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| Impact of Covid -19 Pandemic on Education | | | Umesh Sharma
The impact of pandemic Covid-19 is observed in every sector around the world. The education sectors of India as well as world are badly affected by this. It has enforced the world wide lock down creating very bad effect on the students’ life. The outbreak of COVID-19 has advised us that change is inevitable. It has worked as a catalyst for the educational institutions to grow and opt for platforms and techniques, which have not been used before. Education, especially the task of going to a school is one such activity which used to be done on a regular basis in the pre-Covid era, and it is one activity which was an integral part of the daily routine of each parent who has school-going children. Now, as we are approaching the end of Covid-19, it is the right time to take a pause and reflect on what impact Covid left on the student’s achievements and what it may mean for educators. The closure of educational institutions pushed India towards a modernized, digital style of teaching. However, this solution comes with its own unique set of problems. The National Sample Survey of 2017 to 2018 reported that only 23.8% of Indian households had any type of internet access. Furthermore, there is a gender disparity in internet access. Only 16% of women have mobile internet access compared to 36% of their male counterparts. In addition to the gender gap, there is a class divide in place with the impoverished students of India having the least access to the internet.
All around the world, educational institutions are looking towards online learning platforms to continue with the process of educating students. The new normal now is a transformed concept of education with online learning at the core of this transformation. Today, digital learning has emerged as a necessary resource for students and schools all over the world. For many educational institutes, this is an entirely new way of education that they have had to adopt. Online learning is now applicable not just to learn academics but it also extends to learning extracurricular activities for students as well.
While online programmes have significant strengths and offer unprecedented accessibility to quality education, there are weaknesses inherent in the use of this medium that can pose potential threats to the success of any online programme. User friendly and reliable technology is critical to a successful online programme. However, even the most sophisticated technology is not 100% reliable. However, breakdowns can occur at any point along the system. For example, the server which hosts the programme can crash and cut all participants off from the class; a participant may access the class through a networked computer which could go down; individual PCs can have numerous problems which could limit students’ access; finally, the internet connection could fail, or the institution hosting the connection could become bogged down with users and either slow down or fail altogether. In situations like these, the technology is neither seamless nor reliable, and it can detract from the learning experience. Today is a very exciting time for technology and education. Online programmes offer technology-based instructional environments that expand learning opportunities and can provide top quality education through a variety of formats and modalities. In order for an online programme to be successful, the curriculum, the facilitator, the technology, and the students must be carefully considered and balanced in order to take full advantage of the strengths of this format and at the same time avoid pitfalls that could result from its weaknesses.
Role of teachers
Covid-19 has triggered an unprecedented use of technology in the teaching and learning process. While the teachers learned the technical and grappled with the logistics needs for delivering virtual learning, these online classrooms also opened a world of opportunities to re-imagine what learning could look like in the years to come. We are living through what we had anticipated was a distant future. Teachers are possibly the most important element in the whole process, and especially so in relationship with disadvantaged students, for whom the family can often offer only limited support . Teachers should learn how to adapt their role to a situation in which they can communicate only online and in which even students typically performing well at school may tend to lose motivation when shifting to online learning. It is essential to improve teachers’ digital competences across all ages, and this could be done with workshops and training courses which should become part of their continuous professional development. Curriculum materials designed specifically for online use should be developed. which would simply increase duplications without delivering higher efficacy. This does not imply that different models could not coexist, but even in this case this should be well organised and managed.
Role of parents
Parents are also an essential element of the picture, and more so for younger students who cannot be left alone facing the challenges of online learning. Parents should be involved in the design of the strategy and in its implementation as they need to fully understand what is taught and why. Parents should also be informed of the emotional challenges that online learning entails, which are likely to be greater for young children, but which could also affect adolescent students. Parents need to learn how to support their children emotionally and in their daily school tasks. Constant and detailed communication between parents, teachers, and the school is a fundamental element of a successful online learning strategy. |
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