The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in schools shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms. With this sudden shift away from the classroom in many parts of the globe, some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market. The thought of not visiting college and studying from house has always sounded exciting, until it’s completed with the correct management. It is difficult to attend classes from home while spending time with family as compared to attending classes offline by going to schools and colleges. According to UNESCO, due to pandemic 1.37 billion students in 138 countries have been affected by closure of schools and universities. Almost 60.2 million teachers of schools and colleges are not able to take classes offline. University faculties are making accounts on online video conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Skype and Google meet to engage with their students.
There are some advantages of online classes that are worth consideration, One of the best advantage of online classes is adjusting learning into existing schedule. Students who are attending online classes are getting more time to complete a course, within a time period provided by their teachers. This will allow them to spend time with their family without sacrificing that time on completing the work. Online education is more affordable option than offline education, also the expenses of going to college is one of the biggest reasons which aspire students to hold back from enrolling in a program. In addition the travelling cost can also be saved by the students. Some research says that on average, students retain 25% to 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 than in a traditional classroom setting because, students can learn at their own pace, going back and re- reading through concepts as they choose.
Today, online classes are ongoing but it doesn’t mean that it has reached to a state of perfection. There are several challenges which have been seen due to the sudden shift of education to virtual mode. In a country like India, where access to the internet is very low, this new education model may fail badly, hence, the Internet can be come out as a major issue which can challenge e-education. From the last two decades, there has been a conscious effort made by the government to improve access to the internet in every sector. But still, India is facing the internet challenges. The Niti Aayog has highlighted in its report that, the quality and reliability of the internet is an important bottleneck. It also pointed that 55,000 villages in the country are without network coverage.
The concept of online classes has turned into a problematic situation for those students who have gone to home during the crisis. The students living in the urban areas are more likely to have internet access, in comparison to those students who belongs to rural area. Facing basic issues like internet connectivity and India’s undesirable power supply for more issues like e-tests and e-exams, students have come across a lot of stress.
E-education has been turned out to be a new thing for school kids and more than them, their parents are struggling in understanding the e-classes. As per parent’s point of view, E-classrooms are not helping their kids and they also fear that their kids are losing their eyesights at a very early age. Also students do not have their own mobile phones and some students don’t know how to use them. Due to this reason teachers are connecting with them through their parent’s phone which indulges parents in the process and it consumes their time as well. Over the past few months, the teleconference software named as Zoom has seen explosive growth, it is easy and convenient to use, but privacy concerned people are finding it not secure to use, which is an important concern, we can’t let our youth population to get exposed to some unwanted elements.
In conclusion I as a student, attending online classes, would like to say that online classes can be a worry for students across India, but we (students) have to take this in positive way. We all know that we are dealing with the pandemic of COVID-19 due to which continuation of offline classes is not possible. The online classes is the only option left to continue education of all the students. This option is chosen by the education authority for the better future of all the students. What has been made clear through this pandemic is the importance of disseminating knowledge across borders, companies and all parts of society. If online learning technology can play a role here, it is incumbent upon all of us to explore its full potential.
Recommended By: Yukti Rathi (Advocate)
Written By: Kanika Bhatnagar ( Delhi University Student)