The covid-19 has created a lot of hassle around the world. The only way to deal with is social distancing- the lockdown. In this period, all are advised to be safely at their homes and make sure not to spread the virus. Education sector is one of the most affected, during this lockdown, as no real classroom activities are possible. This has built up unnecessary anxiety among all the stakeholders- students, their parents, teachers, institutes, managements, policymakers and of course the job providers.
In this regard, we at Jayaprakash Narayan College Of Engineering, Mahabubnagar, have adapted a solution to the emergency situation. Let me brief the activities at JPNCE:
• Years back, accounts on social media like WhatsApp, Facebook were created for each class, wherein each student of the class was added, under the direction of class in-charge. All the teachers of this class, along with some alumni and invitees, will be the members of the group. These accounts were used to forward the lecture notes, after or before the lecture. Teachers and students share the ideas unheard during the lecture. The students were encouraged to ask doubts on this platform and teachers and students interact and clarify. The members of the group would share links of any relevant material- audio, video, text, presentations and animations, found on the net and initiate discussions. The assignments were forwarded to the students and are asked to submit the scanned copy of the assignment through emails to avoid plagiarism. Q&A schedules were announced well in advance by the teachers and all are encouraged to participate to enrich their knowledge.
• Now during this pandemic situation, the class room lecture part is replaced by electronics. Due to sudden lockdown, the participants are away from the efficient resources needed to continue with the activities. As blessings in disguise, Cell phones, faster internet connectivity and the Apps come to our rescue. Handwritten notes for each lecture, close to a class room lecture, are supplied to the students through the groups. To make the learning easier, links to animations, presentations, are provided. Several tasks are assigned to the student batches relevant to the current lecture as projects and all are encouraged to participate and submit the reports through the emails.
• Students and teachers are encouraged to use MOOCs such as NPTEL, SWAYAM, Coursera, and such, making top-ranked lectures worldwide available at their doorsteps and to use lockdown as an opportunity to learn. Student registration is made compulsory and the teachers are advised to use these results while evaluating the internal marks.
• Online video tools like ZOOM are used to deliver interactive sessions online. Time-table are scheduled with sufficient time-gaps to workout assignments.
• Thanks to the industries for testing the competence of our students through online tests and interviews for recruitment.
Friends let’s find Opportunity in this Challenge and make our education system a WINNER through this pandemic situation.
