experienced by teachers in online teaching included increased workload, less interaction with students, lack of policies, lack of instructors training, lack of quality of course, inability to control students cheating, and lack of internet connectivity. Thus, it is clear that there are some major barriers associated with online education which need to be addressed. Key Words: Online Education, Challenges, Teachers’ Perspective, Pakistan Background: Closure of educational institutions during COVID-19 is one of the leading steps in combating the pandemic. In Pakistan, introducing a digital learning system on a national level has been challenging for the Higher Education Commission (HEC). However, HEC (2020) sanctioned educational institutions to adopt a digital platform for continuing teaching and learning during a crisis. Because: Stop teaching and learning was not a wise decision. Thus, embracing the digital education system became a need of time. Online education was unconventional in Pakistan (Akram et al., 2020) however, studies conducted on digital learning reported the feasibility of online teaching and learning (Mukhtar et al., 2020; Sethi et al., 2019; Jawad & Ashraf, 2012). In developing countries, lack of resources is a main concern in the use of digital media for education. Besides, lack of resources it is considered that the foremost challenge in use of digital media is lack of technical skills among teachers (Riaz et al., 2020). Capability of instructors in order to incorporate different tasks and tools while teaching digital education are important to attain course goals and objectives (Bailey & Lee, 2020). Students attending online courses might easily get distracted by the content available on technology which may influence their participation in online class (Melor et al., 2012). Thus, it is crucial to engage students in live online sessions that can be only possible if instructors have previous knowledge and skills in adopting digital media as a medium for education. To make digital learning more effective, improving technical skills and competencies is a crucial need of the present era. Though, training teachers to enhance their capabilities in technology seems challenging and costly, it is vivid that such initiatives ensure the standard, productivity and efficacy of online education. Therefore, it is important to identify teachers’ perceived barriers in online teaching. Keeping in view the major concerns of digital education, this study examines teachers’ experiences of online education challenges during COVID 19, perceived online teaching barriers and perceptions of teachers regarding the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. Methodology Sample A total sample consisted of 52 teachers (Females = 58%, Males = 42%). Due to Covid 19, this sample was approached through online platforms such as LinkedIn, Email, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. In current study, 75% of the teachers were teaching at private universities, 14% at semi-government universities while 11% teaching at public universities. Moreover, the status of teachers suggested that 83% of teachers were working full-time while 17% working part-time. Survey Instrument Primarily items from Lioyd et al. (2012) were used including a limited number of authors’ self-developed items. The 11-item questionnaire consisted of four subscales including interpersonal barriers, administrative issues, internet access, and technical issues. Items were scored on 5-point Likert type scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 5 = Strongly Agree. In addition, two items were used to assess the faculty experiences of online teaching. For instance, “Have you previously taught online?” scored on “Yes and No”. Secondly, “How was your experience of online teaching during CVOID-19?” scored on “Good, Neutral and Worst”. Lastly, teachers were also asked “Is using technology for education the way forward in Pakistan” responded on a 4-point Likert type scale ranging from “Definitely Not, Probably Not, Probably Yes, and Definitely Yes”. Results Findings in figure 1 revealed that the majority of the teachers had no previous experience of online teaching (62%) however, 38% teachers reported previous experience of online teaching. Figure 1. Distribution of Teachers Responses on Previous Experience of Online Teaching Based on survey results, the majority of teachers marked online teaching experience as satisfactory (50%) however, 40% teachers reported their online teaching experience as neutral. In addition, 10% of teachers considered online teaching as the worst experience (See Figure 2). Figure 2. Responses of teachers on online teaching experiences during COVID-19. Current study investigated the perception of teachers regarding the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. According to findings, the majority of the teachers agreed (90%) to the use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan while 10% of teachers disagreed (See Figure 3). Figure 3. Distribution of teachers responses on use of technology for education as a way forward in Pakistan. According to findings, the majority of teachers reported an increase of workload during online classes (71%), lack social interaction with students (64%) while 23% of teachers reported issues related to time management and anxiety/fear during online classes (15%) (See Figure 4). Figure 4. Percentage of teachers’ response on items related to interpersonal barriers. Responses of teachers on the items related to administrative and training issues depicted that the majority of teachers confronted troubles in controlling cheating (81%) and readjustment of quizzes, assignments and midterms (67%). In addition, other barriers associated with administrative and training issues included lack of policies for online classes (52%), lack of instructors training (48%), and difficulties in conveying course concepts (36%) (See Figure 5). Figure 5. Percentage of teachers’ response on items related to administrative and training issues. 42% of teachers agreed that there was a lack of internet services during online classes