Pros and Cons of Online Learning in India during Covid Crisis

The pandemic gave rise to many changes in all the industries. One common term which is related to the pandemic is “new normal”. Well, the new normal when it comes to education is online education. Online education has come up with different methods of teaching and learning. It is not only India, but the whole world is finding better options to provide the best learning experience to the students. Currently, digital learning is an inevitable resource for students, colleges, and schools. Online education is a new experience for the students, institutions, and even for the teachers. Teachers are trying various methods to make this online learning exciting and effective.
Now online education has become a common way of learning platform not only for the core subjects but also for extracurricular activities. We can visualize a tremendous growth and demand for online education, and hopefully, this will continue for the come years. Though online education seems effective, there are some flaws too. But rectifying it can help the educational institutions develop new and different strategies to ensure promising education to the students. 

Pros of Online Learning:

Education to More Number of students:

As the students can attend the class from any place, the attendance level has gradually increased, and only a few miss their classes. Similarly, there is a hike in students attending online classes as it is more convenient.

Online education is comparatively affordable:

When compared to physical education, online education is more affordable. The parents needn’t pay for accommodation, transportation, and food as they attend classes from their own homes. In addition, many educational institutions are offering discounts for online learning, which is a great relief for the students and parents.

Easy Access to classes at any time and place:

This is one of the major advantages. The students can easily attend classes from any location. And so, many students are taking educations as there is no restriction for geographical boundaries. Many students from abroad are taking online classes from schools in India. Additionally, the student can access the classes at any time of the day as it’s recorded; this facility helps students to have a thorough knowledge of each topic taught in the class even if they miss out on the online classes.

Online Learning increased the Efficiency of Learning:

As online learning is a new platform for many institutions, they implement different teaching methods to make learning effective and productive. Online learning possesses many tools like podcasts, PDF’s and videos which are much beneficial for the students to learn the topic in detail without limiting them to textbooks.

Online learning introduced Various Teaching Styles:

All the students don’t follow the same learning style; some will be comfortable with audio, while others with video and few will be comfortable with live classrooms. Online learning provides ample opportunities for the students to learn according to their personalized learning style.

Cons of Online Learning:

Technological Issues:

One of the main challenges faced by online learning is internet connectivity. Though the internet speed is pretty good in cities, it isn’t the same in small towns and villages. A disturbed connection creates much distraction in learning.

Increased Screen Time is a concern for the Parents: 

As we live in the era of technology, the use of gadgets was already high. Now with the
commencement of online education, screen time has tremendously increased. Allotting breaks during each session will be a perfect solution for this, and the students get refreshed and can prep themselves for the next session.

Lack of socializing:

Through online learning, students hardly get time to communicate with their classmates. There is no chance for mingling with their peer groups. Implementing more interactive sessions between students and teachers will be helpful to tackle this issue.

Students Miss their School Life and Fun:

Students miss their best days in life as they learn many things by mingling with their friends. In online learning, students tend to feel isolated. Allotting some time to communicate with the peer group via email, video conferring, or online messages can help control this issue.

Teachers Have to Be Updated with Technological Knowledge:

As all are not good with technology, it takes much time for the teachers to learn new tools and techniques related to online teaching. To combat this, providing regular online sessions on the latest technology for teachers will help a lot. Online learning can offer great learning opportunities to students of all ages. To make online education successful, the institutions, facilitators, and students should work hand in hand to gain maximum out of it and avoid drawbacks.