We have witnessed a big shift in mindset of adapting to online education, says ABBS academic coordinator

The current pandemic situation has transformed how we will be leading our lives from here on. This also includes the transition of office-based jobs and classroom learning to online mode. In these times, adaptability is the key. In a conversation with Shiksha.com, the academic coordinator Dr Vijaya Bhaskar at Acharya Bangalore B School (ABBS) shares the feedback of their students in detail about the online delivery of content and also their transition journey to online curriculum.

Here is the edited excerpt of the conversation:

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

A: A lot of educational institutes are using this lockdown time as an opportunity to help students develop skills such as informed decision making, creative problem solving, and perhaps above all, adaptability. To ensure those skills remain a priority for all students; resilience must be built into our educational systems as well. In this direction, we at ABBS-Acharya Bangalore Business School started teaching our students through online sessions using different platforms in the month of March.  We have students from different parts of India and abroad. We are able to connect and I can say this pandemic situation even it has brought the close connection. We are able to connect to them individually in the sessions. The students are very happy and they are able to get connected with academia in this pandemic situation. Every day about 35 to 38 sessions happen across different courses. Students are given assessments and assignments through these virtual sessions and the students are also showing interest in completing the task. Every day the faculty sends the invitation to students and the students attend the sessions. We have been witnessing regular attendance of over 75 per cent students in all the sessions. In the initial phases, they were worried about the academic loss but now they are even ready for online exams. Though a lot of us still face challenges like internet connectivity still we are able to cope up. Adaption and flexibility to the situation is a solution to this situation.

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: In a world where knowledge is a mouse-click away, the role of the educator must change too.  We need to empower our students - Imparting the adaptation and survival of the quickest decision.

1. Our students and faculties are involved in the social action forum; it is about giving awareness of pandemic disease eradication. It is in progress.
2. Two of our students have joined the Corona warrior volunteer troop to spread awareness on the current situation
3. We had done the counseling on the examination pattern, as students were worried about the evaluation process this semester. All the HODs, class teachers and academic co-coordinators conducted special sessions for the students advising them and their parents to stay calm and relaxed.
4. We have also been conducting online assessments at regular interval 

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

A: We have been successfully conducting the online assessment tests in the form of MCQs, and short answers method for undergraduate studies. Students have been evaluated using grading them in the first stage. In the assessment, students have shared with us the scanned copies of their handwritten short answers. We have been evaluating them basis that.

Q: How are students responding to new initiatives?

A: The students are in a learning mode. Amid the current lockdown scenario, the virtual classes have proved to be boon for them so the faculty and students have adjusted to the new situation of online sessions very positively. We have already conducted over 1,000 online sessions and have reached to 95 per cent completion of the curriculum

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

A: We are still following a similar classroom methodology but in the virtual form. We assign group tasks to students in which they connect with each other over the phone or video conferencing tools, discuss the assignment and come up with the solution, Hence, we are still in the process of enhancing their interpersonal and team management skills.

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

A: It was not an easy transition. Predictably, it’s going to be a bigger shift than simply lifting students’ desks and placing them at home with a teacher dictating new subject material across a virtual class. It is a big shift in the mindset of adapting to delivering online education. 

Now with the support from management, the college has been able to deliver the classes by using various online tools. This situation of necessity and applications of online tools has made us realised  that ‘Necessity is the mother of invention.’

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

A: Online education in its various modes has been growing steadily worldwide due to the confluence of new technologies, global adoption of the Internet, and intensifying demand for a workforce trained periodically for the ever-evolving digital economy. Technology is transforming jobs and skills faster than organisations or people can adapt. It will take a global community working together to scale access to higher education. 

Students have become independent and self-reliant in their learning tasks and w are sure of their bright career and growth ahead.