essay on benefits of online classes during lockdown

Capturing the benefits of remote learning

How education experts are applying lessons learned in the pandemic to promote positive outcomes for all students

Vol. 52 No. 6 Print version: page 46

• Schools and Classrooms

With schools open again after more than a year of teaching students outside the classroom, the pandemic sometimes feels like a distant memory. The return to classrooms this fall brings major relief for many families and educators. Factors such as a lack of reliable technology and family support, along with an absence of school resources, resulted in significant academic setbacks, not to mention stress for everyone involved.

But for all the downsides of distance learning, educators, psychologists, and parents have seen some benefits as well. For example, certain populations of students found new ways to be more engaged in learning, without the distractions and difficulties they faced in the classroom, and the general challenges of remote learning and the pandemic brought mental health to the forefront of the classroom experience.

Peter Faustino, PsyD, a school psychologist in Scarsdale, New York, said the pandemic also prompted educators and school psychologists to find creative new ways of ensuring students’ emotional and academic well-being. “So many students were impacted by the pandemic, so we couldn’t just assume they would find resources on their own,” said Faustino. “We had to work hard at figuring out new ways to connect with them.”

Here are some of the benefits of distance learning that school psychologists and educators have observed and the ways in which they’re implementing those lessons post-pandemic, with the goal of creating a more equitable, productive environment for all students.

Prioritizing mental health

Faustino said that during the pandemic, he had more mental health conversations with students, families, and teachers than ever. “Because COVID-19 affected everyone, we’re now having mental health discussions as school leaders on a daily and weekly basis,” he said.

This renewed focus on mental health has the potential to improve students’ well-being in profound ways—starting with helping them recover from the pandemic’s effects. In New York City, for example, schools are hiring more than 600 new clinicians, including psychologists , to screen students’ mental health and help them process pandemic-related trauma and adjust to the “new normal” of attending school in person.

Educators and families are also realizing the importance of protecting students’ mental health more generally—not only for their health and safety but for their learning. “We’ve been seeing a broader appreciation for the fact that mental health is a prerequisite for learning rather than an extracurricular pursuit,” said Eric Rossen, PhD, director of professional development and standards at the National Association of School Psychologists.

As a result, Rossen hopes educators will embed social and emotional learning components into daily instruction. For example, teachers could teach mindfulness techniques in the classroom and take in-the-moment opportunities to help kids resolve conflicts or manage stress.

Improved access to mental health resources in schools is another positive effect. Because of physical distancing guidelines, school leaders had to find ways to deliver mental health services remotely, including via online referrals and teletherapy with school psychologists and counselors.

Early in the pandemic, Faustino said he was hesitant about teletherapy’s effectiveness; now, he hopes to continue offering a virtual option. Online scheduling and remote appointments make it easier for students to access mental health resources, and some students even enjoy virtual appointments more, as they can attend therapy in their own spaces rather than showing up in the counselor’s office. For older students, Faustino said that level of comfort often leads to more productive, open conversations.

Autonomy as a key to motivation

Research suggests that when students have more choices about their materials and activities, they’re more motivated—which may translate to increased learning and academic success. In a 2016 paper, psychology researcher Allan Wigfield, PhD, and colleagues make the case that control and autonomy in reading activities can improve both motivation and comprehension ( Child Development Perspectives , Vol. 10, No. 3 ).

During the period of online teaching, some students had opportunities to learn at their own pace, which educators say improved their learning outcomes—especially in older students. In a 2020 survey of more than 600 parents, researchers found the second-most-valued benefit of distance learning was flexibility—not only in schedule but in method of learning.

In a recent study, researchers found that 18% of parents pointed to greater flexibility in a child’s schedule or way of learning as the biggest benefit or positive outcome related to remote learning ( School Psychology , Roy, A., et al., in press).

This individualized learning helps students find more free time for interests and also allows them to conduct their learning at a time they’re most likely to succeed. During the pandemic, Mark Gardner, an English teacher at Hayes Freedom High School in Camas, Washington, said he realized how important student-centered learning is and that whether learning happens should take precedence over how and when it occurs.

For example, one of his students thrived when he had the choice to do work later at night because he took care of his siblings during the day. Now, Gardner posts homework online on Sundays so students can work at their own pace during the week. “Going forward, we want to create as many access points as we can for kids to engage with learning,” he said.

Rosanna Breaux , PhD, an assistant professor of psychology and assistant director of the Child Study Center at Virginia Tech, agrees. “I’d like to see this flexibility continue in some way, where—similar to college—students can guide their own learning based on their interests or when they’re most productive,” she said.

During the pandemic, many educators were forced to rethink how to keep students engaged. Rossen said because many school districts shared virtual curricula during the period of remote learning, older students could take more challenging or interesting courses than they could in person. The same is true for younger students: Megan Hibbard, a teacher in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, said many of her fifth graders enjoyed distance learning more than in-person because they could work on projects that aligned with their interests.

“So much of motivation is discovering the unique things the student finds interesting,” said Hunter Gehlbach, PhD, a professor and vice dean at the Johns Hopkins School of Education. “The more you can facilitate students spending more time on the things they’re really interested in, the better.”

Going forward, Rossen hopes virtual curricula will allow students greater opportunities to pursue their interests, such as by taking AP classes, foreign languages, or vocational electives not available at their own schools.

Conversely, Hibbard’s goal is to increase opportunities for students to pursue their interests in the in-person setting. For example, she plans to increase what she calls “Genius Hours,” a time at the end of the school day when students can focus on high-interest projects they’ll eventually share with the class.

Better understanding of children's needs

One of the most important predictors of a child’s success in school is parental involvement in their education. For example, in a meta-analysis of studies, researchers linked parental engagement in their middle schoolers’ education with greater measures of success (Hill, N. E., & Tyson, D. F., Developmental Psychology , Vol. 45, No. 3, 2009).

During the pandemic, parents had new opportunities to learn about their kids and, as a result, help them learn. According to a study by Breaux and colleagues, many parents reported that the pandemic allowed them a better understanding of their child’s learning style, needs, or curriculum.

James C. Kaufman , PhD, a professor of educational psychology at the University of Connecticut and the father of an elementary schooler and a high schooler, said he’s had a front-row seat for his sons’ learning for the first time. “Watching my kids learn and engage with classmates has given me some insight in how to parent them,” he said.

Stephen Becker , PhD, a pediatric psychologist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, said some parents have observed their children’s behavior or learning needs for the first time, which could prompt them to consider assessment and Individualized Education Program (IEP) services. Across the board, Gehlbach said parents are realizing how they can better partner with schools to ensure their kids’ well-being and academic success.

For example, Samantha Marks , PsyD, a Florida-based clinical psychologist, said she realized how much help her middle school daughter, a gifted and talented student with a 504 plan (a plan for how the school will offer support for a student’s disability) for anxiety, needed with independence. “Bringing the learning home made it crystal clear what we needed to teach our daughter to be independent and improve executive functioning” she said. “My takeaway from this is that more parents need to be involved in their children’s education in a healthy, helpful way.”

Marks also gained a deeper understanding of her daughter’s mental health needs. Through her 504 plan, she received help managing her anxiety at school—at home, though, Marks wasn’t always available to help, which taught her the importance of helping her daughter manage her anxiety independently.

Along with parents gaining a deeper understanding of their kids’ needs, the pandemic also prompted greater parent participation in school. For example, Rossen said his kids’ school had virtual school board meetings; he hopes virtual options continue for events like back-to-school information sessions and parenting workshops. “These meetings are often in the evening, and if you’re a single parent or sole caregiver, you may not want to pay a babysitter in order to attend,” he said.

Brittany Greiert, PhD, a school psychologist in Aurora, Colorado, says culturally and linguistically diverse families at her schools benefited from streamlined opportunities to communicate with administrators and teachers. Her district used an app that translates parent communication into 150 languages. Parents can also remotely participate in meetings with school psychologists or teachers, which Greiert says she plans to continue post-pandemic.

Decreased bullying

During stay-at-home orders, kids with neurodevelopmental disorders experienced less bullying than pre-pandemic (McFayden, T. C., et al., Journal of Rural Mental Health , No. 45, Vol. 2, 2021). According to 2019 research, children with emotional, behavioral, and physical health needs experience increased rates of bullying victimization ( Lebrun-Harris, L. A., et al., ), and from the U.S. Department of Education suggests the majority of bullying takes place in person and in unsupervised areas (PDF) .

Scott Graves , PhD, an associate professor of educational studies at The Ohio State University and a member of APA’s Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education (CPSE), said the supervision by parents and teachers in remote learning likely played a part in reducing bullying. As a result, he’s less worried his Black sons will be victims of microaggressions and racist behavior during online learning.

Some Asian American families also report that remote learning offered protection against racism students may have experienced in person. Shereen Naser, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Cleveland State University and a member of CPSE, and colleagues found that students are more comfortable saying discriminatory things in school when their teachers are also doing so; Naser suspects this trickle-down effect is less likely to happen when students learn from home ( School Psychology International , 2019).

Reductions in bullying and microaggressions aren’t just beneficial for students’ long-term mental health. Breaux said less bullying at school results in less stress, which can improve students’ self-esteem and mood—both of which impact their ability to learn.

Patricia Perez, PhD, an associate professor of international psychology at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology and a member of CPSE, said it’s important for schools to be proactive in providing spaces for support and cultural expression for students from vulnerable backgrounds, whether in culture-specific clubs, all-school assemblies that address racism and other diversity-related topics, or safe spaces to process feelings with teachers.

According to Rossen, many schools are already considering how to continue supporting students at risk for bullying, including by restructuring the school environment.

One principal, Rossen said, recently switched to single-use bathrooms to avoid congregating in those spaces once in-person learning commences to maintain social distancing requirements. “The principal received feedback from students about how going to the bathroom is much less stressful for these students in part due to less bullying,” he said.

More opportunities for special needs students

In Becker and Breaux’s research, parents of students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), particularly those with a 504 plan and IEP, reported greater difficulties with remote learning. But some students with special learning needs—including those with IEPs and 504 plans—thrived in an at-home learning environment. Recent reporting in The New York Times suggests this is one reason many students want to continue online learning.

According to Cara Laitusis, PhD, a principal research scientist at Educational Testing Service ( ETS ) and a member of CPSE, reduced distractions may improve learning outcomes for some students with disabilities that impact attention in a group setting. “In assessments, small group or individual settings are frequently requested accommodations for some students with ADHD, anxiety, or autism. Being in a quiet place alone without peers for part of the instructional day may also allow for more focus,” she said. However, she also pointed out the benefits of inclusion in the classroom for developing social skills with peers.

Remote learning has improved academic outcomes for students with different learning needs, too. Marks said her seventh-grade daughter, a visual learner, appreciated the increase in video presentations and graphics. Similarly, Hibbard said many of her students who struggle to grasp lessons on the first try have benefited from the ability to watch videos over again until they understand. Post-pandemic, she plans to record bite-size lessons—for example, a 1-minute video of a long division problem—so her students can rewatch and process at their own rate.

Learners with anxiety also appreciate the option not to be in the classroom, because the social pressures of being surrounded by peers can make it hard to focus on academics. “Several of my students have learned more in the last year simply due to the absence of anxiety,” said Rosie Reid, an English teacher at Ygnacio Valley High School in Concord, California, and a 2019 California Teacher of the Year. “It’s just one less thing to negotiate in a learning environment.”

On online learning platforms, it’s easier for kids with social anxiety or shyness to participate. One of Gardner’s students with social anxiety participated far more in virtual settings and chats. Now, Gardner is brainstorming ways to encourage students to chat in person, such as by projecting a chat screen on the blackboard.

Technology has helped school psychologists better engage students, too. For example, Greiert said the virtual setting gave her a new understanding of her students’ personalities and needs. “Typing out their thoughts, they were able to demonstrate humor or complex thoughts they never demonstrated in person,” she said. “I really want to keep incorporating technology into sessions so kids can keep building on their strengths.”

Reid says that along with the high school students she teaches, she’s seen her 6-year-old daughter benefit from learning at her own pace in the familiarity of her home. Before the pandemic, she was behind academically, but by guiding her own learning—writing poems, reading books, playing outside with her siblings—she’s blossomed. “For me, as both a mother and as a teacher, this whole phenomenon has opened the door to what education can be,” Reid said.

Eleanor Di Marino-Linnen, PhD, a psychologist and superintendent of the Rose Tree Media School District in Media, Pennsylvania, says the pandemic afforded her district a chance to rethink old routines and implement new ones. “As challenging as it is, it’s definitely an exciting time to be in education when we have a chance to reenvision what schools have looked like for many years,” she said. “We want to capitalize on what we’ve learned.”

Further reading

Why are some kids thriving during remote learning? Fleming, N., Edutopia, 2020

Remote learning has been a disaster for many students. But some kids have thrived. Gilman, A., The Washington Post , Oct. 3, 2020

A preliminary examination of key strategies, challenges, and benefits of remote learning expressed by parents during the COVID-19 pandemic Roy, A., et al., School Psychology , in press

Remote learning during COVID-19: Examining school practices, service continuation, and difficulties for adolescents with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder Becker S. P., et al., Journal of Adolescent Health , 2020

Recommended Reading

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• Published: 25 January 2021

Online education in the post-COVID era

• Barbara B. Lockee 1  

Nature Electronics volume  4 ,  pages 5–6 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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The coronavirus pandemic has forced students and educators across all levels of education to rapidly adapt to online learning. The impact of this — and the developments required to make it work — could permanently change how education is delivered.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the world to engage in the ubiquitous use of virtual learning. And while online and distance learning has been used before to maintain continuity in education, such as in the aftermath of earthquakes 1 , the scale of the current crisis is unprecedented. Speculation has now also begun about what the lasting effects of this will be and what education may look like in the post-COVID era. For some, an immediate retreat to the traditions of the physical classroom is required. But for others, the forced shift to online education is a moment of change and a time to reimagine how education could be delivered 2 .

Looking back

Online education has traditionally been viewed as an alternative pathway, one that is particularly well suited to adult learners seeking higher education opportunities. However, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has required educators and students across all levels of education to adapt quickly to virtual courses. (The term ‘emergency remote teaching’ was coined in the early stages of the pandemic to describe the temporary nature of this transition 3 .) In some cases, instruction shifted online, then returned to the physical classroom, and then shifted back online due to further surges in the rate of infection. In other cases, instruction was offered using a combination of remote delivery and face-to-face: that is, students can attend online or in person (referred to as the HyFlex model 4 ). In either case, instructors just had to figure out how to make it work, considering the affordances and constraints of the specific learning environment to create learning experiences that were feasible and effective.

The use of varied delivery modes does, in fact, have a long history in education. Mechanical (and then later electronic) teaching machines have provided individualized learning programmes since the 1950s and the work of B. F. Skinner 5 , who proposed using technology to walk individual learners through carefully designed sequences of instruction with immediate feedback indicating the accuracy of their response. Skinner’s notions formed the first formalized representations of programmed learning, or ‘designed’ learning experiences. Then, in the 1960s, Fred Keller developed a personalized system of instruction 6 , in which students first read assigned course materials on their own, followed by one-on-one assessment sessions with a tutor, gaining permission to move ahead only after demonstrating mastery of the instructional material. Occasional class meetings were held to discuss concepts, answer questions and provide opportunities for social interaction. A personalized system of instruction was designed on the premise that initial engagement with content could be done independently, then discussed and applied in the social context of a classroom.

These predecessors to contemporary online education leveraged key principles of instructional design — the systematic process of applying psychological principles of human learning to the creation of effective instructional solutions — to consider which methods (and their corresponding learning environments) would effectively engage students to attain the targeted learning outcomes. In other words, they considered what choices about the planning and implementation of the learning experience can lead to student success. Such early educational innovations laid the groundwork for contemporary virtual learning, which itself incorporates a variety of instructional approaches and combinations of delivery modes.

Online learning and the pandemic

Fast forward to 2020, and various further educational innovations have occurred to make the universal adoption of remote learning a possibility. One key challenge is access. Here, extensive problems remain, including the lack of Internet connectivity in some locations, especially rural ones, and the competing needs among family members for the use of home technology. However, creative solutions have emerged to provide students and families with the facilities and resources needed to engage in and successfully complete coursework 7 . For example, school buses have been used to provide mobile hotspots, and class packets have been sent by mail and instructional presentations aired on local public broadcasting stations. The year 2020 has also seen increased availability and adoption of electronic resources and activities that can now be integrated into online learning experiences. Synchronous online conferencing systems, such as Zoom and Google Meet, have allowed experts from anywhere in the world to join online classrooms 8 and have allowed presentations to be recorded for individual learners to watch at a time most convenient for them. Furthermore, the importance of hands-on, experiential learning has led to innovations such as virtual field trips and virtual labs 9 . A capacity to serve learners of all ages has thus now been effectively established, and the next generation of online education can move from an enterprise that largely serves adult learners and higher education to one that increasingly serves younger learners, in primary and secondary education and from ages 5 to 18.

The COVID-19 pandemic is also likely to have a lasting effect on lesson design. The constraints of the pandemic provided an opportunity for educators to consider new strategies to teach targeted concepts. Though rethinking of instructional approaches was forced and hurried, the experience has served as a rare chance to reconsider strategies that best facilitate learning within the affordances and constraints of the online context. In particular, greater variance in teaching and learning activities will continue to question the importance of ‘seat time’ as the standard on which educational credits are based 10 — lengthy Zoom sessions are seldom instructionally necessary and are not aligned with the psychological principles of how humans learn. Interaction is important for learning but forced interactions among students for the sake of interaction is neither motivating nor beneficial.

While the blurring of the lines between traditional and distance education has been noted for several decades 11 , the pandemic has quickly advanced the erasure of these boundaries. Less single mode, more multi-mode (and thus more educator choices) is becoming the norm due to enhanced infrastructure and developed skill sets that allow people to move across different delivery systems 12 . The well-established best practices of hybrid or blended teaching and learning 13 have served as a guide for new combinations of instructional delivery that have developed in response to the shift to virtual learning. The use of multiple delivery modes is likely to remain, and will be a feature employed with learners of all ages 14 , 15 . Future iterations of online education will no longer be bound to the traditions of single teaching modes, as educators can support pedagogical approaches from a menu of instructional delivery options, a mix that has been supported by previous generations of online educators 16 .

Also significant are the changes to how learning outcomes are determined in online settings. Many educators have altered the ways in which student achievement is measured, eliminating assignments and changing assessment strategies altogether 17 . Such alterations include determining learning through strategies that leverage the online delivery mode, such as interactive discussions, student-led teaching and the use of games to increase motivation and attention. Specific changes that are likely to continue include flexible or extended deadlines for assignment completion 18 , more student choice regarding measures of learning, and more authentic experiences that involve the meaningful application of newly learned skills and knowledge 19 , for example, team-based projects that involve multiple creative and social media tools in support of collaborative problem solving.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, technological and administrative systems for implementing online learning, and the infrastructure that supports its access and delivery, had to adapt quickly. While access remains a significant issue for many, extensive resources have been allocated and processes developed to connect learners with course activities and materials, to facilitate communication between instructors and students, and to manage the administration of online learning. Paths for greater access and opportunities to online education have now been forged, and there is a clear route for the next generation of adopters of online education.

Before the pandemic, the primary purpose of distance and online education was providing access to instruction for those otherwise unable to participate in a traditional, place-based academic programme. As its purpose has shifted to supporting continuity of instruction, its audience, as well as the wider learning ecosystem, has changed. It will be interesting to see which aspects of emergency remote teaching remain in the next generation of education, when the threat of COVID-19 is no longer a factor. But online education will undoubtedly find new audiences. And the flexibility and learning possibilities that have emerged from necessity are likely to shift the expectations of students and educators, diminishing further the line between classroom-based instruction and virtual learning.

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New World Bank report: Remote Learning during the pandemic: Lessons from today, principles for tomorrow 

WASHINGTON, D.C., Nov. 18, 2021— Education systems around the world reacted to COVID-19 by closing schools and rolling out remote learning options for their students as an emergency response.  New World Bank analysis of early evidence reveals that while remote learning has not been equally effective everywhere, hybrid learning is here to stay.

Going forward, for remote learning to deliver on its potential, the analysis shows the need to ensure strong alignment between three complementary components: effective teaching, suitable technology, and engaged learners.

“Hybrid learning – which combines in-person and remote learning – is here to stay. The challenge will be the art of combining technology and the human factor to make hybrid learning a tool to expand access to quality education for all,” emphasized Jaime Saavedra, World Bank Global Director for Education .   “Information technology is only a complement, not a substitute, for the conventional teaching process – particularly among preschool and elementary school students. The importance of teachers, and the recognition of education as essentially a human interaction endeavor, is now even clearer.”

The twin reports, Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons and Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow , stress that three components are critical for remote learning to be effective:

• Prioritizing effective teachers: a teacher with high subject content knowledge, skills to use technology, and appropriate pedagogical tools and support is more likely to be effective at remote instruction.
• Adopting suitable technology: availability of technology is a necessary but not sufficient condition for effective remote learning.
• Ensuring learners are engaged: for students to be engaged, contextual factors such as the home environment, family support, and motivation for learning must be well aligned.

The reports found that many countries struggled to ensure take-up and some even found themselves in a remote learning paradox: choosing a distance learning approach unsuited to the access and capabilities of a majority of their teachers and students.

“Emerging evidence on the effectiveness of remote learning during COVID-19 is mixed at best,” said Cristóbal Cobo, World Bank Senior Education and Technology Specialist, and co-author of the two reports . “Some countries provided online digital learning solutions, although a majority of students lacked digital devices or connectivity, thus resulting in uneven participation, which further exacerbated existing inequalities. Other factors leading to low student take-up are unconducive home environments; challenges in maintaining children’s engagement, especially that of younger children; and low digital literacy of students, teachers, and/or parents.”

“While pre-pandemic access to technology and capabilities to use it differed widely within and across countries, limited parental engagement and support for children from poor families has generally hindered their ability to benefit from remote learning,” stressed Saavedra .

Despite these challenges with remote learning, this can be an unprecedented opportunity to leverage its potential to reimagine learning and to build back more effective and equitable education systems. Hybrid learning is part of the solution for the future to make the education process more effective and resilient. 

The reports offer the following five principles to guide country efforts going forward:

• Ensure remote learning is fit-for-purpose. Countries should choose modes of remote learning that are suitable to the access and utilization of technology among both teachers and students, including digital skills, and that teachers have opportunities to develop the technical and pedagogical competencies needed for effective remote teaching. 
• Use technology to enhance the effectiveness of teachers. Teacher professional development should develop the skills and support needed to be an effective teacher in a remote setting.
• Establish meaningful two-way interactions. Using the most appropriate technology for the local context, it is imperative to enable opportunities for students and teachers to interact with each other with suitable adaptations to the delivery of the curriculum.
• Engage and support parents as partners in the teaching and learning process. It is imperative that parents (families) are engaged and supported to help students access remote learning and to ensure both continuity of learning and protect children’s socioemotional well-being.
• Rally all actors to cooperate around learning . Cooperation across all levels of government; as well as partnerships between the public and private sector, and between groups of teachers and school principals; is vital to the effectiveness of remote learning and to ensure that the system continues to adapt, learn, and improve in an ever-changing remote learning landscape.

World Bank Education Response to COVID-19

In response to the deepening education crisis, the World Bank has rapidly ramped up its support to developing countries, with projects reaching at least 432 million students and 26 million teachers – one-third of the student population and nearly a quarter of the teacher workforce in current client countries. The World Bank is the largest source of external financing for education in developing countries. In the last two fiscal years, our support to education has reached $11.5 billion.

World Bank Group Response to COVID-19

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Bank Group has deployed over $157 billion to fight the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic, the fastest and largest crisis response in its history. The financing is helping more than 100 countries strengthen pandemic preparedness, protect the poor and jobs, and jump start a climate-friendly recovery. The Bank is also supporting over 60 low- and middle-income countries , more than half of which are in Africa, with the purchase and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines, and is making available $20 billion in financing for this purpose until the end of 2022.

For more information on the twin reports, please visit their website .

For more information on the World Bank and Education, please visit:  www.worldbank.org/education

Follow us on: @WBG_Education

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Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

Students are often asked to write an essay on Online Classes During Lockdown in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

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100 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

Introduction.

Online classes during lockdown have become a new normal. Schools shut down, but learning never stopped, thanks to technology.

Online classes provide flexibility and convenience. Students can learn from the safety of their homes, reducing the risk of virus spread.

However, it’s not all rosy. Some students face issues with internet access and distractions at home.

Despite challenges, online classes have ensured uninterrupted learning. They are a testament to human adaptability in crisis times.

250 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

Benefits of online learning.

Online classes have enabled uninterrupted learning during lockdown. With the ability to access course materials anytime and anywhere, students have the flexibility to learn at their own pace. This self-paced learning can enhance understanding and retention. Furthermore, online platforms facilitate the use of multimedia content, making learning interactive and engaging.

Challenges and Solutions

However, online learning is not without its challenges. Issues such as lack of access to technology, internet connectivity, and a suitable learning environment can hinder students’ progress. To mitigate these, institutions can provide technological support, while governments can invest in improving internet infrastructure.

Moreover, the lack of face-to-face interaction can lead to feelings of isolation. To counter this, educators can foster a sense of community through discussion forums, group projects, and regular video conferencing.

In conclusion, while online classes during lockdown have presented a unique set of challenges, they have also opened up new avenues for learning. As we navigate this new normal, it is crucial to address the challenges and leverage the opportunities to ensure quality education for all. The pandemic has underscored the importance of adaptability and resilience, qualities that will serve students well in their future endeavors.

500 Words Essay on Online Classes During Lockdown

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically reshaped the education sector worldwide. As lockdowns and social distancing measures were implemented, traditional classroom-based education was abruptly disrupted. In response, online classes emerged as a lifeline, ensuring the continuity of learning during lockdown.

The Transition to Online Learning

The advantages of online classes.

Despite the challenges, online classes have presented several advantages. First, they have allowed learning to continue in the face of a global crisis. Second, they have provided a flexible learning environment, where students can learn at their own pace and according to their own schedules. Third, online classes have broadened access to education, allowing students from remote or disadvantaged backgrounds to participate in learning activities that would otherwise be inaccessible.

The Challenges of Online Learning

However, online learning has also exposed several issues. The digital divide has become more apparent, with students from lower socio-economic backgrounds struggling to access the necessary technology and stable internet connections. Additionally, online learning requires a high level of self-discipline and motivation, which can be challenging for many students. There is also the issue of reduced social interaction, which can impact students’ mental health and sense of community.

The Role of Instructors in Online Learning

The future of online learning.

The experience of online classes during lockdown has highlighted the potential of digital learning. It has shown that education can be made more accessible, flexible, and adaptable through the use of technology. However, it has also underscored the need for strategies to address the challenges that online learning presents. As we move forward, the lessons learned during this period can inform the development of more effective and inclusive online learning systems.

In conclusion, online classes during lockdown have been a crucial response to an unprecedented global crisis. They have ensured the continuity of education while also revealing both the potential and the challenges of online learning. As we emerge from the pandemic, these insights can guide us in creating a more resilient and inclusive educational system for the future.

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COVID-19: A Framework for Effective Delivering of Online Classes During Lockdown

• Arena of Pandemic
• Published: 30 January 2021
• Volume 5 , pages 322–336, ( 2022 )

Cite this article

• Digvijay Pandey   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0353-174X 1 ,
• Gabriel A. Ogunmola 2 ,
• Wegayehu Enbeyle 3 ,
• Marzuk Abdullahi 4 ,
• Binay Kumar Pandey 5 &
• Sabyasachi Pramanik 6  

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A Correction to this article was published on 12 May 2021

This article has been updated

The world as we know it has changed over a short period of time, with the rise and spread of the deadly novel Corona virus known as COVID-19, the world will never be the same again. This study explores the devastating effects of the novel virus pandemic, the resulting lockdown, thus the need to transform the offline classroom into an online classroom. It explores and describes the numerous online teaching platforms, study materials, techniques, and technologies’ being used to ensure that educating the students does not stop. Furthermore, it identifies the platforms, technologies which can be used to conduct online examination in a safe environment devoid of cheating. Additionally, it explores the challenges facing the deployment of online teaching methods. On the basis of literature review, a framework was proposed to deliver superior online class room experience for the students, so that online classroom is as effective as or even better than offline classrooms. The identified variables were empirically tested with the aid of a structured questionnaire; there were 487(according to Craitier and Morgan)150 number of respondents who were purposefully sampled. The results indicate that students prefer the multimedia means of studies. As a result of binary logistic regression, poor internet connection, awareness on COVID-19, enough sources of materials, recommends massive open online course, favourite online methods, and satisfaction with online study are significant in the model or attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic at 5% level of significance. The study recommends online teaching methods, but finally, the study concludes that satisfaction with online study is significant in the model or attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic at 5% level of significance.

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Introduction

The Corona virus pandemic is a strange viral infection that is highly transmittable especially from person to person. The COVID-19 infectivity that is caused by a completely unique mental strain of corona virus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in the last week of December 2019 and acknowledged a world health emergency of international concern by the World Health Organization on January 30, 2020. The World Health Organization has confirmed the fast-moving coronavirus outbreak in China, a “world health emergency of worldwide concern” ( https://doi.org/10.1021/cen-09805-buscon4 ). Eventually, the disease continues to spread across the globe, killing many, and collapsing the various economic, educational, and social activities across the globe.

Death rate ranges between 2 and 3%. It is drastically less severe than 2003 SARS (MR 10%) or 2012 MERS (MR 35%) outbreaks. Threat of decease is merely high in older people (above an age of ~ 60 years) and other people with pre-active health conditions, and approximately 80% of individuals have gentle symptoms and get over the sickness in 2 weeks. The majority of the symptoms are often treated on time medication (John Hopkins Center for System Science and Engineering (Live dashboard), as reported on March 11, 2020).

In view of the forgoing, all institutions of learning across the globe are subjected to an imminent and unavoidable indefinite break. This is an attempt to stop the virus from affecting the students or the teachers. This however has brought about lackadaisical attitudes among the students at home because they are idle and thus thinking nothing but evil.

Most countries across in the world including my country, Nigeria, have developed a way of engaging this students at home, and in some developed countries like the USA, students have resume back to school facelessly (via online). In Nigeria; a platform was developed online for educational used by students and any other researcher (academia.nitda.gov.ng). This is a laudable initiative but hampered by resources like electricity, internet, and to some awareness.

Consequently, all hands are now on desk, reviewing academic online platforms and updating it to meet up with the peculiarities of our day-to-day challenges while making it easy for studies and evaluations of student’s academic performance. This is the quest for this research work. Research problem: the global method of teaching is physical dialogue, whereby students and teachers will meet on a scheduled venue and physically interact. With the advent of these pandemic, public gatherings are prohibited; this makes it impossible for teaching to continue, so long as there is going to be person-to-person contact.

Hence, the need for a platform that will substitute the obsolete means of teaching in an effective and efficient method with the capability of evaluating students academic performance is imminent. Research gap: there are no academic researches on this topic; researches are yet to study online classes platforms, etc.

Objectives: The study explores and describes the present state of online classes, opportunities, and challenges. It is a novel research on the techniques and method adopted by teachers to bring the offline classroom online. The key goal of the learning is to assess socio-demographic and related factors on the attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic in India.

Literature Review

The approach of online-learning as an aspect of the synergistic study worldwide incorporates Web 2.0 advances, which are in the main used by our understudies and are presently enhancing into the homeroom. Teachers state that these innovative advances extremely help increments to their DE homerooms as they will upgrade learning among our technically knowledgeable understudies, reflecting the usage of those advances in their day-by-day lives. Web 2.0 main advances incorporate wikis, sites, broadcasts, informal communities, and online video-sharing destinations like YouTube. Teachers and scientists can foresee that new advances will in any case be presented, which can require transformation by the two understudies and educators, upheld by examination by analysts on their viability. It is essential to appear for “hints on how e-learning advances can turn out to be ground-breaking impetuses for change additionally as devices for updating our education and instructional frameworks” (Shroff & Vogel, 2009 , p.60).

The developing of instructional stages, likewise referenced as Knowledge Management Systems (KMS), is another advancement in ongoing DE history. Saadé & Kira ( 2009 ) depict Learning Management Systems (LMS) as a structure that has educator instruments, learning measure apparatuses, and a store of information. Tests of KMS stages incorporate WebCT, Blackboard, and DesireToLearn, which have risen on the grounds that the best three LMS are unavoidable in the present DE condition. Last Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment (Moodle) has developed as a substitution to LMS open-source framework, a free option to the previously mentioned stages (Unal & Unal, 2011 ). It is fundamental that the devices executed help the course tasks, exercises, and substance (Singh et al.  2010 ; Smart & Cappel, 2006 ). “Unmistakably, innovation upheld learning conditions can possibly flexibly instruments and structure to modify training” (Shroff & Vogel, 2009 , p. 60). The researchers used in this investigation are presented to Blackboard LMS through which understudies partake in conversation gatherings, online diaries, Wikis, Web-based testing and practice tests, virtual groups, YouTube, and other intelligent devices.

The idea of online-learning and hence the plan to utilize Moodle in college option came after a progression of global temporary jobs we were included and after a progression of on-line classes and stage setup for improving instructing ventures. There are numerous advantages of utilizing online instruction together with correspondence, collaboration between understudies, bunch improvement, and a superior admittance to information. Regardless of those advantages, numerous Romanian colleges regularly consent to stay in customary instructing without extra help. Moodle might be a learning stage initially planned by Martin Dougiamas (first form of Moodle was delivered on August 20, 2002). Moodle, as a solid open-source e-learning stage, was utilized and created by worldwide cooperative exertion of global network. Moodle is implied and proceed with improved to flexibly instructors, directors, and students with one vigorous, secure, and incorporated framework to make customized learning conditions. Presently, on March 27, 2014, Moodle 2.6.2 was launched. We consider Moodle a Web-based versatile community-oriented learning condition that contains all parts portrayed by Wang et al. ( 2004 ): conversation gathering and one-on-one companion help client model, collective methodology model, and versatile segment. A few creators were likewise inquisitive about cooperation and human correspondence on a Web-based collaborative learning environment (Zhang et al.  2004 ), while different creators call these virtual learning situations (Knight & Halkett, 2010 ). Comparative encounters of utilizing intelligent e-learning instruments as Moodle were portrayed by different creators (Beatty & Ulasewicz, 2006 ). They all pointed in their papers (Shen et al.,  2006 ) that utilizing Moodle can build up understudies’ psychological blueprint, help to develop their insight, advance understudies’ uplifting mentalities towards talking about and helping out companions, and increment understudies’ aptitudes to embrace deep-rooted learning by utilizing the information innovation. Options as far as Web-based collaborative learning are given by Pfahl et al. ( 2001 ). During this adaptable online network for learning, understudies collaborate with course assets and are prepared to grow new abilities and to structure their own learning direction. Applying this e-learning stage, we exploited understudy’s spare time and their accessibility to spend and structure their activities (Arbaugh et al.  2009 ) in order to submit schoolwork regarding a firm cutoff time.

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) and open education research (OER) MOOCs are online courses that by and large permit anybody to enrol and complete without any extra fee (at any rate for the fundamental course). Cormier and Siemens [8] contend that they are a possible result of “open educating and study.” The degree of receptiveness in MOOCs varies from course to course and if the course is realistic on a MOOC stage, relying on the stage. While numerous cMOOCs offered its substance utilizing open authorizing, other MOOC suppliers just give the substance to privately utilize it as it were. For example, Coursera, single among the main xMOOC stages (Kibaru, 2018 ), expresses that the texture is “just for your very own, non-business use. you'll not in any case duplicate, imitate, retransmit, disseminate, distribute, monetarily abuse or in any case move any material, nor may you alter or make subsidiaries mechanism of the material” ( Rabe-Hemp et al., 2009 ). In this manner, yet a “by item” of the open education development, MOOCs appear to be less open than OERs, uninhibitedly available instructive substance, which are for the most part delivered with open authorizing.

E-learning Tools for Distance Education

With the growing concerns over COVID-19, many school districts have moved classroom instruction online for the foreseeable future. We understand that this change can present challenges on many levels for educators, administrators, students, and families. The following recommended tools may be helpful in making the transition to digital learning during this difficult time. These resources include general e-learning tools for educators, subject-based tools for students, and extensions to assist students with learning differences. Almost all of these resources are free, with the exception of a few inexpensive tools/available free trials (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). 2020.)

SOURCE: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2020

Descriptive Analysis of Tools of Online Class MOOC

Impartus : This is the main video proposal for OER and training. Around 130 higher institutions in India are currently using this platform ( http://www.impartus.com ).

Webex : Webex is an online tool that allows you to virtually hold meetings without leaving your homes or offices. It only requires a computer with an internet access and a separate phone line. This is a product of Cisco Company and is capable giving access to up to 100 clients at a time. It is free to sign up but requires $49/month subscription ( http://www.webex.com ).

Zoom : This is another online livestreaming tool but it is a mobile app. It is available on Android and iOS. While online, you can record sessions, collaborate on projects, and share or annotate one another’s screen. It cost $14.99/month, and it allows meetings recording on the cloud. It has unlimited number of participants, but the meetings can only last for 40 min ( https://zoom.us ).

Google Classroom : This is an open source Web service provided by Google for education and training with the sole aspire of online evaluation of test and assignment in a paperless way. However, organizations must register their corporate account on G-Suit before they can use this service. The students only need a valid email account to get connected to the class. This is linked to Google Drive, Google Docs, and Gmail for efficient sharing of resources ( https://classroom.google.com ).

Microsoft Teams : This is designed by Microsoft as an all-round collaborative platform offering: chats, voice, and calling features. It allows instant messaging with inbuilt office 365 for manipulating documents with live stream. All you need to do is to subscribe to the Microsoft 365 business essentials package; however, this package cost $5/month and per single user ( https://support.office.com ).

Descriptive Tools for Online Classes

Internet learning content is available through various types (text, pictures, sounds, and curios) (Moore & Kearsley, 2012 ) and kinds of media (versatile, intelligent, account, profitable) (Laurillard, 2002 ). The educated client can utilize different Web-based learning assets to make a learning domain that suits his own adapting needs (for example, learning styles, singular openness needs, inspiration); moreover, to the information on different kinds of ICT, it is critical to know somebody’s very own adapting needs (Grant et al., 2009 ).

There are many online tools that are already in use to achieve online classes. It depends on the resources available for the organization to subscribe to such online services. Each of these tools has its own advantages and disadvantages in terms of security, cost, and regional peculiarities. The below table can assist in analyzing some selected tools based on their cost and security.

Descriptive Analysis of Tools of Online Examination

For a complete online classroom, there is a need for an equivalent system/platform in place for an online examination evaluation. Many of such platforms are readily available online. It is left for organizations to analyse the available systems and choose the best that suits their requirements considering the cost and security of the model. Below are some selected tools fitted for that purpose;

TCexam : This is an open source system for electronic exam. It is also known as computer-based assessment (CBA) and computer-based test (CBT). It is free and does not require additional hardware to run.

Virtualx : This is a free online exam management information system. It is cloud-based, and it is an open source. It is user friendly and scalable to user requirements.

Moodle : This is a learning platform or course management system that is aimed at online automation of examinations. It gives the opportunity for lecturers to create their own personal websites. It is free and open source.

FlexiQuiz : This is a main online test producer that will work without human intervention and mark and grade your quizzes. It is an open source and free. And it is secured with SSL encryption technology.

EdBase : This is a powerful and flexible tool for online examinations and grading. It is cloud-based and free. It has the feature of creating question bank and autograding. It is easier in generating portable reports in different formats and is secured with SSL encryption technology.

Tabular comparison of online examination tools

Challenges of Online Classes

Nowadays, smart KMS (Knowledge Management Systems) and LMS (Learning Management Systems) with technology inbuilt are in demand for increasing the need of self directness. Evidence have shown that students tend to understand better if multimedia (Adnan, 2018 ) tools are integrated into their teaching. Despite efforts by institutions to adapt the use of internet and ICT in teaching, most especially in the present condition of lockdowns, certain challenges are curtailing these efforts. Viz;

Lack of internet in most developing countries, like Africa: this proposed framework is purely online, and as such, reliable internet network is the backbone of its emergence. Most developing countries like Africa do not have sufficient internet network for their citizens, and this is a major setback for e-learning.

Security: The major challenge of anything online is security. This is because of the fair of cyber-attacks by hackers. Such a proposed framework will be handling students’ records and examination results. Any possible breach of access can result to serious information mismanagement. Hence, the need to put a serious security in place.

Lack of infrastructures like computers and ICT gadgets due to the level of poverty in some regions like Africa: for a successful online classroom, there must be resources to be sufficiently made available. These resources include network hardware, system hardware/software, and human resources, but due to economic factors of some countries, such provisions are relatively impossible and thus, a big challenge for e-learning.

Lack of power supply in many regions, like Africa: there cannot be technology without electricity and the issue of electricity is a regional challenge to Africans. Most universities in Nigeria were operating strictly on generators because there is no sufficient power supply. This makes it impossible for the students to gain access online as expected because they may not have the means of power supply while out of campus.

Lack of political will due to corruption in Africa: democracy is now a global rule of law. Though, every region or Country has its way of politics; in Africa corruption has pose major challenge in the development of the region and this makes it unfavourable for developmental trends like; ICT, Power etc.

Lack of scalable policies by government: In some countries, there are strict policies on the use of ICT; this might be due to the prevailing cybercrimes over the cyberspace and the process of adhering to such policies; it poses a great challenge in the development of educational technologies and other ICT-related platforms.

Lack of ICT knowledge/awareness among students and lecturers: In some countries and institutions, the knowledge of ICT is very scarce. In fact, some are resisting to accept technology as a modern science. They view the concept of ICT as an attempt to scam and hence, posing a very big challenge in the implementation of any ICT framework to such categories of Institutions/people.

Advantages of Online Classes

Easily accessible: you can log in anywhere you are, so long as you are online and you are registered on the platform. Unlike the traditional classroom where you to be at a scheduled venue, to receive lectures physically.

Unlimited access to resources: Most online-learning platforms are connected to an unlimited number of e-libraries from various academic institutions. Once you have access, you will gain access to unlimited e-books, journals, etc.

Flexibility in learning: Online-learning platforms simplify the methods of teaching, in the sense that lecturers can leave offline materials and assignments and each student can log in at his/her free time to download and act accordingly.

Sharing of resources is easier: Resources are easily shared via emails or direct download from the platform. Students do not need to go for photocopies or any physical stress.

Academic collaborations are enhanced: With the use of online teaching platforms, students collaborate far more than physically been in class. Such collaborations will assist them in group research and efficient time management for academic attainments.

Very portable and comfortable: Students can log in at their comfort zones. You can be in bed and still connect to the class and situation where you have travelled or lost your computer; all you need to do is to fine another one, connect to the internet, and log in to your classroom to continue your classes.

Possible Solutions to the Challenges of Online Classes

Nowadays, smart KMS (Knowledge Management Systems) and LMS (Learning Management Systems) with technology inbuilt is in demand for increasing the need of self directness (Gibson et al.,  2008 ). Below are some proposed solutions to the aforementioned challenges;

Reliable internet network: The government should provide internet networks across the country at a subsidize rate. It is recommended that students been given free access to the internet while other citizens should pay either monthly or annually as proposed.

Sufficient power supply: Government should make available electricity to its citizens at a subsidise rate. This will bring about Industrialisations and thus, providing job opportunities among graduates.

Fighting corruption: The government should establish strong institutions for fighting corruption. These institutions should be independent and should have members from European, African Union (EAU), United Nations (UN), and any other intentional agency that is capable of checkmating the international affairs of a country.

Flexible government policies: Government should make their policies very favourable to their citizens. Government should be reviewing their policies routinely to curtail the shortcomings in their policies.

Strong ICT awareness: Students and the teachers should be train on ICT trends. The immediate societies should also be given awareness on the positive impacts of ICT in their environments.

Methodology

The study area will conduct in India and other country. The study populations are all populations who are delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19. A total of 150 respondents were included.

Study Design

A cross-sectional study design would be carried out. Cross-sectional survey design is mainly used for the collection of information on and related socio-demographic factors at a given point in time to attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown. The learning design for this learning was a traverse sectional survey conducted using population based representative sample. Variables are collected for several sample units at the same points in time (one time shoot), just the data collected from the respondents directly in a particular time. Cross-sectional surveys are used to gather information (Brecht & Ogilby, 2008 ) on a population at a single point in time. An example of a cross-sectional survey would be a questionnaire that collects data on peoples’ experiences of a particular initiative or event.

Source of Data

Primary data were collected from a community-based, cross-sectional survey. Primary data collection is the process of gathering data through surveys, interviews, or experiments. A typical aims for this study for data collection was primary data is online surveys by conducting well-done questions in India for 150 respondents. Online surveys were effective and therefore require computational logic and branching technologies for exponentially more accurate survey data collection versus any other traditional means of surveying. They are straightforward in their implementation and take a minimum time of the respondents (150). The investment required for survey data collection using online surveys is also negligible in comparison to the other methods. The results are collected in real-time for researchers to analyse and decide corrective measures.

Sampling Techniques

It is an inspecting method during which the choice of individuals for an example relies upon the possibility of comfort, individual decision or intrigue. For this examination we utilized judgment sampling. During this case, the individual taking the example has immediate or backhanded power over which things are chosen for the example.

Study Variables

The variables measured in this learning are taken based on previous studies at the global and national level. Those factors considered during this examination are delegated as: reliant and logical factors. The outcome variable is for the study attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19, which is dichotomous. The response variable for each respondent is given by:

The independent variables are measured from structural questionnaires. In this learning, the possible determinant factors estimated to be a significant effect on are included as variables. Poor internet connection, source of info about COVID-19, awareness on COVID-19, recommends MOOC, satisfaction with online study, materials and information sent, enough sources of materials, presently enrolled course, and favourite online methods were included for this study.

Methods of Data Analysis

In this study, frequency distribution, cross-tabulation, and percentage were applied to see the prevalence of the dependent variable. Binary logistic regression was applied to identify the factors for the outcome variable.

Binary Logistic Regression

Binary logistic regression is a prognostic model that is fitted where there is a dichotomous-/binary-dependent variable like in this instance where the researcher is interested in whether there was positive or negative. Usually, the categories are coded as “0” and “1” as it results is a straightforward interpretation. Binary logistic regression is the sort of regression used in our study (attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19). The model is given by

\(ln\left(\frac{{\pi }_{i}}{1-{\pi }_{i}}\right)={\beta }_{0} + {\beta }_{1}{X}_{1i}+{{\beta }_{2}X}_{2i}+ \dots \dots ..{\beta }_{k}{X}_{ki}\dots \dots \dots \dots \dots \dots \dots \dots ..\) (1 \()\) .

\(\frac{{\pi }_{i}}{1-{\pi }_{i}}= exp\left({\beta }_{0} + {\beta }_{1}{X}_{1i}+{{\beta }_{2}X}_{2i}+ \dots \dots ..{\beta }_{k}{X}_{ki}\right)\) ……… (2).

where: \({\pi }_{i}\) is the probability of success, \(1-{\pi }_{i}\) is the probability of failure \(,{\beta }_{0}\) is the constant term, \(\beta\) the regression coefficients, and \({X}_{i}\) are the independent variables. Logistic regression quantifies the relationship between the dichotomous dependent variable and the predictors using odds ratios. Odds ratio is the probability that an event will occur divided by the probability that the event will not happen. In this study, the odds ratio is the probability that attitudes towards delivering of online classes being negative divided by the probability that the attitudes towards delivering of online classes being positive. Method of maximum likelihood estimation yields to estimate values for the unknown parameters which maximize the probability of obtaining the observed set of knowledge. For logistic regression, the model coefficients are estimated by the utmost likelihood method and therefore the likelihood equations are non-linear explicit function of unknown parameters. For statistical analysis SAS version 9.4 software will be used at 5% level of significance.

Results and Discussion

Socio-economic variables are categorical. For our study the dependent variable might be “positive” or “negative.” In this case we would carry out a binary logistic regression analysis.

Table 1 depicted that poor internet connection, awareness on COVID-19, enough sources of materials; recommends MOOC, favourite online methods, and satisfaction with online study are significant in the model. The positive parameter estimates indicated that there is a positive relationship between the dependent variable and associated independent variables whereas the negative coefficients parameters indicated that there is a negative relationship between a dependent variable and independent variables. Where, X 1 is poor internet connection (No), X 2 is favourite online methods(E-books), X 3 is favourite online methods(Videos), X 4 is enough sources of materials(Yes), X 5 is satisfaction with online study (Very satisfied), X 6 is satisfaction with online study(Satisfied), X 7 is recommends MOOC (No), and X 8 is awareness on COVID-19 (No). Fitted model is given by

The poor internet connection (lack of internet access) had statistically significant effect to the attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic. The odds ratio of the poor internet connection (no) equals exp (0.178) = 1.081(95% CI 1.320, 0.476) (adjusted for the other variables are constant); the results show that those students who had not good connection in the study area are 0.081 times more likely to be negative attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic compared with that of students who had good connection. Sufficient internet network for their students is a major problem setback for e-learning or online class. Without good way of connection with respect to internet, academic collaborations were not enhanced; without the use of online teaching platforms, students cannot collaborate far more than physically been in class. Such collaborations will not assist them in group research and efficient time management for academic attainments.

Awareness on COVID-19 had also statistically significant effect on delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic. This implies that will help to locate out the data and information gaps among the students regarding the COVID-19 and the misconceptions and credulous beliefs popular in the society about it. It will also provide expressive data which may be useful for the concerned authority and planning institutions that prepare plans of programs to tackle the COVID-19 disease. Students who had awareness about COVID-19 pandemic odds ratio = exp (− 0.303) = 0.739 (95% CI 0.634, 0.861) times less likely to be negative attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic compared students who had not awareness about COVID-19 pandemic.

Many of such platforms are readily available online; it is left for organizations to analyse the available systems and choose the best that suits their requirements considering the online methods of learning and teaching. Even though, favourite online methods had an important factor for attitudes towards delivering. The odds ratio of the favourite online methods exp (0.830) = 2.293 and exp (0.585) = 1.795 for e-books and videos respectively (adjusted other variables). This implies students whose favourite online methods e-books = 2.293 (95% CI 1.421, 3.701) times more likely to be negative attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic compared all. Although students whose favourite videos, online methods of learning = 1.795 times more likely to be negative attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic compared all. Overall, e-books and videos significantly affect than all on attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown.

The key objective of the study is to assess the socio-demographic and related factors on the attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic in India. Primary data were collected from a community-based, cross-sectional survey. Just the data collected from the respondents directly in a particular time. For this examination we utilized judgment sampling. We have used a sample of 150 participants. Accordingly, descriptive analysis (frequency distribution, cross-tabulation, and percentage) and binary logistic regression were used. Binary logistic regression was found to be the model that could be applied for the study to such a variable as the dependent could meet the assumptions that should be satisfied for methods to be fitted. The backward stepwise logistic regression started with a model with all the variables and excluded the variables with insignificant coefficients until the model was at its best predictive power. As a result of binary logistic regression, poor internet connection, awareness on COVID-19, enough sources of materials, recommends MOOC, favourite online methods, and satisfaction with online study are significant in the model or attitudes towards delivering of online classes during lockdown COVID-19 pandemic at 5% level of significance. The analysis of the significance of the logistic coefficients was done using likelihood ratio and Wald test. The model was considered to be valid since both the model fitting and the validation sample produced almost the same classification accuracy.

Change history

12 may 2021.

A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-021-00196-0

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Pandey, D., Ogunmola, G.A., Enbeyle, W. et al. COVID-19: A Framework for Effective Delivering of Online Classes During Lockdown. Hu Arenas 5 , 322–336 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-020-00175-x

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The Benefits of Online Learning During the Pandemic

Student life.

The recent pandemic has led to greater awareness surrounding the benefits of online learning. While online or digital courses gained relevance over the last decade or so, their prevalence has increased significantly since the onset of the pandemic.

The format helped thousands of school and college students around the world to continue their education, despite long phases of lockdowns.

The benefits of online learning, however, haven’t been able to completely satisfy the cynics. Many people believe that digital learning formats aren’t as effective as real-time classroom teaching.

Can online learning be as effective as classroom learning?

Yes! There is plenty of research to suggest that online learning can be as beneficial for people who have access to technology. In fact, a Research Institute of America study reported that e-learners retained 25-60% of what they learned instead of 8-10% by students in conventional set-ups.

An IBM survey also found that participants could cover nearly 5 times more material through online learning without increasing their study time.

The effectiveness of online study sessions stems from the fact that students can revisit difficult concepts in their own time and skip through more straightforward ideas.

What else can online learning bring to the table in a post-pandemic era?

There are several reasons to invest in online programmes in the current scenario. Here are the top benefits that an online learning format brings to the table.

• Learning from the safety of your home

Owing to the contagious nature of COVID-19, significant parts of the world are still under lockdown. At present, in-person learning can be deemed unsafe or even impossible and, as such, online learning can relieve the disruption of the education system.

Online courses provide a safer alternative to conventional classrooms. They help you protect yourself and your family from unnecessary exposure to the virus and allow you to continue your studies.

Want to keep up with the latest trends in today’s fashion world from the safety of home? The BA (Hons) Fashion Media and Promotion programme offered by the London College of Contemporary Arts is an ideal course to pursue.

This online programme is aimed at those looking to enter the fast-paced fashion world. The programme focuses on different aspects of fashion media promotion such as styling, image-making, event marketing and creative direction.

The online format of the programme allows you to familiarise yourself with each level of fashion business right from the comfort of home. The course prepares you for well-paying careers in fashion PR, fashion film-making, trend forecasting, fashion journalism and visual branding.

Click  here to get a comprehensive outlook of this programme at LCCA.

• Immense flexibility

The ability to learn at your leisure and convenience is perhaps one of the most significant benefits of online learning. This ability can be advantageous, especially now when daily routines have been disrupted for most of us in lockdown.

The flexibility attached to online learning allows you to cater to your priorities in an uncertain world and juggle your family commitments and career goals.

• Learning at your own pace

Online learning can often resemble having your own, personal tutor. You don’t get distracted by your classmates and you can set the pace of the lessons as per your comfort level.

Online learning can often be more efficient than conventional teaching. Since your tests and quizzes can be graded instantaneously, you can receive immediate feedback and results. This allows you more time to focus on improving your weaknesses.

• Greater affordability in the education sector

Online learning saves the extra charges incurred in the classroom such as physical textbooks and other amenities. Even the associated expenses, like commuting and accommodation fees, can be avoided. Thus, online learning is a more affordable choice of education compared to conventional set-ups.

Online education can help you continually invest in your education and keep up with the changing world. Investing in industry-oriented programmes like graphic design courses or illustration courses in London will allow you to take advantage of the market boom once the pandemic is behind us.

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• News & Stories

The pros, cons, and privilege of online learning during a pandemic

• RadioActive Youth Media
• Charlotte Engrav

Millions of students across the country are now learning to adapt to school closures because of the coronavirus.

But in the Puget Sound region, some independent schools have already been closed for weeks.

Radioactive Youth Media’s Charlotte Engrav is a student at one of them and she shares her experience, first-hand.

At the beginning of this month, Eastside Prep called an assembly and told us the school would be closing. Tons of kids cheered, but not everyone. I remember my friend Lexe Dinh-Le was in tears.

“I was just so sad because I couldn't imagine, like, not going to school and not, like, seeing my friends for nearly, what, a month?”

Even though school is closed, we still have online classes. They start at eight in the morning. We’re on the exact same schedule. We’re basically going to school as we normally would.

I don’t mind having school at home. I can take classes with my cat in my lap, I can take naps during my free period, and I can have lunch with my whole family. My dad is also working from home because of the coronavirus.

I know that some schools haven’t given out assignments for equity reasons-- because not all kids have the resources to work from home. But at our school we still have a lot of work to do. So far, I’ve had group quizzes in math, a Spanish project, and a lab in chemistry.

Some classes work really well online. But my friend Lexe says, others, not so much.

“For example, like chemistry. I had, like, a lab. I did a simulated lab. And it was like, that definitely doesn't work," she said.

The school is also trying to balance out our screen time, and in daily emails they encourage us to step away from the screens and get some fresh air.

For me, the hardest part of online school has been the emotional aspect. It can be lonely, and you miss out on the little hallway interactions which can really make your day. It can also get scary, because at home I’ve found I’m thinking a lot more about Coronavirus and the news.

Students across the state are being affected by these closures differently, and we’re all finding ways to support each other. One thing I’ve seen a lot on social media is the line, “If you need someone to talk to right now, my DMs are open.”

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.

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Advantages, Limitations and Recommendations for online learning during COVID-19 pandemic era

Khadijah mukhtar.

1 Khadijah Mukhtar, BDS, MME. Assistant Professor, DME. University College of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

Kainat Javed

2 Kainat Javed, MBBS, MME. Assistant Professor, DME. University College of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

Mahwish Arooj

3 Mahwish Arooj, MBBS, M. Phil, MME, PhD Physiology. Associate Professor, Physiology and Director DME, University College of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan

Ahsan Sethi

4 Ahsan Sethi, BDS, MPH, MMEd, FHEA, MAcadMEd, FDTFEd, PhD Medical Education Assistant Professor, Institute of Health Professions Education and Research, Khyber Medical University, Peshawar, Pakistan

During COVID-19 pandemic, the institutions in Pakistan have started online learning. This study explores the perception of teachers and students regarding its advantages, limitations and recommendations.

This qualitative case study was conducted from March to April 2020. Using maximum variation sampling, 12 faculty members and 12 students from University College of Medicine and University College of Dentistry, Lahore were invited to participate. Four focus group interviews, two each with the faculty and students of medicine and dentistry were carried out. Data were transcribed verbatim and thematically analyzed using Atlas Ti.

The advantages included remote learning, comfort, accessibility, while the limitations involved inefficiency and difficulty in maintaining academic integrity. The recommendations were to train faculty on using online modalities and developing lesson plan with reduced cognitive load and increased interactivities.

Conclusion:

The current study supports the use of online learning in medical and dental institutes, considering its various advantages. Online learning modalities encourage student-centered learning and they are easily manageable during this lockdown situation.

INTRODUCTION

The spread of COVID-19 has led to the closure of educational institutions all over the world. This tested the preparedness of universities to deal with a crisis that requires the help of advanced technology including hardware and software to enable effective online learning. Such closure accelerated the development of the online learning environments so that learning would not be disrupted. 1 Many institutions have become interested in how to best deliver course content online, engage learners and conduct assessments. Hence, COVID-19 while being a hazard to humanity, has evolved institutions to invest in online learning.

Online learning systems are web-based software for distributing, tracking, and managing courses over the Internet. 2 It involves the implementation of advancements in technology to direct, design and deliver the learning content, and to facilitate two-way communication between students and faculty. 3 They contain features such as whiteboards, chat rooms, polls, quizzes, discussion forums and surveys that allow instructors and students to communicate online and share course content side by side. These can offer productive and convenient ways to achieve learning goals. In Pakistan, the institutions are using Microsoft Teams, Google meet, Edmodo and Moodle as learning management systems along with their applications for video conferencing. 4 Other commonly used video conferencing solutions include Zoom, Skype for business, WebEx and Adobe connect etc.

According to our literature review, three previous studies were found, 5 - 7 supporting online learning from Pakistan. The two studies at Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi and Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore reported high student satisfaction with online learning modalities. The study from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assessed the feasibility of online learning among students, trainees and faculty members. They reported good technology access, online skills, and preparedness for online discussions among participants across the medical education continuum.

With the increase in use of online modalities during COVID-19, it is necessary to assess their effectiveness with regards to teaching and learning from various stakeholders. 8 Therefore, the current study explores the perception of faculty members and students regarding the advantages, limitations and recommendations for online learning in Pakistan. The study is timely as Higher Education Commission (HEC) is in the process of implementing online learning across all the universities in Pakistan. The findings will help identify the required changes on priority basis to make it more practical and worthwhile.

This qualitative case study was conducted from March to April 2020 in two medical and dental institutes. Ethical approval for this study was taken from ethical review board of University of Lahore (Ref No. ERC/02/20/02, dated February 25, 2020). Using maximum variation sampling 12 faculty members and 12 students from University College of Medicine and University College of Dentistry, Lahore were invited to participate. In addition to learning management system ‘Moodle’, these colleges have recently adopted ‘Zoom’ for interactive teaching in small and large group formats. The participants were also involved in online Problem-Based Learning sessions, along with regular online assessments during COVID-19 pandemic.

An interview guide was developed to explore faculty and students’ perception about online learning modalities, its advantages, limitations and recommendations. The interview guide was piloted to ensure comprehensiveness and then also validated by two medical education experts. 9 Two interviewers who were not involved in teaching and assessment of students conducted four focus group interviews (n=6 in each group) with faculty members (n=12) and students (n=12) of medicine and dentistry. The faculty and students were from both basic sciences (1 st and 2 nd year) and clinical sciences (3 rd , 4 th and final year). All interviews were recorded through ‘Zoom’ and subsequently transcribed verbatim. The data were thematically analyzed: compiling, disassembling, reassembling and interpretation by all the authors independently and then corroborated to ensure analytical triangulation.

The faculty members were predominantly females from both basic and clinical sciences with age range from 30-64 years. The students were from all professional years of MBBS and BDS program ( Table-I ).

Participant characteristics.

Total six themes, two each for advantages, limitations and recommendations were extracted from the transcribed data after qualitative analysis ( Table-II ).

E-learning advantages, limitations and recommendations by Students and Faculty.

Faculty opined that online learning helped ensure remote learning, it was manageable, and students could conveniently access teachers and teaching materials. It also reduced use of traveling resources and other expenses. It eased administrative tasks such as recording of lectures and marking attendance. Both the students and teachers had an opinion that online learning modalities had encouraged student-centeredness during this lockdown situation. The student had become self-directed learners and they learnt asynchronously at any time in a day.

Limitations

Faculty members and students said that through online learning modalities they were unable to teach and learn practical and clinical work. They could only teach and assess knowledge component. Due to lack of immediate feedback, teachers were unable to assess students’ understanding during online lecturing. The students also reported limited attention span and resource intensive nature of online learning as a limitation. Some teachers also mentioned that during online study, students misbehaved and tried to access online resources during assessments.

Recommendations

Teachers and students suggested continuous faculty development. They recommended a reduction in cognitive load and increased interactivities during online teaching. Those in clinical years suggested ways to start online Case Based Learning. However, some were also of the opinion that there should be revision classes along with psychomotor hands on teaching after the COVID-19 pandemic is under control. To enhance quality, they suggested buying premium software and other proctoring software to detect cheating and plagiarism.

The current study reported advantages, limitations and recommendations to improve online learning during lockdown of institutions due to COVID-19 pandemic. This study interprets perspectives of medical/dental students and faculty members, which showed that online learning modalities are flexible and effective source of teaching and learning along with some pitfalls. According to the teachers and students, online learning is a flexible and effective source of teaching and learning as most of them agreed upon the fact that this helps in distant learning with easy administration and accessibility along with less use resource and time. Regardless of time limit, students can easily access the learning material. This flexibility over face to face teaching has been reported in the literature as well. 2 The students also become self-directed learners, which is an important competency for encouraging lifelong learning among health professionals. 10 , 11

Both the faculty members and students viewed inefficiency to teach psychomotor skills, resource intensiveness and mismanaged decorum during sessions as limitations of online learning. Even though, hands-on sessions such as laboratory and clinical skills teaching have been disrupted during COVID-19 pandemic, we believe that online simulated patients or role plays can be used teach history taking, clinical reasoning and communication skills. Sharing recorded videos of laboratory and clinical skills demonstration is also worthwhile. Faculty members also complained about lack of students’ feedback regarding understanding of subject. Research showed that regular two-way feedback helps enhance self-efficacy and motivation. 12 The interaction between facilitator, learner and study material along with emotional and social support are essential ingredients for effective learning. 13 , 14 Internet connectivity issues also adversely impacted learning through online modalities, however, simply improving internet package/speed would help resolve this. Government should also take immediate measures and telecommunication companies should invest in expanding its 4G services across the country.

Recommendations reflect that decorum can be maintained by thorough supervision of students, setting ground rules for online interaction, counselling and disciplinary actions. 15 According to students, the attention span during online learning was even shorter than face to face sessions as also supported by the literature. 16 This can be managed by using flipped classroom learning modalities, giving shorter lectures and increasing teacher-student interaction. As ‘assessment drives learning’, so online formative assessments can be conducted through Socrative and Kahoot etc. Faculty needs training and students orientation in using online learning tools. 17 Investment in buying premium software packages will also help overcome many limitations and is therefore recommended.

Limitations of the Study

As the study participants belonged to the medical and dental college from a single private-sector university of Punjab, therefore the findings are only applicable to similar contexts. For generalizability, a survey based on our findings should be conducted across the province or country. Despite the limitations, the findings offer an understanding of the advantages, limitations and recommendations for improvement in online learning, which is the need of the day.

The current study supports the use of online learning in medical and dental institutes, considering its various advantages. E-learning modalities encourage student-centered learning and they are easily manageable during this lockdown situation. It is worth considering here that currently online learning is at a nascent stage in Pakistan. It started as ‘emergency remote learning’, and with further investments we can overcome any limitations. There is a need to train faculty on the use of online modalities and developing lesson plan with reduced cognitive load and increased interactivities.

Author’s Contribution

AS and MA conceived the idea , designed the study and are responsible for integrity of research.

KM and KJ collected the data.

All the authors contributed towards data analysis and writing the manuscript and approved the final version.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge the participants for their time and contributions.

Conflict of interest: None.

Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact Samantha Putterman, PolitiFact

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/fact-checking-warnings-from-democrats-about-project-2025-and-donald-trump

Fact-checking warnings from Democrats about Project 2025 and Donald Trump

This fact check originally appeared on PolitiFact .

Project 2025 has a starring role in this week’s Democratic National Convention.

And it was front and center on Night 1.

WATCH: Hauling large copy of Project 2025, Michigan state Sen. McMorrow speaks at 2024 DNC

“This is Project 2025,” Michigan state Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak, said as she laid a hardbound copy of the 900-page document on the lectern. “Over the next four nights, you are going to hear a lot about what is in this 900-page document. Why? Because this is the Republican blueprint for a second Trump term.”

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has warned Americans about “Trump’s Project 2025” agenda — even though former President Donald Trump doesn’t claim the conservative presidential transition document.

“Donald Trump wants to take our country backward,” Harris said July 23 in Milwaukee. “He and his extreme Project 2025 agenda will weaken the middle class. Like, we know we got to take this seriously, and can you believe they put that thing in writing?”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’ running mate, has joined in on the talking point.

“Don’t believe (Trump) when he’s playing dumb about this Project 2025. He knows exactly what it’ll do,” Walz said Aug. 9 in Glendale, Arizona.

Trump’s campaign has worked to build distance from the project, which the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, led with contributions from dozens of conservative groups.

Much of the plan calls for extensive executive-branch overhauls and draws on both long-standing conservative principles, such as tax cuts, and more recent culture war issues. It lays out recommendations for disbanding the Commerce and Education departments, eliminating certain climate protections and consolidating more power to the president.

Project 2025 offers a sweeping vision for a Republican-led executive branch, and some of its policies mirror Trump’s 2024 agenda, But Harris and her presidential campaign have at times gone too far in describing what the project calls for and how closely the plans overlap with Trump’s campaign.

PolitiFact researched Harris’ warnings about how the plan would affect reproductive rights, federal entitlement programs and education, just as we did for President Joe Biden’s Project 2025 rhetoric. Here’s what the project does and doesn’t call for, and how it squares with Trump’s positions.

Are Trump and Project 2025 connected?

To distance himself from Project 2025 amid the Democratic attacks, Trump wrote on Truth Social that he “knows nothing” about it and has “no idea” who is in charge of it. (CNN identified at least 140 former advisers from the Trump administration who have been involved.)

The Heritage Foundation sought contributions from more than 100 conservative organizations for its policy vision for the next Republican presidency, which was published in 2023.

Project 2025 is now winding down some of its policy operations, and director Paul Dans, a former Trump administration official, is stepping down, The Washington Post reported July 30. Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita denounced the document.

WATCH: A look at the Project 2025 plan to reshape government and Trump’s links to its authors

However, Project 2025 contributors include a number of high-ranking officials from Trump’s first administration, including former White House adviser Peter Navarro and former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson.

A recently released recording of Russell Vought, a Project 2025 author and the former director of Trump’s Office of Management and Budget, showed Vought saying Trump’s “very supportive of what we do.” He said Trump was only distancing himself because Democrats were making a bogeyman out of the document.

Project 2025 wouldn’t ban abortion outright, but would curtail access

The Harris campaign shared a graphic on X that claimed “Trump’s Project 2025 plan for workers” would “go after birth control and ban abortion nationwide.”

The plan doesn’t call to ban abortion nationwide, though its recommendations could curtail some contraceptives and limit abortion access.

What’s known about Trump’s abortion agenda neither lines up with Harris’ description nor Project 2025’s wish list.

Project 2025 says the Department of Health and Human Services Department should “return to being known as the Department of Life by explicitly rejecting the notion that abortion is health care.”

It recommends that the Food and Drug Administration reverse its 2000 approval of mifepristone, the first pill taken in a two-drug regimen for a medication abortion. Medication is the most common form of abortion in the U.S. — accounting for around 63 percent in 2023.

If mifepristone were to remain approved, Project 2025 recommends new rules, such as cutting its use from 10 weeks into pregnancy to seven. It would have to be provided to patients in person — part of the group’s efforts to limit access to the drug by mail. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to mifepristone’s FDA approval over procedural grounds.

WATCH: Trump’s plans for health care and reproductive rights if he returns to White House The manual also calls for the Justice Department to enforce the 1873 Comstock Act on mifepristone, which bans the mailing of “obscene” materials. Abortion access supporters fear that a strict interpretation of the law could go further to ban mailing the materials used in procedural abortions, such as surgical instruments and equipment.

The plan proposes withholding federal money from states that don’t report to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention how many abortions take place within their borders. The plan also would prohibit abortion providers, such as Planned Parenthood, from receiving Medicaid funds. It also calls for the Department of Health and Human Services to ensure that the training of medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, omits abortion training.

The document says some forms of emergency contraception — particularly Ella, a pill that can be taken within five days of unprotected sex to prevent pregnancy — should be excluded from no-cost coverage. The Affordable Care Act requires most private health insurers to cover recommended preventive services, which involves a range of birth control methods, including emergency contraception.

Trump has recently said states should decide abortion regulations and that he wouldn’t block access to contraceptives. Trump said during his June 27 debate with Biden that he wouldn’t ban mifepristone after the Supreme Court “approved” it. But the court rejected the lawsuit based on standing, not the case’s merits. He has not weighed in on the Comstock Act or said whether he supports it being used to block abortion medication, or other kinds of abortions.

Project 2025 doesn’t call for cutting Social Security, but proposes some changes to Medicare

“When you read (Project 2025),” Harris told a crowd July 23 in Wisconsin, “you will see, Donald Trump intends to cut Social Security and Medicare.”

The Project 2025 document does not call for Social Security cuts. None of its 10 references to Social Security addresses plans for cutting the program.

Harris also misleads about Trump’s Social Security views.

In his earlier campaigns and before he was a politician, Trump said about a half-dozen times that he’s open to major overhauls of Social Security, including cuts and privatization. More recently, in a March 2024 CNBC interview, Trump said of entitlement programs such as Social Security, “There’s a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting.” However, he quickly walked that statement back, and his CNBC comment stands at odds with essentially everything else Trump has said during the 2024 presidential campaign.

Trump’s campaign website says that not “a single penny” should be cut from Social Security. We rated Harris’ claim that Trump intends to cut Social Security Mostly False.

Project 2025 does propose changes to Medicare, including making Medicare Advantage, the private insurance offering in Medicare, the “default” enrollment option. Unlike Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans have provider networks and can also require prior authorization, meaning that the plan can approve or deny certain services. Original Medicare plans don’t have prior authorization requirements.

The manual also calls for repealing health policies enacted under Biden, such as the Inflation Reduction Act. The law enabled Medicare to negotiate with drugmakers for the first time in history, and recently resulted in an agreement with drug companies to lower the prices of 10 expensive prescriptions for Medicare enrollees.

Trump, however, has said repeatedly during the 2024 presidential campaign that he will not cut Medicare.

Project 2025 would eliminate the Education Department, which Trump supports

The Harris campaign said Project 2025 would “eliminate the U.S. Department of Education” — and that’s accurate. Project 2025 says federal education policy “should be limited and, ultimately, the federal Department of Education should be eliminated.” The plan scales back the federal government’s role in education policy and devolves the functions that remain to other agencies.

Aside from eliminating the department, the project also proposes scrapping the Biden administration’s Title IX revision, which prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also would let states opt out of federal education programs and calls for passing a federal parents’ bill of rights similar to ones passed in some Republican-led state legislatures.

Republicans, including Trump, have pledged to close the department, which gained its status in 1979 within Democratic President Jimmy Carter’s presidential Cabinet.

In one of his Agenda 47 policy videos, Trump promised to close the department and “to send all education work and needs back to the states.” Eliminating the department would have to go through Congress.

What Project 2025, Trump would do on overtime pay

In the graphic, the Harris campaign says Project 2025 allows “employers to stop paying workers for overtime work.”

The plan doesn’t call for banning overtime wages. It recommends changes to some Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, regulations and to overtime rules. Some changes, if enacted, could result in some people losing overtime protections, experts told us.

The document proposes that the Labor Department maintain an overtime threshold “that does not punish businesses in lower-cost regions (e.g., the southeast United States).” This threshold is the amount of money executive, administrative or professional employees need to make for an employer to exempt them from overtime pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

In 2019, the Trump’s administration finalized a rule that expanded overtime pay eligibility to most salaried workers earning less than about $35,568, which it said made about 1.3 million more workers eligible for overtime pay. The Trump-era threshold is high enough to cover most line workers in lower-cost regions, Project 2025 said.

The Biden administration raised that threshold to $43,888 beginning July 1, and that will rise to $58,656 on Jan. 1, 2025. That would grant overtime eligibility to about 4 million workers, the Labor Department said.

It’s unclear how many workers Project 2025’s proposal to return to the Trump-era overtime threshold in some parts of the country would affect, but experts said some would presumably lose the right to overtime wages.

Other overtime proposals in Project 2025’s plan include allowing some workers to choose to accumulate paid time off instead of overtime pay, or to work more hours in one week and fewer in the next, rather than receive overtime.

Trump’s past with overtime pay is complicated. In 2016, the Obama administration said it would raise the overtime to salaried workers earning less than $47,476 a year, about double the exemption level set in 2004 of $23,660 a year.

But when a judge blocked the Obama rule, the Trump administration didn’t challenge the court ruling. Instead it set its own overtime threshold, which raised the amount, but by less than Obama.

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