The New Vibe of Studying Online
By Nargiz Iskandarova.
While many countries are at various stages in their COVID-19 infection rates, worldwide there have recently been more than 1.2 billion children and 186 countries affected by school closures due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has triggered new ways of learning. All around the world, educational institutions are looking toward online learning platforms to continue with the process of educating students. The new normal is a transformed concept of education with online learning at its core. Today, digital learning has emerged as a necessary resource for students and schools all over the world. Many education systems, which have never witnessed a pandemic of this scale, have had to set up new online classes for students.
It is interesting to highlight that South Korea shifted from offline classes to online ones in a short period of time. It is no secret that Chonnam National University and Kwangwoon University adopted new styles of teaching that have advantages as well as disadvantages. One effect of the pandemic is that students as well as teachers have had to surmount a number of difficulties that have caused a great amount of stress. Another was that Chonnam National University and Kwangwoon University campuses have became emptier than ever before. So students, especially international ones, went into a panic that triggered them to abandon school by taking leaves of absence. However, thanks to the Korean education system’s professional workers who bore the burdens of change and uncertainty upon their shoulders, many new educational avenues have opened up. Nevertheless, the disadvantages of online learning have outweighed the advantages.
Advantages include the following.
Efficiency – Online learning has offered professors an efficient way to deliver lessons to students. Such learning comes with a number of tools such as videos, PDFs, and podcasts, and teachers can use all these tools as part of their lesson plans. By extending the lesson plan beyond traditional textbooks to include online resources, teachers have been able to become more efficient educators.
Accessibility of Time and Place – Another advantage of online education has been that it allows students to attend classes from any location of their choice. It also allows schools to reach out to a more extensive network of students, instead of being restricted by geographical boundaries, especially for students who took leaves of absence. Additionally, online lectures can be recorded, archived, and shared for future reference. This allows students to access the learning material at a time of their choosing.
However, the disadvantages of online leaning outweigh the advantages due to a number of factors, including these.
Difficulty Focusing on Screens – For many students, one of the biggest challenges of online learning has been the struggle with focusing on the screen for long periods of time. With online learning, there is also a greater chance for students to be easily distracted by social media such as Instagram and Facebook. Therefore, it is imperative for teachers to keep their online classes crisp, engaging, and interactive to help students stay focused on the lesson. But it is often almost impossible to keep them on track.
Technology Issues – Another key challenge of online classes has been internet connectivity. Sometimes the internet connection does not work properly, and students are either absent as a result or just give up on the class. While internet penetration has grown by leaps and bounds over the past few years, in smaller cities and towns, a consistent connection with decent speed has been a problem, especially for students who were in Uzbekistan or other countries facing huge problems such as the fact that the internet is not always free and can be quite slow compared to South Korea. So, students have had to wait, and time management has been difficult. Without a consistent internet connection for students or teachers, there can be a lack of continuity in learning for the students. Ultimately, this is detrimental to the education process.
Sense of Isolation – Students can learn a lot more while in the company of their peers and by hanging out with them outside of class. However, in online classes, there are comparatively little interaction between students and teachers. This often results in a sense of isolation for the students, like having to stay home 24/7 all alone. In this situation, it has been imperative that schools allow for other forms of communication between students, peers, and teachers. It has been very hard for students to give up on friends with whom they used to easily share their feelings and exchange knowledge with.
In this regard, one student studying at Kwangwoon University whom I interviewed, Jakhongir Sultonov, told me that online classes were tedious and difficult to understand. He had a very difficult time due to online classes. He said that some of the classes need to be taught as offline classes to be effective. He highlighted that it is more fun to study when interacting with peers.
The Author
Nargiz Iskandarova is currently a student at Chonnam National University, majoring in English language and literature. She has recently completed a TESOL class at Chosun University and is considered one of the youngest authors in Chonnam National University. Nargiz is a future professor who is eager to improve education around the world. She thinks that everyone must be educated regardless of gender and religion.
Instagram: @nargiz_iskandarova