Page 2 - The Lotus Aug-Sep 2020

2
AUGUST- SEPTEMBER 2020
There is a box in a room in the world,
and the world is in the box. The world
floats into the box as waves and numbers,
in compressed sequenced ideas; and the tiny
people in their tiny rooms can live in this
infinite world of the box. But learning in
the box, through the box, and only from the
box will become exhausting in some time...
The ideas will bounce off the box's walls
and repeat themselves.
Any experience is best remembered for
its personal significance to the
individual experiencing it, and for its
emotional content, not for its tasteless
bland facts. This is how we learn;
interaction, resonation, understanding
between the teachers and the students.
Education is the thing that hits you
when you hear your teacher’s
explanation and go, "Oh! So that’s
how it happened!" Something that is
very hard to achieve through a screen.
“The major issue I am facing during online
art classes is that my students do not have
the actual object in front of them for both
still life and nature drawing. I have to send
photos of the objects to be drawn, due to
which the fine line remains the same as
there is no effect of natural light. However,
the conversations during class have stayed
th
th
the same, as the 11 and 12 grade
th
students have already done the basics in 9
and 10th. In my opinion, if a few students
would be called to school in batches, it
would be like a bonus for them!”
~Sir Santosh Morajkar (HSS Art Teacher)
Online education, though the best
solution for today’s pandemic, lacks
the better qualities of a face to face,
interactive education amongst peers
and teachers that accelerates the
learning process of young minds and
eases them into society as fully
functioning, capable and matured
adults. Psychologist Regan A.R.
Gurung, PhD, interim Executive
Director of the Centre for Teaching
and Learning, and Director of the
thelotussms@gmail.com follow us on Spotify: @The Lotus SMS
General Psychology Program at
Oregon State University says, “Now,
we have millions of students who have
never taken an online class and suddenly
they have to learn with computers!" He
talks from the perspective of, “... a
totally different world.” Change is the
essence to effectively deal with the
current environment. Online
education has become a key part of the
radical change the society had to
implement to prevent a total
breakdown of our education system.
To prevent a full stop in the lives of
young pupils across the world!
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2020/06/
covid-online-learning
On line
Education
A TEAM ARTICLE
‘The falling sky drops as slow as can be,
Chaos rampaging in silence around the streets.
Shut a door and keep it locked,
And see each other through a realm of blocks.
Create an illusion to bluff the other,
Only to be a fool on the receiving end of
another.
An apparition on the blocks feeds your
thoughts,
The compelling realm of blocks is a parasite in
which you are caught.
Opening its doors, slowly it pulls you in,
And freezes while you’re almost in.’
The shift to online education has
been an adjustment for all of us, but
it's important to keep in mind that
it’s a lot more difficult for some
students and their families than
others. Low-income families and
those from marginalised communities
are especially likely to not have access
to an internet connection, devices on
which to work, or even space to do so-
this phenomenon is called the 'digital
divide'. While many states have set up
TV-based lessons to help students in
need, many are still missing out on a
year of education. It's also a known
fact that the virus is disproportionately
affecting lower income households-
students in poverty therefore also have
to deal with the fact that their parents,
unlike many of ours, do not have the
privilege to work from home or take
sick leave and are hence at risk.
Ultimately, these disparities in access
to online learning will just end up
magnifying disparities that already
exist. If you can, please consider
donating to any of the many relief
funds that have been set up by various
NGOs. According to the Hindu, even
though almost a quarter of homes in
India have internet facilities (via a
fixed or mobile network) only 1 in 10
have a computer-whether a desktop,
laptop or tablet. Most of these
Internet-enabled homes are located in
cities, where 42% have Internet access.
connected to the Internet. In the
In rural India, however, only 15% are
national capital, 55% of the homes
have access to Internet facilities.
Kerala and Himachal Pradesh, which
are the only other states where more
than half of all households have
Internet access. In sharp contrast, in
Odisha, only one in ten homes have
internet access. In the top urban
quintile, 63% of the homes have access
to the internet. However, on the other
end of the spectrum, in the poorest
quintile of Odisha, the figure drops to
an abysmally low 2.4%. Socio-
economic status plays a major role in
online education. The pandemic has
denied education to the poorest, due
to lacking infrastructure.
So instead of living in oblivion,
cribbing and moaning about online
class, it’s time we looked at the larger
picture. We are fortunate to avail of
online education, unlike many others.
As the youth of the country, let’s be
positive, look for opportunities, and
contribute to solutions, not problems.