Online Teaching in India during Covid 19: Opportunities and Challenges
Prateek Mishra
Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad, India.
. Smita *
Sudarshan Foundation, Greater Noida, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Covid-19 pandemic made teachers explore online teaching as offline classes could not be conducted due to lock down. Online teaching has been explored as a premium service by niche players in the education sector in pre Covid-19 era. The paper reviews the opportunities and challenges of online teaching in current scenario. The existing digital infrastructure and young demographic profile provides an opportunity to India to explore online teaching as a long term strategy for inclusive and relevant education. Regulatory authorities need to evaluate training and behavioural issues of teachers for online teaching. An integrated approach is required to share resources among educational institutions along with faculty autonomy and motivation. Promoting entrepreneurship among teachers to start up their own mini online colleges would go a long way in institutionalising online teaching and unlocking the hidden potential of dedicated teachers in India. Online teaching can be useful to reap the benefits of demographic dividend in India.
Keywords: Online education, Bacopa monnieri, India, Centella asiatica, Covid-19, management, In vitro, teachers, demographic dividend, conservation, Medicinal plants