Page 23 - EW May 2020 for Flipbuilder

Education Briefs

Covid-19: Challenge & Response grid, Wakelet, OneNote and Office

365 programmes to create and share
e-learning resources with students.
he silver lining of the Covid-19 Mount Litera Zee School, Amritsar Software suites used include Present-
crisis and the susbequent lock- ount Litera Zee School, Amrit- er, eWhite Board, Screencast-o-Matic,
Tdown of all education institu- Msar (MLZSA) has steadily intro- and Wondershare Filmora to enrich
tions from KG to Ph D is that it has duced new technologies in teaching- teaching-learning experiences. The
stimulated innovative ICT solutions learning over the past decade. After online curriculum also includes physi-
to ensure continuity of teaching-learn- the nationwide lockdown was an- cal education, dance, music and art.
ing. Here’s how several randomly se- nounced on March 24, the manage- C ol l a b ora tion a n d re v ie w .
lected institutional managements are ment and staff have smoothly trans- SPMS management and staff are le-
responding to the Covid-19 challenge. formed MLZSA into an engaging veraging MS Teams among other
virtual school. digital platforms for enabling teach-
Anchorwala Education Academy, Innovative initiatives taken by er-teacher and teacher-student in-
Mumbai the management to ensure teaching- teraction. “It’s heartening to see our
learning continuity include utilisa-
collaboration initiatives bearing fruit
mong the first schools in Mum- tion of e-learning tools such as Skype, so quickly with parents and students
Abai to introduce virtual learning Google Meet and Google Classroom enthused with our online teaching-
solutions following outbreak of the specifically designed for teachers and learning initiatives,” says B h u p in de r
Covid-19 pandemic, the Anchorwala students, and teachers’ training in e- G og ia , principal, SPMS.
Education Academy (AEA) has drawn tools usage. The school’s in-house IT
upon the expertise of its faculty in le- specialists and Microsoft Google mas- Pardada Pardadi Education Society
veraging digital technologies to deliv- ter trainers have formulated e-learn-
er quality online learning in several ing schedules for each class, allotment he management and staff of Ano-
innovative ways. and submission of assignments and Topshahr (Uttar Pradesh)-based
S ta f f orie n ta tion a n d tra in in g . disbursal of students’ work completed Pardada Pardadi Education Society
AEA managers and teachers were through Google Classroom and other (PPES, estb.2000) — a non-profit
familiarised with online pedagogies e-learning resources installed in every organisation founded by Virendra
through an intensive one-week work- classroom. (‘Sam’) Singh, former president and
shop. In particular, teachers were “Our parents and students have managing director of DuPont South
trained to use Zoom for conducting been very supportive. None of our Asia Ltd — has pulled out all stops
online classes and creating digital students has missed even one online to ensure continuous learning for its
resources. An orientation session on virtual class. All of them are very en- 1,613 girl children in its three schools
using Zoom was conducted also for thusiastic about online learning and in the under-served Bulandshahr dis-
parents. regular about completing their assign- trict of Uttar Pradesh.
O n l in e c l a s s e s . Daily online class- ments. Our switch to online learning C u s tom is e d l e a rn in g v ia m u l tip l e
es are being conducted according to has been quick and successful,” says dig ita l p l a tf orm s . PPES teachers
time-tables and attendance musters M a n j ot D h il l on , director, MLZSA. post daily learning content through
are being marked. A one-point con- the WhatsApp platform. Simultane-
tact for resolving technical glitches Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana ously teachers are conducting online
and communication issues was shared classes for students with access to the
with parents and teachers. Virtual he management of Sat Paul Mit- Zoom app. For those unable to access
classes went live in end-March after Ttal School, Ludhiana (SPMS) — a WhatsApp or Zoom, PPES teachers
digital resources, including class and Microsoft Showcase school — is com- are providing learning instructions
practice work and projects, were post- mitted to providing all students virtual through cell phones.
ed online. learning amid the ongoing nationwide C om m u n ity e n g a g e m e n t in itia -
“We have received positive feed- lockdown through its Remote Learn- tiv e s . The PPES management is mo-
back from students and parents for ing Work Plan (RLWP). The plan is bilising school and local communities
our online classes. There is growing being implemented through: to mitigate the impact of the Covid-19
appreciation among all stakeholders S tu de n t orie n ta tion . A detailed pandemic through several initiatives.
that AEA staff and management have roadmap outlining RLWP and ex- Among them: PPES school buildings
quickly introduced a smooth switch pected outcomes has been sent to all have been transformed into quaran-
to online learning in these challeng- students. tine centres; it has installed a toll-free
ing times,” says S h il p a K e n ia , sec- V irtu a l c l a s s room s . SPMS teach- hotline number; provision of food,
retary, AEA. ers are leveraging MS Teams, Flip- hygiene and other essential rations

MAY 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 23