Article Preview
TopIntroduction
In the last two decades, the Internet has become the non-existent into the largest and most accessible database of information ever created (Mueller-Langer et al., 2020). The Internet has changed the way people communicate with others, purchase items/ products, socialize, gain knowledge, and learn. Much more than that, a new twist on online learning/ education is changing the face of traditional classrooms and making education more accessible than before (Alghamdi et al., 2020). In online education, the students can learn through computers/smartphones/tablets/ laptops connected to an internet facility in their home (Bourne et al., 2005). This online education has become more popular for many non-traditional students, such as those working in companies/ industries or who want to work full-time to raise their family standards. For instance, world-renowned universities/ multi-national companies/ research centers offer online education through educational sites such as Coursera, edX, udemy, udacity, Edureka, etc. This education forum provides online education in the form of degrees and diplomas specific to courses and disciplines worldwide to all people in various languages.
Recently, in India, the online education through SWAYAM - NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), an initiative taken by the Ministry of Human Resource Department (MHRD), the Government of India together with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) has an overwhelming response among the students. NPTEL offers courses by IIT, the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), and Indian Institute of Science (IISc) professors and industry experts from multi-national companies. In all the education mentioned above, the teaching, learning, and assessment process are used with some specific digital technologies provided through an online portal of the host university.
In general, “Online education is e-supported learning that relies on the internet for teacher and student interaction with the distribution of class materials” (Allen & Seamen, 2013). Through this online education, there are infinite ways to teach and learn outside traditional classrooms and outside college campuses. Online education provides learning through interactive audio, video, text, animations, virtual training environments, and live chats with professors. Online learning typically requires 10hrs per week to read lecture materials and submit assignments and tests/quizzes. It is a rich learning environment with much more flexibility than a traditional classroom when used to its full potential.
On the other hand, the unprecedented events from January 2020 to June 2020 due to the novel Coronavirus- 2019 have put the education sector in the spotlight like never before (Bright et al., 2020). All over the world, the educational institutions have closed in 107 countries, affecting more than 860 million students' education. Most institutions have canceled school and college board examinations per the Government order (Bright et al., 2020). The schools and colleges offer online classes to the students through video conferencing tools such as WebEx, Zoom, and Google meets using electronic gadgets connected to the internet.
Though the online classes are an alternate solution for traditional classrooms during this pandemic, they have more physiological, infrastructural, and economic drawbacks as follows:
- 1.
Social isolation.
- 2.
Self-motivation and time management in attending classes.
- 3.
Proxy during assessment.
- 4.
The theory focused on teaching rather than practice.
- 5.
Lack of interaction and face-to-face communication.
- 6.
Inaccessible to rural students with poor network coverage.
- 7.
Lack of accreditation & quality assurance.
- 8.
Most suitable for objective type assessment rather than subjective.