Corona Virus commenced
at Wuhan and prevailed in 209 countries including Asia, Europe, America and
Australia including Pakistan (Waris, Atta, Ali, Asmat & Baset, 2020). The
mental as well physical life of the people has affected adversely. In response
to the communicable disease of COVID-19, two rules i.e. isolation and
Quarantine emerged for the safety of people (Brooks et al., 2020). The
implementation of quarantine shakes all areas of human lives, in particularly
the academic life beard a significant lose (Chatterjee & Chauhan 2020). The
University authorities and HEC took an initiative for the online classes.
Although online education is a very favourable step for the prospect of
students and the nation as well, unfortunately, online education was found to
be associated with multiple limitations. The most common limitation is the lack
of familiarity with technological advancement, comprehension issues, communication
barrier, and internet access. Due to the above-mentioned limitation; the
student may encounter multiple psychological, behavioural and biological
issues, which has been outlined in the bio-psycho and social mode.
1- The Biological impact
As the students are more
habitual with the traditional education system, therefore the exposure to
online education may cause some biological deficit. The persistent exposure to
screen found to be associated with multiple medical problems in literature,
which have been described below (Alkis & Taskaya, 2018).
Back pain. As online education requires long
screen time, therefore it may cause chronic back pain. It has been observed in
the literature that the people work in the office or spend long hours on a
computer screen often complain about chronic back pain.
Muscle stiffness. The long screen time
not merely associated with back pain but also leads to muscle stiffness
problems. The massive body of researches highlighted the strong association
between long screen time and muscles stiffness.
Vision and Hearing
Problem. The online education may cause blurred vision or
hearing problems. The literature is enriched with the studies, which suggested
that excessive exposure to laptop or cell phones cause hearing and vision
problems.
Other Disturbances. The restricted body movement during
online classes may cause some other issues such as body cramp, heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
2- The Psychological Impact
The impact of online
education is not merely limited to biological consequences but found to be
associated with psychological issues as well (Masic, 2008). The most prevalent
mental health issues are listed below.
Anxiety. As online education is a novel concept
in Pakistan, the students are not habitual for e-learning; therefore, they
might develop anxiousness (Cao et al., 2020). The
anxiety can be seen in terms of comprehensions, technological use, internet
access, or communication level.
Depression. Another consequence of online education
is depression. According to the
substantial body of research the depressions is significantly associated with
e-learning.
OCD. The obsession and compulsion during
online education are very prevalent. The obsession such as I
can’t learn through online education, or I shall fail the exams can impart a
very negative impact. In response to such obsessions, the students manifest
rigid behaviour (compulsions) they recurrently miss the classes or avoid taking
exams.
Personality Disorder. The fear of failure leads to identity
issues, low self-concept and dependency; whereas the sense of accomplishment is
found to be associated with a healthy personality. The fear of failure found to be consistent with
personality disorders and low self-concept, dependency and identity issues are
predictors of personality disorder.
Eating disorder. The online education is not directly
interlinked to an eating disorder. As online education reported to be
associated with depression, anxiety and stress, hence all these psychological disturbances
lead to eating disorders. It has been observed in the literature that people e
during depression, anxiety or stress either prefer over-eating or stop eating.
In both cases, they develop an eating disorder which further leads to medical
and psychological issues (Mukhtar, 2020).
Sleeping Disorder. Same
like an eating disorder, online education is not directly interlinked with a
sleep disorder. Online education cause stress, depression and anxiety disorder.
The depression, anxiety and stress often lead an irregular sleep cycle and that
further leads to sleep disorder and other psychological disturbances.
Low self-esteem. The students are least
aware of technological advancement, so online education can adversely affect
their sense of self-esteem. They might feel incapable to have academic
achievement therefore to avoid the feeling of shame they may interact less. As
a result, they might develop low self-esteem.
Comprehension problems. The compression issues
during online classes are very common, as the students are more habitual for
online education. The face to face interaction provides a better opportunity to
resolve all the equerries regarding the lesson. Therefore the may feel the
online education infective mode of learning.
3- The Social Impact
Communication skills. Te online education
reported being associated with communication skills. It has been observed the
people who spend more time on social media or online learning often report
communication problem. They manifest difficulty while communicating with
people.
Loneliness. The excessive exposure
to online learning not merely cause communication problems, but also found to
be associated with loneliness. During traditional learning, students get the
chance to meet fellows and teachers, and the interaction makes them a sense of
belongingness. They feel themselves as part of a group and according to
literature inclusion in social setting impart a positive impact on the physical
as well as mental health of the people. Hence, online education can develop the
feeling of loneliness as the student may feel that they communicating with
machines rather than human beings.
In short, the online
education during COVID-19 may cause many psychological disturbances, which are
important to address on the priority basis. The university authorities,
teachers and management staff must take initiative to resolve the psychological
issues of the student to enhance the academic achievement.