Two consecutive years of online teaching experiences have bye and large generated a feeling of isolation among the students as their interaction with the teachers has not been as intense as it used to be during their physical attendance in class rooms. Due to time constraints in the conduct of online classes the students are desperate to shift to pre-covid normality of physical attendance in the classes as the present situation has taken away the right of intense discussion from the students. As experiences of the traditional schooling remind us that entire class remains engaged in discussion with the teacher when it comes to physical attendance of students in classess, henceforth the tendency of the students to return to normal schooling is increasing day after day for the obvious reasons. While expanding time for discussion on the insistence of students is not an issue for teachers during their physical attendance in classes, it is very difficult and rather impossible for the teachers to expand the time for discussion during an online class even if majority of the students insist for it. So there is obviously lot of scope for a conflict between the teacher and the students over the demand for increasing the time for discussion during an online class. A discussion amongst the students even outside the classrooms during lunch break or therwise is also a great advantage for them during their physical attendance in schools. So the student becomes both a learner and reviewer during physical attendance at schools. While teachers find it easy to manage interactions between the students during their physical attendance at schools , they don’t see any scope for managing interactions amongst the students during online classes. While teachers bring hard copies of lessons for distribution amongst the students during their physical attendance in classes, they find it difficult to pursue such a teaching-learning practice in an online class.
Students have not to be given liberty to romanticise the online teaching process as some videos showing increasing tendencies among students to romanticise the online teaching have gone viral on social media and are as such ringing alarm bells more for the parents than the teachers. Only two options are left-either community classes or return to physical attendance of students in classes by reducing both the numbers of days and as well as the no of classes on rotational basis. Ultimately it is for both the authorities of school education department and as well as the heads of private schools to evolve a consensus on future course of action on online teaching.
The school education department has not to view such experiences of online teaching-learning process as criticism but as a feedback for prolonging the online mode of teaching in schools. Above all students have not to be given liberty to romanticise the online teaching process as some videos showing increasing tendencies among students to romanticise the online teaching have gone viral on social media and are as such ringing alarm bells more for the parents than the teachers. Only two options are left-either community classes or return to physical attendance of students in classes by reducing both the numbers of days and as well as the no of classes on rotational basis. Ultimately it is for both the authorities of school education department and as well as the heads of private schools to evolve a consensus on future course of action on online teaching
