UGONMUTA FOUNDATION UNDERGRADUATE ESSAY COMPETITION 2020 – FIRST PRIZE WINNING ESSAY
ESSAY TOPIC
The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has increased the use of online method of teaching and learning in Institutions of Higher Education in Nigeria.
Explain, in details, what you understand by online method of teaching and learning.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this method and suggest necessary steps to be taken to make online teaching and learning an acceptable and viable method of education.
ESSAY AS WRITTEN BY OKEKE IFEANYICHUKWU VALENTINE
1ST PRIZE WINNER
ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING IN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN NIGERIA
Online method of teaching and learning is an advanced method of learning and teaching in institutions of higher education that involves the students being engaged in learning through the use of E-platform ie Electronic platform by their different course lecturers and project supervisors.
As we all know, the coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic affected every sphere of the economy, it has increased the use of online method of teaching and learning. The world is going to digital Education learning process. The online method of teaching and learning makes it possible for lecturers to teach their students either through virtual platform or probably through release of lecture materials and course outlines to the students to enable them read and comprehend and as well provide them with the assignments and quizzes needed for grading in any course. It is a sophisticated E-Learning technique that involves the use of Electronic gadgets such as computers, smart phones to teach students through different social media applications like whatsapp, zoom etc. The learning process applies current digital technologies in education to equip the students with their courses. It does not involve the usual face to face learning whereby lecturers teach their students in classroom.
As development in digital Technology is gradually increasing and the effect of the Coronavirus Pandemic has also increased this method of learning owing to the fact that the virus is deadly and contagious and the containment of this deadly scourge could be averted through social distancing, it becomes almost impossible for normal teaching and learning in the higher institution of learning thereby increasing the use of online method of teaching and learning in institutions of Higher Education in Nigeria.
Most scholars opines that there are so many advantages of this online method of teaching and learning adopted by the higher Institutions of learning to contain the spread of coronavirus disease and below are some of them;
Easy assessment of the students score on the part of the lecturers – Due to the number of students offering a particular course, sometimes it is difficult for some lecturers to mark and grade their students, with the use of this online method of teaching and learning, students can be given semester quizzes and exams online and automatically graded by the use of computer. The scoring of the students are usually entered in spreadsheet packages and automatically graded thereby reducing the stress usually encountered by marking of the students scripts after semester examination.
Another advantage of this method of learning is that is avails the students the opportunity of having different lecture materials in a particular course. It gives them a broad based lecture materials prepared by the lecturers and the once gotten from the internet. The students are provided with a very nice and well articulated material to ease their learning stress. There are a lot of materials online which student can easily lay hands on thereby reducing the stress for both the lecturers and students. The students are being guided on the best materials to surf for in the internet and guidelines on the usage of the material is being communicated to them easily.
Moreover, online method of learning and teaching is important in the sense that disruption of Academic activities and calendar will be averted. As we all know, receiving lectures online does not necessarily require the Physical presence of the course lecturers and for that the academic calenders is always stable unlike the face to face learning that involves the presence of the course lecturers.
With the contagious nature of this deadly Virus, universities directed their students to vacate campus but universities with the best learning material do resort to online method thereby ensuring that their students do not lack and continue their academic programmes online and making it necessary for them to graduate as at when due and also the spread of the coronavirus (COVID 19) is reduced to barest minimum. Schools that resort to the online method of teaching and learning will eventually experience a hitch Flow academic session.
Online method is important because it is an easy learning method. It makes the learning process easy and interesting. It provides the students with pictorials, graphic designs required and makes it more simple and easy for the yearning undergraduates. The stress of running up and down from one lecture hall to another is avoided as whatever materials or course outlines are provided online and makes it easy for students to assess them.
Another advantage of online method of teaching and learning in the face of this deadly pandemic is that it made some students that are not always assessing online materials to be serious as lecturers now mandate students to come online at a particular time for a lecture, some of the lecturers use virtual zoom to teach the students. You can receive your lecturers anywhere provided that there is connection and network. You see your lecturer on the monitor when connected thereby making it interesting and easy for the students.
Online method of teaching at this critical moment of the pandemic scourge will reduce the spread of the coronavirus as social distancing, face masks etc are not used as students comfortably do everything at the comfort of their homes.
Online method of Teaching and learning also have numerals disadvantages and some of them are shortlisted below,
High cost of data subscription – the high cost of data being consumed by this E-Learning platforms is quite alarming and highly very costly, for instance, the zoom virtual learning platform consumes data. Not every student is rich to que in that platform thereby making it very difficult for some students to have access to the lecture materials. The economy is not favourable and some parents are trying to meet up with the family needs, students asking them for money for data subscription sometimes annoys them.
Some are uneducated and does not see reasons why their wards and children should ask them of the subscription thereby making it uneasy for students to concentrate and get better lectures and materials.
Another major disadvantage of this method is lack of proper supervision and assessment by the course lecturers. It is imperative to note that some lecturers lacks the foundational knowledge of E-Platforms or have a little knowledge of E-platform and in order for them not to be left out and mocked, they will keep trying and be supervising the students poorly. We need to state here that there is a great difference between seeing a person that supervises and lecture you than all these online lectures.
If it is face to face learning, the students are properly supervised and lecturers are seen being interactive with the students unlike whereby lecturers will post materials online and ask the students to go and read up.
It also makes some students lazy and behave the way they like – For some students, going through a lot of materials without proper lecturing will make them lazy rather they resort to playing games some lecturers does not know how to prepare online lecture materials, they will browse and carry every details online for students to read, some even go a long way by giving the students what is not even in the curriculum for their degree programme which sometimes makes the students lazy and as well students rather than reading those material they will visit pornographic sites.
Online method of teaching and learning is Time consuming, unstable and highly costly. The cost of building control centers and providing the lecturers with the necessary gadgets needed for the lectures is quite costly, thereby making it hard for them to teach them, the instability of PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) in the providing light makes it uninteresting for the students. Due to black out and incessant practices by the PHCN, it makes it difficult to achieve the desired goal of online method of teaching and learning. It is time consuming also on the part of the lecturers, the fixing time and electrical connections to be done before the proper lecture is quite stressful and tedious to some lecturers thereby creating a barrier to effective communication.
Effective communication and student – lecturers’ relationship is hampered. It is worthy to note that effective communication and listening is a very good skill in learning. With the use of online method of learning, the communication network is poorly handled. The student to student and student to lecturer’s relationship may not be strong enough unlike the face to face learning process.
There are also steps to make online teaching and learning an acceptable and viable method of education. Government policies and revitalization on schools is necessary. Government should revitalize the school system and provide the lecturers the necessary information communication technology gadgets inorder for them to carryout this task. Most schools lacks those essential tools for the online method. They should fund schools to meet the international standard.
Most school cannot even boast of a workable computer laboratory talk more of providing the lecturers with the required tools. They should make education a priority by providing lecturers with the necessary policies, and programmes for the good operation of this gadgets.
Another step is Educating, sensitizing and offering refresher programmes on the use of ICT gadgets and tools. As we all know, the world is going to digitalization, most lecturers lacks the foundational knowledge on operating mechanism of this online methods, the principle of operation of some of the tools. They should be educated and properly sensitized on the best use and method in order to enhance the online learning method.
Refresher courses on the usage modalities of the tools should be organized for the lecturers and students as well as some students lacks the knowledge of use of ICT gadgets. Some students from rural areas are not knowledgeable enough on the use of ICT gadgets and when properly trained, they will do better with the use of smart phones, computers and so many of them.
Another step is network providers should be stable. They should provide stable network. For the users and also subscription should be monitored. The cost of subscription should be looked into. The Nigerian Government should improve on electricity because most digital technologies makes use of electricity for most operation. Online method also needs that because students and lecturers needs to change their smartphones, computers etc for them to be able to lecture and learn.
Lecture materials provided online by the lecturers should be brief, concise and properly arranged to enhance the students interest. Some lecturers are not good in preparing good lecture notes. Some of them will surf the net and present the students with huge lecture notes not organized thereby making most students tired and lazy at the same time.
In summary, online teaching and learning method is good and as well bad but the Pandemic has increased the use of the online method of teaching and learning as there is no alternative owing to the contagious nature of the virus. Most schools now adopted this method inorder to contain the spread of the virus.
With the directive by National Centre for Disease and Control (NCDC) on social distancing, use of face masks etc, the online method becomes a necessity for most schools in Nigeria as this learning method made it easy for some schools that are well connected in digital technology, thereby making the academic calendar stable but some schools on the other hand lacks the gadgets and tools for this method. For the success of online method, Government have many important role to play for an interesting learning method and viable communicative and this makes it interesting.
The school management have a role to play also by organizing sensitizing programmes on the best use ICT gadgets to their students and lecturer at large.