Online Education Ecosystem—Exploring the Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

A conducive online education ecosystem provides available, accessible, and affordable resources, promoting socialisation and democratising education through innovative platforms, flexible scheduling, and collaborative tools, enabling diverse populations to access knowledge conveniently. However, India canvasses a significant issue of the digital divide, with more than 75% of the population lacking internet accessibility. This paper investigates whether the online education ecosystem is conducive to facilitating the teaching-learning process and identifies any gaps that require attention. The study utilised an instrumental case study design to comprehensively investigate the Online Education Ecosystem from the perspective of teachers in eight schools serving lower socio-economic students. The study found that the online education ecosystem is surrounded by challenges: challenges of student engagement, technical issues, lack of parental involvement due to illiteracy, parents struggle to balance their roles, and the concept of the physical study room. It also presents the challenges related to the increased workload that the teachers must adapt to, the challenges they feel about learning new technologies and balancing teaching methods, and assessments that require fairness and connection. India's National Education Policy 2020 emphasises technology-enabled learning for strengthening education in schools, Higher Education Institutions, but challenges remain in implementing this approach in the current reality. Overcoming these obstacles is the way forward to strengthen the education ecosystem.