Theme:
- COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the rise of E-learning. This situation led to debates on whether e-learning is a good alternative to classroom learning.
Pros of E-learning:
- Due to COVID-19 pandemic, students are not able to attend schools and colleges. Even in this situation, they didn’t stop learning. This was possible due to the e-learning option.
- A few girl children and differently-abled children are not attending schools/colleges due to lack of facilities there. E-learning is a boon for them.
- E-learning gives flexibility. Even if we miss any class, we can listen to it later.
- Students can repeat the lesson many times if they didn’t understand the concepts.
- Through e-learning, teachers can explain the concepts using animations or other technologies, so that students can understand the concepts much clearly.
Challenges of E-learning:
- In the classroom, students will not only learn the subject but also interacts with other students and thereby make friends. Classroom influences the overall personality development of students. With e-learning, students will be deprived of this opportunity.
- As students have to look at screens continuously, it can strain their eyes.
- With e-learning, teachers may not be able to focus on all the students, which will be possible in the classroom. Teachers may not also understand whether students could grasp the concept or not.
- The classroom environment is lively in nature, whereas sitting in front of a computer or smartphone to listen to the classes will be boring.
- Even in this 21st century, some people do not have internet facility. So, e-learning deepens the inequality between rich and poor.
- E-learning may not create as much seriousness as classroom learning. So, students may not be motivated enough to listen to the class.
- Not all parents are technologically educated to help their children in case of any issues.
- If the device has other apps such as youtube, students may become distracted. Several students are already suffering from smartphone addiction. So, parents may not feel safe to leave the children unsupervised.
Conclusion:
E-learning is super beneficial for students as well as teachers, especially in this COVID-19 pandemic situation. But it cannot be a sustainable alternative to classroom learning. It can only be used as a supplement. Moreover, internet access should be available to all, so that every student can utilize this opportunity.
Your Turn…
What are your thoughts on e-learning? Express your point of view through the comment section below. And subscribe to our blog to read answers to the trending GD topics.
Copyright @ Group Discussion Ideas.
