Dr. Deepanita explores and maps the migration of the mind and imagination from physical classrooms to online classes. From the challenges of the pandemic to the advent of technology, exclusively for Different Truths.

Knowledge grows in fertile grounds. Education sows the seed of human progress. It spreads through a location. Location does not just define a place. Rather it gives meaning to the space. A house is a location to develop familial bonds. A building of a school or a college stands as a symbol of universal knowledge, wisdom, and skill. It is a space to know, think and learn. 

The environment of a classroom is not only to facilitate learning. It nurtures social skills. It boosts public speaking. It develops a bond with teaching and learning. Sharing information. Growing together. Listening to numerous ideas. Learning life skills. Experiencing and managing the crisis.

The four walls of a classroom or a hall for activities give life to education and literacy. To see, to listen, and to understand the body language. Learning with gestures, postures, and eye contact is the experience of a real classroom. It adds colors of wisdom to the canvas of life. Interestingly, it shows the mirror to illuminate young minds. An enlightening place from where the shift to a virtual mode is a leap. A new practice to reach out to the young and the curious.

The Advent of the ‘New Normal’

The advent of the ‘new normal’ is here to stay. The buildings of education take a back seat. The shift is now inevitable. Education sails from the real classroom to a virtual class. The physical presence shifts to an online presence. Screen sharing, muting, and unmuting become the buzzwords. Along with students, teachers are learning new techniques of teaching. Talking and communicating through a screen.

Technology enters our life like never before. This is the normal, the school, the shopping, the news, and the life.  The chairs, the benches, and the white and blackboards stand undisturbed. No hustle and bustle on the campus. No one is present to turn the pages of the books in a library.  But the life on the screen is busy with notifications. Messages and emails. Online meetings, seminars, and conferences. You sit alone. But you are with the thousands clicking numerously on different applications and websites.

It is like the leap of faith. Considering, all are listening. Believing, no one is cheating. Accepting excuses. Assuring impartial education and knowledge. 

From Classroom to Online Class

New ideas do transform the education system. But the soul of classroom teaching is unreachable in the online classroom. Qualities like punctuality, team building, practical application of learning are somewhere lost.

Are we not lost among the software, screens, and websites? Some are smart and prompt to receive this method of learning. But many struggles. Network constraints, internet unavailability is a reality. The face of education changes. The learner in a virtual class finds an easy way to choose. To listen or not to listen. Do we remain mute spectators to the claims we make with online resources?

Teachers are transforming their teaching methods to suit students’ needs. Explaining, presenting, sharing audios-videos to impart education. But does it give the pleasure of understanding concepts, ideas, formulas, and theories? The innumerable platforms of learning are promising skill developments and career growth. But is it the real training?

Where does the educator stand? What is the outcome of this virtual mode? Mute micks and switched off videos? Is this shift affecting knowledge? Is this equally spreading education to all? It is difficult to evaluate. It is perplexing to get satisfaction. The education system is exploring a transitional road. An unknown path of discovering knowledge and training. This experiment is probably hanging between the traditional and the new.

Imagination is Migrating

The imagination is on the screen. The mind is not left alone to think. It is popping across numerous channels. Migrating through countless sources. The reality is now virtual. The unknown is known. The suspense and thrill to read and get pleasure are traditional. Surfing through easily available ideas is new. The whole world connects digitally without meeting and sharing in person. But does it establish the real pleasure to ignite thoughts?

Wireless communication changes the outlook towards life. Now, we know everything and with no option, we believe everything. We say knowledge is just a click away. But is it reaching in the right way? The teacher is aware of the easy access of knowledge reaching young minds. They know that some listeners are merely logging in. They are present with an absent mind.

Where is this journey taking us? Humanity is losing patience, getting the flavor of instant life. The life where we suppose to seek pleasure in simplicity. It’s now transforming into a life clicking with more digital connections.

We are abandoning the real locations and corners of educations.  

Visuals by Different Truths

Dr. Deepanita Bhanja

Dr. Deepanita Bhanja is an Assistant Professor of English in a College in Pune. She has more than eleven years of teaching experience in the field of literature and communication skills. She takes interest in reading and writing on literary and social issues. Appreciates cinema, music and all kinds of performing arts. Considers that academics or the education system needs a restoration and revamp for the well-being of the nation’s future.

See Full Bio