COVID-19 pandemic has a significant impact on our lives. There are some positives and negatives that are happening around the globe due to this. One of the positive effects that this pandemic has made is that it has insisted on us exploring the online education possibilities and the efficient use of the technology that we have built over these years. Online education was an integral part of our lives before COVID-19 as well but the efficient use was not done until now. Today we are witnessing a major shift from offline to online education, but the efficiency of it is still the same. Today people are expecting an efficient education for their children and that could be achieved only when we have updated technologies and required protocol for the same.
There are many areas in which we have to work to make this form of education reliable and stable. Sincere children are making use of these online facilities to its full potential but this is not the case with everyone. Today we are going to explore 5 possible ways to make Online Education effective, efficient, and transparent for all.
1. Introduction of an Online Private Discussion Platform
We have many public discussion platforms, the most prominent being Quora. Just like these public platforms, we should have private discussion platforms that are only meant for the students of a particular class with a more interactive environment just like that of Whatsapp. The discussion should be interactive so that students could interact with each other and with the teacher in real-time as they do in a live class. Children should be able to raise questions in between the class and that should notify the teacher in real-time, which would increase the efficiency of the communication between teachers and students which is missing for now.
2. Continuous Evaluation Rather Than End Exam Evaluation
In many schools and colleges major weightage is given to final exams, this puts more pressure on the students to perform in one exam. This could lead to the use of unfair means of giving exams and thus reducing the efficiency of online exams. To avoid this in online methods of teaching, continuous evaluation should be introduced and assignments should be given regularly to distribute the workload. Dividing the percentage of end exams in small chunks and redistributing it in small assignments is a very efficient way of teaching online. Teachers should also conduct quizzes regularly. The continuous evaluation would also ensure regular participation from students and for that students have to study regularly and not just at the end of the year.
3. Reliable Online Testing Platform
We don’t have any reliable platform for transparent online testing, platforms that would prevent students from using unfair means and give equal opportunities to all to perform well. These tests should be made available to students who are not having stable internet connections. The main challenge here is to avoid the use of unfair means of getting good marks. There are many ways in which students can use different methods to score better marks. There is a need to fill this gap between offline and online methods of organizing an exam in which students participate equally. Proper grading systems should also be introduced to evaluate students and mark them accordingly.
4. Mandate the Video on Feature for Students
For transparent and interactive class sessions students must be instructed to keep the video on. They should attend the class in a particular fixed place and also attend the class in proper dress to maintain uniformity. Being able to communicate with each other is the most important part of education and it can be done effectively only when teachers can see who they are teaching. And that’s why Video On feature should be made mandatory for the students as well as teachers as well. The Idea of online education is to be able to do all those things that you would have done in offline mode in terms of teaching and learning. Recently Govt. also passed some protocols which have to be followed while an online class and this was one of the points.
5. Regular Online Class Quality Analysis
Teachers should report the different aspects of the online classes that they are taking and also the overall summary of the class to maintain a level of transparency between authorities and teaching staff. Teachers should encourage students to participate in the online class discussion. A weekly report can be made about how students are performing and who all are taking part in the in-class discussion. The quality of an online class is measured by the amount of constructive output and the amount of learning and teaching that is going on. After a proper analysis, required steps have to be taken to ensure the filling of gaps that were found during the analysis. This method would ensure a transparent and efficient education process.
Students should also be encouraged to make use of many online educational sites as well. The ability to adapt to situations is the most important characteristic that a person should have and act accordingly. We have to accept the New Normal that has been imposed on us. We have to mold our education system in such a way that it is available to everybody equally and a transparent system would help a lot in this scenario.
