A Sociological Study of “Managing Online Education During Covid Times” Ms. Shewli Hira,

Abstract

This paper looks at the emotional problems faced by teachers and students across the globe and Saudi Arabia in particular due to the sudden transition from face-to-face classes to online classes. The pandemic due to Covid 19 brings out the already existing digital/social divide in societies across the world. Amidst such a situation, schools and colleges grappled with new ed-technology. Fitting course content with voice-only features due to cultural issues, teachers had little confidence in presenting lectures on a virtual platform. All of a sudden LMSes, like Blackboard, experienced tremendous load and students had difficulty logging in and sometimes due to bad weather, they could not connect to the LMS. Hilly or remote desert areas had a poor net connection, along with phone incompatibility. As every cloud has a silver lining, the teachers found solutions to improve teaching, and engage students in online learning. Teachers are also forced to re-look at their teaching strategies, re-write lesson plans. With the help of technology, the teachers collected the best materials after hours of search burning for better learning. Unfortunately, all these led to burnout – emotional and mental. As days passed by, students and teachers continued with the hope of learning and teaching from home with fluctuating bandwidth, slow loading pages/site, costly data packs, battery exhausting sessions and tired eyes.