Right click

The lockdown has catalysed the growth of online education from a trot into a full gallop

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

THE BLACKBOARD has been replaced by the LED screen, the sway of the ruler with the flicker of the cursor. “My school has launched an app through which homework and class notes are sent,” says Rishikesh Chandra Roy, a class IX student in Bihar, “I attend my classes online, even while sitting at home.”

The Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown has inadvertently catalysed the steadily trotting growth of online education into a full gallop. Many K-12 schools, as well as colleges, have scrambled to move their curriculum online. The options being used include web platforms that offer course and reference material, video conferencing apps like Zoom to conduct ‘virtual classrooms’ and homework and study materials sent through WhatsApp and email.

But the precipitance of the pandemic has put many educational institutions in a spot. “Typically, it takes months, if not years, to develop an online (educational) platform,” said Pallavi, an edtech communication specialist. “For many traditional institutions, particularly those that have been slower to embrace online education, the challenge is even more formidable.”

This is where supplementary edtech platforms have sensed their opportunity. Many of them, from the domestic market leader Byju’s to the global player Coursera, promptly made access to their course material free. GradeUp, another prominent player, has launched a campaign, #PadhaiNahiRukegi (Learning Will Not Stop), while Vedantu came out with a #21daylearningchallenge, featuring messages from the likes of Hrithik Roshan and Shikhar Dhawan.