Page 12 - Confluence

Jaspal Kaur Public School | 2020-21 12

STEPPING INTO THE VIRTUAL CLASSROOM
Journey from Real Time Classroom to Virtual Teaching
By N Rajashree Kala

Necessity is the mother of invention and this holds very true for the virtual classroom that replaced the
conventional education system during the lockdown. Though the switch-over in these uncertain times was
challenging for both students and teachers, who were used to face-to-face interaction in a classroom, the
virtual alternative proved to be a blessing in disguise eventually. Zooming all the way to glory by virtue of
Teams signalled the beginning of a new era subsequently.

Replacing the traditional chalk and dusters of the bygone era had always appeared unimaginable till date.
We had initiated the flight using the humble WhatsApp for recording audio, and video lessons to share the
assignments with my students. But alas, the billion-dollar personal touch was sadly missing. Where were
the beaming faces of my dear students with bewildered looks, at times? How could I gauge the response
virtually and ensure my students had understood the lessons? All this plagued my mind more in the initial
phase of the lockdown.

At last the ardent need to bridge the gap dawned upon me. That gave me the requisite energy and
motivation to learn to teach. Even though the platform was different, there was no looking back. As days
passed by, a harmonious rhythm and fine tuning with my students was established leaving them hungry for
more. Now it was time to take it to the next level wherein WhatsApp was superseded by Zoom. Viola! Now
I could see and hear my students - the classroom was VIRTUALLY back!
Rigorous training sessions helped me adorn my new avatar as an E-Guru.

Within a span of a few weeks, I had zoomed my way through, into my virtual classroom. Eventually, my
students got classroom experience by sitting in the corners of their own rooms. I realized that counseling
students to keep them engaged amidst the lockdown was as important as the actual teaching itself.

Teachers had now joined the brave team of Covid Warriors, managing their own homes which had its own
sets of challenges and ensuring there was no gap areas for their students as well. Not only Power Point
Presentations but Google docs, spreadsheets, Google forms have become a norm for me and now
Microsoft Teams is at the back of my hand. These were never a part of my lexicon, but I am glad I had an
opportunity to 'upgrade my skills' to impart better education in order to survive in this humongous
platform.

As we face a Brave New World, I think teaching will never be the same again. I miss my chalk and duster,
the faces of my students, the clutter and chaos of a real classroom. But every cloud has a silver lining! The
rainbow will finally burst through!