New Delhi | Vineet Sharan: Amid coronavirus lockdown, all the schools have been instructed to conduct online classes so that children do not fall behind their syllabus. So teachers have began teaching students via online mode using applications such as Skype, WhatsApp, Google Meet, Duo, and other video-conferencing apps.

This is the first instance that all teachers and students are coming together online. As a result, both teachers and students are facing new challenges. At the same time, they are also getting new experiences. Here's how teachers of different cities across the country shared their experience of online mode of teaching and its challenges.

Interesting reactions from children

Anuj Kumar, a computer science teacher at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Lakhanpur, Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, said that he started collecting mobile numbers of children from March 28. He talked to the children and asked how they would like to read and then started taking classes from March 30. By then, orders had also come from the KV administration to take online classes. Initially, he interacted with the students and then started teaching.

Kumar said that he teaches subject-wise and it usually takes about an hour. There are gaps of 10 to 15 minutes. Class runs from 9 am to 2 pm and children know the time of each class. All the teachers of the school, try to ensure that the children get the same atmosphere as the school. Even after the classes get over, teachers remain in touch with the children. Usually, teachers use DIKSHA, e-pathshala, and Google drive app to interact with students.

Use of previous experiences to assess children

According to Anuj, parents are also monitoring children, which makes it easier to teach online. For online classes, they use Cisco WebEx Online Meetings, which supports more than 10 students at a time. Around 15 to 16 children connect daily in his class. He said that we already know which child understands quickly and which child has difficulty in understanding.

In such cases, during online class, we also pay attention to weak children, who may have not understood the topic. Anuj Kumar asks children to focus on books and notebooks so that they can read offline better. At the same time, he believes that there should also be a separate radio and dedicated TV channel for every class.

Keep in mind about low data usage

Yajnesh Yadav, a teacher of Unnao's Kendriya Vidyalaya (PGT CS), says that his school has been teaching online since March 17. For this, there is a dedicated group on Telegram that can accommodate up to 40 people at once. Children are taught by sharing screens. He also takes care that children have to use the least internet data.

For the above, they keep the speaker on but keep the video off. Children's mobile data is also recharged when needed. According to Yadav, students come online from 9.20 am. For children who are unable to come online, they record and share the class.

Keeping children away from the negativity

According to Yajnesh, if the children are studying at this time, then they can also avoid the negativity of the coronavirus. Counseling of children is also necessary as many children are afraid of this pandemic. Thus, he has asked the rest of the teachers to lead the children towards positivity. Tell the children that they will grow up to be and find a cure for diseases. They are motivating children to stay indoors.

They are telling them that the children will be called to school only after the coronavirus is over. He also informs children about how many people have recovered from the virus. According to Yajnesh, there will be nothing big if the industry comes to a halt, but if children stop then our future will stop.

Advice and studies on how to avoid Coronavirus

Anjani Srivastava, a teacher of East Secondary School, Barabanki (UP), said that teachers already have contact numbers of children. Earlier, he used to talk to his parents at intervals of a few weeks. After the lockdown, teachers, and children were first added to a WhatsApp group.

He says that teachers and students start the day with the message of Good Morning. The teachers ask the children to pray and make them aware about COVID-19. Teachers prepare and send a voicemail of 5 minutes to study. Apart from this, homework is assigned via WhatsApp. Education is done according to the syllabus.

Children are also made aware of good hygiene. Children have been told that classes are conducted for children from class 1 to 8 on the radio at 11 am and DD Uttar Pradesh at 11.30 am. Teachers have also put up banners for awareness of COVID-19 in the village. Teachers connect with children on a daily basis, so that they can contact whenever they get a chance.

Problem and inconvenience

Connectivity and internet speed problems.

There is a lot of preparation needed to shift to the online platform.

Not every child has their own mobile phone.

Children are facing difficulty due to the small mobile screen. This makes children at risk of getting worse eyes.

Board class children will face difficulty in preparation.

It takes a lot of time to check children's answers on WhatsApp.