Online learning: knowing the negative aspects!

For good reasons, the internet is buzzing with positive information about online education.Be it lower costs, accessibility, or flexibility; the advantages are numerous. But is online learning helping kids during this pandemic? Most parents across the globe are afraid; it’s not. A quick look into the real world clearly demonstrates that most of them are still choosing traditional classes. Are these people ignorant? NO. There are multiple drawbacks
to online education in comparison to traditional classroom education. Read below to know a few of the side effects of e-learning for pre-primary, primary, and secondary level students that most of you are still not aware of.

Not easily accessible 

As many people do not have access to required devices and an internet connection, especially in villages, a large portion of the population still struggles with poverty, using technology as a method to educate children.

Less personal

Online learning reduces the personal interaction between kids and teachers, and this increases the communication gap between them. Also, many times, online classes are interrupted due to technical glitches or poor internet connection.

Excess exposure to screen time

Health problems are increasing as screen time increases for kids due to schools being shut because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The way children have started spending on computers and smartphones for online classes for long hours, parents have been complaining about their children being suffering from headaches, eye problems, stresses, and much more.

Lack of peer interaction

One of the most significant discrepencies of online learning is missing out on the social element of going to class. It’s not ideal for little ones to sit alone with their computer throughout the entire session.  Online learning not only provides a limited interaction with teachers, where kids have to wait for hours for any clarifications but also interaction with classmates and hands-on projects become difficult. Although many online classes encourage collaboration through group activities , yet your child is sure to feel isolated from their peers if they do not share the same physical space.   

Online learning lacks strong self-motivation and time management skills.

Lack of self-motivation among toddlers continues to be one of the primary reasons why kids fail to complete online courses. In traditional classrooms, there are numerous factors that always push kids towards their learning goals. Face-to-face communication with professors, peer-to-peer activities, and strict schedules, all work in unison to keep them from falling off track during their studies. Whereas, in the setting of an online learning environment, it is entirely different. Students get to learn the most challenging course materials in a comfortable home setting without any of the added pressure. Well, if you think that’s great, it is not. Why? As many of the kids who lack strong self-motivation and time management skills will find it challenging to keep up with regular deadlines during online studies.

In Online education, teachers tend to focus on theories more than practicals.

Although this drawback of E-Learning has been partially addressed, the problem has yet to disappear completely. The problem is that teachers choose to focus mainly on developing theoretical knowledge rather than practical skills. Reason? Theories are considerably easier to implement in an online learning environment than practical lectures. After all, without face-to-face communication and physical classrooms, implementing practical projects in an online course requires significantly more prior planning than theoretical training.

Requires students to exercise self-discipline

Online learning programs demand kids to be self-starters. Even though your kid studies at her own pace and time, there are deadlines to be met. Some amount of self-motivation, responsibility, and time management skills are a part of this package. Online courses that have deadlines for assignments and tests put unnecessary pressure on students and end up adversely impacting students’ time management and organization skills.  

Requires extensive parent commitment

Staying motivated and keeping up with timely homework and assignments have proven to be more difficult for e-learning students than for those attending traditional classes. Younger children, in particular, face trouble with accountability and self-motivation, and therefore, it needs parent involvement to make sure their online experience goes well. If your child is at any primary level or even lower, you should stay involved in her online lessons, at least in the first few lessons, to make sure she stays focused, as well as keep her safe in the online world. 

Computer Literacy

Not all kids are tech-savvy and face a lot of difficulties in managing computers well. It’s too obvious for a toddler not to be able to operate basic programs such as Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and therefore fail to handle their files. Furthermore, many of them find fixing fundamental computer problems troublesome, as they have the least or no knowledge in this area. In this case, technological proficiency is a must for following online classes, as it enables students to manage their assignments in an organized manner. 

Kids can’t ask questions when required

Do you see your kid raising hands during online classes? No. Isn’t it? Well, this is another drawback that you can’t ignore during online classes. Kids neither can follow nor can raise their hands and ask their queries when/if confused by the material.

They can’t pace the lecture

Have you ever wondered if your child is able to follow the pace of the lecture? In a traditional lecture, a teacher can always stop the class when a student cannot follow and adjust the pace accordingly. But the same is not possible in online education.

Online student feedback is limited

In traditional classrooms, teachers are able to provide students immediate face-to-face feedback. We all know that personalized feedback has a positive impact on students, which makes learning processes much easier, richer, and more significant, all the while raising motivation levels of the students. E-Learning, on the other hand, still deals with a lot of struggles while providing student feedback. Kids completing regular assessments are dissatisfied after experiencing a lack of personalized feedback. 

The rush to put education online amid the coronavirus pandemic worldwide, from K-12 to graduate school — is unprecedented. The debate for and against e-learning for learners has been going on for many years now. Besides providing you with outstanding strengths and unprecedented accessibility to quality education, there are weaknesses that are posing potential threats to the success of online programs. With classrooms closed and millions of kids faced with schooling at home, parents wonder how to make this work. If you are asking yourself the same question, you are certainly not alone. To pave a great future for kids, all you need to do is maintain a healthy balanced life. By incorporating just a few guidelines each day, such as maintaining breaks time and recess, maintaining distractions, mixing screen time with old school learning mediums, your kid can go a long way and make the most of the online learning.

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