E-learning during a Pandemic
Why most of us if not all of us didn’t manage to have a successful E-learning experience even though we were at the comfort of our own homes?
one word: Stress.
Corona or COVID 19 took us by a storm, and it gave us a sense of fear and threatened our well being which resulted in an intolerable stress. Scientifically speaking, when a human being is found in a threatening situation, the emotional station within our brain (I.E: Amygdala) takes over, our conscious curls inside and the stress controls our mind, then we feel hopeless, our mind can’t function as usual because the prefrontal cortex is stopped by the hijacking of the Amygdala.
“ Bad stress erodes confidence and makes us question our ability’ (Schultz, 2019)”
So, I retrieved some memories about our E-l earning experience, which we were forced to undergo due to the pandemic, I remember our teacher trainers doing a lot of work, sharing some interesting insights with us as well as doing online sessions to make sure we retained as much as possible to eventually take exams. Yet it all seems to be at vain, personally speaking, I had no idea why I was unmotivated to attend the online classes, do my homework and collaborate with my colleagues. I felt stressed to not be able to progress and of everything happening in the world. Learning remotely means being alone to do certain tasks without any real interaction, which only increased the stress we already had due to the overwhelming media coverage of COVID 19 spread.
What made the situation worst is the fact that I thought i would not be able to overcome it, that it is the end for all of us.
It took so much of my mental health, energy and time to finally accept the situation as it is and step up to the challenge so I can be comfortable and adapt to the new lifestyle COVID 19 forced us to take up.
As you can see, stress has a strong connection to the way we learn and it can trigger some unwanted reactions that surely hinder learning and conceal the cognitive abilities of humans. Without any social (in real world) interaction, our brains felt hopeless to proceed or to cope with what was going on, without any clear info or explanation that would calm down this major negative trauma. We felt alone and left out.
Negative feelings lead people in weak situations to commit some irreversible acts such as: suicidal or murder,( which we witnessed over the last couple of month in the whole world) the lucky ones are suffering from depressions and loneliness. So the question to ask is how can we minimize the pandemic damage? In neuroscience, the best way to manage a dispirited community in a “fight, fright and flight state” is to provide it with clarity and create a safe environment for it. This way people would feel nurtured and could join each other to help keep their sanity and prevent any chaos from happening in a wobbly changing world.
Originally published at https://fatidesu.blogspot.com on July 21, 2020.
