Media Education through Online Mode: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT With the adoption of technological revolution, the field of media and communication has seen an unprecedented growth in India in the past decade. The advent of Web 2.0 has marked significant changes in this field with regards to all its stakeholders – media academia, media industry and media consumers. What remains in the centre is media education and how it which has been influenced by the different online modes or platforms. There is an established understanding that there is disparity in what is being taught in media institutes and what is required in practice, in order to satisfy consumer demand. The skills that are a part of curricula and instruction need an up-gradation, according to the industry. This research paper tries to dwell upon media education through online mode; encompassing media academia and the teaching-learning process. Furthermore, this qualitative study focuses on how media educators and students try to adjust with this new normal trend and it also highlights the challenges and solutions related to the topic of study. Though online mode of media education offers new methods of teaching and learning yet it has its own limitations. Therefore, a balanced approach should be adopted to make it effective and inclusive. The solution lies in making systemic efforts to bridge the digital divide, to improve the student-teacher interaction, and to meet the theoretical and practical needs of media education. KEYWORDS- Media Education, Online Mode, Digital Divide, Students, Teachers