Online Teaching: A Boon or Bane for Current Generation
Written by: Akhila Mohan
Edited by: Ritika Rana
Since the pandemic, we have seen that technology has become an integral part of our lives, whether it be our profession, academics or personal sphere of our life, technology has managed to secure a position at all levels of our life. We see how the smartphone revolution, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), robotics, blockchain technologies and the Internet have ushered a change at a pace faster than ever before.
Technology has enabled learning into an online experience, by enhancing and supplementing regular classroom-based pedagogy. It also offers more flexibility and supports learning than traditional formats. Throughout the country, the Government of India is encouraging several e-learning projects under the National Mission on Education through ICT initiatives such as Swayam, Swayam-Prabha, National Digital Library, e-Yantra, Virtual Lab, that are providing help to students as well as teachers in upskilling. The pandemic has resulted in a tectonic shift in our education system. Many universities and higher education institutions have partially or fully shifted to the online mode of teaching and are reporting considerable success in their endeavours. The need for social distancing will continue to affect traditional learning processes.
Therefore a “new normal” in education will emerge which will possibly have a lasting influence. Also, this online mode of education has brought in many challenges.
Conducting remotely proctored exams is perhaps the most important one. Replacing exams by projects or take-home challenges can provide some viable and cost-effective alternatives. For conducting laboratory classes, there may be a need to design and deploy a toolbox of online, virtual and remote labs that can be used in different courses to bridge this gap. Another challenge is the absence or lack of human touch. Also, the capacity building of teachers will be crucial to the success of the use of technology in education. Therefore online teaching or mode of education can be a boon or bane varying from person to person. There was once the Spanish flu that hit the country and people were isolated. They then turned to the telephone to connect with people. Similarly, we should also not give up hope and stay connected and adapt to the new normal. To conclude, it has both pros as well as cons but it depends on the individual how he or she manages to make full use out of it.
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