Online Education — Many Challenges and More Opportunities — Monika S Garg
If planned thoughtfully, online education can provide lifelong access to excellent and equitable learning. National Education Policy-2020 offers accreditation to institutions for running open distance learning and online programmes. This is a unique opportunity for institutes of higher education to enhance the courses being offered, improve access, increase enrolment and provide opportunities for lifelong learning. Even before the lockdown, online learning platforms like NPTEL and MOOCS were being utilised in the country for technical education. However, these were considered largely experimental, and the reliance on e-learning in higher education was not optimal. The pandemic, however, mandated a radical shift. The lockdown decreed teach-from-home and learn-from-home. PM e-Vidya was launched. Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) initiated the impart of online education. The pandemic has ushered in the age of online education across the world. Like any technological revolution, this brings with it both opportunities for unparalleled growth and threats in the form of newly vulnerable populations. To get maximum dividends, we need to construct a structured environment for online education with the twin targets of inclusion and personalisation. Content preparation, delivery and assessment will need to be optimised differentially to match the needs of varied target groups. High calibre e-content is the foundation of any such program. A wealth of course content is available in English on various open source platforms. This may be integrated into the curriculum to maximise delivery at the earliest. Meanwhile, efforts have to be made to prepare contents in regional languages. The course material needs to be engaging and interactive, with liberal use of audio, video, visuals and other features tailored to the course. A course in zoology would be more visual while a course in language will require an interface equipped with grammar and spellcheck. Online learning is self-paced and self-motivated. Students can learn at their own speed, going back and re-reading, skipping, or accelerating through concepts as they choose. However, it relies heavily on the learner’s inclinations. Laid back students tend to procrastinate, and may fall behind the rest of the class. Thus, a time bound schedule with frequent evaluation is necessary. Special attention may be paid to students not doing well, as to why their grades are not upto the mark. They can be allowed to make up for shortfalls through a system which provides for retaking tests and earning improved credits. This scenario again points to the need of a robust system of content delivery and assessment. Discussion forums and Breakout rooms (Google Classroom, Moodle, Zoom etc) allow small-sized groups to be formed, with the instructor being able to visit each of these and share his notes. With whiteboard integration, science teachers find mini gadgets like tabs with pens convenient for performingmathematical derivations and solving numerical problems. Cross-institutional collaborative learning is also possible on platforms such as MS teams, WebEx, Skype, Google Hangouts etc which allow learners to discuss problems in real time. Simulation software and virtual labs help in imparting practical knowledge to the students. This needs to be supplemented by tutorials and remedial classes, which should be personalised and customised further. Classroom interactions are also essential for learning from peer group and acquiring networking skills and civic sense. The challenge is to arrive at an optimal ‘blend’ of online teaching and traditional classroom teaching. Topics that require introspection and debate should be taken up in traditional settings. For example, philosophy requires the ability to analyse a given set of hypotheses and synthesise new postulates. It may be difficult to acquire this proficiency virtually. Assessment of the students both during and at the end of a course has always been a challenge for distance learning programs. Using e-platforms, a combination of online and offline evaluations may be used. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled verification, face movement recognition, screen locking and remote invigilator are some techniques that can minimise chances of use of unfair means during online tests. Simultaneously, stringent quality control measures need to be put in place to evaluate teachers. Of course, the end-term performance of the students is an absolute parameter for making such assessment. But concurrent evaluations are essential to check time lags and protect the students’ interests. Learning Management System (LMS) is a good solution that can be indigenised and adapted by institutes. They can review performance and learn about the impact of teaching with dashboards and reports. They can modify the existing features of LMS to identify a user’s learning abilities, articulate accordingly and extract meta-data to make suitable recommendations for helping him. External reviews of content delivery by subject experts and industry doyens will be vital to upgrading the standards of education. Peer review is a necessary part of any academic endeavour and will become easier through e-platforms. The new education policy paves the way for multidisciplinary institutes through course flexibility and transfer of credits. Online education will be a cornerstone in this. A Computer Science major student wanting to create a start-up can do courses not being offered in her college, like an Economics or Commerce minor, from a university specialising in it, through an e-platform. This way, students can get a wellrounded education encompassing all their diverse interests. Basic compulsory courses like ethics, health and hygiene, digital awareness and communication skills can also be offered by universities online. Some HEIs can strive to become centres of excellence for providing specialised courses, like AI, Internet of Things and Machine Learning, creative and liberal arts or yoga and meditation, online. Students can attend these even during their vacation periods, thus freeing up academic hours for regular courses. The increased flexibility in timings may be used to maximise the pay-off from physical college hours.However, the biggest challenge in the country is equity and inclusion. The NITI Aayog, in its “Strategy for New India@75” report, highlighted the quality and reliability of the internet as a major bottleneck. Only about 25% of students have access to smart phones, laptops and internet. Universities will have to develop mechanisms with in-built functionalities to overcome these deficiencies. They can develop tabs preloaded with e-content and devise a system for issuing such tabs for a fixed time, like books issued from library. Students can use them at home, even without internet connectivity. Some e learning centres can be promoted in PPP mode. Institutes can provide space to an entrepreneur who will keep such preloaded tabs and provide them to students on annual rent basis. Local industry can be motivated to use their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to provide hardware and software to colleges. The National Broadband Mission aiming to provide internet access in all villages by 2022 will be a great help. The government can establish eLearning Parks in govt schools in remote areas with computers and internet connectivity. Students enrolled in higher education programs can use these to access digital platforms after school hours. The benefits of online learning extend to beyond just students. Online education opens up avenues for lifelong learning. Once people get habituated into learning and absorbing content through e-platforms, they can continue to read and learn beyond the years of formal training. This provides platform to teachers for re-skilling and broadbasing. This provides opportunity to common man to upgrade his knowledge and pick up new skills at any point of his career. NEP-2020 has called for a complete revamping of the higher education sector. Colleges will have to re-imagine their mission and work together towards reforming education. Coordination and collaboration will be key to future growth. To jump start the process, the Dept of Higher Education of Uttar Pradesh has developed an online Portal for uploading of e-contents by various HEIs of the state. This is available to students across the country free of cost. Called the U.P. Higher Education Digital Library, this bilingual Portal was started on 5th September, 2020, Teacher’s Day. The state declared the months of September and October as Vidyadaan Maah and urged upon teachers to contribute to this library, in keeping with our culture of charity. The portal received more than eleven thousand contents in Hindi and English in one month and many more are pouring in. (The author is currently working as Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education department in Govt of U.P. Views expressed are personal)
Sources http://heecontent.upsdc.gov.in/Articles.aspx