Will they ever go to schools or will they rely on Online Education?

Catapulting to its zenith, ‘online education’ became a part of colloquial terminology and mainstay of student’s lives in 2020, owing to the hike in the number of Covid-19 cases resulting in an economic shutdown, which carried throughout 2021 and its effects can still be felt in 2022. All the schools and colleges were shut down to contain the spread of the virus and education institutions resorted to online modes of teaching or education. But since the world is coming back to a state of normalcy, with the reopening of many sectors of the economy, including education institutions, the question prevails as to whether children will go to schools or will they rely on online education.

Many research studies have shown that the dissemination of online education has amassed massive popularity among various rungs of students. Academic experts have said that online education is not a temporary arrangement to cope up with the trying times of the pandemic. It is, perhaps, the futuristic call to action preparing us for the times ahead, where the boundaries of education will not be curtailed within the four walls of a traditional offline school set-up. The confines of conventional forms of learning have been superseded and found an alternative that is here to stay- online education.

E-learning has been gaining a lot of traction because of the diversity in the number of courses it offers, which is visibly absent in the traditional forms of teaching. The digitalisation of the world has stirred up the talent markets and created new areas of employment and jobs, which requires the syllabi of the education system to be completely transformed to suit the trends of the prevailing knowledge and market economy. On the other hand, these reforms were swiftly adopted in the mode of online education where there is a diversification in the number of courses. Specialized courses are designed to upskill and re-skill students to maximize their potential in the appropriate markets.

Many students have expressed that online education offers freedom to choose and learn subjects of their choice. This freedom is not given in the mainstream form of schooling where students are supposed to learn the same tailormade syllabi, which has not been made to keep their individual skills, interests or talents in mind. According to researchers, offline education directs students to fit in boxes, and online education enables them to choose boxes they want to excel in.

Another reason for the purported rise in online education is because it promotes self-paced learning. Students can opt for part-time courses or full time courses depending on the number of hours they want to dedicate. Time management in online education becomes much easier because students are the deciders, getting to choose according to their convenience and time tables.

Online Education is an economically frugal option compared to offline education. Opting for online education saves daily commute costs, tuition fees and, even housing costs for students who migrate outside their hometowns to study. Online learning resources, test papers and assessment sheets also decrease spending on books, textbooks, assignment sheets and other education tools. Students belonging to economically weaker families can also get them enrolled in online courses at a bargain price and receive all kinds of learning material, helpful for them in shaping their future.

Students, in online education, are abole to learn technical skills and use multiple digital learning tools, familiarizing them with video conferencing, messaging, project management, and sharing files. This helps them to build a skill base and get acquainted with digital tool functions, which they will use in the latter part of their lives as well.

Online Education also pushes a cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach to education and exposes students to a broad worldview with new ideas, views and perspectives. It has often been pronounced in research studies that students with online education are much more evolved, flexible and contemporarily upbeat in their views, techniques, and methods in comparison to products of offline education.

Time management in online education becomes much easier because students are the deciders, getting to choose according to their convenience and time tables.

There are various ongoing debates and discussions pertaining to the prevalence and outreach of online education. However, it is undeniably true that online education is here to stay, owing to its inexorably expanding presence and conforming to people’s desires who want to become self-directed learners from the comforts of their homes.

However, it would be a facile statement that online education is a pandemic-product as its roots can be traced back to the pre-pandemic world, with many educators and students choosing online education over offline learning. Transparency of online education contributes to its widespread appeal and in consequence, is setting to pervade across borders attributing to the current digital explosion and internet literacy that is taking place across the globe at this point.

Divya Jain, a commerce graduate from Delhi University is presently running two schools in Noida successfully. She is full of ideas, enthusiasm, in-depth knowledge and intellect.

A woman of few words, who lets her work ethics, and professional discipline speak on her behalf. She is known for her integrity, humility and her mature sense of discretion coupled with strokes of motivation and confidence. She is assiduous in whatever she does and her commitment to good governance, people management was honoured with “Design Thinking Leaders Award” by Education World Grand Jury.

The reason behind creating the online school ‘The Class Of One’ is, the recent pandemic which hit humanity globally. Being a mother herself, she feels that every child should get an opportunity to study from the safety and the comfort of his/her home. She feels strongly for children who aspire to pursue their passion of becoming a dancer, a tennis player, an athlete, a writer, a musician. She envisioned and founded this school for children for whom academics is a very small part of their daily routine so that they may pursue their dreams.

With her guidance and deal to educate each child, the class of one aims to rise the coming time.