Rethinking Online Teaching

The cult Hollywood movie, Fight Club, famously explained the reason behind the lowering of oxygen masks in an aeroplane undergoing massive turbulence. Oxygen masks are lowered to provide an oxygen rush that gives fliers an instant high and dulls their senses, preventing them from being panic-stricken about the impending disaster.

The purpose to begin with this example here is not to contest or prove the point of this proposition. Far from it, this reference serves as a reminder of how life-sustaining oxygen can be counter-productive in a way, if not regulated. This may be true of online teaching too, especially in primary schools. Online teaching, which came to the rescue of our educational institutions, students, teachers, and schools, has now turned into an all-consuming compulsion. Online teaching helped children continue with classes, learn, connect with peers, and put their days in a routine. It prevented us from being cornered completely when we had to stay at home to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Through the virtual medium, we maintained connectivity and continuity of the teaching–learning process. For a while, we were grateful for this virtual space that offered teaching–learning opportunities from the confines of homes with the screen in between albeit with limits and side effects.