The sudden spread of novel coronavirus COVID-19 across the world has been leading to the drastic changes in complete structural, organizational and social aspects of every sector, including the education system. The quick closure of universities and schools for public health safety during COVID-19 pandemic has become a catalyst for searching innovative solutions within a short span of time. In the context of this new and challenging situation, e-learning tools have become the new educational policy and practice for virtual classrooms. This chapter presents an analysis of various e-learning tools for synchronous and asynchronous learning. It also focuses on the various health issues arising due to the excessive exposure of everyone to screens with the growing adoption of online learning tools and technologies.

Chapter Contents:

• 11.1 Introduction
• 11.2 E-learning
• 11.2.1 Synchronous e-learning
• 11.2.2 Asynchronous e-learning
• 11.3 Tools for synchronous e-learning
• 11.4 Side effects of using online learning tools or e-learning
• 11.4.1 Technical challenges
• 11.4.2 Health issues
• 11.4.3 Social and economic challenges
• 11.5 Future of education: e-learning + smart campus
• 11.5.1 Smart campus
• 11.5.2 Smart classroom
• 11.5.3 Importance of smart classrooms in e-learning application
• 11.5.4 What turns an ordinary classroom into a smart classroom that is required for e-learning?
• 11.6 Conclusion
• 11.7 Future work
• References

Inspec keywords: educational institutions; distance learning; computer aided instruction

Other keywords: e-learning tools; smart campus; educational policy; novel coronavirus COVID-19; organizational aspects; COVID-19 pandemic; public health safety; social aspects; asynchronous learning; education system; synchronous learning; universities; complete structural aspects; online learning tools

Subjects: Computer-aided instruction