The Flawed Concept Of E-Learning In The Local Education System

I remember that the first time I heard of E-learning was when I was in Secondary 1, which is at least 8 years ago. The principal announced that we will be taking a day off so that we can test-drive the new E-learning system. It sounded like a holiday initially, until I got to the E-learning day itself. Every student in the Express stream had 9 subjects: English, Mathematics, Science, Chinese Geography, History, Literature, Social Studies and Art & Music. When every single subject teacher posted just 1 homework each, the holiday was as good as any other normal school day. And when core subject teachers (English, Mathematics and Science) posted more than 1 assignment each, the school day just turned into a living nightmare.

This flawed system continues even till today, as I see my tuition kids struggle the complete the online assignments, as well as the paper assignments that they received from their teachers. I highly agree that consistency is important in the pursuit for knowledge but I think my tuition kids deserve a well-earned break after all the mental labour they had to endure during the entire school term. I deserve a break from all the torment of explaining and clarifying all their doubts for their homework. School holidays should not be homework days. I think that the current Primary School teachers have abused the E-learning system by only uploading homework, instead of using the extremely interactive features that the Internet boasts. The way I see things now, E-learning is just a means of saving paper because the material uploaded are exactly the same as the paper assignments that my tuition kids get.

There are of course exceptions in this disgustingly flawed system. When I was in Secondary School, my Science teacher used to make crossword puzzles using the scientific terms that we went through in the chapter. If I typed in a wrong answer, pop-up boxes would appear with hints to the correct answers in them. I exceptionally adored the hilarious celebratory dance that would appear when I managed to answer everything correct on the very first try. The crossword puzzles were not only excellent ways to test and revise our understanding of the concepts, they were also very engaging and fun. I enjoyed learning online so much.

There is hardly any point in implementing E-learning if the results generated are going to be the same as a classroom setting. I wish the local teachers will wake up and do something constructive about it. Stop finding excuses and claim that those interesting assignments are too difficult to create because there are so many online resources available to make things easier. All one has to do is to learn how to use them. Is it not a contradiction that these teachers are supposed to help students learn but they themselves reject learning how to use those online resources? I say, stop those ridiculous online assignments and inject a bit more vibrancy, creativity and attitude into the education system!