Akhila Damodaran
Educators from Bengaluru have prepared a white paper to help government and low-cost private schools go online and provide hybrid distance learning programme to their students. The document ‘Continuing education post Covid-19′ prepared by Inventure Academy, Teach for India foundation and Whitefield Ready, a volunteer teaching initiative suggests schedules and modules for hybrid teaching-learning.
Parikrama Education Foundation which runs four K-10 schools and a junior college in the city has also succeeded in shifting online to ensure continuity in the schooling for over 1800 children.
The methodology presents both synchronous and asynchronous learning with live virtual classes, large group discussions, assessing and resolving students’ doubts, sharing resources on WhatsApp and other modes. It further suggests to facilitate learning using apps like Khan Academy and Diksha and sending out hard copies of worksheets and manuals and later, returning them with feedback through community centres. Microschooling in community centres with audio-video, learning apps like e-Pathshala and Diksha can also help in ensuring continuiting in learning among students. The document also showcases the online tools that can be adopted and ways to provide professional training to teachers to adapt to online learning.
“Millions of children are out of school now and many people say it is okay if children miss a year of education. But I believe this is critical phase of life and there should be continuity in learning process for the overall well-being of children. During the lockdown, parents are distressed too and hence, all the more reason for children to connect with faculty. We decided to prepare white paper to present the best practices and curriculum that we have adopted at Inventure and Ramagondanahalli government school so that other schools can adopt for an easy transition to online education,” says Nooraine Fazal, co-founder, Inventure Academy
She adds that government can fund the infrastructure for hybrid learning programme at schools. “It should embrace technology in education as emphasised in new education policy too,” she says.
Read: Whitepaper: Education and Covid-19
The document also shares the expectations from each stakeholder. Students are expected to attend all online classes and be responsible for their holisitic development and parents are expected to ensure learning happens at home. Teachers, with the support of school managements, should prioritise students and self well-being and create engaging learning opportunities for students. According to the white paper, the government is expected to provide adequate training facilities and resources for online teaching, monitor the progress of each of its school and award them
The white paper also presents the measures taken up at Ramagondanahalli government school which was adopted by Inventure Academy and Whitefield Ready to provide continued learning for over 400 students. The school has adopted hybrid learning programme which has helped enable smaller, differentiated classes providing personalised experience and empower students to become self-learners with support from parents, siblings and community members.
Read the complete document here: Continuing education post Covid-19
Read: Educators present white paper to Karnataka government
Posted in National, News
