Can Online Learning Replace the School Classroom?

The fact that COVID has changed the way we live is not news anymore. It has affected every aspect of our lives including business, entertainment, hospitality and education. Some of us are trying to cope with these radical changes brought about by this pandemic, while the rest are still facing the repercussions. We are still unaware as to how permanent these changes are and what the new normal in the new future is going to be in these sectors.
When it was clear that this virus is here to stay, institutions in the educational sector closed down and started moving towards online teaching. Students and teachers adapted to this rather quickly, but this success has led to widespread speculation that the pandemic has marked a transformative change in the education system, especially when it comes to higher education. Many are claiming that the future of college education is online.
As a matter of fact, it is not entirely black and white. There are many greys in between. The gradual shift of the education system seems to lean more towards a hybrid style of learning – A mix of both online and offline platforms. Although it is evident that campus learning will return, with it will come a plethora of online learning platforms and options. However, will one overshadow the other? Ideally, it should be a good balance of both online and offline learning, keeping in mind the aim of creating a holistic education system for students today. When it comes to college education tough, it is quite clear that it cannot be supported by online learning alone.

Immersive Campus Life is not quite the same as a Virtual One

University does not just comprise of textbooks and lectures in class. It is a lot more than that. From the perspective of a student, the presence of peers and teachers around them gives them an opportunity to interact freely which can lead to numerous possibilities. Living on a campus encompasses making lifelong friends and communicating with people from various diversities from around the world. This not only expands a student’s mental horizon but also exposes him to different cultural backgrounds which is also an important part of education. Not being on campus takes away the joy of bonding with friends and engaging with them after class. It is not the same as making friends online and carrying out digital interactions. Students also lose out the experience of joining societies and clubs in order to learn new skills. Yes, it possible to learn new skills online, but the process of being a part of physical group and feeling the comradery is not something they will find on a virtual platform.

Login from Anywhere. Learn Anytime. Except, it’s not that Simple

Online education does bring with it the ease of accessibility and the privilege of remote learning. But it is still an elite concept. It takes a few things for granted for the student sitting on the other end. He she has to have a laptop, a good internet connection and a private learning space without disturbance. In India, it highly uncertain that all these prerequisites are met by each and every student. If one does not have access to a good Wi-Fi or a private space where they can study without disturbance, it is not possible to get the best out of online learning. Only those who have the right ecosystem can experience online learning to the fullest.

The Great Leveler

Outside of money related limitations, there additionally exist social imperatives that students from over the world may need to manage. Students across colleges have spoken about psychological wellness conditions that frequently have triggers at home – in some cases life is a break from passionate triggers, basic emotional well-being conditions, just as family issues. Additionally, being at home could mean leaving students in a problematic learning climate – even those with no basic triggers or condition frequently guarantee that it is hard to zero in on scholastic perusing and assignments when at home, since they’re regularly approached to do errands and given different obligations at home. A school ground is vital as a spot to encourage learning – one that establishes a climate where students can center and learn. It fills in as an equalizer, where everybody approaches similar structures, administrations, and assets – including wireless associations, study spaces, books and libraries, and even one-on-one communications with teachers and directing focuses. This makes social and money related weaknesses essentially less conspicuous, and is too grave to even consider discounting while thinking about the fate of education.

Zoom Online Classes don’t cover Everything

While it could be anything but difficult to adjust to internet learning for standard hypothetical subjects, that isn’t the situation for a variety of orders and fields that students try to spend significant time in. Internet learning removes significant assets, for example, lab facilities and studios – assets that are fundamental for certain subjects and can’t be recreated at home. For professional majors like theater, film, music, dance (the rundown is perpetual) – the change to web based learning is removing beyond what it can give. Being on campus permits classes to have field visits in the region of their investigation, permitting them to notice genuine utilizations of the subjects they are contemplating. This, as well, can’t be supplanted by online classes.

Epilogue

Along these lines, while it’s praiseworthy that the training area has adjusted so rapidly to the pandemic, and has permitted those even outside of formal schooling settings to get to talks, conversations and readings, there’s no online instruction (particularly for college) accompanies its own arrangement of difficulties. It very well may be exclusionary, and risks promoting the idea that college is essentially about hypothetical scholastics. The fate of education, hence, must be a sound blend of online and offline – with the former being an add-on to the latter. Campus life must stay unaltered.

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