COVID 19 AND THE NEW NORMAL…. Still grappling with the entire shift in the mode of education !!!!The unparalleled disruption in education is far from over as schools across the globe are yet to reopen with parents, students and teachers still at a crossroad trying to figure out which road to choose.

During this Crisis situation, DISTANCE LEARNING became the only solution to ensure normal continuity of schooling. It is very difficult to judge the levels of learning achieved over the online platform as compared to face to face classroom teaching. The tiny screen of the mobile or the wider screen of the laptop is no comparison to the open classroom environment, where the teacher can actually interact in the physical space and can implement a wider range of teaching methods.

Education moving from chalk and talk to online mode might also be an invasion of the privacy when we turn on the video allowing others into our homes virtually. Also the privilege of keeping the cameras off during the online lectures which can be easily referred to as bunking in a normal scenario, leaves the teacher in fix while marking their attendance. These attendance challenges still largely undocumented, increases the gap between teaching and learning amongst students. Also the possibility of looking at the screen for prolonged hours or the discomfort or the anxiety amongst the students with the feeling of everyone watching them at close proximity could be the reason for the invisible wall.

The transition from the normal mode of teaching to the NEW NORMAL is not easy for all students because a number of them do not have access to computers, whether desktop, laptops, tablets or even a smart phone. Why only the learner??, even the educators do not have the access to such devices in many cases, as they generally come from low income families, which are now severely affected due to lockdown and cost cutting. The digital divide widens the educational inequality through online learning. Hence the transition from the classroom learning to online classes will leave many students especially those belonging to low income families way behind in the rat race.

As rightly said by Albert Einstein, It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity !!