How LPU is beating every challenge to maintain their academia during this Covid-19 pandemic, Ambika, LPU

These are first-hand student accounts on how our young population is managing to keep their exam prep or college course work going from the confines of their homes. In case you want to share your lockdown study experience, write to us at publish@shiksha.com.

Lovely Professional University, one of the well-known names in the world of private universities of the country is locked down just like any other institute. Even though this COVID– 19 pandemic is successful in locking down the university but still it failed to stop us from doing academic and administrative activities.

APPLICATIONS & SITES- On 14^th March it was decided to keep the university closed until the month-end i.e. 31^st March. Within a couple of days, LPU launched an application called LPULIVE to run the academics smoothly. The app segregated on the courses (subjects) in different groups and added all the students along with the faculties. University Management System (UMS) and LPU Touch application were always been handy to the students of LPU. These sites and applications were the part of academics for the students along with the regular classes. Now, to cope up with the challenging condition the university has added 'LPULIVE' app for the interaction of all teachers and faculties cour-wise and Google Meet to conduct video lectures.

SYLLABUS COMPLETION - The faculty members share PPT with all the students and discuss the topics according to the Instruction Plan (IP) in the UMS and LPULIVE app. Students find it very easy to interact with the concerned faculties to get answers for their quarries and share their ideas. As the classes are going according to the schedule so it is believed that the syllabus will be finished on time but exam dates cannot be confirmed due to the present condition. The university will take decisions based on the order passed by the central and state governments.

ONLINE CLASSES - The classes are going on according to the previous schedule. The teachers share the links to join the meeting in Google Meet through the LPULIVE app. They are teaching with the help of PPTs. Assignments are submitted online and group assignments are mostly asked to do individually to escape poor coordination. To fill the gap, faculty members are also sending video links for better understanding. They are also considering the challenges like slow connection or poor understanding and often extending the submission dates.

SUPPORT FROM THE FACULTY - The university officials and the faculties are giving their best to make the lectures effective but the main challenge is a poor internet connection. The students from remote areas are not able to gain 100% from the video lectures due to slow internet speed but still, they are managing with the help of friends and faculties.

CHALLENGES - Subjects with more practical classes are facing ultimate struggle because there is no way to continue that from home. So till the university resumes, the lab activities are all suspended and practical exams are waved off.

MEETINGS & GUEST LECTURES -Recently the department officials arranged an interaction session of all the class representatives with the Head of School. The class representatives are working as a medium between the higher officials and the students by conveying basic messages. And it is suggested by the university to keep an eye only on the UMS for authentic official notice and not to trust any other sources. Besides academic interaction, the business department has arranged guest lectures to motivate students and to make the lockdown days more productive. The guest lectures are also been arranged on the Google meet platform.

CSR ACTIVITIES - LPU announced to set up a fund of $1million for developing technologies against the Covid-19 pandemic. The fund is accessible by a multidisciplinary task force to restrict the spread of Covid-19.

INNOVATIONS - A B.Tech student with guidance from the faculties has developed an IoT device called “KAWACH”. It is designed to wear around the neck which will help the users in maintaining social distance, checking body temperature and remind you to wash hands. Every time the user breaches the safe distance of one meter it will vibrate.

About the Author:

Ambika Sur is a student at Lovely Professional University pursuing her MBA with agriculture background. She is continuously working on her technical and managerial skills to achieve an exceptional career in the corporate world. She has completed a live project at Metro Cash and Carry and marketing intern at Agronxt.