Online classes would enhance the quality of education and will likely become mainstream
Wars, mishaps, disasters and pandemics are unfortunate events though they remain beyond our control. But there is one factor that unifies them. All so called apocalypse have resulted in the world becoming more progressive and advanced than what it was before the destruction. The two World Wars saw a quantum jump in the field of science and technology while natural disasters resulted in the society becoming more vigilant against the recurrence of such phenomenon. If a person who died fighting the Second World War returned to earth by a providential act, he would remain wonderstruck for months seeing the changes in the lives of human beings. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic is no exception. Even as science came out with vaccines and treatment protocol, the lockdowns brought in some irreversible changes in our lifestyles. Working from home and online classes are the spin off of the pandemic. Thanks to the connectivity, offices and classrooms have come to our doorsteps. It’s interesting to note that the developments have been assimilated by a majority of the end users. Gone are the days when one used to worry about commuting to workplaces and back.
An interesting development is the ease with which school and college students have switched to online classes. Provided they have a smartphone at their disposal, the students could interact with teachers who could address them from their homes. An interaction with parents of students brought in interesting information. Sindhu Vishnuprasad, a mother of three children based in Kochi says she was ignorant about the potential of the internet and smartphones till the pandemic struck. No more tension to wake up the children to make them ready to go to school and college in the early morning; they have their own convenient timings now, said the homemaker. Dr BM Hegde, renowned cardiologist and educationist, who was honored with Padma Vibhushan recently, said the online classes are destined to raise the quality of education in the country. He said the teachers should work out a schedule to help the students with their practical classes in laboratories. Graduate and post graduate programmes in arts, humanities and law could be completely brought under online classes. Teachers have an equally positive approach to the online mode of education. Doomsayers claim that it would affect the personality of children. But they forget that classrooms and parents are the best counsellors.