Do you think taking online classes is easy? Ask your teacher, not getting enough feedback, difficulties at home and lack of resources like a smartphone are only a few of the challenges the teachers face while teaching online.
While talking about the challenging aspects of online teaching which happened to be completely absent during the physical classes, Sanjay Mutto, Assistant Professor at Kamala Nehru College, Delhi University, said, “The biggest issue for me while teaching online is the difficulty in getting feedback from students.”
“With the microphones switched off and the cameras shut, a teacher is often left with little idea as to how much students are comprehending of what is being taught. The teacher has no way of knowing what is the level of comprehension. The teacher is not even concerned with if all the students are paying attention, that was inevitable even during physical teaching. A teacher cannot force one to pay attention to what is being taught in the class. However, even amongst those who are concentrating in the class, a teacher cannot know how much of the knowledge being transferred is actually being understood.”
“Another very generic criticism against the online classes, which I feel is extremely important is the element of class attached to it. Teachers can only teach comfortably if they have a separate room where they can shut themselves off from the rest of the house and be completely on their own. The domestic situation at a lot of teachers’ houses might not be ideal to address a group of students on a daily basis. In that case, I feel I am extremely privileged because I can cut myself away and then students in peace. But not everybody is that fortunate, I know people who have young kids and elderly parents in the house and they struggle a lot with creating an ideal environment at home to work,” shared Professor Mutto.
On top of the absence of adequate resources and devices, teachers also have to pay for the internet and mobile data services from their own pockets. What comes as an advantage of the online lecture is that teachers can very easily show videos and documentaries in real-time which was nothing short of a hurdle in a public university’s classes in physical form.
As if the teachers did not have enough on their plates already with teaching through the screens that the issue of online harassment and bullying against them also emerged. At some point, the problem became so distressing that a professor working in a university in Bengaluru committed suicide after his students asked him to deliver pizzas to their houses. The professor was working as a pizza delivery executive in the night to earn some extra cash in the pandemic.
It has almost been an entire year since we have been living with the pandemic and yet the questions and concerns that are attached to it go unheard. Months into the pandemic and still, we refuse to lay our eyes over the concerns of the sole community of people responsible for ensuring education does not get compromised even in such unprecedented times. #KhabarLive #hydnews