1. ABSTRACT
   1. This article primarily focuses upon the era of e-learning which is eventually evolving in India during these covid-19 pandemic times. It also discusses the key outcomes of e-learning and what are the shortcomings of this method in terms of reliability, availability and future prospects, followed by latest education related policies and criticism. This articles majorly focuses upon whether e-learning has become a reality or still a dream for many Indians?

 

1. INTRODUCTION

“A sheet of paper cannot decide your future, until it’s a FIR”

1. We all have grown up reading this line end number of times, but no one ever actually thought that this will be the reality in the coming years. Another year from today, and sheets of paper won’t actually decide the future, because probably we’ll not pass the semester until the assignments have been typed or the mail has been received by the supervisors.
2. As we all know that India is fighting hard with covid-19 pandemic and whole nation has been shifted from offline platforms to online platforms hereby promoting work from home culture but the harsh reality is that, the student community at almost all the levels are suffering due to this culture, the reason could be anything right from scarcity of resources to lack of knowledge.
3. E-learning is totally a new system in which the complete education sector including all the pillars totally rely upon technology and internet but how effective and reliable is this platform is still a question of debate, but has this pandemic situation forced the education sector including students as beneficiaries to shift to e-learning platform or are we still reluctant to do so?

 

• BACKGROUND
  1. According to a report on Indian Education Sector[1], India is said to have 37.4 million students[2], about 500 million population belong to the age group of 5-24 years[3], hereby representing great scope in education sector. With over 250 million[4] student attending school, which is comparatively quite high from other countries. Internet infusion in India has reached 46.13%[5] and apart from this India was ranked 28 out of 88 countries in English Proficiency Index, 2018[6].
  2. It is quite evident from the above data, that education sector in India is quite vast which simply means that there’s lot of scope for education to evolve in India and if this population is shaped by correct education policies, India could emerge as a new global leader in the near future.

 

1. E-LEARNING: our new normal
   1. Majority population of our nation is just reluctant to accept any changes, be it small or big unless it becomes the need of the hour. The concept of e-learning or distant learning is not new for any of us but it was considered as an alterative or secondary option because, we as students always rely primarily upon the pen-paper learning in an isolated place called as school or college.
   2. However, this covid-19 pandemic has left everyone in their homes while practicing social distance along with developing upon work from home culture. In the light of above culture, it becomes the need of the hour for education sector and we, as students to accept the new platform of e-learning and also should develop ourselves physically and mentally to the new era of e-learning.
   3. It’s been almost 2 months now, all the schools, colleges and other private institutions imparting education at levels have closed down due to the nationwide lockdown. We have migrant labors on one hand who are struggling to go home and on the same hand we have education sector which is struggling to wind up old semesters in order to start new semester and then comes the student community who is somehow struggling to bring out a balance between regular education and e-learning during this pandemic.
   4. Now the reason as to why migrant labor community have been compared with student community is simply due to the fact that both the communities are totally dependent on their bosses and educational institutions and parents respectively, so decision with regard to future of student community and education in India during and post covid-19 times largely depends upon the policy framers and the education sector. However, during the times of these crises, e-learning seems to be quite

reliable option in order to maintain the pace of education.

5. Although, e-learning is a platform that is totally dependent upon internet and technology, here are the few reasons as to why e-learning will be the new normal in the near future.

• Traditional learning methods and social distancing norms cannot go hand-in-hand, and as per the present scenario everyone is supposed to maintain social distance till coming one year, in such adverse situation, e-learning could help in keeping the pace of education delivery system in place.
• India will have to wait for at-least two more months to bring the situation to somewhat normal from what it is presently, calculating the total period it consist of half a semester which would be wasted if we wait for traditional teaching to resume although e-learning could reduce this also.
• E-learning has quite high potential and flexibility as compared to pen and paper in present times.
  6. It is quite evident from the data presented above[7] that India has student population in the figures of millions, this simply means that better growth opportunities, better economy and more jobs in the near future, but this will only be a reality when we as a whole formulate policies that promote more feasible distant learning and with proper certification associated.

 

1. E-LEARNING: advantages, outcomes and shortcomings
   1. Although, e-learning seems to be the new normal, it is important to assess the advantages, outcomes and shortcomings of this platform.

• E-learning is more flexible and user friendly due to the fact that technology has evolved a lot.
• It’ll not only improve the use of technology among youngsters but will also promote a better lifestyle.
• Potential and outreach are higher as compared to traditional teaching method.
• It removes geographical barriers allowing individuals to connect from any part of the nation and world as well.
• It’s a more personalized approach towards learning and it cuts down time and additional miscellaneous resources as it limits the use of resources.
• Most importantly it allows students to adapt fast changing environment.
• The most favorable outcome is that since e-learning is self-paced the reach in term of students per lecture will be moderately high as compared to traditional teaching methods, also it allows one to engage in multiple courses or subjects during same period of time/day.
  2. As far as demerits and shortcomings are concerned
• The aim of traditional teaching method is to make us disciplined first and educated later, whereas this is the most important shortcoming of this method.
• Lack of monitoring is another issue; the schools and colleges will not be able to monitor and track the performance of each individual.
• It’ll make lives of student much isolated and self-restricted and probably end up transforming many of us as introverts, which is not the aim of traditional learning method.
• It relies upon internet rather than pen-paper and since internet and technology is not the sovereign property of any individual, it’s not easy to wholly rely upon internet for learning.
• As far as India is concerned, we have students from almost every part of the country, but when it comes to accessibility and availability of internet, there are still many remote places where internet hasn’t reached yet but on the other hand, we have traditional school operating perfectly in these regions.
• E-learning certification are less reliable and not much appreciated and it can never provide a practical insight of subject area.
• Computer and technology literacy are other shortcomings of this platform because Indian culture do not promote the use of mobile phones and internet at a very short age which will eventually end up with many of the youngsters having lack of pre-requisite knowledge in order to effectively grasp the teaching.

 

1. EMERGING POLICIES
   1. As this pandemic has forced everyone to stay inside homes, the pro-active Indian government has come up with many policies to promote e-learning in order compensate the losses of regular teaching.
   2. The policy-framers are planning to allow formally all educational institutions to tie-up with various companies involved in education-technology industry, which will develop more public-private partnership but on the same hand, may eventually end up increasing the cost of imparting education hereby pressurizing the parents.
   3. Ministry of Electronics and Information & Technology[8] is working on more feasible options like –

• Development of standards for quality assessment of e-learning[9]
• New application and tools for microlearning and artificial intelligence.[10]
• Development of mobile compatible e-content packaging delivery systems.[11]
• Interactive and 3D labs along with adaptive and personalized e-learning.[12]
  4. Some latest development and initiatives taken by the government include –

1. SHAGUN ONLINE JUNCTION[13]

Online platform launched by government of India to facilitate e-learning. This platform has three more platforms namely – NREOE, DIKSHA[14] and e-Pathshala[15].

1. SWAYAM[16]

It’s a government of India initiative for students from 9^th – 12^th standard and UG and PG level degrees also, this platform is connected with AICTE, NCERT, IGNOU, UGC, NPTEL, NIOS, IIMB, NITTTR, and CEC for delivering quality education.

1. SWAYAM PRABHA[17]

Collection of many DTH channels which are run by educational bodies such as NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS to provide lectures to students from all categories.

1. NATIONAL DIGITAL LIBRARY[18]

Run by MHRD under their national mission on education through Information and Technology.

1. VIRTUAL LABS

It is an initiative by MHRD to provide experience to virtual experiments.

1. Other initiatives include –

KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (KMS)

LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (LMS)

NATIONAL KNOWLEDGE NETWORK

SUGAMAYA PUSTAKALAYA.

5. These are few developments which has initiated by government of India and MHRD but still many more flexible policies have to come to tackle post covid-19 situation.

 

• CRITICISM: denial for masses hurdles
  1. It is evident that e-learning is quite appealing concept which can emerge as the new normal post this pandemic and also many initiatives have been taken by the government along with MHRD but the ground reality to these advantages and benefits is quite different
• The Right to education Act, 2009 aims at providing free and mandatory education to everyone up to a certain age group whereas the e-learning platform is not in consensus with RTE as majority of the population that avails benefits under this legislation itself belong to such strata of society where internet and technology are still a dream.
• Another criticism is the lack of resources, as e-learning platform demands resources like smartphones, desktop, laptop, networking, technology and internet and the irony is that, in a cost of laptop, one could buy thousands of pens to write. This simply means that now the government has to look after the logistics as well while promoting e-learning.
• Majority of population in India still rely upon the traditional teaching method as availability and accessibility of high-speed internet is still a dream for many.
• Computer and technology are a mandatory subject but only in select schools and cities as many rural and remote places don’t have such facilities till date.
• Most important is the lack of certification and acceptability rates globally which eventually questions the credibility of such learning platforms.

 

• CONCLUSION: reality or still a dream
  1. After analyzing all the aspects of e-learning the question comes that whether e-learning in India is a reality or still a dream for many? Itis quite evident that a good number of populations is involved in education sector. E-learning is not a new concept for anyone of us, but we as individual are so reluctant to accept changes as primarily we are into the habit of traditional learning which has its own long-term advantages over e-learning.
  2. It is pretty clear that e-learning is now the new normal as it has its own benefits over traditional method and it is quite evident that because of this pandemic, the population of students engaged in e-learning has increased. Technology has developed with coming of new video conferencing applications. E-learning has become the reality as everyone right from school to college is involved in grasping and teaching over electronical devices.
  3. But on the other hand, it is still a dream for those who either have lack of pre-requisite knowledge or lack of accessibility and availability of internet and other electronical devices.
  4. In a nutshell it can be concluded that e-learning has become a reality and is no more a dream for majority of population but there are many, still deprived for internet along with such facilities.

 

 

 

 

[1] Brand India Equity Foundation’s report on ‘Indian Education Sector in India Industry Report, March, 2020’, available at https://www.ibef.org/industry/education-sector-india.aspx (Visited on May 22, 2020).

[2] Ibid

[3] Ibid

[4] Ibid

[5] Ibid

[6] A study by Education First, available at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/sweden-returns-to-top-spot-in-world-ranking-of-english-proficiency-reveals-ef-s-annual-proficiency-index-852505467.html (Visited on May 22, 2020)

[7] Ibid, 1.

[8] Available at, https://meity.gov.in/content/e-learning, (Visited May 22, 2020).

[9] Ibid

[10] Ibid

[11] Ibid

[12] Ibid

[13] Available at, https://seshagun.gov.in/ (Visited, May 22, 2020)

[14] Available at, https://diksha.gov.in/ (Visited, May 22, 2020).

[15] Available at, https://epathshala.nic.in// (Visited, May 22, 2020).

[16] Available at, http://swayam.gov.in (Visited, May 22, 2020).

[17] Available at, https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in/ (Visited, May 22, 2020)

[18] Available at, https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/ (Visited, May 22, 2020)

 

 

KARTIKEY RAJA

BBA-LLB, 6^TH SEM

School of Law, Sharda University