Besa Elizabeth
The outbreak of novel coronavirus has greatly affected the entire cosmos alike; it spared none. The entire world came to a standstill at one point of time and continued to look doubtful and grim in the eyes of everyone. Slowly the world has shifted to an era of change. Men's spirit continued to brave and fight against the pandemic. The calibre to learn and disseminate knowledge did not stop. The sudden impact of digitalization began to grow at a great height in all sectors especially in the education sector.
A sudden and frenzied transition to digital learning could be seen in all fields of education be it school of academic, school of music or school of performing arts and dance etc. All educational institutions were shut as a preventive measure against the pandemic. It seems a new normal world has come into being just in an overnight and people are slowly conforming to it. However, it makes us rethink as there lies an insurmountable challenge.
Online learning has been pushed further and deeper as a solution that addresses the challenges of learning continuity. It became mandatory and a necessity for every educational institution to adopt and adapt to this new culture of learning. The teachers as well students had to transit to a completely new method of teaching and learning process.
A lot of webinars, seminars, workshops were conducted to get oneself trained and acquainted to the new normal. To many who are familiar and comfortable, it became an ample good opportunity to expand their horizon and learn through the various digital platforms. Whereas to others who are not digital user friendly, they were like a swarm swimming smoothly on the surface but had to consistently and diligently pedal hard inorder to stay afloat. It appeared to be smart, chic and so contemporary way of learning but the hidden challenges and difficulties are just like the tip of an iceberg. Institutions located in rural and remote areas continue to suffer to a great extent.
The high cost of acquiring, installing, operating and maintaining the different technologies and the basic requirements of electricity, telephone networks, internet service are not uninterrupted. Many institutions struggle with inadequate infrastructures to accommodate the technology. There is a lack of well equipped teachers with technical knowledge. The irony is that in spite of wide connectivity through digital platforms yet the digital divide has never been more acutely apparent between the privileged and disadvantaged students. This raises concerns of inequtable access and further widening of the socio-economic divide.
The online learning process may bridge the gap of education but the main questions are whether online learning will continue to persist post pandemic and how such a shift would impact the education market in rural areas. More than half of the students are yet to come under the realm of this process and teachers are made to fit in into such a challenging environment.
Even the depth of learning is a serious challenge to all. One may be able to transmit the subject knowledge to the students but learning is not only about subject matter, it includes the little humour, the smile, the one on one personal touch and most of all the teacher-student relationship. All these unseen and unheard parts which lie hidden under the tip of an iceberg enormously contribute to the successful learning process. Slowly and steadily things seem to be coming back to another new normal, we hope this recedes sooner. We can see again the joy of students being back to schools and colleges, filling the air again with fun and laughter, visiting libraries, playing in the playground, hanging around corridors, having little conversations during gaps between classes.
The writer is an Assistant Professor, Department of English, Asufii Christian Institute, Punanamei, Mao
