Think pandemic is the only challenge? Think again

ABP Digital Brand Studio   |   TT  |  26.10.21:  The pandemic has disrupted education and learning at a time when people were least expecting it. At the School of Computing and Analytics at NSHM Kolkata, we moved to online classes from the 3rd week of March 2020, even before the lockdown was declared by the government. The students and the teachers were tech-savvy, so the operational shift from offline to online was smooth. Yet, it turned out receiving education and learning through digital medium in the pandemic was a challenge. Or was it?

Story 1: It was the third week of March, 2020 when the online classes started and I began my class on Machine learning at 11AM sharp. In the first 15 minutes of the class, only one student joined the virtual class but without any further ado, I decided to start teaching. I made sure, I was properly connected and as I proceed, I asked my student, “Can you hear me?”. Rinki unmuted herself and said, “Yes ma’am”; assuring me I was indeed audible but I was surprised to hear commotion coming from her end. “Rinki, where are you?” I asked and her reply stunned me when she said “Ma’am, I am at the Howrah station, boarding a train…” Oh my God!

Story 2: A few months later, it was around second week of May 2020, when the pandemic has been announced officially and virtual classes were going on full-fledgedly. I was taking a class on Digital Marketing when suddenly a woman’s voice boomed from behind a particular screen “beta, chawal chaddha diya hai kya?” to which my student, Ram instantly replied, “Haan Maa” and I was quick to mute him because the class was being recorded.

Story 3: Another year passed, the situation had not got any better and it was already the second week of May 2021 when a new batch had joined whose initial lessons started online without any face to face meet with their mentors. I was taking my machine learning classes as usual but I was worriedby reports of students’ inattentiveness in class coming from all around. I checked on the new students from time to time by calling out their names with the hope of a little interaction.When I called out a student named Raja, I heard the blaring noise of traffic in the background. He was on the road travelling somewhere while attending a class and in the middle of a pandemic!

These are my real life experiences during the pandemic while conducting the online classes (names of the students are fictitious). None of those students were insincere in their studies; it was just unfortunate circumstances. Rinki was going back to her hometown as students were asked to vacate hostels and just like the millions of migrant workers, were struggling to get back home. Rinki was lucky to get a train ticket andshe joined the class from wherever she was whileher classmates were still struggling to get a ticket.Ram was helping his mother with the household chores balancing it with the classes as househelps were unable to come to work due to the strict lockdown. Later, I got to know that Raja was out to procure oxygen cylinders for an ailing person. These students of mine were heroes without the cape.

Life is a great teacher. In the pandemic, life taught us to be compassionate, be grit to cope with adversities and survive. Discussions around education and learning during the pandemic revolved around online vs offline (mediums) and Zoom vs Teams (platforms). To me, the real issue is learning to survive vs learning the lessons. If we fast forward 50 years, offline classes may be a distant history. The students of the future are likely to attend virtual classes with the environment of a class brought into the drawing room, aided by technology. The online vs offline and platform debate too will become history. Machine learning and digital marketing are likely to evolve beyond recognition. But the compassion, grit, learning to cope and survive will stay with the students forever.

This article is authored by Dr. Suparna Dhar. She is Associate Professor & In-charge of NSHM School of Computing & Analytics, West Bengal, India and can be reached by email at suparna.dhar@nshm.com