Online education needs some changes and add-ons to flourish: Gourav, KU

We are all aware of the novel coronavirus and its devastating effect. The COVID-19 is affecting 209 countries and territories around the world. On March 11, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a global pandemic. It is affecting every sector i.e. agriculture, economy, education, etc. All the educational institutions have been declared closed because of the novel coronavirus. Most of the institutions are adapting online education techniques which will have a long-term impact on the education sector.

A nationwide lockdown has been announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March-end which forced the educational institutions to shut their normal brick and mortar classes. For this reason, we can see a booming growth of online learning platforms and video conferencing platforms like Zoom. To minimize the academic loss of the students, universities are conducting online classes.

The current scenario is clearly increasing the appreciation for online education. According to India based startup BYJU’s founder Byju Raveendran, this current scenario could be a turning point for the industry and this will not only boost online learning but it will change India’s education system. This scenario will clearly increase the habit of online learning among the students and this will increase the desire to use online classes with their normal classes after the lockdown is lifted.

There has always been a talk of online classrooms. Colleges have been forced to adapt and adopt online methods of instruction. I do not think that my university is going to sustain the online classes even after the lockdowns are lifted because it will be almost impossible for them to complete the whole syllabus through only online classes.

Universities can conduct online classes for the students who have the doubts in offline sessions. This process will consume less time in the next offline classes. Teachers can upload study material and a summary of the offline classes so that students can revise it.

According to me, it totally depends on the courses. Overall, online education is sustainable but the courses which have a long or tough syllabus are hard to complete through online education. For example, courses like MBBS, which needs practical experience, is impossible to complete through online education. It needs to be supplemented with offline intervention for a better understanding of the topics.

Online education needs some changes and add-ons to flourish. Online classes have to increase one-to-one interaction between student and teacher for better understanding. One of the disadvantages of online education is no study group. They need to form study groups so that students can discuss the topics.

Online classes need to be supplemented with offline classes for a better understanding of the course. In brief, the current lockdown scenario will have a long-term impact in the Indian education sector and it is going to change the education system significantly in the future.

About the Author:

Gourav Saikia is currently pursuing his BBA at Kaziranga University. He is a cricket enthusiast and likes reading mystery books.