An online survey by Shikshan Prasarak Mandali's Late Prin. B. V. Bhide Foundation:
The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities around the world to shut down their campuses indefinitely and adopt online platforms for their educational activities. The colleges were not prepared for such a drastic change. Though there have been a lot of advances in information communication technology (ICT) in the last few decades and several online platforms to support online education were available, still it was a challenge for universities to complete their educational activities using an online platform in stipulated time period.
Additionally, professors and students faced a wide range of logistic, technical, financial, and social problems. The university suspended regular classes from 13th March 2020 and later a nationwide lockdown began in India on 25th March 2020. The academic programs of the university education are based on intense classroom and laboratory based activities. It was difficult to move all these academic activities online immediately. Moreover, it was assumed that the situation will normalize soon and the campuses could be reopened within weeks. But unfortunately the online teaching continued till date (July 2021).
The use of electronic devices is increased during this period both for the purpose of educational activities along with recreation. As a result, students are continuously exposed to unintentional artificial light. The effects of acute and chronic exposure to artificial light at night (ALAN) via screen illumination on sleep, circadian rhythms, and related functional outcomes is known. Both acute and chronic illumination significantly disrupts sleep continuity and architecture and leads to daytime sleepiness, negative emotions, and attention difficulties. The exposure also alters circadian rhythms, subduing the normal nocturnal decline in body temperature and dampening nocturnal melatonin secretion.
In summary, ALAN exposure from electronic screens has an immediate, detrimental, yet stable effect on sleep, circadian regulation, and next-day functional outcomes. The widespread use of electronic devices by students may cause adverse effects on health and performance. We have developed a questionnaire in which we will be conducting survey of undergraduate and post graduate students about their opinion on different aspects of online education during the ongoing pandemic and its impact on their changed lifestyle and health.
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