The inevitable e-learning model

The only constant in life is change' is a very popular saying that one has heard on various occasions from various people around us. The summer of 2020 has altered our lives forever, whichever way we look at it. Wherever we find ourselves, personally and professionally we have been impacted, making a lot of things that happened just a few months ago unreal.

As the academic sessions crackle into life, there are many homes where teachers are sitting across laptop screens playing their traditional roles from a non-traditional set-up: their homes, in this case. The children, both male and female, in their tweens and teens are now subject to a lot of educational inputs which they are receiving in comfort of their bedrooms and have to consider as being delivered in their classrooms.

Other than the expected shortage of computer peripherals and the jacking up of prices burning deeper holes in their pockets , the parents have now to move towards enabling the children go virtual, even as the teachers hastily switch to the online mode and dust up their notes and lessons.

As of now, what is being imparted is being considered either too little or too much of a good thing. There are complaints galore in the media about how young things are burdened with continuous e-classes which make them feel uncomfortable later. Teachers too, despite demo sessions and pre-recorded classes are yet to take a firm grip on the new medium. The education sector experts are gleeful in proclaiming that the process of going on to digital space has been hastened and it is all for good. Realists however aver that this academic year would be a trial and error one, which will separate the wheat from the chaff among the teachers and the students. From the blackboard to the whiteboard, the journey was long. This move from the actual classrooms to a make-believe one fitted with advanced gadgets and real people seems to be the next phase. Let's wait and watch, how the future citizens of India cope up with these trends.