By Udita Shah
A bland generic board, a desk, the giant backpacks filled with books, the homework, the day begins and ends when the bell rings. For centuries this has defined what all of us think about school.
Innovation is everywhere you can lay your eyes on, just in 13 years, the smartphone industry has remodelled our whole perspective of technology. A major breakthrough doesn’t even surprise us anymore.
Just like in the Paleolithic era, we are the hunter-gatherers of the digital era. The old ways will get us nowhere in this age of information.
The recent Coronavirus has finally shown us that the flawed system that we were following for so long is actually hindering our potential.
Today, we live in an amazing world where learning is available right at your fingertips.
Students can be situated anywhere in the world and can still access and fully participate in online classes.
I believe that online classes are a very beneficial thing that the pros outweigh the cons. It is beneficial for students because it cuts down the commute time of our Kathmandu which is very hectic and horrendous traffic at times, it works despite how busy your schedule is, and there is no confusion from teachers. Not only that, but it is also great because it allows students to work at the pace they desire and it produces good time management skills. For many students, the trip to class can be as hard as the assignment, rushing to be on time is one of the biggest con of old traditional classes.
Everything has a good side and a bad side, keeping all the flexibility, convenience and time management pros aside online classes have a dark side as well.
The dark side starts with procrastination as no teacher is asking you to continue to focus and stay in class. Online classes also create a sense of isolation and a mild sense of boredom because after all the student is in the room all alone without any peers or a sense of togetherness. He/she may feel lonely as the classes before, however boring they seemed gave a sense of tribalism which is rooted in our genes.
It requires the students to find their own path of learning and be active learner and be more independent but I believe it can also be an advantage for some people. Online classes give you much more freedom which can be very dangerous if you don’t know how to handle it.
Finally, I want to conclude that, Online classes are beneficial only if you know how to use them effectively but lack of supervision could be detrimental for many students. However, it’s a great initiative and we as a human species just like we are meant to evolve in every aspect I believe Online classes will also evolve and get incorporated into our lives seamlessly.
The writer, highly passionate and motivated towards journalism and writing, is a student in Grade 11 at Trinity International College, Kathmandu.
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