NEGATIVE EFFECT ON ONLINE LEARNING
Technology is being in cooperated in all sectors of education. Therefore, changing the norm of how students are being taught compared to the traditional ways of teaching. The current Corona Virus pandemic that has affected the entire world has demonstrated how useful technology can impact education (Hiscott et al., 2020). Many educational institutions have implemented the use of online video conferencing in teaching their students. Hence, technology is considered as a solution for teaching students without physical meeting. However, people are ignoring the fact that as much as education can be passed through an online platform, there are disadvantages. The question being, what are the negative effects of online education? The fact is online learning has negative effects on delivering information to students. This paper will focus on the negative effect of teaching occupational therapists using Facebook in EdTech to enable them to gain higher education.
There exists huge expenditure in making sure that a student is online to access education. With online learning, students are not that dependent on pen and paper. However, they rely on computers and devices. Occupational therapists need high tech devices to be able to have a clear and more appealing learning experience. The problem is that to access such devices, they need to buy, thus the need to spend more money on devices that will help them learn online. Therefore, the fact is that with the existence of technology, education has become more expensive. According to Martín-Gutiérrez et al. (2017), “Introduction of virtual or augmented reality had several constraints: it was expensive.” A clear indication that some technical aspects being applied in education can be costly. Moreover, education being expensive will not favor all students he leading to some students being disadvantaged while relying on educational technology.
Insufficient teaching methods has also been a major concern in the implementation of online learning. Some teachers are unable to execute certain information to students using an online platform perfectly. Therefore, it affects the understanding capability of a student, and also it affects the teacher’s information delivery mechanism. Also, Research has proved that interactive teaching is the best way for students to learn (Rehan et al. 2016). Hence, the use of Facebook to teach students may minimize the level of interaction between a student and a teacher. The fact is that with the use of technology and advanced devices, the interaction part is eliminated. The students only study the topics by themselves and do not discuss any topic (Kurucay, & Inan, 2017). This has a bad impact on the students.
The devices using for online learning are considered as a major source of distraction. It is noted that 60 percent of schools and colleges in the world are using modern devices like laptops in teaching (Moreira et al., 2017). The issue that arises is that most of the students, instead of focusing on learning using online devices. They use the devices in doing their tasks using Facebook, therefore ending up not attending to the teaching from their tutor. That can be the main factor that can lead to an increase in the gap between students and educators.
Online learning creates many opportunities for students to cheat. According to Richards (2016), there is a need for educational integrity in learning. Since it helps in gauging a student basing on his or her performance, the more technology advances, the more students are becoming lazy; students have been able to find ways in which they can easily access information. Hence, even though cheating is illegal, students have made it look easier using technology.
Finally, learners get disconnected from the real world with online learning. According to Phirangee (2016), online learning, as much as is the future of education, it minimizes the interaction and connection of students in the real world. Since most of the students will get only each other during online classes, but it kills the aspect of social interaction. The other rising concern is that with the growth in technology, teachers are educating the students with different online tools instead of physically communicating with them. Therefore, killing the aspect of teacher-student interaction, which is key to the development of a student education background (Pennings et al., 2018).
In conclusion, education is essential in the life of every student since it helps in creating their future. As much as the world is moving towards the age of using technology in learning, there is a need for various sectors to come up with a mechanism to handle the negative effects of online learning. Therefore, making sure the online learning materials are readily available and affordable. The use of less distractive applications for online learning hence leading to better understanding towards the students. There is a need to come up with strategies to reduce cheating in online learning. The fact is online learning has its challenges, and there is a need for everyone to find a solution to the challenges.
References
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Martín-Gutiérrez, J., Mora, C. E., Añorbe-Díaz, B., & González-Marrero, A. (2017). Virtual technologies trends in education. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 13(2), 469-486.
Moreira, F., Ferreira, M. J., Santos, C. P., & Durão, N. (2017). Evolution and use of mobile devices in higher education: A case study in Portuguese Higher Education Institutions between 2009/2010 and 2014/2015. Telematics and Informatics, 34(6), 838-852.
Rehan, R., Ahmed, K., Khan, H., & Rehman, R. (2016). A way forward for teaching and learning of Physiology: Students’ perception of the effectiveness of teaching methodologies. Pakistan journal of medical sciences, 32(6), 1468.
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Richards, S. (2016, October). Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, and Mercenary Authorship in Online Learning Environments. In European Conference on e-Learning (p. 575). Academic Conferences International Limited.
Kurucay, M., & Inan, F. A. (2017). Examining the effects of learner-learner interactions on satisfaction and learning in an online undergraduate course. Computers & Education, 115, 20-37.