Salman Khan, the founder of the famous e-learning
website “Khan Academy”, has been a pioneer for online education since 2008 and
has been propagating online learning to be the future of all generations to
come. Little did he know that “the future” was not too far away. When the
COVID-19 pandemic struck humanity, it also caught the education system
off-guard and will have far-reaching effects on the future of all kids.
Millions of schools all over the world have resorted
to zoom classes, WhatsApp homework and other modes of e-learning. The children
with access to phones and laptops have been sailing smoothly through the
pandemic, while the families struggling to make ends meet have yet another
burden on their shoulders of having to meet additional expenses of online
learning and gadgets. As a result, the education gap is increasing by leaps and
bounds and it is getting tougher for the economically lower strata of society to meet the
educational demands.
Sal Khans advice on how to manage zoom
classes:
The founder of the non-profit organization Khan
Academy, has been seen pushing for quality education, but not at the cost of
long screen hours, which could impair the cognitive abilities of students. He strongly
suggests smaller batches of shorter duration, for example- 30 minutes of a zoom
class instead of a 55 minute class with a batch size of not more than 10 students, so that each student gets the much-needed
personal attention in these times.
Sal’s opinion on what the Tech- industry
can do for the kids:
Salman Khan says that the gigantic tech industry has
more than enough in terms of capability to cater to the need of all the
children, but what they lack is the resources. Khan academy is able to provide
free classes and free skill development videos because they are backed by
philanthropists, but there are other tech-models that are not backed by anyone
and thus are not always freely available.
Sal says that the students need to be proactive in searching
for study material which is freely available out there which may or may not
have been tested or recommended, but in reality, may prove to be more
competent, more scaled and more trusted.
Sal’s advice to parents accompanying their
kids at home:
The online learning is as a big a challenge for the
students as is for their parents. They need to take active participation in
their children’s lives and keep a check on what’s working out for them and
what’s not. They need to understand what the school is asking of their child,
but also be mindful of the child’s needs and desires. Parents should not try pressurize their children into getting better grades, instead they should opt for an
alternative to boost the morale of the child, which would automatically translate
into progress.
Sal’s Advice to schools:
Virtually what the teachers can do is strengthen the
basics of each student in subjects such as math, reading and writing. Once the
base is rock solid, the students can be asked to venture into different
subjects. If the base is not strong enough, all the other subjects are going to
suffer too and that will put students on a slower track for the rest of their
lives.
Sal’s Khan opinion on distance learning
worsening inequality:
Sal’s biggest concern is the worsening gap in
equality. Unfavorable conditions of several kids make it difficult for them to
attend online classes and there’s nothing a teacher can do about it. The
teachers have seen language skills of students degrading due to the lack of
time spent in an academic setting.
At Khan Academy, the content is always made as engaging as possible, but it is impossible to reach the kids who need the extra personal support. This is one of the cons of online learning and many have had to face such a fate, which further widens the gap of inequality.
Now that the schooling system has taken to online
learning for over a year, it is important to draw some healthy boundaries for
the mental health of our families. We need to be mindful of the kids studying and
the adults working. We should strive to maintain the sanity in our homes and
abstain from anything that ruptures family peace and happiness in these
uncertain times. Lastly, we should be grateful for the resources available to
us and we must pray and hope for the situation to alleviate so that we can get
back to making the world an equal place for all.
Written by - Tushna Choksey
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