By : Dr. Aamarpali

The dawn of the New Year 2020 had seen the outbreak of the global pandemic of the novel Corona virus named Covid – 19 which made the modern human civilisation face unprecedented challenges. The challenge now is – how we rise to face the uncertainty, economic disruption owing to curbed mobility, and how we rethink our strategies to move forward. Education of millions across the world is another area of major disruption. The pandemic has resulted in schools being shut across the globe. Over 1.2 billion children, worldwide, are out of the classroom affecting delivery of education abysmally. From the conventional teaching methodology of physical presence of the teacher and the taught in the classroom, the world had made the difficult decision to shut the doors of the schools and adapted the new normal of e-learning, whereby teaching is imparted remotely on digital platforms. This sudden shift to distance learning proved equally disruptive for teachers, students, and parents. Many started wondering whether or not the adoption of online learning is here to stay even in the post-pandemic scenario and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market.

The sudden onset of the pandemic had made it imperative that education delivery system should be ready with some alternative mode of remote dispensation of teaching instruction and this is where online education was thrown up as an alternative model. Fortunately, both basic and higher education did not come to a standstill during lockdown. Instead, it moved online. Teachers suddenly had to address unfamiliar issues in imparting education through digital mediums. Very few teachers had received practical training on conducting online instruction classes. Furthermore, it is not necessary that a good classroom teacher will cope equally well in the online classroom. The fundamental barrier in the process was the reality that more than 30% of India’s population is not computer literate. Many even do not know how to start a computer. Some of the other barriers for online education are:

1. Not every learner can afford a computer, laptop, tablet or even a smart phone. Poorer sections of the society belonging mainly to the informal sector may face difficulties in purchasing a laptop or any smart device.
2. Certain types of subjects and courses, mainly on science, technology and performing arts cannot be taught in the digital mode.
3. Another serious challenge faced by the educators was to transform their conventional lessons into online versions within a very short period.
4. The online education system being dependent on screen-based learning system, in a way, restricts the students to partake in practical classes.
5. The internet connectivity is far from being good everywhere in the country. In quite a few cities of India people are still using 2G or 3G internet connection.
6. Careful application and self-motivation by students are required for online education. Many learners below the age of 17 years are likely to lack these skills.
7. Holding of examinations on the online platform was another challenge. Students will take the examination on their own device, at their own place and in their own time with nobody to check upon them. That required questions are to be so altered that answers were not easily retrievable from books or the internet. The key was to make use of secure technology and best practices in conducting performance assessment in online environment.

Schools and colleges adopted a wide array of virtual learning tools and software that included virtual tutoring platforms and learning management systems. Google Classroom, a free app which functioned like an all-in-one online learning tool was a popular choice. It presented features such as virtual classrooms, shared drives for learning resources or work assignments. It also facilitated video conferencing for one-to-one tutoring. Popularity of the app was proved by more than 50 million downloads from the Play Store during the period of lockdown. 

In India the newly announced National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was released with a vision of remodelling the education system in India aimed at transforming the standards of education by the end of 2040. The two focal points of the New Education Policy are Online Learning and Quality Education. The current circumstances and realities have called for new initiatives. The recent incidence of worldwide pandemic has further necessitated that the country is ready with alternative modes of quality education whenever and wherever conventional in-person mode of education is not feasible. The new policy document was formulated after recognising the importance of leveraging the advantages of technology while accounting for its potential risks and dangers. The salient points of the NEP 2020 in respect of promoting online learning are the following:

1. Conducting carefully designed and appropriately scaled pilot studies to assess the benefits of online/digital education while addressing and mitigating its downsides.
2. Investing in the creation of open and interoperable public digital infrastructure to be utilised by multiple platforms. It should be evolvable so that technology-based solutions do not become outdated with the rapid advances in technology.
3. Recognising that online/digital education cannot be leveraged without eliminating the digital divide by coordinated efforts, such as the Digital India campaign and making available affordable computing devices.
4. Emphasising the need for suitable teachers’ training and development to make a pool of effective online educators.
5. It calls for introducing appropriate blended learning models for different subjects by integrating face-to-face in-person learning with digital instruction and learning. 
6. Creating virtual labs by leveraging existing e-learning platforms such as Diksha, Swayam and Swayamprabha, to provide equal access to quality practical and hands-on experiment-based learning opportunities to all students.  
7. Creating and making available a digital repository of online course content in different languages with a provision for ratings by users for their effectiveness and quality. 

Despite all the challenges that confronted the education sector in this unprecedented pandemic times, the indomitable human spirit and endeavour made the modern human society to rise to the occasion and find a way out of the widespread disruption in the education sector. However, there are still some important questions to answer. For example, can online learning compete with learning in a traditional classroom?  And would employers value online qualifications?

Reference:

1. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/mygurukul/online-teaching-in-the-midst-of-lockdown-20213/
2. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/coronavirus-education-global-covid19-online-digital-learning/
3. https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/latest-studies/story/84-of-teachers-facing-challenges-during-online-classes-survey-1780816-2021-03-18
4. https://www.collegedekho.com/articles/benefits-and-challenges-online-education-in-india/
5. https://www.onlinestudies.com/article/the-versatility-and-effectiveness-of-online-learning/
6. http://neoiasacademy.com/online-and-digital-education-nep-2020/