In post-lockdown period, we will witness greater collaboration with global partner institutions, says CEO at AIMS

In a conversation with Shiksha.com, Chief Operating Officer at AIMS Institutes, Bangalore Priyanandan Reddy explain how they are utilising their in-house system during the current pandemic situation to deliver lectures online, conduct exams, viva and written aptitude test for admission process of aspirants. He also shares their plans to integrate a few more functionalities to the current system to improve user experience.

Here is the edited excerpt of the conversation:

Q: How has today’s scenario of lockdown and global pandemic impacted your education system?

A: COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown has surprised everyone and those organisations that have been on their feet and who have invested in technology could adapt quickly to the changing scenario. As an education institution, we at AIMS Institutes could address this scenario quickly and effectively by moving our classrooms to online mode. Not just the classrooms but we have also moved our complete admission process online.

Now, upon completion of the online application process, the eligible aspirants will receive calls from our admissions team for a telephonic personal interview round and further process.

Q: What are some of the interesting initiatives your institute has taken to make it easy for your students and also contribute to eradication of this pandemic?

A: We at AIMS Institutes have been working on our process automation platform for many years now, and it it is completely in use since past four years. It is a continuous process to work on this platform, thanks to ever-changing technology. Some of the initiatives that we have taken are:

• Online classes
• Online assignments
• Online conferences with industry experts
• Online admissions and selection process

Our automation platform has the features to conduct exams, random quizzes, assignments (both create and submit), upload study materials for respective subjects, online admissions and selection process. Apart from the above, we are working on new modules that will bring in more stakeholder engagement. 

Q: How is the institute planning to conduct exams, evaluate and declare result online?

A: Our internal system has the option to conduct exams online with Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs). Thus, it enables us to view the results instantly on individual profile pages of students. Also, we will be conducting the viva sessions to evaluate individuals before promoting them to the next sessions.

Similarly, the written aptitude test for aspirants is also being conducted online and results are also declared on the system itself.

Q: How are students responding to new initiatives?

A: Considering we are dealing with millennials and beyond, it is no surprise that students have adapted to the online scenario very quickly. In fact, we have had a lot of positive feedback from the students and teachers. We are now working with the online platform company to introduce new features and to enrich the user experience on the platform. There are some challenges as not all the teachers are comfortable in using the technology, but we are handholding them to adopt the same.

Q: What impact will it have on students’ interpersonal, team management skills?

A: Many organisations (including startups) are already talking of continuing work from home for most of the staff members after this pandemic ends. Being educators, we feel it is our duty to ensure our graduates are comfortable with such environments, and we are glad to have responded quickly to address this. Since there will be group assignments, discussions, and projects that need to be done online, this situation is pushing us and the students to find ways and solutions to address the challenges and developing skillsets, including team management skills and interpersonal skills.

Q: What are the best practices that the college is adopting to ensure seamless online learning?

A: Online learning is the best practice so far we have adapted to make learning seamless. The idea here is to stay home and safe and we are talking to our service providers in enriching this platform further by integrating solutions that would bring in further transparency, credibility, and simplicity. We are working on bringing together a lot of things that we are currently doing separately under one umbrella. As far as learning is concerned, since our platform has all the features to conduct exams and create assignments online we are able to deliver a better learning experience with ease. 

Q: How will today’s situation revolutionise online learning in India and abroad?

A: Technology is here to stay and play a bigger role as we move ahead. We believe the future will be blended learning and going completely online wherever possible. We also believe that we will be witnessing greater collaboration with global partner institutions and more learning online with the exchange of academics and knowledge.