Mentoring carries the responsibility of enabling someone to move out of debilitating circumstances; it is much more than the term that has emerged as a catchphrase in an NGO-ized women’s studies discourse—“capacity building.”
The schema of learning and teaching presents itself as a mutual experience for both the artist and the one who wants to be an artist, distinctions that are difficult to make sometimes.
The science of coping with the pandemic progressed far faster than anyone could hope for, but socio-political and cultural worlds have struggled to keep pace. Culture and politics have clashed with science, leaving everyone worse off. We are nowhere near the final chapter of this real-life drama.
The need to do college laboratory experiments in science and engineering remotely due to the COVID 19 Pandemic became necessary for the entire student community, from March 2021 onward. The Virtual Lab repository built under the NMEICT Program of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, was leveraged for use by students to do simulated experiments. The Virtual Labs made a substantial impact and was used by over 7.0M users to meet their curricular needs. This chapter describes the salient features of the impact and how this impact can be sustained through specific initiatives.
Personally, I wouldn’t say the year of teaching online has been a total loss, but I can see it has been pretty much a write off for many students who have found it impossible to engage online, partly because of technological or situational constraints, but also because they have never learned how to learn independently.
A teacher’s act of teaching is moderated by the experience of seeing the class and being-seen by the class. As teachers, we develop a fine-tuned antennae that can sense the mood of the class. We know when the students are getting bored or restless, or when they get a spark thinking through something we have said.
In an ideal situation, students should have enough choice in their educational opportunities and the freedom to recognize their skills and pursue the career that suits them the most. This is a far cry from what one sees in India.
Come what may, the pandemic has made a compelling case for teaching online. As I stand at the threshold of another new semester, I am excited to hone skills I have learnt as well as to continue experimenting with the possibilities presented by the online medium.
Mentoring that happens in the classroom is not enough for someone who is a passionate teacher. Teaching does not begin and end at the doorstep of the classroom, though unfortunately that is how many professors complete the task.
The official enthusiasm for the online mode which derives from the obvious possibilities of extensive reach it offers must take into account that online education cannot be simply old wine in a new bottle. The new medium requires new modalities.
We need to remember that the online mode was never designed as a permanent solution. It is not okay to normalize online mode, and our experiences of teaching during the lockdown should invite us to think about the limitation of online as a mode to teach.
It is evident that the continuation of online teaching that was initially viewed as short-term measure beyond a year or perhaps more for some, is leading to higher levels of fatigue despite greater familiarity and ease of using the mode. While most teachers feel that they are now better than before in dealing with pauses, viewing only their own faces, dealing with students’ indifference and ever-changing technological tools, they also feel even more ‘irritated’, ‘demotivated’ and are ‘losing stream’.
This new series of articles on Confluence examines how online education in India evolved during the coronavirus pandemic.
