COVID 19: GlobalGyan offers free access to Mobile Learning Platform: Mr. Srinivasa Addepalli- Founder & CEO, GGA

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March 30, 2020

The COVID-19 outbreak has created an unwanted crisis in India. All the schools and universities are closed. The firms were asked to adapt the new ‘home office. ’

Country’s leading Edtech firm, GlobalGyan Academy of Management Education, announces a series of free Master Classes on managing themselves and their teams in these uncertain times. GlobalGyan is offering Indian firms free access to its Mobile Learning Platform for their employees.

Srinivasa Addepalli, CEO & Founder of GlobalGyan Academy said, “For learning to be valuable and outcome oriented, it cannot be sporadic. All organisations must adopt digital in their learning and development agenda, more so at times like these. We want to encourage Indian companies to adopt digital learning, without having to make huge upfront investment.”

Addepalli said, “The GlobalGyan learning platform will allow firm to offer their digital content in the form of learning capsules that can be accessed by their employees on the GlobalGyan mobile and web apps. This managed service that includes support in the creation of learning journeys and a tracking and reporting portal, would help organisations make their first foray into digital learning.”

GlobalGyan’s learning content, aimed at entry and mid-level managers’ covers skills such as critical thinking, creativity and complex problem-solving to navigate through unforeseen challenges in the ever-changing business environment.

GlobalGyan has been working with India’s leading corporates such as Tata Communications, Godrej Industries, Future Supply Chain, Ginger Hotels and ITC with digital learning programs for their managers.

Hema Kalakoti, Principal, APS ACADEMY, Lucknow: Ensuring teaching through online modes

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March 27, 2020

We (APS ACADEMY) have started giving online study material / help / audio /videos as to warm up , to engage to some kind of guided routines for the children. We have asked parents to involve the children in household chores (cooking, cleaning, washing, ironing clothes),gardening take care of pets birds, etc .

Learn how your mother manage every day time, house budget etc also spend quality time with grandparents. These activities will be the actual practical practice of the

life skills and co scholastic areas.

Academically we were using many different apps, video, slides, audio which was easy for the teachers and students because we are equipped with good internet and systems But at homes reaching each learner is little difficult.

We have to acknowledge the reality that all parents / learners are not accessible. Everyone studying in our school don’t have access to stable internet connection online learning platforms or gadgets. Taking this in view we have given the option

some text is being shared on class WhatsApp groups and within one or two days we will share APS ACADEMY channel link to students.

Because sharing too many videos On WhatsApp class group is also a big problem for storing space. We are guiding them to use free apps like disha app, epathshala, swayam, swayamprabha, nisha app, stories. audiable, story line online etc.

This is a big challenge, we all have to switch to digital learning and equip ourselves and each learner with full time online distance learning for which we were not prepared

I will end with Churchill’s quote:

“NEVER LET A GOOD CRISIS GO WASTE”

Dr Stella Pandhare, Principal, The Millennium School, Bengaluru: Need to face daunting challenge

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March 27, 2020

The pandemic of Corona did bring things to a grinding halt all of a sudden with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi announcing lock down to keep the citizens of the nation safe. A wise move indeed. However, all of us were left with the thought what next. How do we beat this virus during the time of this crisis?

I do agree silence is gold. But, at times, when one has something very important to share with someone equally important, it isn’t all that easy to maintain silence for too long. So, we the Educators at Millennium School decided to break the ‘deafening silence’ and lead out students to an insightful journey even if it meant staying at home.

We have come a long way and the time elapsed has been filled with stirring moments always. Seasons have turned around at their distinctive yet monotonous and pleasant pace. The world has witnessed paradigm ideological shifts through political fall outs, economic challenges, technological marvels and ‘radical’ movements, which will go down the annals of history. And history has always been scripted with indelible ink. Thus, dictating a scrupulous introspection of the present to stand testimony for the future. I too have taken recourse in the irrefutable fact that ‘Time’ has and will always remain the master and a measure of monumental growth, when history is being scripted.

We decided to capture important concepts through videos. Our facilitators took up the task of recording videos and sharing it for the students to help them stay connected with learning. We sent guidelines to parents and creative videos as references and helped them share their knowledge with their wards. Parents were encouraged to record videos of their wards participating in the activities prescribed by the school and the same is being posted on Facebook and You tube. Flip classrooms, Video sessions, Creative worksheets and Zoom sessions are helping the teacher and the taught stay connected to teaching and learning.

Time enough to learn from ‘Time’. This has been a valuable learning. Passion too like success can never be a destination; it has and shall always remain a journey. So has been this passionate journey for me, as an Educator. The response of the School Facilitators, parents and children has been overwhelming, buttressing a conviction – a conviction that an entrenched passion and its creative outburst have revealed ‘what lies beneath’ the cloak of an educator.

The Educator in me is indebted to those of you, who were resolute to dig into the remotest ways possible to reach out to the kids through digital media and are finding ways to keep learning alive. To those of you who believe in transacting education at the ‘click of a button’, I acknowledge your painstaking efforts in going that extra mile to surf the enticing sections of the digital portal which has also given wings to an educator’s dream. I can assure that even during the lock down day, Education ‘hidden’ away from your ‘reach’, will reach out and touch you.

Dr Prachi Agarwal, Asst. Professor, Mangalmay Institute of Management and Technology, Greater Noida: Must adopt new teaching technology

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March 27, 2020

CORONAVirus…..Well 90% of the world’s population is listening to this medical terminology for the first time in their lives. By now, we all know the origin of it, the brutal effects it is making on worldwide mankind and the heart making tolls it is making. The last reported Pandemic of this type was seen in the year 1918, something called ‘SPANISH FLU’ which effected nearly one-third of human population worldwide.

The implications of this pandemic will be witnessed in nearly the coming decade and we will not be able to recover from it very easily. Suddenly everything is freezed……. No industry in any of the country is left unaffected by its touch. Be it manufacturing, travel and tourism, aviation, agriculture, service industry everything seems to be at hault.

Needless to mention education industry is also not left untouched. Schools, Colleges and Universities, Teachers, Students and Support Staff everyone is facing the wrath of this deadly virus. The colleges are closed, various entrance tests are postponed, the results are awaited, the admission process has slowed down.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Where there is a virus, there is an anti virus too and we academicians have found a holy grail to continue with our academics. We at Mangalmay Institute of Management and Technology have adopted the MOOCS concept (Massive Open Online Courses) of Teaching Learning Pedagogy. The faculties are sharing video lectures to the students on daily basis and conducting Google Classrooms and Zoom Classrooms. Their doubts are cleared by whatsapp or voice calls. Also, various links of MHRD courses like NPTEL and Swayam are also shared with them to continue their studies.

Various research papers are been sent to the students to make them read about the topic presented in Video lectures to give thrust to teaching learning process. Also, PPT’s, assignments and other study material are sent to the students on regular basis.

The response of all these activities is very positive and the students are also understanding and appreciating the hard work done by their professors and their commitments towards academics.

Last but not the least, very important thing to give the students is peace of mind, as being a Teacher, nothing is more important that their well-being and that’s our main priority.

Let us all stay positive in this hard time and pray that this situation is over for the well-being of mankind and humanity.

Uttarakhand bars schools to collect fees during lockdown

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March 27, 2020

In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Uttarakhand has directed all the government and private schools not to collect any tuition fees from parents during this lockdown. All the schools and universities are closed till further notice over the virus outbreak.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Tuesday announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country.

Uttarakhand Education Secretary R Meenakshi Sundaram said: “It has come to the notice of the government that certain private schools are pressurising the parents of wards to submit the tuition fees immediately. This is not right when there is a complete lockdown imposed in the state to contain the spread of COVID-19.”

She also added, “Orders are issued to stop the collection of fees by all the government and private schools under CBSE, ICSE or state boards. Fees should be collected once the situation normalises.

Four persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttarakhand including one foreign national.

NTA not to release admit card for NEET 2020

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March 27, 2020

Amid coronavirus outbreak, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has announced that it will not release the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2020 admit card on Friday. The admit card was scheduled to release on 27th March, 2020 on its official site.

According to officials, aspirants can download it the admit card from the official site ntaneet.nic.in/ntaneet.

There is also uncertainty over the NTA NEET 2020 exam date as it was scheduled to be conducted on May 3.

A total of 15,93,452 lakh candidates have applied for the NEET entrance exam.

The NEET UG gives eligibility to apply for undergraduate medical, dental and Aayush programmes. The admissions to all medical colleges, dental institutes, AIIMS and JIPMER will be eligible only through NEET exam.

Dr DC Saxena, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Swami Vivekananda Subharti University, Meerut: Situation has offered challenges and opportunities

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March 27, 2020

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected all walks of life in more than 190 countries. The impact of health and non-health related initiatives like lockdowns, social distancing, etc., by different Governments shall be evident with time only. Billions of students going to primary, secondary and higher education institutions are directly affected due to closure of these institutions. According to an UNICEF report, 87% of world’s student population in 160 countries is affected by the pandemic. The higher education directly impacts the growth, development and most importantly the economy of a nation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has offered both challenges and opportunities for the modern education system, besides redefining the role of HEIs present juncture.

THE ROLE

1. HEIs with medical institutions to extend and diagnosis, treatment and expert care facilities – emergency plan preparation

2. Integration and cooperation with Health Authorities in providing space for isolation and quarantine

3. HEIs with Tele-Medicine facilities to provide extension and consultation services outreach and difficult terrain

4. Volunteers from NCC, etc to assist the administration, health authorities and the civil society in non-medical interventions

5. Alleviation of the concerns and anxiety of students

6. Providing psychological and moral support to the students and parents

THE CHALLENGES

1. Suspension of classes and event cancellations

2. Communication with students

3. Rescheduling of academic calendar including the examinations

4. Movement restrictions for faculty hampering work on-campus education being non-essential services

5. Tele-working from home, especially those preparing for accreditations

6. Creation of sites by HEIs for remote learning; virtual classes

7. Adverse impact on research, especially laboratory and experimental types

8. Non-availability of library resource to researchers due to lock downs

9. Providing hyper-connectivity to students and faculty

10. Ensuring safety of vulnerable students and high risk faculty

11. Safe travel of students to their homes and facilitate those staying back in hostels

12. Supply of essential services and provisions in the Campus

THE OPPORTUNITIES

1. ON-line Learning Platforms like SWAYAM, MOOCS, NPTEL, and other private resources get an opportunity to redefine their strategies

2. Opportunity to create e-resources for learning; virtual classes, lectures, demonstrations, simulated laboratory and other interactive initiatives

3. Strengthening the e-learning resources like e-library like DELNET and others

4. Promotion of distance learning modes

5. Development of information sharing systems at portals of HEIs

6. Development and implementation of Health Hygiene practices in the Campus

7. Development of efficient channels for communication with community for correct and authentic information on pandemic

DR SS Mantha, Chancellor, KL University: The world is united on web

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March 27, 2020

The whole world is vexed with Corona the biotic Trojan. There’s an old saying that goes: “when you shut one eye, you also don’t hear everything”. This is a wakeup call!! This virus is assuming monumental proportions the world over, with almost half a million cases recorded with the number increasing by the day, out of which almost a staggering 24,000 dead with redemption nowhere in sight.

Every conceivable business has been disrupted affecting the economy, as no business downturn can. March – April of any year is a very busy time for the students and the faculty.

Universities and Colleges will all be abuzz with activity, not this year though. They have all been hit with the students having returned to their homes and the faculty waiting for the Corona shadows to disappear. Activities that are time bound cannot be deferred. What is the way out? Remember, we are in a world completely networked and connected, be it by the Web or otherwise. Our constant tryst with destiny has made us develop several online initiatives in the past. It is time we fall back on those initiatives. Churchill during the WW-II made a profound statement. “Never let a good crisis go waste” Can we turn this crisis into an opportunity?

Without going into the rhetoric of what this means and keeping it simple, can we suggest that the schools must either own up responsibility of ensuring that the corona does not infect their campus, or they must disclaim that a single student or employee infected as a result of this will not touch seats, or bus handles or table tops which of course is impossible.

We must quickly move to online dissemination of a purposeful education. That alone would be a befitting opportunity to stand up to the crisis and face it and not our self- imposed hypnosis of imagining that this is how things have been running and will continue to! Schools must shift to online teaching. It is simple; the teachers now at their own homes, record their lessons on video and send it to the students on WhatsApp. That also prepares a digital library of content for the schools. The students can visit that content several times rather than over a single limited period in the class. This must include all the teachers and support staff in addition to the students that must immediately be asked to stay at home and learn. This is the paradigm waiting to blow conch unless we want to ignore the war cry of COVID! Like organizations and companies allow their employees to work from home, our colleges too must allow learning and assessment from home in these highly distressing times.

Several Online providers have made their content available free to whoever needs it, at least till end of June. The content of credible players like TCS, Coursera can be used to tide over in the technical education domain. Edutech major BYJUS on Wednesday said it will provide free access to its complete app to school students till April. Free access to Academic textbooks on Cambridge Core, Cengage and Wiley online library is also available. The opportunity must be used by every Institution / College / University to reach out to students so that they complete whatever is left at the time of the disruption. It will optimise education, bring the cost of education lower, release stressed infrastructure and provide much better referenceable archives than the current classroom system provides. Gutenberg invented the printing press and with that the Bible left the church and reached homes. The churches stay as does the Bible in homes. Only the realm of God expanded in the process!!

The universities must also explore conducting online Examinations and Assessment wherever possible. Desperate times seek desperate solutions. A window of promotion to the next class in schools and colleges for those who opt and for such promotion and for those who do not opt, an exit examination conducted, must be explored. The government on its part, may explore zero tax on all expenditure incurred on education & health institutions for the next six months.

COVID 19 and the World Wide Web in one stroke, have turned the world into the proverbial “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam”, the former by the capacity to destruct and the later by its benevolence to engage. A most endearing flip side to the malaise of Corona would be, on one side a complete obliteration of the differences that religions, races and castes bring about and on the other, the web uniting all human beings as one.

Corona will not leave the readers any opportunity to fight, let alone the defenses, to continue attending the schools, keeping the children and staff and all those who serve the country to raise our economy and GDP vulnerable. A certain benevolent thought must be shared and a prayer made for all those who still would need to be on the streets and at the borders so that we live to see another day. The article must stay in the records to be held as a mirror to the next impending Corona case in our vicinity.

Where one can reach them:

1. TCS https://learning.tcsionhub.in/hub/glass-room/

2. Corsera

https://www.coursera.org/coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR1_0phWTVWr4JNMCSs DBeAUBRK4el_8GtUrbHpVF_UgOkj5zH9d7bb0Cjc

Cambridge free access to text Books

3. https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/textbooks

4. Cengage: https://www.cengage.com/covid-19-support/student/

5. Wiley online Library: https://novel-coronavirus.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/

COVID-19 outbreak: WUD brings new e-learning ways: Dr Sanjay Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, World University of Design

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March 27, 2020

In the wake of coronavirus epidemic across the country, many schools and educational institutions are closed. The virus has an adverse effect on educational institutions across the globe. Amid COVID- outbreak, India’s one of leading universities World University of Design (WUD) has shifted to online model of teaching. The varsity has ensured continuity of world class teaching standards.

The WUD is using AI, Supervision Technologies and Video Conference and other tools to enable virtual learning. Apart from the classes, the performance assessment is also being done in online mode with the AI-based platform.

WUD has also made investments in the server capacity, broadband connectivity, photo/videography studio, equipped for online teaching.

Dr Sanjay Gupta, Vice-Chancellor, World University of Design said, “This is a unique situation in design education and WUD was the first to take lead so that studies are not compromised, and students do not fall back on their curriculum. WUD has been working on assimilating online learning across its courses for over a year so the preparedness was there.”

Gupta also said, the COVID 19 outbreak has just hastened the process and were the first to switch to online mode, that’s not only benefitting students in India but also students abroad.

Gupta further added, “Design education is essentially ‘working by doing’. Barring a few specializations online education is not exactly tuned for teaching design as yet. However, the main qualification is just having an open mind therefore we were able to take this forward is a very short time. We have a unified campus where faculty work across specializations and in teams. “

WUD has been hosting Global Goals Jam since last three years where over 40 groups around the world connect online.

Dr G Laxminarayana, Principal, Anurag College of Engineering, Hyderabad: Calls to focus on future goals

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March 27, 2020

BEST USE OF THE TIME

As a responsible citizen and faculty I am sending this message to all the students and faculty.

I am writing this, and practicing in my college.

Dear students keep yourself in house and maintain all the precautions required for covid -19 in control.

As a principal, my advice to the students and faculty on this pandemic:

1. Prepare for any eventuality like this in your life , at the same time keep focus on your goals.

2. Main task now stay with your family and study the subjects. It may be from books , class notes or website.

3. Keep preparing for higher education (GRE )or employment (CRT).

4. Learn and practice the software for your academic and professional career.

5. For clarification you may contact your peers or faculty for clarification.

For the faculty:

1. Keep your health and family happy in covid-19 period.

2 at the same time keep focus on the students progress teach them through web or other social networks.

3. Teach or give assignment while updating your academics.

4. Motivate students directly or through parents .

5. Make them aware of the situation and professional career.

5. Let the students use our web notes or use mooks like NPTL etc.

From the college point, though it is closed my sincere advice to all the students and faculty keep the academic live.

Wish you all the bright future.

Dr G Laxminarayana, Principal, (Anurag College of Engineering), Hyderabad

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