It's 7:55 AM already, and I remembered I have a class at 8! Hurriedly, I woke up and switched on my laptop. It didn't take more than a minute to enter the meeting, and with the instructor beginning with "Hello everyone", I knew I wasn't late.
So good I don't have to rush my bicycle to the LHC only to see the main door being bolted from inside. Just one of those few privileges of online classes.
The pandemic hasn't shown any sign of stopping yet, and this 'new normal' won't get back to the 'old normal' anytime soon. We'd still be interacting with each other, but only through the screens, voices being partially audible, and hoping for the network to be it's best.
And that's one of the benefits of online classes for me: I can do my work at my own pace, as long as I'm meeting the deadlines and streaming all lectures thoroughly. The pressure and intensity is less, compared to the days when we had the tough time going and coming from the lecture halls to the hall. No environment can provide a cosier atmosphere than what home provides.
Mookit: how wonderful this platform has been! From storing lectures along with slides, having a discussion panel to keeping an announcement section; it didn't make the students miss the benefits of classroom teaching. Students get the benefit of watching the lecture anytime, till any part and continue the remaining part later, and those who are slightly slow in grasping concepts have a great advantage in repeating the lectures. And they could study at the hour when they are the freshest; unlike before when they had to drag themselves to the class to complete the attendance requirements.
And yet with all these facilities, deep down, don't we crave for our old hectic IITK schedule? Those last minute breakfasts before dashing towards the lecture halls, the joy after successfully marking the attendance, those late night study sessions with friends, and subsequently rewarding ourselves with a canteen visit at 1 o'clock midnight; the experience is just incomparable!
For someone, his/her academics can either be improved or degraded. Improved in the sense that distractions are greatly minimized, and degraded in the sense that doubt clearing just gets tougher. We'd still contact our friends before the tutors for explaining that 2-line example in the slides, won't we? This facility is just eroded now. And doubts can, well, just linger on the whole semester.
Helpless enough.
I mentioned the benefits of watching lectures anytime before, but what if someone just doesn't even have that internet connectivity for that? Of course, the slides are there. They aren't the alternatives for lectures, where the instructor vividly explains the sub-points of a topic, and that's how those points are recalled any day by a student. Slides are just written manuscripts which outline what the topic is about.
And the most important part: how are we ensuring fairness in exams? Some students can download the notes and use them in exams, even if they aren't meant to be open-book assessments. The seriousness of a student just reduces greatly, so great that he/she knows the formula and notes would be available near my hands anytime; why even bother to study 3 months prior? Even though cheating through discussion groups can be checked: IIT Delhi just announced a reward of 7 marks to anyone who proved students cheating in any social media group. Well played, IITD.
Covid-19 has given online teaching a new dimension, and with time it'd slowly take over the classroom teaching. Why? It's just so comfortable for the professors uploading lectures in a peaceful environment, without the chaos created by students in the class; and regarding doubt clearing sessions; they can be conducted as per mutual convenience of the teachers and students. Given the boom of technology in the coming years, people might just shed the troubles of going to lecture halls and attend lectures comfortably at home. That goes without saying that the before-mentioned cons are relevantly addressed, so that no student is left behind.And yes, online classes are here to stay.
