At 10 a.m. on Monday, Shaun E.C. Phangcho, a second-year student at the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST), was ready for a one-hour session on analogue electronics. But the youngster was not seated in a classroom at the institute’s sprawling campus at Valiyamala here, but before a computer screen at his residence in Assam.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to put off missions, it has not wholly derailed the equally serious business of moulding future space scientists for the national space agency. Regular classes at the IIST — an autonomous institute under the Department of Space — have simply transformed into virtual ones.
Given the COVID-19 scenario in Kerala, the IIST had suspended classes and directed the students to vacate the campus in mid-March. The students were soon scattered all over India. Nonetheless, within two weeks classes migrated to the online platform with the faculty leading the sessions from their homes.
The IIST offers two undergraduate programmes and a dual degree course in addition to postgraduate, doctoral and post-doctoral programmes.
Various options
“We have given the students different options. They can attend online sessions using the Zoom platform at specific hours or download audio-embedded PowerPoint lectures circulated by faculty,” IIST director V.K. Dadhwal says. Lectures under the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL)/MOOC prescribed by the faculty form the third option.
Early April, the students were asked to get in touch with Sudheesh C., Associate Professor, Department of Physics, for remotely accessing the high performance computing (HPC) resources of the IIST. Similarly, arrangements have been made so that the students could access the e-resources of the institute’s library from their homes.
Research scholars have been instructed to be in regular contact with their doctoral guides and undertake presentations using videoconference apps.
That said, there are critical aspects of academics at the IIST that have indeed been affected by the continuing lockdown, says Dr. Dadhwal. “Of course, the students cannot do the experimental projects. For that they have to wait until the campus reopens,” he adds.
Internships are another casualty. The IIST enjoys international collaborations with institutions such as Caltech, the University of Surrey and the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP).
Given the COVID-19 scenario, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has directed that this year all internship should be carried out on the campus. “Of course, we have a slight advantage as some of the students can go to the various ISRO centres,” Dr. Dadhwal says.
