A Senior Psychology Teacher and Psychologist. PGT with B.Ed. and teaching experience of past 15 years.
I am a Lifetime member of Indian psychiatric society, annual member of ANTARA, Member of Rotary club, founder of a page Manoscope that works on mental health awareness.
My specialization is in the clinical field worked with different hospitals and with famous psychiatrists.
We are living changing world that is reaped new possibilities. Nobody was prepared for the whole lot of challenges in every possible area be it our style of living, our system of education etc. It was very difficult for all of us to get accustomed with this new system and style of life.
Since neither students nor teachers were prepared for sudden lockdown, it has become difficult for all of us to continue as per the original plan.
It is normal for us faculties and as well as students to undergo stress because of the uncertainty that we are facing. Thus a proper psychological support should be maintained for mental wellbeing during these difficult times.
Like most teaching methods online learning also has its own set of positives and negatives.
The online learning offers teachers an efficient way to deliver lessons to students. Online learning has a number of tools such as PDFs, PPTs, videos etc., & teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans.
Online education allows schools to reach out a more extensive network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries.
Online lectures can be recorded archived and shared for future reference. This allows students to access the learning at a time of their comfort. Online learning has reduced financial cost. Online education is far more affordable as compared to physical learning because it eliminates the cost points of student transportation, student meals and most importantly real estate.
Online classes have reduced the chances of student missing out lessons.
On the other hand, for many students the online learning is a struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. There are higher chances that people will get easily distracted by social media or other sites, thus hampers the lessons.
Another major challenge of online classes is internet connectivity. It has been found out that many pupils in the rural areas have committed suicides as they couldn’t get continuous supply of internet facilities.
The increased screen time is one of the biggest disadvantages of online learning. Sometimes students also develop bad posture due to staying hunched in front of a screen.
Students must take plenty of breaks from screen to refresh their mind and body.
Several researches have been conducted and the results show that online learning and teaching shows that they are effective only if the students have consisted access to internet and computers.
Research on homeschooling shows that it works well for students who have intentional personalized & sufficient resources.
Learning & development have been interrupted and disrupted for millions of students. One of the most critical opportunity gaps is the uneven access to the internet and other devices.
So the education system should come up with innovative solutions and use open source platforms for digital transformation & to make there tech-infrastructure.
In a socially distanced post Covid 19 world, educators will have to turn to technology to ensure better learning experiences for students.
Still keep up learning and embrace new experiences, see opportunities surprise yourself.
