Thanks to technology as we are still able to steer the boat in the storm: Abhishek G, IIMK

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.

Classrooms are closed, hostels are silent, playgrounds are empty and students are stranded at home, limiting them from the physical world, thanks to the COVID-19 bringing world to its knees. The wars are no more being fought in the battlegrounds but by the doctors and nurses in hospitals who have been the front-line soldiers in the battle against an invisible enemy. From businesses to education, no sector has been left untouched, and students across the world are facing grave danger of missing out their classroom-learning environment. However, drastic time requires drastic measures, and thanks to technology, we are still able to steer the boat in the storm. The online classes provided by various educational institutions from IITs, IIMs, to local schools and colleges, the new model is taking shape, which was a farfetched dream for a country like India.

Sustainability of Online Classes

The term came to an unexpected halt at various B-School across India, including IIM Kozhikode, with students asked to leave the campus as soon as possible. The students continued the term from their homes but an MBA is much of a peer learning course rather than student-teacher learning and hence many students felt the missing factor in the online lectures. This one major flaw of "missing out on peer learning" could be a drawback as far as B-schools are concerned. The teachers are trying their best to imbibe knowledge as they could from there side, but in the end, they also find themselves helpless. Moreover, some students reside in remote corners of the country where Internet services are still in nascent stages, and online Education has not been appropriately implemented.

Some changes to the Online Classroom Model

During these tough times, the onus lies on the institutions to provide the quality education that students thrive for in institutes like IIMs and pay a hefty amount of fees. The professors, apart from regular classes, can organize for specially designed doubt clearing sessions and probably create a podium for students to discuss among themselves. The responsibility lies over the students as well, to adapt to the harsh circumstances. Provide the necessary support to their teachers in organizing the lectures and even preparations. Collaborations with online service providers could provide institutions to reach their students present in the various parts of India.

The Covid19 will have lasting impacts on the education sector and would require drastic measures to be implemented.

No doubt that COVID has unleashed the biggest human calamity that has faced so far in history. However, the human spirit has shown in the past that it can overcome the atrocities and be more reliable than ever. The Government must take it as a lesson for the future and start improving the infrastructural capabilities of the nation so that if something similar occurs in the future, our students would be ready to fight. Revamping the entire pedagogy and remodeling to provide maximum support to the students but still, a lot of work must be done before the students return from their summer internship break, which itself has been a topic of discussion.

About the Author:

Abhishek Gautam is a postgraduate in Mathematics and Computing from IIT Kharagpur. At present, he is pursuing PGP from IIM Kozhikode. He has prior work experience in Analytics and Product Development domain. Also, he has also worked with three growing startups as an intern.