In The Time Of The Pandemic, Classes Go Online And On Air

Teachers and students enter a new world of virtual lectures and worksheets as the lockdown brought about by the coronavirus shuts down schools and colleges

The long lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic has closed schools, colleges, and other educational institutions and ushered in the citywide classroom: tens of thousands of students in cities and towns are glued to computers and smartphone screens as teachers take to online apps for lectures, tutorials, and assessments.

e-learning poses a challenge to both teachers and students over technology and access, but it is keeping everyone busy with worksheets, video lectures, and assignments.

Some institutions are uploading lectures to YouTube, while the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan is deploying its Swayam Prabha portal, which has lectures on DTH and online, to help students. Andhra Pradesh is trying to tap Doordarshan to remove access barriers. Some institutions have adopted the Zoom app, others Google Classroom. Yet, the instructors are unable to say how effective they are, and not every student is tuning in. Here is how the system has rolled out.

Chennai

At DAV Public School, Principal Minoo Aggarwal is keen that student interest in online classes offered as live teaching can be sustained only with a mix of activities, worksheets, and interactive sessions. “It is unfair to expect the same level of concentration and involvement as in the classroom. Teachers should have a structured plan which does not suffocate or burden them,” she said.

Not all students might have laptops or tablet computers. “Since the whole family is at home, the only laptop or computer in the house might be used by the parents who are working from home as well.”

While smartphones are the next best option, teachers are apprehensive about students using them earnestly because of distracting apps.

Teachers too might have technical constraints, said K.R. Maalathi, an education consultant. In a higher secondary school, teachers had requested for laptops to plan their curriculum.