Digital Education

https://www.ibef.org/blogs/digital-education-initiatives

**https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-editorials/digital-education-learning-amid-the-
pandemic

https://www.ukfiet.org/2021/examining-the-reality-of-online-education-in-india/

How to select appropriate teaching and learning scenarios and techniques? The rise of
online learning has evolved it into something different. The result is a headache when it
comes to naming these symbiotic relationships. Some people called it as e-learning
others prefer digital learning. The similarities and differences between e-learning and
digital learning make it hard to distinguish, especially in some areas where it is
overlapping each other. But this is something that should be clarified. So teachers,
researchers, trainers, also learners are able to solve their respective educational and
learning issues to improve the value of its impact in the lives of its learners.

E-learning is learning by using electronic media and it is only allows learning through
the internet. Digital learning means learning using digital age technologies (computer,
mobile devices, internet, etc) that can provides a wide range of solutions to enhance
knowledge and performance in real life. Digital learning will provide solutions that e-
learning cannot provide. The experience from digital learning also supports a person's
career in the company.
https://www.schoology.com/blog/digital-learning

Digital initiatives in India contributing to the

functioning of the education system
PJ ACAD @Pracin Jain AcademyFEB 15, 2021, 20:45 IST

How have digital initiatives in India contributed to the functioning of the

education system in the country?
The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication
Technology (NMEICT) leverages the potential of ICT to make teaching and
learning process happen more easily for the benefit of all the learners in
Higher Education Institutions in anytime anywhere mode. It has been
instrumental in increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in Higher
Education. The ‘Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds’
(SWAYAM), an integrated platform, offering online courses and covering
school (9th to 12th) to Post Graduate Level; SWAYAM Prabha providing 32
High Quality Educational Channels through DTH round the clock; the
National Digital Library of India (NDL) developing a framework of virtual
repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility; Free
and Open Source Software for Education (FOSSEE) promoting the use of
open source software in educational institutions; the Virtual Labs Project
developing a fully interactive simulation environment and e-Yantra enabling
effective education across engineering colleges in India on embedded
systems and Robotics are important initiatives under it contributing to the
functioning of the Indian education system.
To universalize digital education across the wide spectrum of schools from
pre-nursery to higher secondary classes, many projects to assist teachers,
scholars and students in their pursuit of learning have been initiated such as
DIKSHA platform (quality e-content for school education), Swayam Prabha
TV Channel (one class, one channel), Online MOOC courses, On Air –
Shiksha Vani, Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY) by NIOS
for differently-abled, e-PathShala, National Repository of Open Educational
Resources (NROER) to develop e-content and energized books, telecast
through TV channels, E-learning portals , webinars, chat groups, distribution
of books etc. Moreover, PM eVIDYA, a comprehensive initiative, unifies all
efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to facilitate multimode access
to education.
The COVID crisis has shown that hoping for the best does not help. We must plan for the worst
and hope for the best. The migrant labour crisis was a recent example of our inability to execute.
Education is in crisis at the moment. Most probably, schools and colleges campuses will be
closed through 2020 due to an increasing number of COVID cases. This could even extend to
2021.
Can we ensure the safety and security of our students, teachers and staff? How do we discipline
students? How can we protect older teachers? Will testing be available at every school and
college? How do we redesign classrooms? Do we have supplies for the schools? Can we afford
to pay teachers without students? Can parents afford to pay fees without work? There are many
unanswered questions.
Our answer to the education crisis during the pandemic has been to offer online education.
However, there are serious issues related to access, devices, content, curation, teachers, training,
testing, exams, grades, funding, facilities, salaries, parents and fees. It is estimated that only
about 25 per cent of Indian households have an internet facility. For rural households, that
number drops to 15 per cent. The worst affected, as always, will be the marginalised, rural and
poor populations.
Digital education is not about videos of lectures on blackboards by teachers on the internet. It is
about appropriate platforms, technology, tools, interactivity, curation, content and a lot more. We
are completely underprepared. Government schools and colleges do not have the resources to
provide digital education. Private schools and colleges are no different. However, they all want
parents to pay full fees to be able to pay their staff and maintain facilities. The financial model
for education is falling apart everywhere during this pandemic. In India, the situation is even
more complex because of the lack of a proper policy on digital education, infrastructure and
multiple languages.
Opinion | Roles of parents, teachers have merged, education must be founded on
compassion
There are many other challenges for the parents beside fees for services which schools and
colleges are not equipped to provide. Who will assure uninterrupted broadband connectivity for
several hours a day? Who will pay for the data? Is there adequate space and peace at home for
students to concentrate? What happens when the power goes out? How to train kids at home to
follow digital discipline? These are huge problems for working parents and poor people in slums
and rural areas.
At the end of the day, education is about motivation, time and content. If you are motivated and
willing to spend the required time to learn, there is enough content by global experts on the
internet. The challenge is curation and mentoring. Unfortunately, teachers are trained to teach
and not mentor. Digital education requires flipped classrooms where you do exactly the opposite
of what you do today. As opposed to listening to lectures by teachers in classes, you listen to
lectures at home. Similarly, as opposed to doing homework at home you do homework with
others in the classrooms. All of this requires a new mindset and framework.
In the past, we took two bold initiatives to help digital education in the future: NOFN —
National Optical Fibre Network (Now called Bharat Network) to connect all 2,50,000 panchayats
at the cost of over Rs 40,000 crore and the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NOFN is
still not completely operational, after almost eight years. However, it has reached many rural
areas telecom operators did not want to serve due to lack of profitability. The Universal Service
Obligation (USO) fund was used to build NOFN.
NOFN was planned as a part of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) to enable the free
flow of information to all. Education and health were the first services that were planned to be
rolled out. It was conceptualised as a bulk broadband common infrastructure for the country.
Overlaying education and health services up to panchayats and villages was an important
component of the strategy.
Opinion | Technological, social, pedagogical issues must be resolved for online teaching
The NKN was established as a high bandwidth, low latency network to connect all knowledge-
creating organisations comprising IITs, IIMs, universities, research labs and other e-governance
institutions up to the district level. It was aimed at encouraging collaborative development and
building a repository of knowledge in all fields. This network exists and is fully functional. But
only a few institutions take full advantage of it because of a lack of understanding, local
facilities, funding and technical expertise. The new policy makes no mention of leveraging this
network effectively. In fact, the government’s entire e-Gov programme works on the backbone
of NKN.
The driving force behind NOFN and NKN was to build an IT-based teaching system, which
could address the shortage of teachers — more so of quality teachers — and school infrastructure
at the bottom of the economic pyramid. For this, free 100 Mbps to 1Gbps bandwidth was
planned at each panchayat.
The NKC also experimented on the use of IT in panchayat schools. It was realised that the
present teacher-centric education and IT-based teaching were not in sync because of the old
mindset and vested interests. The transition from teacher-class based teaching to digital-
education will need multipronged efforts over time.
I understand that NKN is being expanded soon, which is a positive step. There is, however, an
urgent need to relook at the NOFN (BBNL) and make it a core component of the Digital India
initiative and leverage it to provide e-services at the bottom of the economic pyramid. It is time
to use NOFN and NKN to connect all our schools and improve the digital education ecosystem.
All of this will take a long time and substantial resources. The key question at this time is: Why
should parents pay fees when the education system is not prepared to deliver the required
services? People will and should pay only when services are delivered to their satisfaction. In the
process, children are at home, waiting to get the real education they need to succeed. This is a
drain on national resources. The long-term implications of this crisis will be felt in the workforce
in the future.
“Digital India” is not prepared for digital education.
This article first appeared in the print edition on September 3, 2020 under the title ‘The digital
over-promise’. The writer is former chairman of the National Knowledge Commission and the
National Innovation Council
Opinion | Post-pandemic, a shift in mindset will be needed — to teach and learn
Online education comes in shades of grey. In this article, educators,
Prashanthi Karyala and Sarita Kamat, bring the voices of teachers, students
and parents from across the country to the fore, as they highlight the good,
the bad and the ugly faces of online education in India, and the need for
inclusive education policies.
Online Education in India  (Photo: The electronic devices and the book
represent the online and physical modes of learning, respectively. They are
loosely chained, indicating difficulties but with room for solutions. Their
physical proximity symbolises the necessity for blended learning in the future.
Source: Pixabay on Pexels)

With educational institutes closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the

government has been encouraging online education to achieve academic
continuity. Most high-end private and public institutions have made the
switch smoothly using online platforms such as Zoom, Google classrooms,
Microsoft teams, etc., while many still find it a herculean task. The challenges
of online education are multifaceted. It is time that we Indians, as a society,
understand the realms of online education – in India, for India. 

The Good

Online education allows for learning something beyond the norm. A learner
has access to unlimited topics and global experts in niche subjects –
something otherwise not affordable or imaginable for many. Online programs
allow people of a wide age group to learn at their own pace, without
inhibitions, and without compromising on their other responsibilities. 

With the emergence and spread of COVID-19 in India, online education has
trickled down to the most basic level — schools and colleges! When asked
about their experience with online teaching, a student from a college in
Bengaluru said, “The online option is a need in this pandemic situation. It has
brought education to us without us going anywhere, and it is more flexible”.
Probably, students are finding it a welcome change from strict schedules and
long-distance commutes to attend classes. For some others, who find learning
in large classes intimidating, this may be a less stressful option. Many teachers
are making the best of this situation by exploring new methods of teaching
and assessment.

This is encouraging. But the moment online education moves from an optional
to the only form of learning, and that too long term, the bad and the ugly
slowly become evident. India is beginning to get a taste of this now. 

The Bad

Using the internet for entertainment is common, but for online lessons is a big
challenge. Teachers may not be well-versed with creating digital content, and
conveying it effectively online. A sudden expectation from them to upgrade,
and from students to adapt, is unfair.

Body language and eye contact, which are important cues for the teacher, are
difficult to perceive in an online class. “I do not receive continual feedback in
the form of students’ reactions during online sessions, which reduces the
effectiveness of teaching”, says a college teacher in suburban Mumbai. How
many students have paid attention in a class? Of those, how many understood
the lesson? Is the teaching pace alright? Are some students getting left
behind? These questions arise even in traditional classrooms, but they are
harder to address in online classes. A parent of an 8-year-old attending
a private school in Gurgaon says, “There shouldn’t be online classes for such
young kids. Their concentration span is small and they do not pay attention
after a while.” The 8-year-old added, “I hate them (online classes)!”

Even college students seem to value the in-class physical learning experience
much more than a virtual one. Many acknowledge that phones can be very
distracting. In addition, science and technology programs often include
hands-on laboratory sessions, dissertation projects and field trips to
complement theoretical studies. This aspect of learning is severely limited in
online education.
Finally, education is not just about subject knowledge but also about
developing social skills and sportsmanship among the students, which is built
over years. Relying solely on online education may hinder the holistic
development of children, and many may underperform later in their
professional and personal lives. 

The Ugly

While India enjoys a wide geographic and cultural diversity, it also suffers
from a huge socio-economic divide. Only a small part of the Indian population
has access to online education right now. Interrupted power supply, weak or
non-existent internet connectivity, and unaffordability to buy necessary
devices are major concerns. “In a Class of 40 students, after two months of
online classes, around 20 students regularly attend class with whatever device
and connection they have. Around 5 – 8 students are completely absent till
date and rest are fluctuating”, says a school teacher in Ratnagiri in
Maharashtra. A teacher in a government-aided school from the small town of
Chamba in Himachal Pradesh says, “It is a frustrating experience to engage
students of lower classes in online mode. There are network issues on both
teachers’ and students’ ends”. 

To deal with internet connectivity and device availability issues, ‘classes’ in

many places are happening via sharing of videos by teachers over WhatsApp
or YouTube, so that students can watch them at their convenience. This too,
however, comes with difficulties in understanding the lessons and promotes
rote learning. The same is true of pre-recorded sessions aired on the television
(e.g., Swayam Prabha DTH channels) and radio (audio lessons, through All
India Radio), although they do cater to a wider student population that cannot
avail live online classes.

That is not all. With limitations of livelihood in a family, the first ones to
receive a blow are often girls. In a recent survey of 733 students studying in
government schools in Bihar, only 28% of the girls had smartphones in their
homes, in contrast to 36% of the boys. These smartphones almost always
belonged to male adults, often being lesser accessible to girls than boys, and
half of these families could not afford internet data packages. Therefore,
lessons aired on television was the main option for a majority of the students
participating in this survey. However, girls were found to spend
a disproportionately longer time on household chores than boys, which often
overlapped with the time of telecast of these lessons. Such gaps in education
could worsen the already wide gender gap in employment in India.
Students with disabilities are among the most dependent on in-person
education and hence least likely to benefit from distance learning.
A survey by Swabhiman (an NGO working mainly in Odisha), in association
with the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People,
indicated that 73% of the students with disabilities had concerns regarding the
availability of study material in appropriate formats. Also, 79% of their
teachers were apprehensive about teaching effectively without use of touch to
students with learning disorders, autism and low vision. The lack of effective
education may further aggravate the high dropout rates of these children from
schools (nearly 50% pre-COVID) in developing countries. 

Uniform and effective online education in India — what is being

done and what more is possible?

There is a global recognition of the need for inclusive education policies

during the pandemic. To make online education more effective, accessible and
safer, various online resources (links listed below), training programs
and schemes have been developed by the Government of India for students,
teachers and educational institutions. The teaching community has come
together to form a nationwide informal and voluntary network of teachers,
called the Discussion Forum of Online Teaching (DFOT), to discuss different
aspects of online teaching, and create repositories of essential resources.

Cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) could open new

possibilities for innovative and personalized approaches catering to different
learning abilities. IIT Kharagpur has collaborated with Amazon Web Services
to develop the National AI Resource Platform (NAIRP), the future possibilities
of which include monitoring eye movement, motion and other parameters for
better teaching and learning. Google has also indicated future support in AI
based education in India. 

Parting thoughts

Online education opens up a lot of possibilities for students and teachers alike.
Yet, it may also widen the inequalities in the socio-economic fabric of India.
All our policies and interventions with regard to online education should strive
to be inclusive. Good vision, sincere efforts and time will show India the
way ahead.

From the below link

https://indiabioscience.org/columns/education/online-education-in-india-the-good-the-bad-and-the-
ugly
Education is empowering and redefining. For hundreds of millions of the young in India,
education is also about discipline, development, curiosity, creativity and a path to breaking the
cycle of ignorance and poverty leading to employment and prosperity. I know this because as a
poor kid from a tribal village in Odisha, I was lucky enough to get a Masters in Physics in 1964
in India for just over $10 in fees. Where else in the world can you do that? Having studied
Physics in India and Electrical Engineering in the US, I acquired a new caste — an engineer —
and helped lift my entire family of five sisters and three brothers to college education,
enlightenment and lifelong prosperity. This is the dream of many young students in India.
As the government announced the New Education Policy 2020, I was heartened to see education
at the forefront of the national agenda. Today, the growing aspirations of children and parents in
India are reflected in an increasing demand for education, which has far exceeded the supply. We
at the National Knowledge Commission (NKC) (2004-2009) brought the idea of educational
transformation for 21st-century needs into the mainstream thinking of the government, with an
emphasis on expansion, excellence, and equity. The recommendations of the Commission
impacted the education sector through far-reaching initiatives of the UPA government on
multiple fronts leading to almost 900 universities, many new IITs and IIMs, increased funding
for education in the 11th Five-Year Plan and the Right to Education Bill. NEP 2020 as a
statement of intent has much in it that is positive. The challenge, as always, is in the details and
in delivering on promises.
For instance, allocating 6 per cent of GDP on education spending is needed and welcome. But
how and when? In 2020-2021, the government spent only 3.2 per cent of GDP on education,
down from 4.14 per cent in 2014-2015. The government that reduced education spending by 25
per cent in good times is going to double it in bad times? Please show how this is possible before
promising a pie in the sky.
Opinion | Online education must supplement, not replace, physical sites of learning
The COVID crisis has shown that hoping for the best does not help. We must plan for the worst
and hope for the best. The migrant labour crisis was a recent example of our inability to execute.
Education is in crisis at the moment. Most probably, schools and colleges campuses will be
closed through 2020 due to an increasing number of COVID cases. This could even extend to
2021.
Can we ensure the safety and security of our students, teachers and staff? How do we discipline
students? How can we protect older teachers? Will testing be available at every school and
college? How do we redesign classrooms? Do we have supplies for the schools? Can we afford
to pay teachers without students? Can parents afford to pay fees without work? There are many
unanswered questions.
Our answer to the education crisis during the pandemic has been to offer online education.
However, there are serious issues related to access, devices, content, curation, teachers, training,
testing, exams, grades, funding, facilities, salaries, parents and fees. It is estimated that only
about 25 per cent of Indian households have an internet facility. For rural households, that
number drops to 15 per cent. The worst affected, as always, will be the marginalised, rural and
poor populations.
Digital education is not about videos of lectures on blackboards by teachers on the internet. It is
about appropriate platforms, technology, tools, interactivity, curation, content and a lot more. We
are completely underprepared. Government schools and colleges do not have the resources to
provide digital education. Private schools and colleges are no different. However, they all want
parents to pay full fees to be able to pay their staff and maintain facilities. The financial model
for education is falling apart everywhere during this pandemic. In India, the situation is even
more complex because of the lack of a proper policy on digital education, infrastructure and
multiple languages.
Opinion | Roles of parents, teachers have merged, education must be founded on
compassion
There are many other challenges for the parents beside fees for services which schools and
colleges are not equipped to provide. Who will assure uninterrupted broadband connectivity for
several hours a day? Who will pay for the data? Is there adequate space and peace at home for
students to concentrate? What happens when the power goes out? How to train kids at home to
follow digital discipline? These are huge problems for working parents and poor people in slums
and rural areas.
At the end of the day, education is about motivation, time and content. If you are motivated and
willing to spend the required time to learn, there is enough content by global experts on the
internet. The challenge is curation and mentoring. Unfortunately, teachers are trained to teach
and not mentor. Digital education requires flipped classrooms where you do exactly the opposite
of what you do today. As opposed to listening to lectures by teachers in classes, you listen to
lectures at home. Similarly, as opposed to doing homework at home you do homework with
others in the classrooms. All of this requires a new mindset and framework.
In the past, we took two bold initiatives to help digital education in the future: NOFN —
National Optical Fibre Network (Now called Bharat Network) to connect all 2,50,000 panchayats
at the cost of over Rs 40,000 crore and the National Knowledge Network (NKN). The NOFN is
still not completely operational, after almost eight years. However, it has reached many rural
areas telecom operators did not want to serve due to lack of profitability. The Universal Service
Obligation (USO) fund was used to build NOFN.
NOFN was planned as a part of the National Information Infrastructure (NII) to enable the free
flow of information to all. Education and health were the first services that were planned to be
rolled out. It was conceptualised as a bulk broadband common infrastructure for the country.
Overlaying education and health services up to panchayats and villages was an important
component of the strategy.
Opinion | Technological, social, pedagogical issues must be resolved for online teaching
The NKN was established as a high bandwidth, low latency network to connect all knowledge-
creating organisations comprising IITs, IIMs, universities, research labs and other e-governance
institutions up to the district level. It was aimed at encouraging collaborative development and
building a repository of knowledge in all fields. This network exists and is fully functional. But
only a few institutions take full advantage of it because of a lack of understanding, local
facilities, funding and technical expertise. The new policy makes no mention of leveraging this
network effectively. In fact, the government’s entire e-Gov programme works on the backbone
of NKN.
The driving force behind NOFN and NKN was to build an IT-based teaching system, which
could address the shortage of teachers — more so of quality teachers — and school infrastructure
at the bottom of the economic pyramid. For this, free 100 Mbps to 1Gbps bandwidth was
planned at each panchayat.
The NKC also experimented on the use of IT in panchayat schools. It was realised that the
present teacher-centric education and IT-based teaching were not in sync because of the old
mindset and vested interests. The transition from teacher-class based teaching to digital-
education will need multipronged efforts over time.
I understand that NKN is being expanded soon, which is a positive step. There is, however, an
urgent need to relook at the NOFN (BBNL) and make it a core component of the Digital India
initiative and leverage it to provide e-services at the bottom of the economic pyramid. It is time
to use NOFN and NKN to connect all our schools and improve the digital education ecosystem.
All of this will take a long time and substantial resources. The key question at this time is: Why
should parents pay fees when the education system is not prepared to deliver the required
services? People will and should pay only when services are delivered to their satisfaction. In the
process, children are at home, waiting to get the real education they need to succeed. This is a
drain on national resources. The long-term implications of this crisis will be felt in the workforce
in the future.
“Digital India” is not prepared for digital education.
This article first appeared in the print edition on September 3, 2020 under the title ‘The digital
over-promise’. The writer is former chairman of the National Knowledge Commission and the
National Innovation Council
Opinion | Post-pandemic, a shift in mindset will be needed — to teach and learn

https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/digital-education-online-classes-learning-
coronavirus-national-education-policy-6580744/

From Jan-2020 onwards, lots of things have changed due to the

pandemic. Students have seen lots of changes all of a sudden. Lots of
trauma is all around the world. The virus is affecting the economy very
badly. All the frontline workers and doctors are putting their lives at
stake for society and working day and night to end this pandemic.
I being in Secondary school, I wanted to share my experience.  The
virus has brought new ways of learning. I had to study the whole
academic year online due to the virus and spotted many pros and cons
for learning from home. There was a sudden change from traditional
education to online education. Online classes have emerged as crucial
in the field of education. Not only the education even the
extracurricular activities are being carried out through the online
medium only.
The virus is spared all around the world within the blink of an eye.
Initially, I was pleased about this virus because of the lockdown
throughout the nation. We had holidays for schools and colleges. The
exams were conducted just before the lockdown; I enjoyed the initial
day of the lockdown by playing video games and movies throughout
the day. After a few weeks, I was utterly sick, just waiting for the
lockdown to end as I met friends and went back to college again. But
the virus spread through, and we had online classes through the
academic years. I have experienced many changes in the last year. The
education virtual through zoom was initially good, but later it was like
a foreshadowing to me. I have noticed many pros and cons in this type
of education.
Online education Advantages:
TRANSPORTATION TIME AND PLACE – A lot of time was saved by
traveling. Moreover, the online class can be attended from anywhere,
as there is no geographical border. The teaching can be recorded and
kept in the system for future references. The students can have easy
access to the study material in the time they require.
CONTEXT DELIVERY – Online class learning provides huge options
to display PDFs, pictures, activities, 3D structure, case studies,
theories, etc. The teacher can use these tools to teach the children. In
this way, understanding the student’s increases, they can understand
the topic much better. These concepts would be more explicit. The
teachers could be more efficient.
CONNECTING WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS – During the online
classes, the students have free time to spend. They could put this time
to an ultimate use by spending their time with their parents. The
parents must also spend their time with their wards, so it led to a good
bonding. The students must call their cousins and brothers and talk.
This would lead to a new way of learning and make new bonding with
their family.
VARIETY STYLES OF LEARNING – Every student has different types
of learning and different ways to grasp a topic. Some students are
online learners, whereas others are traditional learners. Some only
prefer online because they get distracted by a large group of members.
Online learning has a wide range of options and can be personalized
accordingly to the student’s needs.
AFFORDABILITY – The other significant advantage of online teaching
is a lot of costs can be reduced. Online learning is far cheaper than
comparing to traditional education.  The schools can consolidate all
the expenses such as food, transportation, books, school dress,
electricity, etc. They can share materials easily through electronic
means in PDFs or documents, and This is more efficient than
traditional education.
STUDENTS’ ATTENDANCE- Online education can be accessed from
any corner of the world. The class strength would be more. Moreover,
students can easily have access to the recording of the previous
classes.
Online education Disadvantages:
LACK OF TEACHER TRAINING – The teacher must be the scene of
using the technology properly. They must have the essential learning
of the technology, and digital forms as teachers have the basic
knowledge of computers and teleology. But still, the school
management must invest some money in the teachers’ learning on the
new technology. They must provide them with all the necessary
devices for online learning.
CONNECTING ISSUES – Education is equal to everyone in society.
But some backward people cannot access this type of education due to
technical issues such as lack of ability to join or poor internet
connectivity in rural areas. Problems as such must be sorted the school
and even the government must look into this issue, and everyone must
have the right to learn during this pandemic. As part of society, we can
try to help people by donating our old gadgets and creating awareness
among the low accessibility people.
Traditional education Advantages:
EXPOSURE – If we go to college or schools, then we have a wide range
of exposure. We talk with our friends, share our thoughts in between
the class, and make new friends in school, making our skills and
ability develop.  During the online course, making friends would be
challenging. Students have a good interaction with the teachers
between the school hours, where they have an excellent medium to
clear their doubts.
PHYSICAL EDUCATION – In schools/colleges, we have a specific
time to play sports, which is crucial. Physical exercise is essential to
everyone. Good practice makes people healthy and active, for Online
education children cannot play and have proper excises, leading to
many other complications in their lives.
REDUCED SCREEN TIME VIEWING- The students spend a lot of
time in front of the computer/laptop screen in online learning. Some
case studies show that some children cannot adjust to the computer
screen for such long hours of online classes and face many eye-related
problems, affecting children in the coming days with eye-related
problems. This can be avoided by Traditional learning.
Traditional education Disadvantages:
TRANSPORTATION TIME – A lot of time was consumed by
travelling. For each student daily, 1-2 hours can be spent on
traffic/roads. Along with this, a lot of natural resources are consumed.
Online education has both sides. The negatives can be overcome with
all proper planning. The students must take breaks in between the
class and should take some rest. They must have a proper sleep of 7 to
8 hours, which will help them concentrate on the long classes. The
parents must give them constant motivation in these times and
support them. Meditation can be also be used to focus and remove the
stress, and the parent must encourage their children to do so. By
taking the required step, these classes can be very effective.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/void-to-the-nation-of-musings/approach-33135/

Summary: As with most teaching methods, online learning also has its own set of positives and
negatives. Decoding and understanding these positives and negatives will help institutes in
creating strategies for more efficient delivery of the lessons, ensuring an uninterrupted learning
journey for the students.

Discover Everything You Need To Know (Good And Bad) About  Online
Education

One of the most oft-used terms after the pandemic is the term “new normal.” The new
normal in education is the increased use of online learning tools. The COVID-19
pandemic has triggered new ways of learning. All around the world, educational
institutions are looking toward 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. In recent months, the demand for online
learning has risen significantly, and it will continue doing so in the future.

As with most teaching methods, online learning also has its own set of positives and
negatives. Decoding and understanding these positives and negatives will help institutes
in creating strategies for more efficiently delivering the lessons, ensuring an
uninterrupted learning journey for students.
What Are The Advantages Of Online Learning?

1. Efficiency

Online learning offers teachers an efficient way to deliver lessons to students. Online
learning has a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, podcasts, and teachers can use all
these tools as part of their lesson plans. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional
textbooks to include online resources, teachers are able to become more efficient
educators.

2. Accessibility Of Time And Place

Another advantage of online education is that it allows students to attend classes from
any location of their choice. It also allows schools to reach out to a more extensive
network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries.
Additionally, online lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference.
This allows students to access the learning material at a time of their comfort.

Thus, online learning offers students the accessibility of time and place in education.

3. Affordability 

Another advantage of online learning is reduced financial costs. Online education is far
more affordable as compared to physical learning. This is because online learning
eliminates the cost points of student transportation, student meals, and most
importantly, real estate. Additionally, all the course or study materials are available
online, thus creating a paperless learning environment which is more affordable, while
also being beneficial to the environment.

4. Improved Student Attendance  

Since online classes can be taken from home or location of choice, there are fewer
chances of students missing out on lessons.

5. Suits A Variety Of Learning Styles 

Every student has a different learning journey and a different learning style. Some
students are visual learners, while some students prefer to learn through audio.
Similarly, some students thrive in the classroom, and other students are solo learners
who get distracted by large groups.

The online learning system, with its range of options and resources, can be personalized
in many ways. It is the best way to create a perfect learning environment suited to the
needs of each student.

What Are The Disadvantages Of Online Learning?

1. Inability To Focus On Screens

For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning is the struggle with
focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a
greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media or other sites.
Therefore, it is imperative for the teachers to keep their online classes crisp, engaging,
and interactive to help students stay focused on the lesson.

2. Technology Issues 

Another key challenge of online classes is internet connectivity. While internet

penetration has grown in leaps and bounds over the past few years, in smaller cities and
towns, a consistent connection with decent speed is a problem. Without a consistent
internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning
for the child. This is detrimental to the education process.

3. Sense Of Isolation 

Students can learn a lot from being in the company of their peers. However, in an online
class, there are minimal physical interactions between students and teachers. This often
results in a sense of isolation for the students. In this situation, it is imperative that the
school allow for other forms of communication between the students, peers, and
teachers. This can include online messages, emails and video conferencing that will
allow for face-to-face interaction and reduce the sense of isolation.
4. Teacher Training 

Online learning requires teachers to have a basic understanding of using digital forms of
learning. However, this is not the case always. Very often, teachers have a very basic
understanding of technology. Sometimes, they don’t even have the necessary resources
and tools to conducts online classes.

To combat this, it is important for schools to invest in training teachers with the latest
technology updates so that they can conduct their online classes seamlessly.

5. Manage Screen Time

Many parents are concerned about the health hazards of having their children spend so
many hours staring at a screen. This increase in screen time is one of the biggest
concerns and disadvantages of online learning. Sometimes students also develop bad
posture and other physical problems due to staying hunched in front of a screen.

A good solution to this would be to give the students plenty of breaks from the screen
to refresh their mind and their body.