Lives locked down, but learning spreads it wings online

For school-going children across the capital, a new academic session is generally marked with new books, bags, uniforms, and the excitement of starting another year with friends.

Darshan Ram, 17, had not expected to begin his last year in school from home. Instead of leaving for school at 6.30 in the morning, the class 12 student of Bluebells School International now begins his day an hour later, in front of his computer screen.

However, with the rapid spread of Covid-19 cases and the subsequent shutting of all schools, most students and parents are now adjusting to a new alternative — online learning. (Raj K Raj/HT file photo)

“My routine has changed since we have to attend online classes from home. I wake up only half an hour before classes begin. Since we have been asked to dress formally and not attend classes in night suits, I change my clothes, eat something, and then attend sessions between 8am and 12pm,” he said.

For school-going children across the capital, a new academic session is generally marked with new books, bags, uniforms, and the excitement of starting another year with friends.

However, with the rapid spread of Covid-19 cases and the subsequent shutting of all schools, most students and parents are now adjusting to a new alternative — online learning.

While the switch from regular classes to digital happened in a flash, Ram isn’t complaining. After attending the online sessions, the Noida Sector 104 resident spends the next few hours completing assignments sent by his school via email.

“None of us had ever imagined that we would start our final school year like this. One positive thing about the lockdown is that I’m getting a lot of time to do the things I’ve always wanted to. I’ve recently started a YouTube channel with my father where we upload skits on different topics,” Ram said.

Both private and public schools in the capital have switched to online lessons via videoconferencing, recorded video and audio lectures, presentation slides, podcasts, portable document format (PDFs), worksheets and activities on emails.

With homes turning into classrooms and books being replaced by computers and phones, the education sector is slowly being reshaped by the lockdown, leading to a shift in the lives and lifestyles of thousands of students, and their parents.

Several students said the online mode has made learning more interesting. Himanshi Sanyal, a class 12 student at Mount Abu School in Rohini, said every morning, she looks forward to the online classes.

“It becomes easier to understand topics with PPTs and visuals. We generally have 35-minute long sessions in school. But online, we are getting 45 minutes to an hour on each subject. We are getting more opportunities to learn and the responses to our queries are quicker,” she said.

Some students, however, miss the fun and banter that a classroom with its desks and blackboard affords. “When we sit with friends, we understand things better and it is much more fun. That togetherness is what I miss now. Also, we are not used to sitting in front of the computer screen for four hours every day and it often causes my eyes to ache. I miss going to school,” Myra Chawla, 14, a class 10 student at KR Mangalam World School, said.

School from home amid work from home

Parents, too, are taking extra measures to adapt to the new lifestyle. Shreya Sharma, mother of a class 9 student at DPS Mathura Road, said parents have to maintain a classroom-like environment at home while their children are tuned in to a session.

“We need to make sure that there is no noise in the background while our daughter attends her classes. Nobody enters the room where she sits with her laptop,” Sharma said.

“I also sit with my daughters to get their assignments done since the coaching centres are also closed,” Suman, a lawyer, who has three school-going children, said.

Some parents are making alternative arrangements for themselves so that their laptops are available for their children’s classes.

Shantanu Sharma, a resident of Mayur Vihar-1 who works with an IT firm, said they have only one laptop at home. “I also have to work from home and have to stay connected to my office throughout the day. Now I’ve changed my shift timing so that the laptop remains available for my 13-year-old son till noon,” he said.

New experience for teachers

The shift in the medium has been a learning curve for teachers as well. They are now preparing e-learning material, while also adapting to new applications and the look and feel of an online class.

Vineeta Nanda, a primary teacher at Mount Abu School, said although there were hiccups initially, things have become streamlined now. “We were all new to the apps. But students were excited from Day One. They are really ahead of us in terms of technology. The lockdown has given us an opportunity to brush up our IT skills and experiment with different methods of teaching. We are making videos and PPTs on every topic. That way, we are developing e-learning material that can be used later during regular classroom sessions as well,” she said.

Some private schools also held special training sessions for teachers to make them capable of making the most of the new medium.

Manju Sethi, principal of Bluebells School International, said, “While our students and teachers are well trained in using online learning tools, the current situation is different and calls for extensive interactive classroom-like structure. We held a seven-day training session for our teachers from nursery to class 12 to handle this.”

Is online the way forward?

Ritu Madan, officiating principal at Springdales Dhaula Kuan, said her school is also experimenting with podcasts.

Madan said her computer department was engaged in conducting training sessions for teachers on how to prepare educational podcasts. Other than that, the school is also encouraging students to use the CBSE’s learning apps.

In a city that is no stranger to emergency school closures owing to everything from pollution to extreme weather conditions and political agitations, an alternative learning medium could be the answer to ensuring an uninterrupted academic session.

Last year, the government had shut schools for over a week on account of severe pollution. In February, schools in northeast Delhi were shut due to communal riots.

Several principals said with a proper online learning mechanism in place, students will not lose out on classes during situations when they are unable to reach schools.

“Sometimes, senior students need online modules for clearing their doubts when they remain at home before exams. Also, schools are often suspended due to pollution or agitations and conflicts. That was why we were preparing an online teaching module. We wanted to create a learning model which would be sustainable in the future as well,” Divya Bhatia, principal of Amity International School in Saket, said.

Are students ready for digital learning?

Although India’s internet penetration stood at 52.08% in 2019, as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India data, not many have access to high bandwidth internet connections or devices needed to facilitate online learning.

Experts have pointed out that this will be an obstacle in making digital learning a viable alternative.

“Right now, we have rushed into online learning, but solid groundwork is needed to make it a viable alternative. For instance, even if students do not have phones or computers at home, they don’t need to go all the way to school. They could go to a local shop or any shared space where they could download lessons and access the e-learning content,” educationist Meeta Sengupta said.

“Proper pedagogies and supportive structures have to be designed. Schools should have an online community manager who could manage all content and content curation.”

For now, schools have tasked groups of teachers to work closely with students who lack such computer devices and tools. For instance, Springdales Dhaula Kuan has teachers calling all such students and taking a regular update on their learning progress.

“Almost all students are on WhatsApp at least. We have a separate group of teachers who ensure that learning material reaches them. The teachers also monitor the progress of the students by calling them,” Madan said.