ONLINE EDUCATION: MYTHS AND FACTS

The sudden outbreak of a deadly disease called COVID-19 caused by the corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) shook the whole world. The World Health Organization called it an epidemic. This situation has challenged the education system around the world, forcing teachers to turn to online teaching overnight. Many educational institutions that used to be reluctant to change their traditional teaching methods now have no choice but to switch to online teaching-learning as a whole. It was a system of education that abruptly changed the traditional mainstream of the teaching-learning process. COVID-19 has transformed the centuries-old model of ‘Chalk and Duster’ into a single technology integrated education system. Teachers were forced to move from real classrooms to virtual classrooms in a very short time. It was a great change for which the educational institutions, teachers, students, parents and the government were not fully prepared. The COVID-19 epidemic has triggered new ways of learning. Across the world, educational institutions are turning to online learning platforms to continue the process of educating students. Although the tradition of online education has preceded this global epidemic, it was only an additional facility to enable students to access a wide range of educational materials. Social distance and lockdown have made online classes a basic need in the field of education and now students of all ages are benefiting from online education.