The lockdown forced by the COVID-19 pandemic across the world has exposed schools and colleges to numerous challenges, challenges that have changed the very concept of education forever. One of the major issues is that parents in many schools have started questioning the very efficacy of so-called online classes. Many have even withdrawn their children from private schools amid growing financial difficulties, poor quality of online classes, and the resulting health problems associated with hours of exposure to laptop screens. A majority of such parents have begun withdrawing their children from 'nursery and pre-nursery schools' according to an article in the Hindustan Times newspaper appearing in the July-17 2020 edition. Some parents have decided to home-school their children, especially in families where only one of the two parents is working. Home-makers who have had a decent level of education believe they can do a better job than schools in teaching their children at home.
While financial considerations matter, what has forced parents to withdraw their children from schools charging a hefty amount of fees, is the poor quality of online classes conducted by them. Unfortunately, the lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced schools to adopt online teaching platforms. Unfortunately, most of these schools have not had enough experience in such platforms and as a result, they have taken to posting pre-recorded videos of lessons and units with nominal use of blackboards in the background. Most of these pre-recorded videos are one-way lectures and they don't cater to a healthy interaction between the teacher and her students. This is even worse in many senior classes where online classes take place in this manner.
The way most schools have taken up to posting pre-recorded videos in the name of online classes has exposed the large divide that exists between traditional schools and progressive schools. While traditional schools post pre-recorded videos on Youtube and Whatsapp, progressive schools conduct classes on Google Hangout or even Zoom. Online classes conducted on Zoom and Google Hangout are interactive, innovative, and offer immense scope for teacher-student interaction. But then, few can afford the fees of progressive schools with the result that a large number of parents who can't afford to send their children to such schools have expressed dissatisfaction with the kind of online classes their traditional schools have been conducting. In most of the so-called online classes being conducted, it is the lack of two-way communication during the class that is missing. The ability to discuss or answer topics and other important points is what affects the quality of the session.
Similarly, the manner in which many traditional schools have been conducting so-called online assessments has a lot to be desired. Questions are shared on WhatsApp and then students submit multiple photographs on Whatsapp often overburdening teachers with the number of sheets to assess. Errors are bound to emerge in such cases, often leading to teachers to do a hasty but ineffectual assessment of the answers submitted by their students ( but then, you can't blame them). Progressive schools have bought licenses in various LMS platforms like Teamie which makes it easier and more efficient to check online submissions on the laptop, offering the advantages of annotating the answers, submitting comments and adding up marks against each answer. The attachment of a rubric to the answer-sheet helps students to see for themselves, apart from the annotations made by the teacher why they scored fewer marks.
With many teachers taking to online classes for the first time, it is not surprising how misunderstood the concept is. While it is true, many schools cannot afford paid LMS platforms, some platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts might be explored to make the shift to the online learning platform more viable. Unfortunately, few schools and their students are tech-savvy and fewer still are privileged enough to afford a decent laptop-let alone a smartphone. Looking at how things are, it is high time school heads and curriculum planners did something to resolve the matter. To make looking at pre-recorded videos for hours less tedious and stressful it is important to explore different learning platforms that can cater to healthy interaction, emotional connect and meaningful learning.
It is within the context of the recent switch to online learning and the poor quality of it that one wonders if existing open-learning and distance learning platforms might not, after all, be more viable than the existing traditional school and college full time learning models. The National Institute of Open Schooling is doing a good job with its contactless learning programme which has however a few contact sessions. It is better equipped to handle the situation we are facing as educationists all over the country right now. The Indira Gandhi National Open University or the People's University has become even more viable in times of lockdown. MOOCs or Massive Online Courses have become even more viable today. Carefully designed webinars that offer two-way communication or student-teacher interaction could be a viable option for better online education at the post-school level. However, these learning platforms are better suited for mature learners and perhaps not young children at the pre-school level or even intermediate school levels.
The fact remains, in spite of all this that school education is undergoing a crisis right now from which it will be very difficult to recover for years to come. The most important task is to regain the trust of parents about the efficacy of online platforms. We need to convince parents to bring their children back to school. We need to equip not just teachers but also students with 21st Century skills that include research skills, skills in collaborative learning. What is most important of all, as Prime Minister Narender Modi has said, is to "Skill, reskill and upskill" not just the teachers but also the youth. As of now what matters most is to be tech-savvy, to know how to handle technology pertaining to the dissemination of learning online. Not knowing how to login to learning platforms, adjust mics, switch on cameras and enter data, answers and comments online are skills that will make or destroy the efficacy of online learning modules.
Unless we address the issues faced by the stakeholders in education today, we will see more and more parents pulling their children out of school. More and more parents will resort to home-schooling rather than traditional schooling. More and more students will switch over to distance learning platforms. Many schools, mostly private schools will face a financial crisis and they will be forced to shut down. By the time things get back to a "new normal" things will have deteriorated so badly that normal schooling will have become a thing of the past! While content knowledge might continue to be an advantage, it will be tech-knowledge that will be the deciding factor in the new tomorrow.
With many teachers taking to online classes for the first time, it is not surprising how misunderstood the concept is. While it is true, many schools cannot afford paid LMS platforms, some platforms like Zoom and Google Hangouts might be explored to make the shift to the online learning platform more viable. Unfortunately, few schools and their students are tech-savvy and fewer still are privileged enough to afford a decent laptop-let alone a smartphone. Looking at how things are, it is high time school heads and curriculum planners did something to resolve the matter. To make looking at pre-recorded videos for hours less tedious and stressful it is important to explore different learning platforms that can cater to healthy interaction, emotional connect and meaningful learning.
It is within the context of the recent switch to online learning and the poor quality of it that one wonders if existing open-learning and distance learning platforms might not, after all, be more viable than the existing traditional school and college full time learning models. The National Institute of Open Schooling is doing a good job with its contactless learning programme which has however a few contact sessions. It is better equipped to handle the situation we are facing as educationists all over the country right now. The Indira Gandhi National Open University or the People's University has become even more viable in times of lockdown. MOOCs or Massive Online Courses have become even more viable today. Carefully designed webinars that offer two-way communication or student-teacher interaction could be a viable option for better online education at the post-school level. However, these learning platforms are better suited for mature learners and perhaps not young children at the pre-school level or even intermediate school levels.
The fact remains, in spite of all this that school education is undergoing a crisis right now from which it will be very difficult to recover for years to come. The most important task is to regain the trust of parents about the efficacy of online platforms. We need to convince parents to bring their children back to school. We need to equip not just teachers but also students with 21st Century skills that include research skills, skills in collaborative learning. What is most important of all, as Prime Minister Narender Modi has said, is to "Skill, reskill and upskill" not just the teachers but also the youth. As of now what matters most is to be tech-savvy, to know how to handle technology pertaining to the dissemination of learning online. Not knowing how to login to learning platforms, adjust mics, switch on cameras and enter data, answers and comments online are skills that will make or destroy the efficacy of online learning modules.
Unless we address the issues faced by the stakeholders in education today, we will see more and more parents pulling their children out of school. More and more parents will resort to home-schooling rather than traditional schooling. More and more students will switch over to distance learning platforms. Many schools, mostly private schools will face a financial crisis and they will be forced to shut down. By the time things get back to a "new normal" things will have deteriorated so badly that normal schooling will have become a thing of the past! While content knowledge might continue to be an advantage, it will be tech-knowledge that will be the deciding factor in the new tomorrow.
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