Online education: some pros and cons

Online education has gained immense popularity among working professionals and students. Benefits are the autonomy and flexibility offered. Online courses can be planned around individual schedules, so saving time. But what do sociologists have to say about the impacts?

Negative impact on socialization: 

According to the functional perspective, education helps socialize children. It prepares them for their eventual entrance into the larger society as adults. On the other hand, online education eliminates the social element.

Traditional classroom education offers face-to-face interaction and a stable environment for social interactions. Online education robs us of the skills gained in a classroom: empathy, development of our emotional intelligence, and cooperation.

According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, social interaction in the classroom contributes to gender-role socialization. Without the classroom environment, this socialization may not happen.

Pros and cons of online education: 

The pandemic had a significant impact on the shift from traditional to online education. Students could spend more time with their family, and parents became more involved in their child’s education.

Teachers were motivated to adapt to new teaching methods, breaking the monotony of old methods. Online education also opens up opportunities for children from poorer socio-economic communities. But this is possible only when traditional schools are functioning.

What happens when the schools are closed? It could deepen the existing inequality in society. To learn online, students need digital gadgets and a good internet connection. Online learning has created a new social inequality.

On the plus side, a global network of learning now connects online learners, exposing them to new perspectives. The ideas that they receive are not limited. Distance learning is becoming more acceptable, and anyone can offer or take a course irrespective of their location.

Some mental health challenges of online learning include anxiety and depression, exacerbated by an unfavorable home learning environment, or when when students are marginalized and from remote areas.

Bottom line:

Governments need to make critical decisions on the best models for online, hybrid, and classroom education, and utilize online in specific conditions such as geographic isolation or disability. The future will inevitably involve an overlap of physical and online mode