The term 'online learning' is being a hotly debated topic from the year 2020.

This issue
also has been a hot potato all over the world. Online learning, also known as distance education
or eLearning, refers to the delivery of educational content and instruction through the internet. It
allows students to learn and gain knowledge remotely, without the need to be physically
present on campus or school. Online learning can take many different forms, such as web-
based courses, video conferencing, and self-paced learning programs. It is becoming an
increasingly popular way for students to access education, as it offers flexibility and
convenience. Ever since Covid-19 spread in the world, online learning has become a main
method in every education institution such as schools and universities. But, it also gives some
obstacles to the people involved. In this essay, I will be discussing the challenges in online
learning during the pandemic faced by students and teachers globally.

The first challenge in online learning is limited communication related to socialization

among the students. Based on a journal article by Hermanto et al. (2021),online learning has
affected students in limiting students' social interaction with teachers and among themselves.
The physical presence inside a classroom with a teacher and friends often leads to an
atmosphere that cannot be replicated through virtual means. The physical model also ensures
discipline as students cannot switch off webcams and doze off. Physical classrooms also allow
teachers to provide more personal attention to each student’s needs. So, when the students
were assigned to do group work in online learning, they could not reach the learning objectives
as they only knew each other online and they lacked social skills. Other than that, online
learning also challenges students in their motivation aspect as the online assignment also
increases where teachers expect students to do the assignments double than the usual. They
already could not understand the lesson well during the tough situation, and adding more
assignments really did not give any help for them. When the students were stressed in
completing their assignments, they would reach a point where they refused to do any of the
work and just followed the class without paying attention to the lesson. If this situation
continues, it can affect the students' whole life where their mental health can be distracted.

Moreover, people also faced accessibility issues in online learning. Based on Nilesh Gutte
(2023), both teachers and students struggled with technical difficulties in using the internet and
gadgets such as smartphones and computers. Teachers are struggling to understand the
concept of online learning as they are the older generation and they did not really care about
modern technology. But, students are no different although they are known as IT literate, as
they only learnt how to use social media and did not explore the other features of the internet.
They need to understand the online communication etiquette and know their rights and
responsibilities in an online learning environment. Besides, not all of the students came from a
wealthy family, so it is hard for them to join virtual classes as they did not have any facilities or
gadgets to do so. Teachers and students also faced challenges in getting technical support in
online learning. They always faced bad connection situations where they could not enter the
virtual classroom and join the lesson. Some of the students and teachers lived inland so it is
hard for them to get a good connection as there are hardly any bars of internet connection in
their living area. They could not wander around the village as it was in the Movement Control
Order (MCO) phase where people could not get out of their house to avoid the virus from
spreading.

Continuous online learning also affects people's health. Based on New Straits Times
(2021), the increasing amount of screen time has led to a spike in incidences of eye strain and
dry eyes among students. Eye strain is a common condition that occurs when the eyes are too
tired from intense use while staring at a computer screen or cell phone without a break. If this
situation continues, the entire generation of young people now could be suffering from retinal
ageing problems from as young as 40 years old. Furthermore, both teachers and students also
became more fatigued due to sitting in a chair for too long. When the online method was held
during the pandemic, people would sit all day because of work and school. Sitting for too long
also makes our legs weak as we did not use it as often as it should. People also suffered from
back pain as sitting for extended periods of time and bad posture causes hip flexor to shorten
especially older age teachers. In addition, students and teachers also can easily get diabetes as
the online learning did not encourage people to do any activities or exercise. Most of the people
involved even eat snacks more often during online learning. Many statistics have shown that
people gain more weight because of online methods of working and learning as people rarely do
anything other than sitting in front of the computer.

Finally, it can be said that online learning really gives challenges to most of the students
and teachers during the pandemic such as lack of social skills, poor knowledge in technology
and affecting health. This method can be used as part of teaching and learning but it should not
be the main way to gain knowledge especially for children as they need to explore the world by
socializing and doing fun activities while learning. We can use technology to ease our daily life
but we have to use it wisely and do not let it harm us in any way.