With the nationwide lockdown and shut down of schools and colleges, educational institutions in India came out with a solution called ONLINE CLASSES. Here are five reasons, why online classes may not be a good idea for students.
Online education is a trend that has become increasingly popular in India with the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic. Online lessons are tracing their pathway of becoming a normal and are helping educational institutions to move ahead with the academic calendar during the time of the pandemic.
It’s not like, online classes weren’t popular prior to 2020, but there is no doubt that this digitalisation of education gained momentum in India with the perspective to beat the deadly virus that causes COVID-19 disease. As we are slowly and steadily resuming back to normal, concerns regarding the online education system are popping.
Though online classes provide a world of opportunity to students who otherwise could not easily access to education but trying to accustom every student with it is alarming.
Here are five reasons, why online classes may not be a good idea for students especially in a country like India. Let’s have a look:
1. No engagement of students:
One of the most glaring issues with online classes is the lack of interpersonal communication. With no engagement between students and teachers, middle and high school students are deprived of the attention that is necessary for their growth. Through the arrangement of the classroom on an online platform, students are unable to interact with each other and that leads to the disadvantage of one-on-one support.
Online classes are unable to provide students the same discussion-rich as they used to get in the traditional classrooms. These virtual classes can be a downfall for a student who lacks basic skills. Teachers should focus on making the classes interesting and engaging to create a better learning experience for students.
2. Heavy amount of assignments:
Online classes are coming up with a heavy workload on students. Teachers are providing students with huge assignments to maintain the syllabus. As all students can not actively participate in the discussion orally during an online class, they are provided with more assignments to get in touch with the topic.
Because of the sudden increase in the assignments, many students have started taking them for granted. While for some students, these heavy assignments are just being stressful affecting their mental and physical health.
3. Potential dangers of internet exposure:
Experts have expressed alarm about the potential dangers of internet exposure for young children and are scared about this digital shift that may alienate economically disadvantaged students who are not having access to the technology digital learning requires.
It is also feared that too much internet exposure puts children at the risk of online sexual exploitation. High involvement of young children with internet and social platforms risks them and push them towards the side of vulnerability. Predatory adults taking advantage of the situation can build online contacts with gullible children in order to trick or pressurize them into sexual behaviour.
The appalling virus has caused young children and students to stick with the screens of their mobile phones. This shift in the scenario is ultimately affecting their growth, pushing them towards darkness whose consequences will be visible in the coming future.
4. No deduction in school fees:
This one of the debated topics in India since the lockdown started. The nationwide lockdown resulted in the termination of the classes in all the educational institutions of the country. However, in the month of June, the institutions began with the new academic session but online as the traditional classes weren’t allowed to function.
It is being argued that schools and colleges should restructure their fee plan as students are not availing the facilities provided by the institutions. Schools should take only tuition fees rather than including all the expenses they usually take from the students.
5. Affects mental as well as physical health of the students:
Studying through phones and laptops is affecting students mentally as well as physically. The burden of assignments and their successful submission is creating a pressure on young minds. This virtual form of studying is stressing on the need for students to sit hours in front of their electronic gadgets to maintain their attendance sheet.
The struggle is not same for everyone- while some students are stressing about homework and assignments, there are many students who could not even access this facility to study online. Students who live in metro cities and cities with good internet connection are able to attend the online lectures, but those who went back home to their villages or live in small towns struggle with the internet speed and are mostly unable to attend the class.
Let’s not forget the fact that there is still a major population in our country who do not have the availability of every sort of comfort. Many students during these few months faced difficulty in attending their classes as they do not have the accessibility to devices like mobile phones and laptops.