30 April 2020

Transforming Traditional Learning Into Smart Learning

The global pandemic has stalled all the sectors of the country. It has been slightly easier for professionals to adopt work from home as the new normal and continue business as usual, but it has been challenging for the education system.

It has been for months that Jammu and Kashmir have experienced the deprivation of 4G internet services and it was remarkably challenging for us to switch the whole educational system to an online platform. But Corona Virus, national lockdown, and internet shutdown did not break our belief to educate our contemporaries. “Where there is will there’s a way.” Belief did enhance our life. No doubt, students and teachers have had to make bigger adjustments as learning has always been in classrooms. Moreover, many of them were not well equipped with technology tools to avail of remote learning.

The school shifted to a complete online teaching and learning programme on 1 April 2020 via the Zoom app and Google Classrooms. The staff was trained in all the necessary things needed to sustain the online educational delivery by the management, in which the manager, Father Shaiju Chacko, and the principal, Sister Maria Swati played a vital role.

We are well aware that teaching is not an easy job. It calls for 24x7 concentration and efforts. And teaching online has made it tough for the teachers yet one has to admire the time and energy they put in to reach out to the students in a unique way. A person working in an IT sector is appreciated a lot when he/she works from home, but when the teachers do so, they do not receive the same.

Our teachers spent over five after-work hours a day only on their laptops to brainstorm ideas and plans for their online classes over the Zoom app. A couple of hours more goes into gathering and preparing the items and props. By the time they’re done, it’s often late at the night.

These heroes are working so hard to teach from afar while they have to also hold down their own homes and children. Teachers are busier during the lockdown than before and what they only need is a little appreciation.

Regular feedback is taken from the parents and the students, and they expressed their gratitude for the same and saluted for the School's proactive edifying response and online communication. Teachers’ evaluation was also essential, so an online session was held by Father Shaiju Chacko and Sister Swati Maria to resolve the quandaries faced by the faculty.

The management consolidated all the classes and subjects just to ensure the equal possibility of learning each subject. The Schedules for online classes were arranged in advance by the administration each day and were checked by the authorities before implying it to avoid confusion.

The apps, Snap Homework, and Campus Care helped us to send all the notes and study material to students online where they can study and revise their lesions by downloading it. Also, all the other notifications related to the students- activities, homework, tests, etc. are uploaded there.

The school and the management, as a whole, would like to express their gratitude and praise the staff for their remarkable commitment and hard work to ensure the strong continuity of Carmel's teaching and learning programme at this time of great challenge. We also record our immense appreciation and recognition to all the parents and families who have been so much part of this online educational journey over the month.

A good number of our staff is already certified for Covid-19 awareness and all set to begin school when it happens. And we are also very much aware that there will be many parents and families that will be severely financially impacted and some even crippled by the consequences of the national lockdown, as the shutdown period is lengthening.

But we want to assure you that we care for our students and their families, and would give all the possible relaxations and privileges to ease your concerns.

Stay Safe and Healthy!