Online Education - A perspective through Parents' eyes

 

Impact of Pandemic on Academic

Online education is a method of education that uses tools like the internet, computer, and digitalization to impart education and knowledge. This type of online education can be easily conducted from home, anytime, and anywhere. Due to the alarming situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools have shut down, which has resulted in online classes.

This method of replacing traditional schools with online sessions has added to the existing problems of the parents. This issue is especially seen for the parents of students studying in kindergarten and nursery. For students studying in kindergarten and nursery, parents are always required to sit with them during the online sessions. They have to make sure that their child learns and understands correctly. They are supposed to check with the internet connectivity too. Even though parents are adjusting to the new normal, it’s difficult for them to know the system of online classes i.e., when to check the chatbox, on the video, get themselves unmute, and many more. For working parents, it’s almost next to impossible to teach their child through the online sessions as well as to do their own office work. Parents who are part of the medical fraternity also find it too difficult to monitor their child. 

However, it’s seen that many parents find the system of online education much better than the traditional method of education. Many parents are of the belief that due to the online sessions, they can save time as they don’t require dropping and picking up their child from the school. They find that these online classes are easily assessable as they can login with the meeting ID or the meeting passcode from any time and anywhere. They are also in the favor that since children learn through the online sessions, it has led to a belief that the system of online education is cost-effective than the system of traditional education. 

Even though online education is the only way to study during this pandemic, this system of education has led to the rising of new issues. Many parents find that this method of studying is straining their children’s’ eyes, leading to spectacles and various eye-related health issues. It is also seen that children copy during their exams and some of them even keep the books open to write their exam paper. So, keeping all these issues in mind, parents want the system of online education to be improved. Here, I present a few tips in order to improve online education. 

• Since the workload of parents, as well as the students, are increased due to work from home, so schools should find alternative ways to conduct their online classes i.e., it can be done by maintaining a proper time-table. They should see to it that the working parents are able to manage their own office work as well as they are able to teach their child.
• Schools should allow proper time for conducting the exams. They should make sure that the children should not cheat during their exams. This can be done by providing a specific time, say, 1 PM to 3 PM, to write their exams. 
• Not everyone can afford a printer during this pandemic. So, schools should provide printed material at home instead of sending PDF copies and asking the students to get a print. 
• It is seen that students are spending a lot of time on electronic devices like phones and computers to study. This has led to various eye-related issues. So, the school should also conduct a meditation class or they should enlighten the students about the ‘Screen-Time Management’ so that the students can spend the minimum time on such devices to study. 
• The students should not be burdened with project work or exam work. The school should ensure that the students are not overloaded with this extra work. They should give them maximum time to complete their notebooks, project work, homework, and many more.

Since we are required to get acquainted with the new normal, we are compulsorily required to study through the online session. So, we should be familiar with this new system of education and support the decisions of the government, school, and the school teachers.