Now, education has changed dramatically, and attending online classes is a new normal for students. While the idea of attending online classes might sound appealing for a lot of reasons attending classes from the comfort of home, no morning hustles, and no being hungry in the midst of the classes. The sad truth is not all of us all privileged enough to enjoy online classes. Even for those who do not face economic hardships online classes pose problems. This quick-fix solution for education has significant drawbacks.
The Problem of Connectivity
The biggest problem online classes become apparent when we look at children belonging to economically weaker sections. The digital divide is real and painfully real. In a recent survey conducted by NCERT, it was found that around 27% of schoolchildren do not have smartphones or laptops to access online classes. Online classes must happen in this age of social distancing. But the relentless push for this technocratic approach by policymakers who lack an understanding of the ground realities of the internet and hardware access to the students of this country it may possibly create a digital divide within students already struggling with class caste and gender inequality. The number of students with access to smartphones or laptops is already low and this is including siblings and other children who have to share their devices.
Often these children also have to deal with crashing timetables and lack of enough screen time. Lockdown has also ensured that other places to access the internet like internet cafes have also been shut. With this, the number of disconnected students is only Rising. Students also have to deal with frequent disruptions in electricity and party network connectivity this leads to destruction in education and further leads to children being left behind on the education curve. Recently there is some good news. From state governments have started TV channels to help children who are disconnected and do not have access to the internet. The government is also providing requisite digital support for online classes to a few families. With this, we can hope that so the number of children left behind on the learning curve will reduce.
The Problem of Mental Connectivity
Psychiatrists and teachers say that month of being on screen has made children fatigued and disinterested. even those students who are academically strong have not been participating like before. According to teachers, there are very few questions asked in classes now and even when devices are unmuted the interaction is almost non-existent interaction is almost nonexistent. Online classes have become robotic and monotonous. It is a faceless experience and a burden for students.
Even students who were mysterious or friendly at the start is now just mute spectators. Talk about web series holidays and other activities that have now been reduced to a yes or a no. Online classes have removed any sort of connection or interaction between students and teachers. Video calls are nowhere near the connectivity of an actual physical torque and this is painfully evident in online classes. In online classes, the nuances of nonverbal communication is lost. In a classroom, there was unification now the teacher and students exist in Different Worlds. This is making students dull and lifeless even mischievous students. Mischief is a group activity and depends on having group interaction and when that is nonexistent the Mischief also disappears.
Kids and Classes
Elementary school children are supposed to be the most active group of children but online classes get in the way nowadays. It is hard to do with little children through video calling app. Naturally have lower attention span hence making it harder for them to pay attention and keep quiet. And this is becoming harder with how monotonous online classes can become. Also at this level education heavily depends on learning skills from another person, co playing, sharing, and learning to differentiate appropriate and inappropriate behavior. and online education does little to help with this. Students at this age need the continual assistance of an adult but teachers can only help so much behind a glass screen.
The lockdown leads to a significant loss of learning time for students. And the online class was a solution proposed to reduce academic damage. Although it might have seemed like a good solution, it is not. India has more than 25 school going students. And providing a one-size-fits-all solution is not possible. And this is a problem with online classes as well.
Written By - Joshua Jedidiah Ramesh
Edited By - Vaibhav Sharma
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