Online Learning Experiences amid Lockdown-A Boon or Bane for Parents and Learners?

The educational system of the entire world collapsed due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The virtual platform was the only option for education to stay on track. Online learning was a new concept for K-12 students during the lockdown. It brought a completely new experience along with certain challenges to adapt to this new technique for students and their parents. This study aimed to understand students’ and parents’ experiences with online learning during the lockdown in India. An Interpretative Phenomenology methodology was used to explore personal perceptions and experiences about getting education through digital platforms. A total of 99 participants (74 students and 25 parents) from two districts of Uttar Pradesh state of India, namely, Gorakhpur and Deoria participated in this study. The data was collected by using the telephonic interview. The thematic content analysis was performed on students’ and parents’ data separately. A total of twelve themes emerged from the students’ data, where eight themes emerged from the parents’ data. Interestingly, it was found that the main concern of the students was the unavailability of personal digital resources, poor quality of lectures and e-content, no privacy in homeschooling, and lack of peaceful environment at home, and adverse impact on physical health due to prolonged online classes. While parents’ main concern was related to little or no knowledge about digital platforms, problems in balancing household chores, jobs and helping their children with online education, and most importantly, they were more concerned about children’s psychological health, that their child would be addicted to the Internet. Based on the understanding of the experiences of both stakeholders, it can be concluded that online learning during this lockdown was not a very positive experience for both students and their parents. In India, online learning for K-12 students is in the germinal phase and personal, social, and technological issues are lessening its due advantages.