Education

Online learning is less effective than classroom-based learning for small children because of a lack of social interaction, pressure on parents and difficulty with performance assessment. First of all, if children are doing online learning, they have a lack of social interaction. They don’t get a chance to do group activities. Children learn more by playing and through social interaction than by only reading and writing. Classroom-based learning provides opportunities to interact more frequently with teachers, play with friends and learn a lot from such interactions which online learning cannot provide. In online classes, children get only limited time for study with teachers. Second, online learning puts a lot of pressure on parents. Because parents have their own job, if children are staying at home for online learning, one of the parents has to sacrifice his/her job. This will put the family in financial stress. Further, supporting children with online learning at home becomes a further challenge for parents who don't speak the language of instruction in school. For example, many parents face difficulties supporting their kids going to French school due to the language barrier. Next, there is another difficulty with the performance assessment during online learning. It is very difficult to get a student’s attention during online classes especially during this era of technology. It is difficult to track if students are opening multiple windows or even using another device to chat with other people while in the class. Further, it is difficult to control if students are cheating during online assessment. To conclude, classroom learning for children is more effective not only due to increased social interaction, effective monitoring and assessment but also because parents get more time for their job