Covid-19 Pandemic and Online Education: Impact on Students, Parents and Teachers

Abstract

ABSTRACT The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and resultant lockdown led to the disruption of classical pedagogy methods and a mandatory shift toward online mode. The impact of this unplanned enforcement of online education was assessed on Indian students, parents and teachers. An online survey was designed with questions based on ease of accessibility, attentiveness, learning outcome, stress level, preferred learning mode, and was shared through Gmail and Whatsapp. Almost all the respondents could access virtual platforms; 48.3% found themselves inattentive during the online classes, while 71.6% were not satisfied with respect to understanding the topic. Academic integrity also needs serious assessment, as only 11.3% of students were sure that no unfair means were used during the online assessment. Increased workload (57.7%) and screen time (94.2%) of children have become a concern for parents. Online education has provided a solution in the current scenario, but it cannot replace offline learning which ensures the holistic development of young minds for a better future.