Online education in a time of crisis

THE recent directive by the Higher Education Ministry to suspend all face-to-face exams and classes as well as online lessons has been met with questions and even defiance from private universities. Those who question the directive have some legitimate issues, but I am afraid those defying it are also trapped in a “traditional classroom construct” in understanding what online education in a time of “emergency” may mean.

It is a fact that most public and private universities are ill prepared for online learning because of their “comfort zone” of doing things in the same way. Now that the Covid-19 emergency situation has come up, many think that online learning is easy and you just need an Internet connection. Well, that is completely not so on the ground.