Are online teaching and learning a new stepping stone in education
There is no doubt that online learning is a new stepping stone in education with many advantages and disadvantages. As we all know, online learning facilities have existed for many years, but the Covid 19 pandemic brought a significant spike in online learners’ interest. It left us with no other choice but to continue learning during the pandemic is necessary. So we accepted online learning wholeheartedly. Everyone knows that the speciality of online education is we don’t need to step out of our houses for teaching and learning; however, it takes a little time to adjust compared to traditional classrooms.
How does this new platform affect the teaching method and style?
Like this famous quote: “Teaching creates all the other professions”, there is no doubt that teachers play a significant role in education. But can we imagine what the changes happened when the live classrooms changed into an online platform? Obviously, teachers faced many difficulties adjusting to the new teaching medium, but our teachers are ready to take on any challenge for their students.
A few problems for teachers while taking classes online
- Lack of attachment with the students.
- Teachers who are not much aware of the technologies feel a lot of trouble while taking online classes.
- Teaching in front of a camera brings a lot of discomfort for teachers with no formal training.
- Blackboard is a significant factor in a classroom. Even though digital platforms provide different facilities like a whiteboard, screen share, chat, etc., nothing can replace a blackboard.
- Teachers’ movements are limited, like in live classrooms.
- Online assessment and evaluation are more complicated, time-consuming and cause mental pressure.
- Due to network issues, power failures, and other technical problems, teachers and students may miss their classes.
- Some teachers cannot afford laptops, tablets, etc., so they depend on mobile phones. Looking at the small screen and teaching the students is very discomfort for teachers.
- Apart from all these difficulties, teachers are trying to teach well through these new digital platforms. They never miss their students during the pandemic.
From the students’ point of view
Do you think that how does this online learning affect students’ studies? We can analyse some positive and negative impacts on students regarding online learning;
- Online learning is not possible for students who need special attention.
- Students are missing the real classroom conversation with teachers and friends.
- They cannot engage in school activities, celebrations, reading from school libraries etc.
- Proper time management is a significant problem.
- Many students can’t access online education because of the unavailability of smartphones in their homes.
- Students cannot spend their time productively because of the overburden of homework, exercises and writing notes.
- Submitting assignments is not taken seriously.
- Students feel a lot of stress spending many hours in front of the screen.
- Lack of physical movement causes many issues among students.
- Students are not much engaged in asking doubts or communicating with teachers.
- The teacher dictates the notes in the classrooms, and in online learning, students need to spend extra time completing their notes after class.
Whatever the pros and cons, online learning brings profound changes to the education field. Our teachers and students are now comfortably using these digital platforms for teaching and learning. Moreover, we know how to use these digital online platforms efficiently and are ready to face any difficulties to continue our teaching-learning process.