“Teachers have 3 loves: love of learning, love of learners, and the love of bringing the first two loves together” – Scott Hayden
Distance learning, E-Learning, Virtual Classes are some of the common terms echoing all around the world and more so in our country. Distance learning called the NEW NORMAL seems to be the need of the hour, as the entire world is fighting a pandemic that nobody ever expected. I personally believe learning has no limits, it never stops and with the technology developing every day, learning truly has no borders.
With this sudden shift away from the physical classroom, a million dollar wonder is whether the adoption of distance learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education system.
This is definitely a challenge each one of us are going through, but according to me, nothing seems impossible. It is the will to accept the current change and look beyond and move out of our comfort zones. Change is inevitable and hence we need to adapt to the changes with a positive mindset.
I personally believe every child has the right to education and learning and no situation, not even a pandemic should ever bring a stop to this. The alternative at this time is Distance learning. I strongly believe that the distance learning strategy should cater to the needs and challenges of all stake holders- parents, teachers and students involved. Also with the proposed restructuring of school curriculum and pedagogy in a new 5+3+3+4 design, school education will be reconfigured to make schools responsive and relevant to the developmental needs and interests of learners at different stages of their development. I am proud to share that our organization, the Vijay Kiran Group of Institutions (VKGI) is catering to all of these. The advantages of Distance Learning Programme at VKGI are that it is convenient to adapt to with a User friendly platform, focus on the developmental needs of the learners, flexible learning time, professionally recorded learning material consisting of a combination of videos, worksheets and notes, Improved digital skills and the list goes on.
Being inclusive is another aspect of a good school education which we at VKGI have catered to by providing the learning resources to the RTE students through means that are convenient to them.
Last but not the least, Learning should never stop and we should engage students constructively in the best possible way, so if the need of the hour is Distance learning, then why not adapt it. Statistics reveal that online education market in India was valued at INR 39 billion in 2018 and is expected to reach INR 360.3 billion by 2024, expanding at a rate of 43.85% during the next 5 years. Ease of learning, flexibility and a wide range of study materials have influenced the overall growth.
Penned by:
Ms. Taranum Iqbal
Principal, NCFE - JBN