Our Reporter
Dimapur, Sep. 4 (EMN): When classroom teaching shifted to online mode for the first time in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most people assumed this new normal of teaching-learning to be temporary.
However, two years have passed and teachers in the state are still reeling from the aftermath of the crisis, having encountered a plethora of challenges in the classroom -- both online and later offline.
An assistant professor at Dimapur Government College told Eastern Mirror that the initial days of teaching via virtual mode was not easy for her as it was new and to suddenly conduct classes on screen was ‘difficult to figure out’.
‘It is easy to observe and identify if a student is concentrating or understanding what is being taught in the classroom but it is not the same for online. It is also difficult to identify if the students are physically present during online classes and human interaction is limited. The period of hardship was experienced during class tests and examinations as we could not guarantee how honest the students had been and the assessment of the papers, which was also done through online, was challenging. It was more difficult for the teachers who were not tech savvy’, she said.
‘Nevertheless, it was a challenging and learning period, which we have surpassed and we took it as a challenge for the betterment of the education system if such situation arises in future’ , she asserted, adding that it was a relief when online teaching shifted to classroom teaching again.
Another teacher, Emilo, a Computer IT subject teacher at St. Mary’s Higher Secondary School in Dimapur, had her own share of challenges before and after COVID restrictions were lifted.
‘As a computer teacher, there was no way that I could teach my students through online other than the theory paper. So I had to make a video and send them, which was more challenging as I could not physically monitor and teach them, which is required for practical classes. Also, every student comes from different backgrounds so some have computer at home and some may not’, Emilo said.
For Peter Patton, a government school teacher, conducting examinations and evaluation of the papers were major challenges as some students who did not perform well during the offline classes were scoring well.
‘We were also helpless as we could not deduct marks for the answers they had written, although we could make out that they had cheated’, he said.
Patton shared that with the sudden shift to online teaching, most teachers were not conformable to come in front of the camera and teach initially, as they had never tried it before and were not trained as well.
“It was completely new and a shocker for both the students and the teachers”, Patton acknowledged. He also pointed out that it was difficult for the teachers to give individual attention to the students and monitor them.
The assistant professor shared that after staying at home for almost two years, the students took time to get back to the classroom learning mode.
‘In fact, they are still in holiday mood and this also becomes the responsibility of the teachers to get them back on track and engage them in the classroom’, he added.
Emilo also said the more challenging period was getting back to the offline classroom teaching mode after the restrictions were lifted.
She shared that the students were not as disciplined as pre-COVID and it was difficult to understand if the students were concentrating or even interested in the classroom.
“During the pandemic, most of them were introduced to technology so their attention span in the classroom was less and appeared lethargic”, she shared, adding that the task is more on the teachers to keep them engaged.
Patton also shared that after the resumption of offline classes, it is a difficult challenge to engage the students.
‘On the pretext of online classes most of the students were introduced to mobile phones and spent hours on it so their concentration is less now. The teachers are struggling to get them back to the pre COVID period of classroom learning. Also, because of the nature of their jobs, most parents are not able to give time to their child, so the responsibility lies more on the teachers’, he asserted.