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Lessons from COVID-19 lockdown for the Academia

 Pre-COVID-19, many academics were being pushed by university administrators to begin to consider online classes and many were hesitant because they questioned the effectiveness of delivering lectures online. So many universities were pushing hard for professors to consider the online domain as it was obvious that it is a new market to capture extra resources for the traditional academic institutions that were facing severe cash strap. Platforms such as Coursera.org, edX.org, udemy.com, etc. have proven that it is possible to deliver content online with a huge audience and following, and with great success. Top universities have several classes and courses on these platforms - some are offered for free, some are paid-view and some are offered at a discounted rate to students from low-income countries, and some even have complete degree package they offer to students thousands of kilometers away. Online students are finding values by receiving qualitative education from top institutions in the US, Canada, Asia and Europe without stepping a foot into their campuses, and the institutions who have perfected the art of online learning are smiling to the bank.

COVID-19 forced almost everyone indoor and learning also went to the corners of our rooms at home. From kindergarten to elementary, high school, and colleges, we all went online. The beginning was rough but teachers and students alike are getting into the mold. How well suited this is in the long run is debatable but it is possible that online learning will dominate the stratosphere of learning going forward. Some projected radical changes in how we learn, some have predicted the death of organized learning environment as we have known it for centuries. Let us quickly look at the list of some pros and cons of online learning:

Pros:

1. Cheaper than in-person: cost of school building - capital and maintenance, school resources, transportation, school uniform or change dress, etc.

2. Flexibility to learning time: Asynchronous learning makes it possible to choose when to learn or go to school.

3. Risk of bullying is reduced

4. Increase participation because students are less conscious of their peers' criticism.

5. Teachers are less stressed taking care of many students, especially younger students while trying to maintain the best teaching environment.

6. Creates an avenue to access top-notch speakers without the extra cost of flying them around.


Cons:

1. Lack of social interaction

2. High risk of distraction

3. Inadequacy of setting for some learning demonstration, especially in life sciences, sciences and engineering

4. Temptation to multitask

5. Indecency of accidental exposure - accidental exposing oneself. Ask Jeffrey Toobin of CNN.

6. Inability to control zoombombers

7. Fingers are not equal - students may lose good learning time if the internet misbehaves or they do not have access to broadband.

8. Inability to control academic integrity, especially during exams. despite all the technologies available - Respondus, ProctorU, etc.

9. It is unsustainable for parents of young children whose employer will ask them to return to work when the pandemic is over. It may be appealing to high school-college age students.


It is hard to project that learning will shift base completely online. There are so many things we do not know that needs to be tested scientifically before we slow the pace of growth of science discovery and innovation as we have known it in the last century, other, hasten it even more.

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