Prospects and Challenges of Online Teaching – A Study with Special Reference to Arts and Science College Teachers in Kannur District

Abstract Online teaching refers to the conducting of classes through online platforms such as Learning Management Systems (LMS), video conferencing platforms, and other digital applications. Due to the intensive growth of digital technology, traditional classroom teaching is slowly changed to online methods. This shift created many new opportunities to teachers and students, such as flexibility in teaching and learning, self-paced learning, and ease of using online teaching and learning tools. But, also brought several challenges such as technical problems, insufficient infrastructure, and difficulties in maintaining student participation. Hence in this study an attempt is made to understand the prospects and challenges in online teaching among the teachers in Arts and Science colleges. The study adopted a descriptive and analytical research design. A sample of 30 teachers was selected - 10 each from Government colleges, Aided colleges, and Self-financing colleges - by using convenience sampling technique. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. Primary data were collected from the sample respondents through a structured questionnaire, and secondary data from books, journals, and magazines. The collected data were analysed by using percentage analysis, weighted average method and ranking method. The results shows that online teaching provides flexibility and the recorded classes help students to revise and understand lessons easily. However, the teaches face increased workload, tiredness due to continuous usage of electronic gadgets, lower student participation, and difficulties in assessing the students’ performance. Keywords: Online teaching, Online education, Challenges of teaches, Higher education.