Amid lockdown, Online education takes driver's seat during corona crisis

At the time of the unprecedented coronavirus crisis in the country, online education has now taken the driver's seat in terms of reliance on imparting knowledge virtually as compared to the conventional method of face to face teaching.

Narrating her experience of studying through virtual means, Laveena Sansanwal a class XII student said, "I have completed my 11th standard and preparing for CLAT exam online, we do not have any other option in this lockdown. Before this, I was not dependent on online studies, but we are blessed that we have access to internet and computers because many students do not have it."

She added, "Our education structure is different and only limited people have access to it. Students have many distractions while studying online because it does not take second to click to any other websites or social media. In that case, students should be guided by parents what I feel."

She feels that studying can only be the future if "all the students have access to internet and computers, then only we can enter to this model of education."

Talking about the future of online education, Manav Rachna International Institute president Prashant Bhalla said, "Before people were seeing technology as a support system, now I think it will come on the driving seat and everyone will use it as a focal point to do things."

Bhalla stressed that technology has become an enabler. "Coronavirus has affected the world. The education system has been affected a lot in that way. Institutions cannot run physically. So, online platforms are definitely one thing that really helped. I would say technology has become an enabler right now," he added.

Speaking about the pros and cons of online education, Pavan Duggal, cybersecurity expert said, "An unprecedented public health emergency has forced millions of people to be indoors, which effectively means the children are under massive online risks."

The recent report by the UNICEF pointed out an increase in exposure of children because of online activities is the 'tip of the iceberg'. "The ground reality is completely different as more than a billion people are being asked to stay in lockdown and children staying at homes and they are now suddenly doing their activities at home," he added.

Duggal said that when children are at home, there exists communication and a generation gap among parents resulting in children not sharing their experiences with their parents meng that "they are under far more potential risk from various online threats whether it is cyber-bullying or by cyber paedophiles."

He believes that the experiences of online education during COVID-19 should become an important salient ground for governments to come up with proactive and innovative approaches.

"At this time where the government requires support from old quarters, these online education platforms and service providers are contributing to the chores of creating awareness, skill sets and help the government in achieving its mission in preparing people to deal with challenges that may emerge after the pandemic ends," he further said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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