Discover how learning never stopped at these schools while the world paused
Disclaimer: This was first published on Times Of India and produced on behalf of Apeejay Education Society by Times Internet’s Spotlight Team.
As the world is reeling from the blows of Covid-19, professionals are adapting themselves to a work-from-home model, and one of the biggest concerns is what happens to children and their on-going education. What happens when entire schools and universities go online? In normal times, educational boards would not have agreed to such experiments. But these aren’t normal times, and one institution has risen up to the occasion at hand. The Apeejay Education Society has been at the forefront of ensuring that the education process of their students is in continuum, and nothing acts as a barrier, even during testing pandemic times.
Its schools have always believed in leveraging technology to its fullest even before Covid-19 struck the world. They were the first to make coding education mandatory in the late 1990s. Children in this school had access to computers from early 2000, and progressed into cloud-based education processes by 2010.
Even now, when the world has paused, the schools have been extremely prompt in adopting measures that keep the education going. From March 15-16th, the curriculum has gone virtual. The schools have been proactive with interactive video classrooms through Zoom and Moodle, particularly for the 10th and the 12th grade so that their education does not come to a standstill. Not only senior secondary, even pre-primary, primary and secondary have followed the mode of online education.
The Apeejay Education Society believes in pursuit for excellence. They had immediately conducted the workshop and training for teachers to prepare them for online learning programs and teaching. They have also conducted parents orientation programs along with PTMs to further sensitize the parents towards the situation. The school principals have further reached out to EWS students, making sure that they don’t miss out on the education, and they attend too.
This system has been such a hit that they aim to carry out most of the schools’ functionalities through video management learning systems.
What has also helped the schools is their ability to get some quality speakers from across the globe. To ensure that students also get the right amount of exercise, the school has also rolled out a series of physical education activities like dance and yoga so they are able to stay fit while exercising their gray matter. The schools have also made provisions for music classes, meditation and art and craft.
In this crucial time, even parents have been supportive and equally involved in their children’s education, which has smoothened this transition from real to virtual, and so has the faculty. Covid-19 has not stopped the schools from their daily functioning. In fact the schools have used smart tech to make the most of this time, and not let the virus hinder the education of their students.
The schools have also received encouragement from parents for their quick adoption of the digital education model. Amrita Deka, whose child studies in the fourth grade, says, “My daughter was glad to be connected to school again. The video and audio was clear. The teachers taught the concepts well. Thank you for reassuring parents that all needed material will be put on moodle.”
Shilpi Chawla, whose daughter studies in the first grade, says, “In this difficult time, the school has come up with a great idea. Making the best use of technology, they have started online classes for students, which is a great help for parents and students.”
In the present day, technology is indeed a child’s play. With video conferencing and many such tools, collaboration is the keyword of the season, and this is what will help schools in shaping the leaders of tomorrow. Amidst the Covid-19 outbreak, schools have ensured that students stay safe at home, and continue to learn and keep progressing.
