Enabling school through technology amidst COVID-19

The years 2019 and 2020 will be remembered as the years of the deadly Coronavirus. This virus is also called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease caused by this virus is called Covid-19. Coronaviruses circulate among animals, especially bats, or even certain types of cats.

Currently, there is no cure for Covid-19 and with the disease being deadly, prevention is definitely better than cure. To ensure prevention, healthcare professionals around the world have recommended social distancing to prevent Covid-19. This means that you keep a safe distance from anyone else, so as not to contract the virus.

To ensure this, governments of several countries have imposed “lockdowns” wherein they have shut down all schools, colleges, and businesses. Only essential services have remained open. India is no exception to this, with a lockdown being imposed in late March 2020. With all schools being closed down, these schools have resorted to using technology to help promote virtual learning in virtual classrooms. This is so that students do not attend schools, thereby minimizing the chances of contracting and spreading the virus. Here are some enabling technologies that are helping schools keep Covid-19 at bay…

1. Synchronous Learning: This is typical of a virtual classroom. In this type of learning, students and teachers connect and interact with each other in real time. In synchronous learning, students can get their questions answered immediately. Continuous creative interaction with teachers and other students makes this kind of learning very rewarding.
2. Session recording (Recording of the class lecture): The entire lecture can be recorded in video format and is then available for students to review as and when they want to. Also, students who are unable to attend the lecture in real time can view the video whenever they want to. This technology is also very useful in a special education classroom, wherein exceptional children or children with disabilities learn. It is important that the classroom feels like home for these students, providing a warm and welcoming environment, and this is where technology can help.
3. Live Audio-Video: Audio and video promote better understanding in virtual classrooms. There are several tools available for audio and video recording. These tools enable text-based chat, verbal interaction through audio conferencing, and sharing of videos through a web camera. Teachers can share the audio and video, establishing a one-on-one relationship with students. This builds confidence in students, who can also share their own videos with their fellow students. Live audio and video helps both teachers and students communicate more effectively.
4. White Board: This is a tool for drawing graphics or diagrams in a virtual classroom. Teachers can use this if they want to explain a complex topic to students. If students have a query about a certain topic that requires graphical explanation, teachers can use the whiteboard to draw a diagram and share the whiteboard with students. Currently, there are also many interactive whiteboards available for use by students and teachers.
5. Sharing of Desktop Screen: During teaching, teachers can share an entire desktop or an entire application to explain a particular topic. This can enhance learning by making it richer and more interactive.
6. Sharing of Learning Resources: Teachers can also share varied content in different formats with students in real time, while delivering lectures on different topics. Teachers can share different file formats, such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Flash presentations, Flash videos, and PDF files. Teachers can also share various course materials, such as topic notes, subject diagrams, graphs, explanatory videos, and so on. By sharing this informative and interesting course material, learning becomes fun and interactive. This is also one way of creating an Ed tech classroom.
7. Classroom control by teachers: Teachers can control the classroom, by allowing questions by students only at the end of the lecture. This is in order to avoid a chaotic situation and confusion. However, many teachers allow students to virtually “raise their hand” if they want to ask a question or express a doubt. It is then up to the teachers whether they want to answer the question in real time or at the end of the lecture.
8. Active student participation: In a virtual classroom, students can actively participate in a lecture by asking questions, expressing doubts and interacting with teachers and fellow students. Active participation by students in a virtual classroom is one of the best ways to learn and share knowledge.
9. Connecting technologies such as Skype, Google, and the Internet: With audio, video and text conferencing tools such as Skype, maintaining communication in a virtual classroom has never been easier. Also, the Internet helps in connecting scores of students with their teachers in real time. Google helps both students and teachers research information. This means teachers can use Google to research lectures and students can use Google to research class projects, papers, and other assignments. With schools shutting down for extended periods during the Covid-19 pandemic, communication technologies like the Internet and communication and research tools such as Skype and Google are invaluable.
10. Tech Support: Most of the technologies used have inbuilt tech support, so that if they fail to connect, they can be fixed and can function again quite seamlessly. So, if the video recording stops, it can be reconnected to restart with the recording continuing from where it stopped. This means that the technologies used to create a virtual classroom for online learning can run smoothly, thereby facilitating continuous and interactive learning.

These are just some of the technologies used by Vikas, The Concept School, and is merely a glimpse into how technology helps students learn and how and why technology is good for education. In the future, many more technologies will be added to the mix, such as Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), 3D printing, and so on. However, for now, these technologies are helping schools like Vikas stay ahead of the learning curve in this era of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also means that students at Vikas do not suffer from interrupted learning and in fact, can use these technologies to enjoy learning in a completely different way. So, if you are a parent worried about your child’s academic progress in these unusual times, you do not need to worry if your child is enrolled in Vikas.

Vikas is a school that cares unconditionally for its
students and has made sure that children continue their learning uninterruptedly through virtual classes. Students at Vikas follow the same routine that they did when attending school physically. In fact, attendance by children at virtual classes is almost a 100% and students are enjoying this new
mode of learning.

So, if you need to enrol your child in a school that will ensure your child’s academic future, think of Vikas, The Concept School!

For more information about virtual classrooms, enabling technologies, online learning, admission queries, and other information contact Vikas, The Concept School at (+91) 7702900900 or Click here to BOOK A LIVE APPOINTMENT or BOOK A LIVE MEETING