As the tremors of COVID-19 have brought the entire mankind to its knees, the only thing that’s keeping us safe in these tough times is the army of frontline workers who are putting their well-being at stake to contain the pandemic.
We literally owe our lives and our safety to these frontline warriors. But during these testing times, there are another kind of unsung heroes who are working day and night to make sure that the pandemic doesn’t act as a barrier to education.
Yes, I’m talking about all the teachers, educators and professors out there, who are putting in thrice the amount of work and effort to curate e-learning curriculums that ensure their students aren’t suffering academically.
My professor is 74 and he isn’t confident using Zoom so he’s prerecorded the rest of our classes. Today, I watched the first one. He has a Pinocchio doll in the front row because he isn’t comfortable teaching to an empty room. I’m social distancing for this man and this man only. pic.twitter.com/2HvG3xhrTt
— montana (@macho_montana) March 22, 2020
Whether it’s making the best use of WhatsApp to send voice recordings of everyday lectures, releasing educational podcasts or creating a makeshift classroom to take virtual classes over Zoom, educators from all across the globe have pretty quickly adapted to this form of teaching.
When this dedicated teacher didn’t have access to a tripod during the lockdown, she went beyond her usual classroom duties and came up with a life-changing hack to ensure that the students could view her whiteboard.
In fact, In India, not only private but even the government schools have successfully made efficient efforts with either e-learning or flipped education to make sure that they receive maximum student engagement in these unprecedented times.
Ushakumari Ma’am, an educator from Kerala developed and incorporated augmented reality during her virtual classes to make sure that her students gained a holistic experience even during online classes.
This is too cool! A school in Malappuram, Kerala uses augmented reality for online classes! And an elephant, cow appear in class rooms (it’s News Minute video) pic.twitter.com/z1j5yCHslg
— Liz Mathew (@MathewLiz) July 11, 2020
If you come to think about it, all the educators are actually going above and beyond their duty calls, just like the frontline warriors. They’re working around the clock to try and make the untapped concept of online education and e-learning accessible in India during times like these.
Along with their ongoing tasks and lesson plans, they now have to research effective methods of online teaching, digitise all their teaching content, record lectures and produce virtual notes to ensure that their students have the raw material to study.
The successful zoom meeting took place with my staff. Reviewed online classes and research work. @zoom_us @Bigithomas2 @chandrikrajdeep @Mukshita28 @radha610, Anamika, sharmistha. #StayHomeSaveLives #IndiaFightsCorona #zoomclasses #21daysLockdown @HRDMinistry @ugc_india pic.twitter.com/QGmp643KJd
— Shivani Mishra (@shivanikdmishra) April 3, 2020
Can we please take a moment to applaud their flawless multi-tasking skills?
We are so sure that these regular sessions and efforts made by educators are helping their students get as close to how their life used to be, before the pandemic.
Been homeschooling a 6-year old and 8-year old for one hour and 11 minutes. Teachers deserve to make a billion dollars a year. Or a week.
— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) March 16, 2020
We salute all the educators for taking such measures to ensure that their students are learning new things even during the lockdown. Thank you for always putting your students first.
