Disadvantages of Online Learning : Since the Covid-19 Pandemic hit the World, there have been major changes seen in the lifestyle of people. This Pandemic has killed a lot of people and destroyed a lot of small-scale businesses. Many people also lost their jobs, but that’s not the only effect of this Pandemic.
A lot of businesses have gone online expecting a rise and more reach in the whole country. A surge in the performance of online world businesses has been witnessed. Small Scale Sellers, Consultants, etc. went online to offer their products/skills and witnessed great results.
Like many other sectors, the education sector also used to offer online platforms for learning, but back before the Covid-19 pandemic, it was not trending. The series of Lockdowns and Multiple Covid-19 waves made the Students and Teachers sit at home, so the remaining part of this education sector, which used to operate offline, also entered the internet world.
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E-Learning platforms bridged the gap between teachers and students. E-learning also brought an opportunity to students from remote locations to whom schools were not accessible. Also, it gave the students to learn from any educator situated in any part of the world.
Apart from the advantages, like every other thing in this universe, E-Learning has also got some disadvantages, some of which are mild and severe. Here we are going to discuss the disadvantages of online classes or e-learning.
Health-related Disadvantages of Online Learning
The severe disadvantage of E-Learning is regarding health. Disadvantages of online learning regarding the Health of Students and Teachers include:
Eye Health
The eye is one of the most important Six Senses which gets affected because of the long exposure to Electronic Screen while attending classes. There has been a lot of research done in this field and multiple studies coincide at a single point that long exposure to smartphones or computer screens is harmful to our eyes.
Display Screens emit blue light of the wavelength between 400 to 490 nm (Nanometer) and research studies show that wavelengths between 415 and 455 nanometers can cause damage to the eyes.
Why is Blue Light Harmful?
Our Monitor and Smartphone Screens generate three colours of light named RGB (Red, Green, and Blue). Different colour combinations and intensities of these three primary colours produce all the colours that we see on the screen.
Blue Light has shorter wavelengths and higher energy than other colours. Having the Highest Energy makes the blue light more dangerous to our eyes. Long exposure to screens causes computer vision syndrome, which causes mainly two problems:
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Dry Eyes
Whenever we blink our eyes, they get moisture with tear film, which also protects our eyes. But whenever we are focused on our computer or Smartphone Screen, then this blink rate decreases from a rate of 15 times a minute to 5 or 7 times a minute. This decrease in the blink rate causes the eyes to dry up, which results in blurry vision and discomfort in the eyes.
Eyestrain
Whenever we try to focus on our smartphone or computer screen, without proper protection, our eyes get strained. Due to this strained eye situation, we sometimes also develop headaches.
Apart from these, the blue light from screens also causes the retina of our eyes to get damaged. Due to all these reasons, E-Learning poses a threat to our eye health. As per our observation, it is one of the commonly observed disadvantages of Online Classes that is hurting kids. Take a look at Life-Saving Tips To Prevent Digital Eye Strain.
Sleep Cycle
The Blue Light from the screens also hampers the sleep cycle of human beings by slowing down the production of the sleep hormone named Melatonin. The blue light of our phone tricks our brain into thinking that it’s daytime and hence suppresses the release of the hormone. Night classes can hamper the biological clock of the body which disturbs the sleep cycle of the Students.
Body Posture
Looking at Smartphones and desktop screens can adversely affect the posture of children. Since Smartphones, tablets, and laptops are handy so students prefer to watch screens while lying on the couch or bed. Focusing on the screen while sitting can also cause problems to the neck.
Bad Body postures which are a result of prolonged gadget exposure can easily trigger spondylosis, Cervical Problems, Obesity, Spine Problems, etc. Offline classes do not cause such problems because the students sit with their spines straight and look at the blackboard in the classroom.
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Compromised Health
One of the common disadvantages of Online Classes is that kids ignore their health-related signs. Apart from the Long Screen Time, Disturbed Sleep Cycle, and Bad Posture, a trend of decline in the overall health of students has been seen.
Lack of Physical Activities due to the Heavy Burden of Studies, Discontinuous or all day Lecture Patterns leads to Tiredness in Children. Due to this lethargic feeling, students do not indulge in physical activities. This is making them Obese, Lazy, and more prone to diseases caused by the sedentary lifestyle. Offline classes, on the other hand, do not cause such problems because in Schools there is a daily dedicated time allotted for Physical Activities.
Psychological issues related to e-learning
Apart from health, there are many psychological issues related to e-learning that are also dangerous. We Observed and discussed some of those psychological issues below:
Anxiety and Depression
Since the Pandemic started, Students from all age groups have started to feel alone, angry, and Demotivated which is somehow indirectly related to depression and anxiety. The thing that students didn’t like about the School was the classes and this process of E-Learning has brought that thing to their homes. Students who haven’t gone to school since the pandemic started have started to feel alone.
A lonely feeling in them has caused them to feel less motivated and stressed. Less Socially interactive students have started to feel comfortable in their homes, but if they will remain in such conditions for a long time, then they will lose their confidence and interactive skills which are left with them. Also, there will be a panic situation for such students.
Attraction towards Social Media
E-Learning requires gadgets such as Smartphones, Tablets, Laptops, etc. Students are losing interest in online lectures, and to escape them they have started to spend more time on social media. Prolonged access to smartphones and internet connectivity has made the situation worse.
Appealing Algorithms of Bigger Social Media Platforms are making it hard for students to stay away from them. Social media offers entertainment content, picture sharing, Chatting Features, etc. which students find more intriguing than attending lectures.
Social Media Surfing causes the dopamine (a feel-good hormone, which is released when we do anything that we enjoy) levels in the brain to spike up and this dopamine level keeps on increasing. And when these students are not allowed to access Social media, they witness withdrawal symptoms like that of drug addicts. These withdrawal symptoms include stress, anxiety, depression, etc. which adversely affect the mental health of the Students.
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Pornography Addiction
Recent Studies have shown that students have recently started to watch pornographic content to escape the boring lectures. Social media and aggressive sexual ads have attracted a lot of young people towards them. Pornographic content also creates a surge in dopamine levels in the brain and continuous exposure can make them an addict.
Pornographic content tends to increase the Sex Hormone levels in addicts, which encourages them to engage in unethical activities. Frequently abstaining from watching Pornographic content can also cause withdrawal symptoms to appear, such as a Strong urge to watch porn, stress, anxiety, loneliness, etc.
Gaming Addiction
Students are seen playing the game instead of attending the lectures in lecture timings. In this era of Smartphones, Tablets, and Computers, games have evolved a lot. They have become more realistic and are also easily available to everyone. All these factors are attracting people of lesser age towards them.
This Gaming addiction is like every other addiction where the dopamine levels in our brain hit a peak and upon refraining withdrawal symptoms can be seen. There have been some cases seen in the past where the students have wasted a huge amount of their parent’s money in buying different features of the Game. Incidents of suicide were also witnessed in the past.
Interacting with Strangers
The Internet could be a curse and a boon as well. But for people of lesser age and children Internet has always been an unsafe place. Students find E-Learning platforms less appealing and boring and they escape from this by jumping into the world of the Internet. There are so many Hackers and Bad People out there on the Internet who lure people of lesser age and then blackmail them for their benefit.
There have been cases seen in the past where older people have lured children, which then resulted in them getting kidnapped or Sexually Harassed. Honeytraps have been the favourite weapon of Hackers and Bad People to extract benefits from people. Due to the lack of regulations, this is becoming a major problem nowadays and a lot of people are getting trapped. Getting trapped or harassed online can also cause people to get depressed and sometimes such incidents also led people to suicide.
Bullying of Teachers
This E-Learning scenario has turned the tables, as multiple incidents reflected where students made fun of teachers by abusing them or by doing their mimicry. This E-Learning has even made it worse for the Teacher to efficiently maintain discipline in the class.
Such incidents of getting abused made fun of, etc. are clear examples of teachers getting bullied. Some incidents have also been witnessed where teachers felt ashamed and started crying due to such acts. Such incidents also affect the mental health of the teachers.
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Learning-related problems of students due to Online Classes
E-Learning Platforms are made to teach children without having to come to school, but this whole system of E-Learning is also hampering the learning capabilities of students. Some of the learning-related problems of students include:
More Burden of Studies
E-Learning has made teachers put more burden on children regarding their studies. Teachers nowadays deliver soft copies of their notes to students due to which they do not have to waste time making students take proper notes. This time saving has paced up the Studies, due to which students are feeling a lot of burdens. This study burden has made students tired due to which they are unable to indulge in physical activities as well.
Problem while concentrating
To study properly, we need to have a proper concentration but the students are lacking it because of the shift from offline to online classes. Students were not habitual of learning online and also learning online requires intrinsic motivation, which students lack due to the distractions offered by the gadgets.
Students are unable to concentrate due to the various distractions offered by these smartphones and computers. Also, some of these E-Learning sessions are not very interactive, which makes the students feel outcasted and hence results in a lack of concentration.
Lack of practical knowledge
Practical Knowledge plays an important part in our education. We must be knowing about the Practical use and applications of things which we studied in our classroom. But due to this online class session, delivering practical knowledge is very difficult. Online classes are only delivering theoretical knowledge to students due to some constraints.
Some teachers have been trying to deliver practical knowledge to the children by Performing Experiments on E-learning platforms and Simulators, which will help the students but it will not be sufficient till the students will perform themselves. In my opinion, of all the listed and explained disadvantages of E-Learning, this one is really harmful to our kid’s minds. Read : Best Simple Hackathon Ideas
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Cheating Practices
It is very difficult to detect cheating practices in online examinations. Lack of measures to check Cheating Practices has made the student cheat in exams instead of passing them by studying hard. The trend of cheating in online exams is increasing since there is no check on them. The use of Cheating Practices has made the students lose interest in their studies, which might cause problems for them in the future.
Intellectual Development
Online Studies have forced students to look up the solution to every problem online instead of working out by themselves. Problem-solving develops the intellectual abilities of an individual, but due to the easy availability of everything online, students are not bothering to think and work out the problem by themselves. This dependency on the Internet and other E-Learning is also hampering the development of the intellectual abilities of the students.
13 Extra Disadvantages of online learning
Also, apart from these, E-learning offers some other problems such as:
Lack of Discipline
Schools work in a systematic manner where there is dedicated time for every activity such as Playing, Singing, Studying, etc. They have to wake up early in the morning, get dressed up for school, prepare their bag, etc. But all of this is not happening now and also in this online learning, the class pattern is also discontinuous which is a kind of moving away from the discipline. In the future, getting back to the same disciplined routine will become a challenge for children.
Overall Development
Overall development of an individual requires an institution where apart from Studies, He/She participates in Co-Curricular activities such as Singing, Dancing, Cooking, Drawing, arts and crafts, Gardening, etc. Due to the E-Learning structure, many institutions are not able to organize such events online or are not able to do it efficiently. The lack of such events is making the students lose their interest in their studies and it is also hampering the overall development of the student.
More Demanding
Rather than studying, students are more engaged in social media and other media platforms where they are consuming the expensive lifestyle delivered by social media influencers. This is provoking them to demand expensive things from their parents.
Bad Social Media Influence
Youngsters are getting influenced by the fake lifestyle of Social media influencers. These influencers are glorifying drugs, nudity, Lavish Lifestyle, etc. which attracts the minds of people of lesser age. Then they start indulging in these unethical acts or do some unlawful acts to achieve that lifestyle. Read: How To Deal With Social Media Addiction?
Lacking Moral Values
Incidents of teachers getting Trolled and Abused by Students are somewhere making them inhuman. Tracking students who do such nonsense acts is very difficult, that’s why students are making fun of teachers. If students will continue to do such things, then they will soon start to lack moral values.
Lack of Communication Skills
The development of Communication skills goes parallel with our studies in school. But this E-Learning pattern is lacking Communication skills development because the sessions are less interactive and more focused on theory is made. It is one of the most hurtful disadvantages of E-Learning.
Limited to Certain Fields
E-Learning is a good option in this Coronavirus Pandemic and it will still be a good option in the future. But this E-Learning process is limited to certain professions that include more theory or very less practical work. But this E-learning system can not do justice to the disciplines like Engineering, Health, etc.
Inaccessible to a Gadget Illiterate Person
There are so many people around the globe who do not know how to operate a computer or smartphone which is a kind of negative point for them in this pandemic. Gadgets illiteracy could be a major problem for some people.
Lack of Face-to-Face Communication
Face-to-face communication is very necessary because it not only makes the session interactive but also helps in the character development and confidence building of an individual. But these E-Learning platforms are lacking Face-to-Face conversation, which could be a disadvantage for many.
No Trainer Input
Some institutions are offering Pre-Recorded lectures to the students. Students learning from these Pre-Recorded lectures will not be able to interact with the individual and hence this will be a disadvantage.
Expensive Learning
This might seem absurd, but yes, this E-Learning is still an expensive thing for students whose family has very fewer people who are earning. Such people live foot to mouth and for them, affording a smartphone or tablet and the Internet is a very big thing. Governments have schemes for such students in case of Offline education but still, there is no privilege for Online education of poor children.
Compromised Teaching Standards
Teaching standards have been compromised because there is no check on the Teachers. Also, the lack of sufficient infrastructure is making the E-Learning process less good than offline learning. Multiple startups have emerged in the field of E-Learning and many of them are charging higher fees in return for average teaching standards.
Slow Evolution
Many institutions have just started to deliver content through online platforms so they are new to this field. Optimizing the content for E-Learning and developing new techniques will require a long time.
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… And the Solution
There might be more disadvantages to E-learning, which might be mild or severe, but since the CoronaVirus Pandemic has made educational institutions shut down so E-learning is the only option available to us. This E-Learning poses many disadvantages, but many of them can be overcome by adopting the following measures:
Counselling Classes
The Screens of Smartphones, Tablets, and Personal Computers emit dangerous high-energy Blue Light, which is not good for our eyes. Also, due to the change in the Blinking rate of our eyes, our eyes dry up, which causes blurry vision. To tackle this problem properly, counselling should be made by teachers and students should be encouraged to take 1-2 minutes break after every 20 minutes of continuous focus.
Eye exercises and the use of dehydrating eye drops should be encouraged to prevent any damage. The use of Blue light filters in our devices and blue light filtering spectacles should be encouraged for good eye health.
Maintaining Proper Posture
The teacher should guide the students to maintain proper posture while attending classes. There should be strict guidelines for students to sit on a chair while attending classes. Also, the level of our and the Screen should be the same so that we can maintain a decent posture.
Daytime Classes
Classes should not be scheduled for the Night-time because it can disturb the sleep cycle of children. Also, there should not be a long delay between the classes. Longer delays can increase the absenteeism of students.
Less Burden
The burden should be decreased on students so that they do not feel tired and can indulge in physical activities. Less burden on students also stops depression and anxiety to arise. Due to the less burden, they will be able to involve in physical activities, which will keep them healthy.
Interactive Sessions
Teaching sessions should be made interactive such that all the students interact in that session and nobody feels alone. Interactive sessions and group activities motivate the students to work together and keep them motivated.
Proper Check on the Children
Parents and Teachers should maintain a proper check on the children so that they do not skip any classes. Parents should restrict or lock all the other apps that can cause a distraction to the children.
Activity Tracking software should be installed on the devices to check the activity of the student and if found guilty he/she should be made aware of the risks of Social Media, Gaming, and the Internet. Restricting the Apps and monitoring the online activities of the children might help them not get distracted from their studies.
Moral Counseling
Regular moral Counseling of students might lead to a decrease in the rude behaviour of children towards their teacher. Collective Sessions of parents, Teachers, and Students must be conducted to give students proper counselling.
More Interactive Experiment Techniques
More practical Experiment techniques should be devised such that the students can grab the most out of the practical knowledge. Engaging simulator programs must be built and provided to the students such that they can operate them and learn from them.
Counselling Regarding Cheating
Students should be made aware of the disadvantages of cheating while exams. Also, there is a need to conduct open-book tests at this time such that the students do not engage in such activities. If possible, then students should be told to keep the camera on while writing the exam.
Designing New Problems
Students tend to look up the solution to problems on the internet. Books involve problems whose solutions are already there on the internet, so there is a need to design additional problems such that they try to work out the problem themselves instead of looking on the internet.
Co-Curricular Activities
Co-Curricular activities such as Quiz, Online Dance Competition, Singing Competition, Drawing Competition, etc. should be conducted regularly such that the student feels motivated and engaged. Also, the curricular activities help in the overall development of the individual.
Schemes for Poor Children
The government should take initiatives for poor children or launch schemes such that they can also attend online classes. Also, the government should supply needy children with essential gadgets and internet connections.
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Summary: Disadvantages of online learning
E-Learning has pros and cons, but with the changes in lifestyle, growth will continue. Schools and colleges also halted their operations again as a precautionary measure.
So there is a need to work on the challenges faced in the field of E-learning. Experts’ continuous evolution and new techniques enhance E-Learning and Online Classes, minimizing disadvantages. With this hope, we would like to conclude this article. Thank you for your time and effort. Have a great day and don’t forget to share and comment.
