Effects of E-learning on Students: Positive and Negative Impacts and Recommendations during Covid-19 Pandemic

This article discusses the positive and negative effects of e-learning on students, recommendations for improvement of e-learning techniques, and its effectiveness during Covid-19 pandemic. It covers topics like social isolation, practical skills, communication skills, cheating prevention, and more.

The Effects of E-
learning (Online
Learning) on Students

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Negative effects of e- learning on students.................................................................................3
Positive effects of E- learning on students..................................................................................5
Recommendations on effectiveness of E- learning during Covid 19 pandemic.........................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
References:.......................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Online learning is those lessons which are taught through internet sources to the students.
Examples of online learning are E- books, online courses, live online classes and many more.
Online learning get developed recently with the help of development in technology. Recently at
the time of Covid- 19 Pandemic there is a great scope of online learning (Dhawan, 2020). Most
of the students are depending upon e- learning for their studies. The following file covers
negative effects of e- learning on students, positive effects of e- learning on students and
recommendations for improvement of e- learning techniques which will be helpful in Covid
pandemic.
MAIN BODY
Negative effects of e- learning on students
There are many negative effects of online learning on students which are explained below-
Feedback of online students is limited- Teachers are unable to provide feedback to
every child in online classes as compared to traditional classes where teachers can easily point
out the mistakes of students on face- to face- basis and able to suggest the ideas and suggestions
to make them correct. Personalized feedback are important for students which is helpful for them
to concentrate more on their mistakes without feeling disappointed that teachers are pointing
their mistakes in front of whole class (Singh and Thurman, 2019). In online classes, teachers are
unable to provide personalized feedbacks to their students. For example, when students are asked
to submit their assignments on online classes and there teachers rate each assignment as it is
good and it is bad in front of whole class then this will be dissatisfied for students.
E- learning can cause social isolation- E- learning is trendy in recent time of education
but is has various hazardous effects like anxiety, health issues, stress, negative thoughts and
many more. Focusing on the laptop and computers screen for longer time is hazardous for the
mental health. For example a study suggest that more than 50% students are facing stress and
anxiety issues with online classes.
E- learning is reducing the practical skills of students- While attending e- classes,
many of the teachers are unable to take practical classes like computer classes, chemistry
practical classes and many others due to which students are unable to gain practical knowledge in
their studies and they only focuses to bookish knowledge which is not enough for them to
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prepare for jobs (Mukhtar and et. al., 2020). For example, if a computer language class will be
held online then the teacher is able to taught them only the procedure of performing codding step
by step but the same teacher is unable to see whether the students are performing in the same
way or not at their homes through online classes.
Lack of communication skills in online classes- Online classes are the another reason of
lack of communication skills within students because in online classes students did not able to
communicate well due to restrictions and non- interested way of communication. Very few
student feel comfortable in interacting in online classes as compared to face- to face teaching.
Cheating prevention during online classes is tough- It is very difficult to analyse who
is cheating and who is not cheating in exams during an online exam because of limited vision of
screen and cameras. Due to this most of the students create negative thought and did not study
well because they are depending on cheating sources which is again a bad habit implementation
by students.
E- learning is limited to certain discipline- It is noticed that most of the students are
creating indiscipline acts through online classes because they are seeing online classes as fun and
did not pay attention to what their teachers are saying (Adnan and Anwar, 2020). Online classes
are creating disrespect for teachers from students side.
Lack of understanding students perfectly by reading their faces and recording their
behaviours- In traditional classes when teachers and students interact face- to face then teachers
are able to identify the confidence and and self motivation level of student. This is opposite in
online classes as there teachers are unable to interact with their students privately so they are not
able to recognise the confidence level of their employees due to mute camera and mikes during
classes. This impacts bad upon students skills and talents.
Lack of explaining the topics with the help of body language- Body language is one of
the main aspect of teaching and creating interests within students by making more focus on the
topics which are point out by teacher. In online classes teachers and students are unable to
interact with each other by using their body languages which makes the study little bit boring.
Technological issues- Most the classes get effected by technological issues like bad
networks in few rural areas, defect in the devices and many more are also creating obstacles in
student's learning. Due to this reasons most of the students are unable to take classes on time due
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to which they missed to understand most of the topics which was explained by teachers
previously (Fauzi and Khusuma 2020).
Positive effects of E- learning on students
E- learning saves time and money- This one of the most effective advantage of E- learning that
it save time and money. Online learning are less expensive as compared to traditional teaching in
classrooms. Online classes only required internet sources and few subscriptions of some
additional courses who's fees are less than traditional teaching. It also save time of travelling
from home to school and again school to home. With the help of online classes students can save
their travelling time and can utilize it to some other place where they can enhance their skills.
Better retention- Some of the online platforms allow students to share their PPT, files and their
other contents where they get rated for their assignment so that students will get to know about
their mistakes. One of the platform is Pedagogue which provide interactive content.
Helpful in self study- Online classes are very good sources for those students who believe more
on self studies. Here, students can collect information from any relevant and authentic online
sources and can learn by their own without taking the guidance from teachers. Even few of the
online classes are so effective that they guarantee to make students clear in their topics and
thoughts (Verawardina and et. al., 2020).
E- learning is contributing toward environmental friendly- Online classes, online exams and
many others helps to eliminate the usage of papers which is made by cutting trees and plants.
Hence, that's why it is environmental friendly.
Offer access to updated content- Online teaching and online contents for students get updated
on timely basis. Online teaching classes always tries to adopt those methods which are flexible
for students to learn the things and online contents are updated on internet sources which is not
founded in books. For example books are written in the year 2014 and explained till 2021
without its updated version. From 2014 to 2021, it is sure that many of the environmental factors
get changes during this period of time. So, here books are ineffective to get advance and updated
information. Internet sources are best for recent information.
Lectures can be taken at any number of time- Online lectures are taken at any time flexible
for teacher as well as students. For example in case the morning classes are cancelled due to
some issues then teachers will held classes at evening. In case of exams teachers even take
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classes at sudden point of time just before the class to motivate their students. Therefore, online
learning helps to gain knowledge and boost up the motivational factors at any period of time.
Consistency- E- learning allows higher degree of coverage to communicate a message in a same
way for their large number of customers. Online learning is helpful in conveying the same
message for larger group of students without breaking the communication chain because here
teachers convey their message and also write it on chat box so that all students whether they
attend the class or did not attend the class will see the notifications of lectures (Wei and Chou,
2020).
Improves the presentation skill of students- Online learning is helping students to develop
their presentation skills and innovative skills because online learning involves more presentation
studies like PPT sharing and explaining, performing some online activities which is helpful to
learn the topic and many more. Presentation skill is one of the main skill of professional
development. Hence, online learning is helping the students to gain and develop their
professional development skills.
Improves students attendance- With the help of online learning students are seem more
interested to attend the classes and due to which the attendance of students get improved. This
will also help to develop the habit of attending classes on regular basis for students.
Easy to invite guest- It is easy to invite guest din online classes because the guest have to join
the classes while sitting at home. There is no worries to travel to the school and provide security
to guest or some famous personalities which join as an guest for motivating the students.
Recommendations on effectiveness of E- learning during Covid 19 pandemic
The one of the most basic requirement which is required in Covid 19 pandemic is social
distancing which is further essential to take some safety precautions from this hazardous disease.
Hence, online classes is helping the students to stay away with each other physically and
continue their learning without any drop out from their schools or colleges. For making their
studies more effective some of the recommendation are given below-
 It is recommended that teachers should not take classes of huge number of students in a
single batch because having a large number of crowd in classes will effect the teaching.
Teachers are not able to focus on the students performance individually (Dube, 2020).
Hence, it is recommended that teachers must divide the batches of not more than 30-35
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students in a single batch so that all students will get attention from their teacher which
further help them to clear their doubts.
 It is also recommended that during this pandemic when students are learning from their
homes, they are having opportunities to pursue some additional course of personal and
professional development (Agung, Surtikanti and Quinones, 2020). Now a day’s this
type of course have one more feature and that is it did not have fix time. Students can
decide time by themselves and according to students time teachers will teach. This is a
great opportunity for students to get certificate in additional courses with their studies
without attending any physical class.
 E-learning are effective when students finds interest in online learning. Hence, it is
recommended that some extra curricular activities will be held by schools and colleges
through online. Some online games or having funny interaction ate some best examples to
gain students interest toward online studies. These activities must be held once in a weak
for refreshment of students as well as teachers.
 It is also recommended that teachers should not only focus on theoretical studies but they
must focus on practical knowledge also. They must give assignment on time to their
students. Teachers must focus on students presentation of those assignments and correct
them personally in case of any wrong or incorrect presentation. It is good if students get
correction of their mistakes personally without pointing them in front of whole class
because most of the students get demotivated (Bączek and et. al., 2021). Hence, it is
recommended that teachers must observe the presentations of all students in online
classes and appreciate them but when it comes to correct the mistakes of some students, it
is essential to use one-on-one communication method for this purpose.
CONCLUSION
From the above information it is concluded that there are some positive as well as some negative
effects of e- learning. The students and teachers must adopt all those opportunities which is
offered them during online studies. It is also concluded that online learning is one of the most
effective learning ways during Covid 19 pandemic and due to online learning only students are
able to continue their studies without getting any drop outs from their schools and colleges.
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References:
Books and Journals
Adnan, M. and Anwar, K., 2020. Online Learning amid the COVID-19 Pandemic: Students'
Perspectives. Online Submission. 2(1). pp.45-51.
Agung, A.S.N., Surtikanti, M.W. and Quinones, C.A., 2020. Students’ perception of online
learning during COVID-19 pandemic: A case study on the English students of STKIP
Pamane Talino. SOSHUM: Jurnal Sosial Dan Humaniora. 10(2). pp.225-235.
Bączek, M. and et. al., 2021. Students’ perception of online learning during the COVID-19
pandemic: a survey study of Polish medical students. Medicine. 100(7).
Dhawan, S., 2020. Online learning: A panacea in the time of COVID-19 crisis. Journal of
Educational Technology Systems. 49(1). pp.5-22.
Dube, B., 2020. Rural online learning in the context of COVID 19 in South Africa: Evoking an
inclusive education approach. Multidisciplinary Journal of Educational Research. 10(2).
pp.135-157.
Fauzi, I. and Khusuma, I.H.S., 2020. Teachers’ elementary school in online learning of COVID-
19 pandemic conditions. Jurnal Iqra': Kajian Ilmu Pendidikan. 5(1). pp.58-70.
Mukhtar, K. and et. al., 2020. Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning
during COVID-19 pandemic era. Pakistan journal of medical sciences. 36(COVID19-
S4), p.S27.
Singh, V. and Thurman, A., 2019. How many ways can we define online learning? A systematic
literature review of definitions of online learning (1988-2018). American Journal of
Distance Education. 33(4). pp.289-306.
Verawardina, U. and et. al., 2020. Reviewing online learning facing the Covid-19
outbreak. Talent Development & Excellence. 12.
Wei, H.C. and Chou, C., 2020. Online learning performance and satisfaction: do perceptions and
readiness matter?. Distance Education. 41(1). pp.48-69.
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