Teachers too learn with online classes
Teachers relieved classes started despite lockdown
With restrictions across the country in view of the pandemic, the education system has been hit severely, pushing the imparting of lessons to the digital domain. This has been difficult not only for the students, especially those living in remote areas, but also for teachers who switched to the online mode of teaching overnight.
On a day when the country celebrated and thanked the teaching community on Saturday on the occasion of Teachers’ Day, teachers from all sections of the system, from private to public, and colleges to universities, evaluated and assessed the digital journey in the last six months.
The biggest challenge that teachers from all sections felt was the switch from the regular to online classes, that lacked the aspect of clear and efficient interaction.
Prof. Sheela Prasad from the Centre for Regional Studies, University of Hyderabad, said, “Nothing can replace the experience of a physical classroom. Online classes are only a stop gap arrangement at the moment, because we have no choice. It is difficult to connect with each student virtually, and providing adequate resources as per each student’s needs and calibre has become a Herculean task.”
Similar is the case with intermediate and degree college teachers who teach students from all sections of society and are concerned that several students are losing out. However, teachers at colleges and universities say that they are much better placed because of the flexibility that the structure of the collegiate education system provides, than the structured system in case of school education.
Teachers at public or government schools are only relieved that classes in some form have begun for their students, even as issues of accessibility in rural areas persist. Bharathi, a government school teacher from Khammam, said that the need to supervise children in taking classes being broadcast over TV or T-SAT has added to the struggles of teachers in rural areas. She said that teachers go to each student’s house to check whether classes are being taken effectively.
Teachers at private schools pointed out that the lack of proper interaction and assessment of each student has become a task. Some even said that this has deflated the morale of the teaching community, however support of the managements of schools and parents have kept them going. Teachers from Glendale Academy and Meridian School praised the management for helping teachers sail through these difficult times with proper guidance and training. Aparna Tivary from Glendale Academy said, “Our management was ready well in advance, foreseeing a possible lockdown situation. This helped the teachers get accustomed to the change.”
One common takeaway that all teachers recognised is that the shift to online teaching has been a learning curve in their careers and that it has opened a vast sea of resources for them to experiment with.