The Struggles of Teachers During Online Education
“Virtual teaching during Coronavirus is both a solution and a real emotional challenge,” say teachers across the globe
India has been under lockdown for roughly five months now. Lives have taken a different turn from a toddler to a 60-year-old citizen, from a school student to a working professional. All of us are trying to adapt to drastic changes.
Many industries have shut, various businesses have come to a halt, but some professions are working harder than they worked in times before lockdown. They are doctors, nurses, police, government officials, and teachers. We have thanked our frontline workers who are protecting us by risking their lives daily, but have we acknowledged the hard work of our teachers? The teachers are putting extra effort into these trying times so that their students are not deprived of proper learning while they are away from school. The students, as well as the teachers, were not prepared for this sudden shift to online education. Both are trying their best to come in terms with reality and adapt to the changes.
For instance, the nursery and kindergarten students are attending online classes on platforms like Microsoft Teams. Just take a moment and imagine the level of difficulty for the teachers and parents to make sure these hyperactive kids sit in front of laptops or mobile screens for hours. The teachers are thinking out of the box so that they can keep them engaged throughout the class. This workload adds on to their work-personal life balance. The I-IV grade students also fall under the same category as the online classes are stressful for them as well. The teachers burn the midnight oil to come up with new ideas to make their lectures interesting for students.
Now let us analyze the students from V grade and above (including 10+ and college students as well). These students are well versed in technology and make fools of both their parents and teachers simultaneously! And the teachers are facing more difficulty in handling this age group than the younger ones. The students either start doodling on the screen or start sharing videos while the faculty is teaching. The students indulge in all sorts of other activities while the classes are going to take advantage of their muted microphones (for obvious reasons). The students would sign in with vulgar usernames so that they can have fun in class. Students block their faculties and thus restrict them to join the virtual lecture. The instances of these pranks and maniacs are easily accessible on platforms like YouTube under the name online class went wrong.
The current generation lacks ethics. The definition of being cool, according to the students, has gone astray. Even before this pandemic, abusing teachers, playing pranks on them are some common faux pas of this generation. That is why the connection between a guru and shishya is lost today.
Since the lockdown began, there have been multiple reports on how teachers are coping with the difficulties of online lectures. The most recent incident that went viral on social media is about a 55-year-old teacher being harassed by his students amidst a virtual class.
These kinds of incidents show how we have failed as a society to emphasize the importance and role of teachers. A teacher only expects RESPECT in return for the knowledge they impart to us. And we failed in fulfilling this.
You must be wondering why the teachers are not able to handle these types of nuisance. Well, the answer is simple. The latest technologies and tools are unacquainted with the teachers. They lack training and proper guidance to conduct virtual classes. They are facing difficulties but still learning how to use these technologies so that they can give their best to students. They are learning how to make effective PowerPoint presentations, how to clear doubts, how to keep students motivated in these tough times, prepare notes, online assignments, quizzes, etc. They are trying to adapt to these changes. Are we acknowledging their efforts? Are we helping them attune to these new technologies? No. Some schools are either paying half salary to teachers or no salary at all. For all the efforts they are putting, they are not getting anything from students or the administration. The teachers are not enjoying taking online lectures, so its’ not easy for them too. It is high time that we start respecting the teachers for their efforts. Making fun and abusing your teachers is not cool, but considerate and acknowledging their efforts is cool.
But the main highlight here is the lack of proper training for teachers with advancing time and technologies. Why do we need drastic wake-up calls to come in terms with reality?
Let us make this pandemic easier for our teachers so that they have pleasant memories of this period and not vice versa.
