Technology in Education from COVID-19
Technology is impacting modern education in many ways. The 21st-century students are prepared by modern technology skills. It has changed the way of studying.
Nowadays, technology is used in education and teaching. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown(s) invented a new way of teaching. Every teacher was now supposed to teach online and online classes were born. It was not very easy to teach students on a virtual platform. Teachers had to accept this challenge and adopt necessary changes. They worked from home to not stop our learning process.
This was the first time in India where every school started teaching virtually. When pre-pandemic no student was allowed to use a mobile phone in a class, now they had to use it for the class. Students were isolated from their classmates and thus were not in a learning environment. Students were given mobile phones, laptops, and tablets where they had to attend lectures. Not every parent could afford it. Some parents also lost their jobs and unfortunately had to stop the education of their children.
Although it seemed very difficult to use technology while studying and teaching, it turned out to be a simple task. All we needed was a proper internet connection and an electronic device. Apart from attending lectures or taking lectures, technology helps us to learn anything, anytime, and in our comfort zone. There are a lot of online resources available for studying like E-Books, Youtube, Courses, Educational applications like BYJU’s, Toppr, Unacademy, and so on. Using this, we can gain a lot of knowledge. For shy students who hesitate to ask doubts, it gives them comfort and lets them clear their doubts even by themselves.
Technology has a lot of benefits that we must use in the right way. As everything has two sides, one positive and another negative, technology also comes with its drawbacks. Although students were attending the lectures online, they didn’t get a healthy learning environment at home. At times, in a family, if there are more children then it becomes difficult for them to attend their classes. If a child lives in an area where there is no proper internet connection then they are unable to use the internet. Even teachers who used to live in such areas were not able to teach students and even lost their jobs.
As exams were online, many students cheated on exams as no supervisor was present to see whether they were honestly solving the exam paper or not. Many children were even finding difficulty when understanding what the teacher was teaching. The submissions, assignments, homework, attendance were the parameters of evaluating a student’s performance. Students who were all comfortable in the traditional classrooms had to be away from their classmates, teachers, and school of course. Everyone faced technical issues many times. Those who didn’t have technical knowledge were also facing problems. The teachers who used to use chalk and blackboard had to use an electronic device. The scenario of teaching was completely changed. Those students who were learning online were missing their teacher as well as friends. We all were distanced apart. This created a social gap between all of us. Instead of meeting and talking, everyone was chatting and video calling.
The coaching centers too had adverse effects of this situation. Parents take their children for classes so that the child gets personal attention which is not possible in a school. The parents who were not well educated to teach their children used to take their children for classes but as no one was even allowed to come out of home, the parents were dependent on school teachers. The parents of kids who were going to take admission in a school were also concerned about the method of online teaching. The kids who don’t know how to handle a mobile, read and write were taking lessons online of which they are not understanding. Due to this, many parents canceled the admission and let them be at home.
It was not easy to be in a virtual classroom. We had no choice but it was a challenge. Change is the thing that we resist but we must learn to be adaptable in any situation that life puts us in. It is very important to manage time while learning online. We must avoid distractions and make plans for the day. If we are unable to understand anything then we must seek help rather than giving up on a difficulty. We must be disciplined, self-motivated, and positive.
If there is a problem then there is a solution too. We must be adaptable to the changes happening in the world. If you think you can then you will.
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