Corona has disturbed the education ecosystem as a result of which several problems of online classes have emerged. Schools have adopted online methods of teaching however there are numerous critical problems associated with this approach. It is important that institutions, in collaboration with parents and respective stakeholders, work tirelessly to come up with strategies and action plans to resolve (or reduce the impact of ) these challenges. Below is a list of 24 problems of online classes

24 Disadvantages of Online Classes (E-Learning)

1. Teachers cannot see what students are doing which directly impacts the quality of education as teachers cannot supervise the students properly.
2. During normal school hours kids do a lot of physical movement in breaks whereas during online classes no major physical activity happens which leads to kids’ health issues.
3. Kids learn a lot from each other when they socialize in school. Socializing results in exchange of information and ideas, establishes mutual trust and emotional bonding with each other and improves several personality traits. Online classes directly impact the grooming of kids.
4. Due to continuous sitting in front of the screen, kids’ eyesight gets impacted or may lead to back issues due to extended sitting in the same posture.
5. Families with more than one kid have to purchase additional tabs or computers which is a major cost for many middle-class parents.
6. Many parents and kids have to face IT and network related problems. Families that do not have much exposure to technology suffer a lot due to this.
7. Teachers cannot judge the level of comprehension of students and sometimes unable to provide ‘additional’ explanations to students. Usually, in regular classroom teaching, teachers can easily judge if the students are not grasping the concepts and he/she can exert extra efforts to let kids fathom the concepts.
8. Many schools do not have a mechanism to check online homework. Teachers cannot check students’ textbooks, copy books and work books . Many students take ‘advantage’ of this and do not complete home assignments.
9. Students may not follow instructions and rules and do not comply, knowing that school can’t do anything.
10. Students and parents are not comfortable with the new ways of class tests and have to put extra effort into learning new mechanisms.
11. Some students can easily deceive the exam system and take help from their siblings to pass the exam.
12. Students can easily skip classes. Even if the teacher takes the attendance at start, it is quite easy for student to miss it for the rest of the class tenure
13. Due to no interaction with class fellowes, students get bored which leads to distraction from study
14. Students can play online games or watch videos while being ‘present’ in online class.
15. Students may get distracted due to mic issues, speakers issues or other computer issues [such as patch upgrades, software restart etc]
16. Students may take extended breaks for water or for washroom which may result in missing important parts of lessons.
17. Since the students do not have to wake up early and get ready for school, they tend to sleep late which makes them dizzy during the class. Some students may fall asleep during the class. Sleeping late also impacts their health.
18. Many students cannot practice what the teacher has taught. This lowers their graph of learning.
19. Students do not get personal attention from the teacher in general and for specific problems.
20. Some teachers do not produce qualitative presentations for kids to elaborate the contents.
21. Students keep calling their parents for many small matters which creates stress for the parents.
22. If one sibling makes noise, others can no longer pay attention to their classes. Small/medium size homes do not have adequate numbers of rooms to manage this.
23. Some schools are charging extra fees for the online softwares, apps development and other IT services which is an additional burden on parents.
24. To provide comfortable learning environments, students need a dedicated study table and overall setup. Families with 2 or more kids cannot purchase and manage extra furniture due to space and money constraints.

6 Advantages of Online Classes (E-Learning)

1. Parents do not have to worry about making their kids ready for school early morning. They don’t need to make sure if the uniform is pressed, the kids’ school bag is ready and their lunch box is packed.
2. Parents can monitor how their child is studying in the class. How much does he/she participate in the class. Parents can also get a feeling on how other students are responding in the class. This gives them an idea on how much extra efforts are needed for their kids to cover the gap, if any.
3. Parents save money for not purchasing uniforms, for not paying school bus fees, for not filling the petrol / gasoline and not giving pocket money for the lunch.
4. Parents do not have to worry about what kids eat from school canteen as they can serve homemade food to their loved ones.
5. Students are free during the breaks in which they can spend time with parents or can do anything they like.
6. While staying home, kids don’t get bullied which is a sigh of relief for some of the parents.

Additional resources: Disadvantages of online learning