Author – Utsa De
Who would have thought that 2020 would be a year where ‘going to school’ will mean taking a seat in front of your computer and attending classes virtually?
With the onset of Covid-19, we have a change in the dynamics of how people interact, whether personally or professionally. Covid-19 affected the educational system worldwide and ‘distance learning’ seemed like an ongoing experiment which no country was properly prepared for.
Home schooling hampers the children’s social life and learning, while it affects the parent’s productivity too, as parents were not used to such scenarios before. However, teachers have enthusiastically come to the forefront of emergency teaching and learning with a strong sense of self-reflection and self- management. Teachers have found new ways teach as well as assess. Social media too plays an important role where teachers experiment with new technology, set up new platforms to share resources, teaching ideas and methods, making teaching and classes more interactive. It is not an easy path and switching to online modes of teaching has not been stress-free for teachers and it has taken a toll on the mental well-being of educators as well.
In the current situation, where across the globe the schools have started opening partially, new precautionary measures are being implemented, hygiene and the health of the students as well as the teachers are the top priority, without hampering the quality of education.
But has the Pandemic changed the education for the better?
As throughout history, our education system has been resilient to change, classroom learnings were what we considered normal, but now the ‘new normal’ is online classes. You enter a class by the click of a button. Teachers and students collaborate with each other during these online classes. The online classes both for the students and teachers take away the commute to school, giving them more time to prepare for classes and has led to a higher attendance.
However, this has led us to be at the mercy of internet connection and a proper computer or laptop. The future of education lies online and in these virtual classes.
School and college assessments too, have taken a new turn. Some of the assessments or the final years exams have been called off and the students are graded based on their overall yearly performance. This takes away the ‘summer anxiety’ from not only the students, but the parents and teachers as well.
Gone are the days where text-book learning was considered the pathway to success, in the modern world stricken with uncertainties, adaptation as well as practical knowledge is the key to survival for us and the future generation. Broadening one’s’ outlook, adapting to changes and being the ‘jack of all trade’ is what which will lead mankind to its survival.
The Onset Momentum
The pandemic has brought about a momentum for countries to create a more resilient education system. Countries are developing comprehensive plans for distance education, as the government has realized that one cannot run away from global crisis rather a diversified approach is the need of the hour to help build bridges and address any global crisis and as always ‘necessity become the mother of all inventions’
