The Dark Side Of Online College

Introduction: Studying at a prestigious college in India is an experience many dream of and few realise. I was one of the lucky ones. However, it was a short lived dream that hangs onto my memory faintly by a string of people and infrastructure. Why? Oh well, hi Covid-19. 

Psychological impact of remote learning: Humans cannot live or learn in isolation. We need each other to share our thoughts and doubts. "But I'd only been 8 months into college when Covid hit. The chance to learn from peers in a classroom and make lifelong connections was lost."

Physical: Imagine sitting in your room in your bed for 18 hours a day. And then sleeping in the same bed for the other 6. Staring into the same laptop, attending the same classes 5 days/week. And having the worst possible posture, first sitting straight and then slowly sliding… 

Non-Verbal cues - lost: In the classroom, non-verbal cues help students understand how they're situated compared to others. Whether others don’t get the same point that confuses you, whether your argument is landing. Zoom stole our ability to grasp and use non-verbal cues.

Communication: Debates, extempore, even clarifying a doubt offline in the presence of 60+ students improves your speaking skills. However, addressing the same crowd online isn’t the same. Google Meet cannot be a substitute. The Zoom generation may be more awkward in public now.

Finances: Budgeting, allocating how much to what activity, when not to eat out, or when you can splurge a little extra. This is a gateway to learn the money management needed in the adult world. You don’t get to learn anything about finances with online college.

Studying in Pyjamas: Offline college lets you experiment with dressing styles. There’s incentive to look groomed. No motivation to dress up for an online class. You’re in your night dress, unkempt and untidy. How would an unorganised and shabby attire influence motivation to stud

And the teachers? With 10 odd students joining Google Meet out of 60, I’m not sure how the teachers felt. Plus - they get no excited faces, no hands going up, no non-verbal feedback from their audience - plus the fact that they’re less tech-savvy than their students.

Learning: Did people actually study online? With no supervision and open book exams, online learning is set-up for students to skimp on efforts. Pre-covid batches may have a better understanding of their subjects compared to the Covid batches.

What ahead: College is a thin line between childhood and full adulting. You get a taste of what’s yet to come, but just within boundaries. All while learning your favourite subject. However, for students who didn’t get to experience this, it’s full adulting from here.