Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Management Indore, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India.
Learning & OD, Kalpataru International Projects Ltd., Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
PLoS One. 2023 Oct 17;18(10):e0292465. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292465. eCollection 2023.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic compelled the closure of educational institutions and forced students to complete nearly two years of schooling online, impacting their physical and emotional development tremendously. This exploratory study investigates the wide-ranging impact of online education on Indian students during the COVID-19 pandemic and discusses the challenges exacerbated by disparities in access to digital devices and reliable internet service. The paper also focuses on the physical and mental health issues that arose in student cohorts as a result of the abrupt shift to online learning, and investigates the relationship between students' socioeconomic status and the nature and frequency of health issues experienced by them.
A total of 832 respondents completed a 40-item survey that was administered online and through interviews. The paper analysed the impact of access to digital resources and teachers' training in information and communication technology on the perception of the quality of education provided by the institutions. We further analysed the impact of the adoption of online educational platforms on students' mental and physical health.
The study found a positive relationship between the number of hours spent online, and the physical and mental health issues experienced by students. Participants reported an overall higher perception of stress and anxiety, loss of concentration, and dissatisfaction with the quality of education. Our data suggest that COVID-19 has exacerbated the digital divide.
Urgent investments are needed to provide universal access to reliable internet services, and to develop a pedagogy that supports an agile and adaptable educational system, capable of providing effective learning and evaluation, while supporting students' physical and mental health.
COVID-19 大流行的爆发迫使教育机构关闭，迫使学生将近两年的学业在线完成，对他们的身体和情感发展产生了巨大影响。本探索性研究调查了 COVID-19 大流行期间在线教育对印度学生的广泛影响，并讨论了由于数字设备和可靠互联网服务获取方面的差异而加剧的挑战。本文还重点研究了学生群体因突然转向在线学习而出现的身心健康问题，并调查了学生社会经济地位与他们所经历的健康问题的性质和频率之间的关系。
共有 832 名受访者完成了一份 40 项的在线调查和访谈。本文分析了数字资源获取和教师信息通信技术培训对机构提供的教育质量的感知的影响。我们进一步分析了采用在线教育平台对学生身心健康的影响。
研究发现，学生在线时间与身心健康问题之间存在正相关关系。参与者报告了总体上更高的压力和焦虑感、注意力丧失以及对教育质量的不满。我们的数据表明，COVID-19 加剧了数字鸿沟。
迫切需要投资以提供可靠互联网服务的普及，并制定支持灵活和适应性强的教育系统的教学法，该系统能够提供有效的学习和评估，同时支持学生的身心健康。
