Pros and Cons Of Online Classes During Covid-19

May 16, 2021 ,It has been more than a year since the world was introduced to Covid-19 in the form of a Pandora’s Box, a metaphor that in modern times mean “Any source of unexpected and endless troubles” and we’ve been suffering since. This pandemic has made each one of us realize that things in life aren’t as granted as we think it is. A normal handshake and hug didn’t feel like a great deal until corona made social distancing a part of our lives. None of us had ever imagined that studying locked up inside our houses for months was even possible until corona got most countries in the world in a complete lockdown.

More than 300 million students worldwide are having their education disrupted by the spread of Coronavirus. Schools and universities haven’t faced this level of disruption in generations, but unlike any time in the past, we have the ability to continue education even when schools close. In this uncertain environment, it’s important that learning continues, even if it can’t happen in person.

Many months into lockdown, online classes have been a saviour. At first, I was really upset because I couldn’t imagine not going to school and not seeing my friends but the pandemic has led us to an unprecedented crisis and we are all living and studying under different circumstances now. Even though school is closed, we have online classes where we’re basically learning everything as we normally would. Online learning can help students flourish as students can go at their own pace and are set-up to think deeply and critically about subject matter in a homely environment.

I am happy that attending online classes has helped me study and learn even in time of this pandemic but nothing compares to being able to physically interact and learn in school. Some days, I find myself not being able to concentrate in online classes. When a family member calls me, I tend to completely forget about the lectures going on in my zoom class. This makes me realize physical classes and life before lockdown used to be a blessing.

Many educational institutions shifted to online learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although research has found that online classes can be just as effective as physical classes, there is evidence that suggests some students may perform relatively worse. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, many teachers and students have had to rethink their classes entirely and many are struggling under increased workloads while learning new techniques.

For me, the most difficult part of online classes has been the emotional aspect. It can be lonely, and you miss out on the little interactions with teachers and friends during physical classes which made my day better. The environment in physical class is very different than online class which make teaching-learning experience more fruitful. Talking face to face with teachers, hanging out with your friends, having fun in lunch breaks seems like a far-fetched idea now. Never in our wildest dreams had we imagined that our lives would change so much. Interacting with people every day helped me boost up my confidence and sanguine but now we are locked up in our houses and it is sad that it’s the only way we can save ourselves from the virus.

Yes indeed we could learn better in physical classes but we have to take note that when the pandemic left us all confused about what to do with our education, online classes came to our rescue. People say that what may seem extreme in normal conditions seems acceptable in a pandemic. A great illustration of this is how students and teachers would never choose online classes over physical classes on normal conditions but in this pandemic all of us are relying on online classes.

Students across the world are being affected by these closures differently, and we’re all finding ways to support each other through online. It is nothing else but online class that is helping us in our education in this tough time so no matter what we should all be thankful for it.