A small discussion regarding the internet and nowadays online (and mixed) education systems. (pandemic related)

Greetings, lovely reader !

I wish to warn you: Before reading this, you must realise that this story has been made by some random russian student who in no way, shape, or form a “professional” at this kind of discussion. That being said, I would like to…expand myself and my experiences with these kinds of things, starting…now:

There is an ongoing pandemic happening in the world, and one that every. single. person has heard of. Be it a small child, a teenager, a student or an adult — we all heard about it…and we are tired of it, aren’t we ?

So what am I discussing here ? What is the point of this post ? Simple: I…wish to bring attention to what schools, universities, (and so on) have done to prevent the Pandemic’s spread and discuss it’s positives and flaws.

Our nowaday world’s education systems have slowly been integrating with the internet for many obvious reasons (access, speed, accuracy (debatable), convenience, possibilities, etc. etc.). More so in our current world’s situation with the ongoing pandemic ! Education has been partially (and sometimes mostly) transfered into an “online” format. While it has it’s upsides, it has a load of flaws to balance things out. But let’s start with the positives, shall we ?

Upsides: 1 — Virus Protection — Simply put, this integration is protecting the young generations and their families from contacting the virus (a rather simple upside, but an expected one).

2 — Accessibility — as mentioned before, with the way our world progresses, with the ongoing globalisation, people all around the world are slowly and quickly (depends on the country) gaining access to the internet, and in return — gain access to it’s database and “freedoms” that it allows. It allows people to attend classes, lections, meetings not only from their school or university, but others as well !

3 — Ease of usage — The internet is not hard to utilize. It has, quite literally, become a part of our everyday life. Young and adult generations alike are quite…”professional” with the usage of the internet and, therefore, are able to access education much easier than usual. The wonders of technology !

Mixed (both an upside and a negative):

1 — Safety — This…is insanely debatable. While I did mention that distant learning “protects” us from the pandemic it…doesn’t really protect us from COMPUTER viruses now, does it ? Be careful around scams, false calls, suspicious websites for those are plentiful on the internet and, in our current world situation, should be looked onto. Why ? Well, while most people understand how to avoid these viruses and scams (VPN’s, adblockers, own understanding and experiences), not all of us are safe. Especially the YOUNGER generations.

2 — …The Internet (a weird one, isn’t it ?)— Now, hear me out. I L-O-V-E the internet, it’s a part of my and millions upon millions of people’s lives. BUT ! — with the current situations our education system is very flawed. Why ? — Short answer: tests, exams, etc can be easily “cheated” because of the internet. (you can look up most of the answers regarding anything, which….is a very good thing, because you still “learn” something by looking it up, but still, it’s very…debatable).

Downsides: Here comes the worst part of our discussion which is highly debatable. These downsides are based on own experiences and you may not encounter them yourself:

1 — laziness factor — Speaking from own experience many lectures or lessons can be easily “skipped” by those who need to attend them (I’ve seen it happen multiple times and it tends to have negative consequences).

2 — Inherent Internet Flaws — Lags, glitches, connection problems, unexpected electricity shutdowns, bills and taxes, etc. Must I say more ? We all experienced them and KNOW how it affects online (and non-online) education.

And that is..it ! I think…maybe, This is just a small discussion from a random Russian student, after all.

Anyway, have a nice day and feel free to think about all of the above. Perhaps this “story” might help you with something ? In any case, good luck !