A student listening to online class

The COVID-19 has resulted in schools and colleges shut all across the world. Globally, over 1.2 billion children are out of the classroom.  As a result, education has changed dramatically, with the distinctive rise of e-learning, whereby teaching is undertaken remotely and on digital platforms.  Awareness that classes are open to public and parental scrutiny has made the teachers conscious of delivering their best in online classes. Research reveals that students hardly revisit their assignments to check teachers’ suggestions and comments. Online learning appeals to diverse populations of students with ranging academic needs that traditional education classes are deficient or incapable of meeting.

Educationalists suggest that Virtually Learning will lead to degradation among students; discrimination and zero opportunities in competitive exams. The density of interest is low and a good foundation is to be laid. Education is challenging and only physical education teaches moral value and discipline. Physical education usually needs more attention and motivation, but now children are distracted and lack schedule, flow and rhythm.

Another restriction that has been brought to the forefront is the issue of the ‘have’ versus the ‘have-nots’. Technology is an area that can be easily taken for granted when it is intertwined into daily life, but for many, technology is not vastly used due to the lack of monetary means to gain access. Increasing the ratio of computers and other electronic devices to students will ultimately lead to the disadvantaged gaining access to the global knowledge that is available on the internet.

Students who lacked independence and self-motivation overall had lower success rates than their counterparts. Learners with a lack of self-regulation tended to not assign enough time to complete assignments, therefore turning in poor quality work or late assignments all together. Students lacking motivation, whether intrinsic or extrinsic, can easily lose sight of their original goal, quickly become lost within the course, and ultimately withdraw.

The parents are unemployed and are struggling to meet their needs. But certain institutions seem to have been asking them to pay the fees. The poor sector is not getting proper opportunities and in some areas there is no electricity, and how could virtual learning reach them? We don’t have the appropriate scaffolding in place for these folds.

Many eminent people insinuate on the element that mental health is very important and virtual learning is affecting people, psychologically and biologically. There seems to be a stereotype, where everything seems fine, but there is another side of the story. A suggestion that government guidelines and government intervention should be there is becoming prominent, so that even the rural areas get all the privileges as of the rich.