With everything going on, here are my views on the shifting traditional education to the new normal, online education system.

Education has always been a part of our lives in different forms be it in a classroom with bench, board and teacher or while observing, processing, experiencing things around us, living life is a form of education in itself. Speaking of it in more traditional way ‘Education’, for years has been defined as “the wise, hopeful and respectful cultivation of learning undertaken in the belief that all should have the chance to share in life”. Over the years education has developed around the world with incorporating new aids and methods of teaching for the students. Traditional education has been called monotonous by many scholars, calling it monotonous has implications in many ways be it the grading system, rote learning, or the bookish knowledge, arguments have been against it for quite some time now. Even after receiving criticism for the traditional practices of ‘education’, it has been the most trusted method of imparting knowledge to students of all the disciplines.

Introduction of smart classes, inclusion of more activity based studies, providing study material in the form of e-books, school apps and websites for the better reach of parents and many other features have now been included in the traditional education system. Slowly these were being adapted and practiced by maximum number of schools and colleges around the country when it got struck by the global pandemic causing a serious change and shift in the pattern of education. Spread of novel corona virus has forced the countries for a nationwide lockdown and carry out all the work from home be it office or education of the children. Online education has got a great push with this global pandemic and many schools, education institutions, colleges and universities were forced to conduct online classes for the students as the lockdown was enforced on March 24 th , leading to an incomplete syllabus for the respective academic year. Many institutes and students could actually adapt the online culture given the fact that the availability of right software, internet connectivity and presence of the respective gadget to carry out their online lectures. But this percentage of students and teachers is less than half the rate of population in this sector.

Speaking of online education in brief, it is conducted in two ways, the first is through the use of recorded classes, which, when opened for the public, are referred to as Massive Open Online Course (MOOCs) and the second one is via live online classes conducted as webinars, or zoom sessions. Universities require high-speed internet and education delivery platforms or trained staff, besides stable IT infrastructure and faculty members who are comfortable teaching online. Students also need high-speed internet and computers/mobiles or the particular device in order to attend these sessions or watch pre- recorded classes. Where some educators and scholars are in favor of this kind of education system in the country many are against it and have stated facts opposing the system of ‘online education’ for students of all discipline and age group. They have argued that this medium not only lacks the personal touch in the education, i.e., the face to face interaction between students and teachers but also is an indication of lack of infrastructure and availability of proper teaching aids in the country to carry out the education via internet. Not only the absence of teacher affects the classroom development of students but studying online has the zero facility of libraries from their lives. Every university/institute comes with a library offering students a variety of study materials for various subjects. Switching to online education will restrict such sources as most of the material available online for the students is either limited on the particular website or has certain amount of charges to be accessible by the students as well as teachers. Tutor feedback provides mental support to the students and also ensures a personal satisfaction at the giving end of the campus. A healthy environment of education along with interaction of students helps them exchange their knowledge & ideas among each other and also makes sure that the students are offered a wide range of support from the institute. One of the biggest drawbacks in our country about the online education has been the infrastructure. The most important teaching aid in an online class without which the whole procedure will be incomplete, is not well equipped and developed in our country to carry out the process smoothly without many restrictions. Yes, it is true that online education comes with its own advantages which are it is portable, no commute required by the students, no time restriction, flexible for all, offers a variety of courses but all this have their own weighted obligations which make online education a bit harder and less accessible for all. Speaking in long term with all the required development and improved infrastructure followed by a trained faculty, online education may flourish in the country but for now a more rigid solution has to be devised for the students. New models of education should be implemented in India to make the system more effective and efficient in the long run. Time has come for people to realize the real essence of education and how should it reach out to the public is more important. Reinvention of classrooms and teaching style trying to focus more on imparting the right amount of knowledge and not learning will make the system better for the coming generation.