The online teaching and learning process amid the pandemic crisis has encouraged teachers and administrators under the General Education Department in Ernakulam to undertake capacity enhancement programmes for effective online teaching.
A team of nearly 100 teachers, trainers, and administrators has joined a free coaching programme that will help them get trained in using audio-visual technologies and educational software towards online teacher professional development.
“Each participant is given a task as part of the daily sessions. It may be coming up with an educational video or making short films for the benefit of students. They get adequate time to complete the task, which will be evaluated by experts offering the training programme,” said Gopakumar T.V., Principal, District Institute of Education Training.
The need for such capacity building programmes emerged on the inference that many teachers required additional support and training to improve their online teaching methodologies. “The relevance of such training is not confined to the ongoing online learning mode, but it will help teachers scale up their potential even in traditional classrooms that had turned hi-tech with the introduction of smart technologies,” said Mr. Gopakumar.
Usha Manatt, District Project Co-ordinator of Samagra Shiksha Kerala, said the online teaching and learning process that emerged following the COVID-19 crisis had prompted faculty members and resource persons to familiarise with the innovative tools available for better teaching and evaluation. “The classroom experience can be enhanced by adopting these techniques to improve student learning,” she added.
The Education Department has plans to develop a team of teachers capable of providing better learning experience to students online. They will be training other teachers and resource persons as part of the forthcoming sessions. Teachers will also encourage students to join the interactive learning process in the coming days.
