Tag: education

Posted in Spotlight

ONLINE EDUCATION: PROS & CONS

Posted on by gyannloaded

By Saakshi Sharma

Online education is a type of educational instruction that is delivered via the internet to students using their home computers. During the last decade, online degrees and courses have become popular alternative for a wide range of nontraditional students, include those who want to continue working full-time or raising families. Most of the time, online degree programs and courses are offered via the host school’s online learning platform, although some are delivered using alternative technologies.

Indian schools have gone online to compensate the loss of studies due to the Covid 19 lockdown. Most of the schools and colleges now deliver online lectures and assignments to their students and keep their knowledge updated.

Courtesy: Business World

From coping with basics like internet connectivity and India’s notoriously undependable power supply to more structural issues such as curriculum and teaching methods, educators have come under tremendous stress since India’s schools began shutting down sometime in mid-March.

During social distancing and ‘stay home’ order, the numbers of ‘Webinars’ and online ‘learning’ has increased. Universities like Harvard, Stanford offered their MOOC (Massive open and online course) free to the students.

As India Today reports, Universities and online platforms have started sharing academic resources for free. It appears that there is no dearth of such online resources of academic value.

However, the difference between classroom teaching and online teaching is real. Does it pose a significant challenge to teachers or seem to be an opportunity?

Academic institutes gradually initiated online meetings and classes in March and started coping-up with the situation. But many teachers were less conversant or had apathy towards online teaching.

It is not only an opportunity for teachers to explore different methods of teaching, but also for students to utilize their potential and learn new things. Teachers have regularly updated themselves to stay with the present world.

Growth drivers and Challenged in online education

Montgomery College provides following advantages and disadvantages of online education.

Ten Advantages of Online Courses: 

1. Online courses are convenient.

2. Online courses offer flexibility. 

3. Online courses bring education right to your home.

4. Online courses offer more individual attention.

5. Online courses help you meet interesting people.

6. Online courses give you real world skills.

7. Online courses promote life-long learning.

8. Online courses have financial benefits.

9. Online courses teach you to be self-disciplined.

10. Online courses connect you to the global village.

Ten Disadvantages of Online Courses:

1. Online courses require more time than on-campus classes.

2. Online courses make it easier to procrastinate.

3. Online courses require good time-management skills.

4. Online courses may create a sense of isolation. 

5. Online courses allow you to be more independent.

6. Online courses require you to be an active learner.

7. Online courses don’t have an instructor hounding you to stay on task.

8. Online courses give you more freedom, perhaps, more than you can handle!

9. Online courses require that you find your own path to learning.

10. Online courses require you to be responsible for your own learning.

Posted in Know your Area, Transportation

FREE BUS RIDES: A WELCOME MOVE

Posted on by gyannloaded

Image courtesy: @livehindustan.com

By Simran Kaur

Now that women no longer have to think about the costs of travel, it will open up doors to many avenues to them. No girl will be forced to drop out of school or college. The Aam Aadmi Party’s scheme under which women have access to free bus travel in Delhi is a welcome move for women empowerment.

The women of Delhi will become empowered to fulfill their dreams. This is not to suggest that the move will solve every problem, but I am sure it will be a very important step towards empowering women.

The savings made by women on travel will also help sustain households and give them legroom for other expenditures, especially in times of economic slowdown. Some may choose to spend it on increasing the quarter of milk they feed their children, others on purchasing books for them. Increased purchasing power has the potential to take the entire society along on a path to prosperity.

The thousands of crores of rupees our citizens collectively save every year because services like education, healthcare, water are free, is essentially money that flows back into the economy. It has created immense economic value for the city.

Improving women’s access to public transport will also make them feel safer. Mass transit around the world gives a sense of security to women, because of the sheer number of women travelling together.

When my cousin was a student at IIT Delhi, she would take the Yellow Line Metro to college. Even after she started working, we have always preferred her taking the Metro over a cab. I’m confident most parents of daughters feel the same.

Along with the free bus scheme, government has also deployed 13,000 bus marshals for all shifts. Delhi’s free buses are also the safest travel option for women now. 

AAP’s historic win in Delhi made it to front pages of newspaper across India. Aam Aadmi Party, or common man’s party, whose pro-poor policies focused on fixing state-run schools and providing cheap electricity, free health care and bus transport for women during its five years in power, rolled out in their favour.