Online Education is Not What We Need
The key purpose for education during the COVID-19 pandemic is to manage the overflow of the session jam and lengthening of the graduation system. In general, students are supposed to be graduates within an estimated time. Due to the lockdown and life-crisis in this difficult time, the graduation process will take a much longer time. To shorten that period, online education has been the classroom substitute in many universities in our country. But the fact is, this system taking an engrossed shape really that effective or not?
Google declared earlier that classrooms are no longer needed in college education. Their initiative of launching professional online courses would certainly move the world of higher studies to another perspective and majorly influence the system. According to Google’s vice president of global affairs Kent Walker, the Google Certificate would enable degrees that are required to gain jobs, and those who are unable to afford college studies would be able to attain their offered certificates. Many international news portals have designated this idea as to “disrupt” the college education system.
If we take a look at higher studies, it will help to delve into the concept. The tertiary educational system must not be confined to the perspectives of the jobs whereas the debate that a university degree does not make an eligible job candidate remains. The purposes of tertiary education are not only certification and job-eligibility but also intellectual growth, stability and sense of responsibility, in-depth core knowledge about a particular discipline, and many things more. The completion of graduation is just a step further to open the doors for researchers, scholars, and thinkers. Considering The University of Oxford. This globally recognized university takes the best lot of students from all over the world and when the students graduate they never remain the same. Supposedly, they are intellectually more independent, stable, and responsible adults. The interests of our minds must not be confined to some specific criteria. Universities or colleges offering tertiary degrees are designed to make students cultivate their knowledge, develop critical thinking, and so on.
The platforms serving online education are giving us full coverage of video-meetings up to many numbers of attendees. The most intricate of topics are discussed in a limited vision. The devices used to join online classes are not free from the range of coronavirus. Bangladeshi private universities are using these platforms to continue the online education and exam process. Many public universities have also joined the team. A secured internet connection is a precondition for this system. Many students are out of the fast internet service zone, attending to their classes from remote areas. Technical problems are occurring so much that proper submission of online exams and assignments are vulnerable for the students. The teachers are working for long tiresome hours to prepare the lecture sheets and exam scripts online.
The platforms used on desktop, tablets, smartphones, or laptops for online education purposes are not singing properly. The situation is metaphorically like If FaceTime works on the iPhone, it does not run under the android operating system. Many students in our country with desktops do not have microphones or cameras to view and listen to meetings. To operate desktops, a webcam needs to be attached for teachers to maneuver the classes aptly. The students need to use more than one device sometimes to understand their study topics properly. Also, all secure video meeting mediums are not the perfect solution to proper learning. If Google Meet offers a record option, Zoom does not. Expectedly, more technological advantages would be available soon everywhere.
Online learning apps have made things more fun. Without those apps, the educational system would not be so benefitted. Solutions to problems are immensely easy to find. The effectiveness of online learning is not enough for students to think from both sides of the brain. A logical and creative balance is not offered here. Taking and absorbing information from the internet is possible but it does not help the actual reading and thinking. The online education system is not just about time and devices or the internet speed, it is a phenomenon that requires sensitive observation and consideration. Education is a significant matter and we should not take it lightly.
