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Innovative practices used in teaching- learning activities

“Desperate times breed desperate measures”

William Shakespeare

As the world tries to make sense of the deadly disease (COVID-19, caused by coronavirus) that
knocked our doors unannounced, it is the young and the most vulnerable who are bearing the
brunt of the curbing measures in its most sinister form. Schools, playgrounds, parks, activities
areas, society compounds, malls, markets and all other places where kids used to socialize are
shut. According to UNICEF, closure of schools due to covid has impacted around 247 million
children in India. New words like quarantine, lockdown, SOP (standard operating procedures),
hydroxychloroquine have become a part of our everyday vocabulary. Masks, sanitizers and social
distancing are the new normal.

COVID-19 has compelled us to innovate and come up with new methods of teaching. Online
education has become the most important tool which helps us connect with our students.
Classrooms are brought online and teachers are struggling to connect with students through
screens of their computers, laptops, mobiles, projectors et al. Govt has launched different apps
such as – DIKSHA PORTAL, e-Path Shala, Swayam, STEM based games etc. Different online
platforms such as google meet, zoom, WebEx and others are being used to conduct online classes.
Pre- recorded sessions on YouTube and other platforms also come handy while teaching online.
Technology is a boon in these testing times.

As I use these methods of teaching on a daily basis, I am reminded of a chapter from class 9
English book, ‘The fun they had’. In this story two kids from future Margie and Tommy happen to
find a book where school life of past is being described. Margie and Tommy, who have ‘Robots’
for their teachers and who study via computers in their homes are envious of their ancestors who
had a place called school to go to, where they had human teachers teaching in classrooms and
fellow students sitting together and having fun. I wonder at the uncanny similarity of this story
and the reality we are living in right now. That schools will come online in our times may not have
been an idea even in the most visionary persons’ wildest imagination.

But these innovative ideas, the technology, the access to online devices have further widened the
gulf between the INIDIA and the BHARAT. A country like India where basic amenities like clothing,
food, shelter etc. are hard to come by, internet facility is a luxury not affordable by all. In pre-
covid times only a quarter of households (24 percent) in India had access to the internet and there
is a large rural-urban and gender divide. It is in the face of these challenges that a lot of Indian
teachers, NGO’s and other organizations have come up with praiseworthy ideas to connect with
students. Not only are these ideas innovative in their approach but also show the zeal and
determination of our people to face any situation, however adverse it may be.