Is e-education the new cool?: Anish, NIMC

These are first-hand student accounts on how our young population is managing to keep their exam prep or college course work going from the confines of their homes. In case you want to share your lockdown study experience, write to us at publish@shiksha.com.

We are witnessing some of the worst times currently but as the saying goes “there's a positive side to everything It just takes a positive mind to see it”. The positive thing during this lockdown is that people have started using technology even for the task that was traditionally done offline only. Technology has made huge inroads in India just as in other parts of the world. Today, everything is available at the touch of a button.

Teaching and learning have always been called ‘offline only’ task. But these days the scenario has taken a 360-degree turn. Apart from being a low-cost medium, online courses can be opted anytime and anywhere. It fits well into the busy routine of people of the 21st century. It has come up with new ways of learning to develop a student's mindset beyond schooling education.

This COVID-19 situation has made us understand the true meaning of staying connected while miles apart. This will certainly have a long-term impact on the education sector. This will allow the students who couldn’t join higher educations due to family commitments to attend live classes from anywhere at any time.

This will not only make people educated but also create a long-lasting impact on the reader's mind. It will help you to achieve education goals more easily and flexibly than traditional learning.

Talking about my personal experience, I was preparing for my CAT 2019 examination last year along with continuing my full-time job as a Public Relations consultant. At this point of time where practise is the foremost criteria to garner good percentile, I was able to complete my tasks and solve papers online through various e-learning apps.

Not only that as the COVID-19 affected our daily lives in the month of March- when the colleges usually conduct their selection process and undergo physical induction about the college and their pedagogy. I was blessed to have access to the internet which helped me continue with my GD and PI sessions along with getting my induction done over webinars just by sitting in a tier-3 city in Odisha.

I believe E-learning has a longer run in a country like India as it is cost-effective, personalised and can be accessed anytime.

Today, everybody is on the internet and learning something new while sitting at home. I, too, have taken digital marketing course online which has become a medium for me to develop skills and learn new things just by sitting at home free of cost. The only things that I am missing through e-classes are the look and feel of being together with friends and sitting at an ideal corner from where we can have our own share of fun.

This too can be easily accessed but will take some time to happen. Lately, I was reading through many technological developments in the western countries where children were given access to Virtual Reality headsets. AR and VR have the potential to change the way we used to learn and engage when it comes to education. The education system requires new technologies in order to stay relevant in the ever-changing world and be effective at understanding its mission.

When it comes to explaining students to current science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics skills, teachers today face an unprecedented challenge. In this scenario, AR/VR will play a larger role in the education system as numerous tools/products are developed for better opportunities and more customised lessons based on school, class, and student requirements.

In my personal opinion, the forthcoming classrooms will not look like how they do now. Some of the trends that can be witnessed in the future year are:

Experiential learning will be implemented in the form of virtual labs, social media platforms, AR/VR tools, and gamification of learning.

Personalisation will be the key trend for next-gen education.

Introduction of robotics in the curriculum, especially for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), will be in demand in the future

Mobile-based learning: India being the second-largest consumer of mobile phones (nearly 337 million) it will offer students the flexibility to access educational content seamlessly across multiple digital devices like desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

About the Author:

Anish Choudhary is a seasoned public relations professional with 3 years of experience. After graduating in the year 2018 from the National Institute of Mass Communication in Journalism and Mass communication, he will now be pursuing his Post Graduation in MBA (Marketing) from IMT Hyderabad - Institute of Management Technology in 2020. Being a passionate photographer, Anish loves travelling and enjoying the culture and cuisines of various places and capturing those moments in his Instagram id @foodie_fotugrapher.