The outbreak of the pandemic Covid-19 has precipitately brought a halt to the lives of all humans across the world. It is critically impacting every sector including education system of the country. The schools, colleges and all educational institutions have been padlocked, resulting into stressful situation for students, parents &academicians as they are highly concerned about the academic loss of their children. Nevertheless we all understand that this is not the time to panic for studies rather it is a medical emergency that pushes us to analyze and understand that the need of the hour is to take various psychological measures that can support each & everyone in balancing their mental as well as emotional health along with physical.
In response to school closures caused by COVID-19, UNESCO recommends the use of distance learning programs and open educational applications and platforms that schools and teachers can use to reach learners remotely and limit the disruption of education. Thereby, taking it to be its responsibility, the education system needs to contribute in its own way to ensure that the children, sitting at home, are safeguarded from all kinds of stressful situations by engaging the students in activities that keep them active & academically connected.
There are various steps & practices that can be undertaken in this regard. KIET Group of Institutions has even taken a few steps to ensure that the students may remain intact with their academics and also stay cognitively stimulated and mentally occupied by involving in some activities that may divert them from the reiterating news of the disease on social media as well as news channels.
The institution has endeavored to keep its students into their study routine by timely switching into digital & distance learning models. Since, the institute got informed about home quarantine of all, they started working more rigorously on the YouTube based video lectures for the students at home. They adopted the following steps to ensure that the students get the maximum food for thought so that they can utilize this extra time in developing their skills as well as learning their lessons and be a bit occupied:
-Online classes are being conducted, by the respective subject teachers, using various video conferencing apps
-Continuously sending Unit wise lecture notes in PDF or PPT format
-Sharing their self-recorded YouTube lectures related to their subjects
-Sharing video links including NPTEL and eBooks related to their subjects
-Software labs are being conducted online
-LMS & Moodle are being used to share assignments and even evaluate the performance of the students
The institute is trying to involve its students in a few tasks and projects that would surely help them hone new skills and utilize the time during their home quarantine and social distancing positively:
1. Koders Korner Practice Contests: The hobby club at KIET, Koders Korner, has endeavored to assist students make the best use of this time by polishing their competitive programming skills. So, they are conducting online practice coding contest series, based on educational rounds of Code forces.
2. Brainwriting: We know a lot about brainstorming, but have you tried brain writing? In this approach, students begin by coming up with their own ideas, either on paper or using visual collaboration software, shared by their departments. Building in time individual reflection by the students leads to better ideas and less group think.
3. Jigsaw: Help students build accountability by teaching each other. Start, by dividing them into “home groups” (each of 5 or 10 students). Assign each person in the group a different topic to explore – they’ll regroup to work with all the students from the other groups who are exploring the same idea. Once they’ve mastered the concept, students return to their home group and everyone shares newfound expertise and submit the report.
4. Quescussion: A few questions/statements are shared with batches of students and they are asked to discuss & then after write down the consensus. It is a sort of online group discussion.
The director of KIET, Dr A Garg, states, “The crisis is quite challenging for one and all. We understand that during this time when all are going through emotional turbulence, it’s quite difficult to concentrate and focus on studies, but we truly appreciate our teachers and academicians who are making these extra efforts, from their homes, just to keep their students connected more with them then studies. Hopefully these can keep the students diverted from getting into depressive states due to information overloading about the disease. I wish for good health of all, Best wishes!”
The Institution is further planning to conduct its class tests online. The students will receive their test papers through Whatsapp/e-mail and after writing their answers on the sheet available at their homes, the students will click/scan their answer sheets and mail them back to their respective subject teachers for evaluation. Moreover all essential works and meetings among leads & HoDs and the faculty members are being conducted through video conferencing, thereby smoothening & ensuring that work from remains hurdle free.
KIET Group of Institutions, Ghaziabad is one of the premier destinations for young minds, offering courses in Engineering, management and pharmacy. It continuously strives for the welfare of its students providing them with best opportunities both on the national and international platforms.
