Teachers bracing for e-learning in pandemic times

The Corona crisis has only pushed the otherwise not yet prepared educational institutions and teachers to adapt to new technology fast which is a game-changer. There is an apprehension that only young teachers who are techno-savvy have a capacity to adapt to online teaching, but not the ‘old-timers’ who have an inherent aversion to changing technology. Many research studies reveal that age is not a stumbling block to embrace technology, and what matters is the attitude to learn and welcome change.

Hyderabad: COVID-19 pandemic has drastically affected the education sector along with other sectors. The pandemic has disrupted learning for nine out of ten students globally (87%), according to UNESCO.

It estimated that more than 154 crore students are severely affected by closure of educational institutions due to which girls will be the worst hit as it will lead to increased drop- out rates. In India, over 32 crore students are affected engendering far-reaching economic and societal consequences. Remote e-learning, better known as online education came to the rescue of many educational institutions as a ray of hope to safeguard the academic year in these challenging times.

The union and state governments, and all levels of educational institutions ranging from a school to a university have been making efforts to commence the new academic year in full swing by adapting to the online mode of education as advised by apex regulatory bodies like CBSE, UGC, and AICTE. Nevertheless, the crisis situation triggered a debate among all sections of the society about the viability and effectiveness of online education as it impacts every one of us – as a student, parent, teacher and citizen!

Myths and Realities

Despite certain advantages of e-learning in terms of reaching out the large number of students cutting across physical geographical boundaries at the least possible cost, this mode of education still suffers from a few myths or false views. During the early phases of lockdown, many teachers and the students as well felt that online teaching would only be a temporary stopgap arrangement, and it would not take much time to revert back to the face-to-face mode of traditional interaction in a classroom when normalcy returns.

The reality is that e-education has already arrived into the Indian higher education system in the form of SWAYAM of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform which is the world’s largest online free E-Learning platform aimed at unlimited participation and open access via web covering school, vocational, undergraduate, postgraduate, engineering and other professional courses.

The Corona crisis has only pushed the otherwise not yet prepared educational institutions and teachers to adapt to new technology fast which is a game-changer. There is an apprehension that only young teachers who are techno-savvy have a capacity to adapt to online teaching, but not the ‘old-timers’ who have an inherent aversion to changing technology. Many research studies reveal that age is not a stumbling block to embrace technology, and what matters is the attitude to learn and welcome change.

There is also a subtle fear of unknown enemy in the mind of a section of teachers that their role as a teacher would be diminished in the central stage of the education system, and eventually, the technology would occupy it by replacing the teacher!

In fact, the changed realities would provide an opportunity to the teachers and educational institutions to look back to make honest introspection about the conventional methods of teaching by using the pedagogy mostly confined to the centuries-old, mere ‘chalk and talk’ teaching model without trying to bring about any innovations in the teaching-learning process driven by technology.

Moreover, in e-learning, the teacher is expected to play a more proactive and multi-faceted role as curriculum designers, content developers, and better disseminators of knowledge with the power of technology to empower the students.

Teacher as a change agent

Research suggests that many teachers in their initial days of online teaching would face a different type of ‘public’speaking anxiety. Speaking to rows of small boxes on a screen through a video conference assuming that he is teaching in a classroom is not an easy task. In such a scenario, both the teachers and students miss eye contact and each other’s body language (non- verbal communication).

To compensate for this limitation, the teacher could provide preliminary e-content well in advance to the students for beforehand preparation. Effective use of PPT, chatbox, and Q&A session would help in getting student feedback. In the absence of body language, the teacher’s voice and modulation would play an effective role in capturing students attention.

In the conventional classroom situation, social events, sports, cultural programs, and interpersonal relations would create mutual understanding, care, and trust. Overnight, students and teachers had lost such human contact and lively campus life from March. Developing and nurturing such a classroom community is a big challenge in the context of remote learning.

Excessive and improper use of ICT could lead to lifestyle changes that affect everyday life adversely. The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) came up with a cyber safety manual for students of class 9 to 12 to cultivate safe and healthy online habits in May. The manual was developed in collaboration with Cyber Peace Foundation.

The governments and apex bodies of the education system should make it mandatory to prepare and implement cyber safety manuals in order to create awareness among the students about digital rights and responsibilities. There might be a misconception that by merely possessing and using laptops, smartphones and other similar devices, the teachers and their students would become smarter and more knowledgeable.

Capturing the students’ attention, stimulating their learning curiosity, and engaging them in a virtual environment require different attitude, skills and approach on the part of teachers. In fact, this is an opportune time to dispense with the outdated methods of teaching.

The boards concerned, and the universities should design the online courses that are dynamic, fun and interactive. They need to collaborate with educational consultants, and the electronics and communication educational training institutes like NIELIT (National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology), and the CIET (the Central Institute of Educational Technology) in government sector.

The teaching community has a responsibility to prove that they shall continue to be indispensable in the education system despite students’ option of studying multiple numbers of online courses. Instead of arguing whether online learning is good or bad, it would be wise to accept the fact that it is here to stay along with face-to-face mode of classroom teaching.