Covid-19 outbreak: Is its impact on learning transient or transformational
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A streamlining of processes and adequate availability of tools and techniques will mitigate the challenges of online learning,
As more than 30 % of the entire world is currently under lockdown, the damages caused by Covid-19 is enormous. The scale of devastation to economy and to the communities are mindboggling. However, the human race is resilient and will surely overcome these testing times. Although learning is a lifelong process, when life itself is threatened, the learning obviously takes a back seat.
Education is the most rewarding and satisfying aspect of humanity. It empowers us to face the challenges bravely. In order to establish and reiterate the same, MHRD had undertaken various online initiatives to make maximum utilisation of this social distancing by sitting at home. Information regarding the freely available educational resources (at no cost) were shared with all the educational institutions across India.
However, there are many challenges that need to be addressed which include avoiding badly designed classes/lectures, slow response times, taking care of insufficient video interaction, inadequate training of the people, limitations in the infrastructure availability and support etc. Most of these issues stem from unanticipated turn of events. It does take some time for the mind to get adjusted to the new requirements/restrictions.
The initial enthusiasm to jump into the digital world fades exponentially due to the amount of work required to create a 10 minute video, leave alone the quality of the video or editing the video. Excluding metros and big cities, the internet connection through mobile phones is the main option or the only option currently available. Since no one had anticipated this, many (both students and the teachers) may not be having broadband connection at their disposal.
Many educational institutions had already established a dedicated web team (IT support), but the IT support team may not be familiar with the teaching modalities that is being followed by various faculty members. A process which works flawlessly for a language course cannot be a good solution for some science courses. In this digital world, everyone who has a means to a mobile phone can search and find things for learning, however teaching effective online lectures per se is not easy.
Every university has hundreds of courses with a definite syllabus and reference books for the courses that are included in the curriculum. Finding a video that exactly teaches the same topic is not without hiccups. In most cases, the already available resources may supplement the syllabus but cannot directly substitute the lectures.
The support, the faculty member can get from IT support team is also another challenge that needs to be carefully worked out. The digital fluency of faculty members varies drastically. Creating online lectures is an entirely different ball game compared to using the internet and watching video. Creation of online lecture requires tools and techniques in addition to good quality content.
The IT team is also overwhelmed by the sudden surge in support request from administration, faculty members and students. Creation of dedicated web resources for providing online support to different web browsers, different mobile platforms within a short span of time is a daunting task for the IT people. Limitation from infrastructure facility may include the load the university servers can handle, the bandwidth available for live streaming, limitations imposed by firewalls are to name a few.
When we look at the limitations from the faculty side, the poor IT infrastructure/devices available at the home of the faculty, inadequate net availability/connectivity, preparation of presentations, non-availability of books and journals at the residence are some of the limitations.
When we look at the student’s side, online direct interactions (synchronous mode) are the preferred mode for younger learners. But adult learners are fine with recorded lectures (asynchronous mode). In either case, the availability and quality of the internet are detrimental factors. There is also a strong scepticism that the online lectures/classes are subpar in quality and interaction compared to traditional classes.
As the scepticism about effectiveness of online learning is always creeping in the mind of the learner, it is important to keep in mind that this emergency approach should recognise learning as both a social and a cognitive process, and not merely a matter of information transmission through online lectures. A feel-good factor of online lectures will have a long-lasting effect on the learning of the younger generation for the years to come. Rather than rushing to find a quick fix, a systematic approach should be followed which will have a far-reaching consequence in the advancement of online learning and its impact on the society. A cautionary approach with a streamlining of process and adequate availability of resources (tools and techniques) may mitigate the surprises we may face in the future.
Shifting from traditional learning to online learning, only time will tell whether the latter is transient or transformational.
However, there are many challenges that need to be addressed which include avoiding badly designed classes/lectures, slow response times, taking care of insufficient video interaction, inadequate training of the people, limitations in the infrastructure availability and support etc. Most of these issues stem from unanticipated turn of events. It does take some time for the mind to get adjusted to the new requirements/restrictions.
The initial enthusiasm to jump into the digital world fades exponentially due to the amount of work required to create a 10 minute video, leave alone the quality of the video or editing the video. Excluding metros and big cities, the internet connection through mobile phones is the main option or the only option currently available. Since no one had anticipated this, many (both students and the teachers) may not be having broadband connection at their disposal.
Many educational institutions had already established a dedicated web team (IT support), but the IT support team may not be familiar with the teaching modalities that is being followed by various faculty members. A process which works flawlessly for a language course cannot be a good solution for some science courses. In this digital world, everyone who has a means to a mobile phone can search and find things for learning, however teaching effective online lectures per se is not easy.
Every university has hundreds of courses with a definite syllabus and reference books for the courses that are included in the curriculum. Finding a video that exactly teaches the same topic is not without hiccups. In most cases, the already available resources may supplement the syllabus but cannot directly substitute the lectures.
The support, the faculty member can get from IT support team is also another challenge that needs to be carefully worked out. The digital fluency of faculty members varies drastically. Creating online lectures is an entirely different ball game compared to using the internet and watching video. Creation of online lecture requires tools and techniques in addition to good quality content.
The IT team is also overwhelmed by the sudden surge in support request from administration, faculty members and students. Creation of dedicated web resources for providing online support to different web browsers, different mobile platforms within a short span of time is a daunting task for the IT people. Limitation from infrastructure facility may include the load the university servers can handle, the bandwidth available for live streaming, limitations imposed by firewalls are to name a few.
When we look at the limitations from the faculty side, the poor IT infrastructure/devices available at the home of the faculty, inadequate net availability/connectivity, preparation of presentations, non-availability of books and journals at the residence are some of the limitations.
When we look at the student’s side, online direct interactions (synchronous mode) are the preferred mode for younger learners. But adult learners are fine with recorded lectures (asynchronous mode). In either case, the availability and quality of the internet are detrimental factors. There is also a strong scepticism that the online lectures/classes are subpar in quality and interaction compared to traditional classes.
As the scepticism about effectiveness of online learning is always creeping in the mind of the learner, it is important to keep in mind that this emergency approach should recognise learning as both a social and a cognitive process, and not merely a matter of information transmission through online lectures. A feel-good factor of online lectures will have a long-lasting effect on the learning of the younger generation for the years to come. Rather than rushing to find a quick fix, a systematic approach should be followed which will have a far-reaching consequence in the advancement of online learning and its impact on the society. A cautionary approach with a streamlining of process and adequate availability of resources (tools and techniques) may mitigate the surprises we may face in the future.
Shifting from traditional learning to online learning, only time will tell whether the latter is transient or transformational.
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