ROLE OF NGOs - E-LEARNING DURING AND POST COVID 19 PERIOD

ROLE OF NGO'S  E-LEARNING DURING AND POST COVID 19 PERIOD- YEOMAN WORK BEING DONE BY LODGE TRIMURTY NO. 294 NAGPUR

The aim is to provide continuous education to students who cannot afford the infrastructure like Laptops and Internet availability during this post Covid19 era of shutdown. The business of online learning has multiplied by leaps and bounds during these times. 

I am involved as an Education Counselor and have a mission to reach 24000 people and provide them free training over the next one year. Towards this I have joined with GETSETGOWORLD and providing the various free courses. However, it is observed that this system is adopted by Upper and Middle Class Sections of the Society. 

Lodge Trimurty No 294, Nagpur has come out in the most Novel project of  ‘E Learning’ for Smt Dadibai Deshmukh Hindu Mulinchi Shala and Kanishta Mahavidyalaya, Nagpur. 

E-Learning is being extensively used nowadays. It is observed that this system is adopted by Upper and Upper-Middle Class sections of the society. The question now arises that whether this system of learning is adopted by rest of the students belonging to other strata of the society. The answer is that we should take this as an opportunity and modify our systems to adapt these new challenges of imparting education. 

Lodge Trimurthy No 294  has adopted a  complete solution on e-learning. They have donated 40 Laptops with requisite software to the teachers. They have started training the teachers train the trainer for past more than 20 days. 

 A program was organised at school premises. V W bro Tarun Shrivastava, Secretary also chief architect of the project briefed the gathering and stressed on role of NGOs in Covid times. Mr Ravindra Fadnavis President of the Society praised the efforts of lodge and reminded teachers to adopt to new technology and be in forefront of change which is inevitable. W Bro Prashant Padhye, executive member of Society and PM, W Bro Sumantra Dutta, W Bro Anil Shrivastava, Bro Vivek Sannidhi, W Bro Navern Jha (who is giving hands on training), Bro Abhishek Parida were prominently present and distributed the laptops. The program was organised  and conducted by Head Master of school Mr Subhod Ashtikar.  Mrs. Rajshree Kinkhede Principal SDDHMS was also present.

A computer laboratory with  a dedicated server has been installed for keeping replica data in offline mode of teachers training material .  The Computer Laboratory was also inaugurated. 

Lodge Trimurty 294 is thankful to  Sapience Analytics for supporting them in this e-learning initiative under their CSR activity by providing the Laptops for this noble cause of E learning during this COVID19 times. 

Some Photographs from the function.

A brief write up on the subject by Shri Tarun Shrivastava for the project is given below. To contact Shri Tarun Shrivastava visit his Facebook page here.

The aim is to provide continuous education to student.

E-Learning is being extensively used nowadays. It is observed that this system is adopted by Upper and Upper-Middle Class sections of the society. The question now arises that whether this system of learning is adopted by rest of the students belonging to other strata of the society. The answer is that we should take this as an opportunity and modify our systems to adapt these new challenges of imparting education.

 Our Government which was making limited use of Video Conferencing (VC) during pre-covid19 situation has now adopted and re-oriented the entire administration towards VC and E-Communication. This is unprecedented since we have never ever thought of doing administration, the way it is conducted during the last few months.

 The Government has adopted various digital modes and moved on without wasting time. Similarly, we also need to expedite and execute the E-Learning modes to reach the masses for the benefit of society and education system of our country.

 We have already lost close to four months pondering on the various possibilities, while the status quo hasn’t changed. The situation is not expected to change if there is no effort from our end. Therefore, it is of crucial importance to address the situation at hand. With the times that we are currently living in, it’s an imperative that a transition from Traditional mode to e-Learning is a must and this would be applicable across all strata.

 E-Learning should be made mandatory (with support for the lower income group students) for all and should be addressed immediately without further delay. It’s time to take e-Learning to the masses.

 There was a time when we saw donation of Ambulances by NGO’s to various hospitals and rural health centers, the time has come to make similar donations for establishment of e-Studios for the purpose of e-Learning to reach to urban and rural masses alike. This is a new challenge and let us address it so that our NGO’s can start working over it.

 What can NGO do?

They can contribute on many aspects such as:

                     ·        Use of human resources for knowledge sharing

·        Motivate students

·        Provide resource person who have technical or non-technical knowledge through video making and sharing

·        Make educational content with the help of their members

·        Donate e-Studios

·        Donate used or new devices: Smartphones, Laptops, Tablets

·        Utilize Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds for providing e-Learning platforms to masses

·        Setup WIFI network in school and provide FREE data to Students

·        Donation of Data pack to students.

  

We need to re-orient, re-invent and not wait for pandemic to get over as we may further lose precious time. There are multiple ways and means through which achieve this. Here, I would like to quote a success story of Satish Kaushik, the well-known film personality, who brought cinema on wheels to rural India and has launched mobile theatres. The Mobile Digital Movie Theatre (MDMT) will give rural masses a multiplex experience for just Rs. 35. As we know that villages do not have cinema halls or access to internet. The plan is to convert trucks into theatres that can travel across different villages across India, so that people can watch movies for a nominal price, in the range of Rs. 35 to Rs. 75. The mobile theatre is a ready to assemble, easy to dismantle setup which can mobile enough to be transported through a truck. These theatres are air-conditioned, fire-proof and weatherproof, and can accommodate around 150 people. An idea like this can also work for e-Learning. 

As quoted by Satish Kaushik, “Not just films, this portable theatre can be used for educational and government purposes also, when leaders and speakers want their speeches to reach the interior parts (of the country). The person could be in Delhi, but people can watch it in Mumbai at the portable theatre.” So, you see it is possible and it is happening.

We undertook a survey of various schools across Nagpur City and we found that 40 to 50% students have already taken up e-Learning. It is now a challenge to be provide e-Learning facilities to the under privileged and poor classes comprising of the rest 40 to 60% of student base.

 With the advancement of technology, the challenge of connectivity is resolved thereby covering even more locations and now the remaining areas will be covered. So, let us be positive and work towards reaching those places where we have not reached earlier. Today moving onwards is the only way and the faster we move the better so as to make a new India.

I personally feel that in the education sector, the universities, colleges, schools must adopt and acts fast to e-Learning techniques to sustain in the field. The one who creates better content and offers better platforms will be the leader in this filed in the coming years. They have to take advantage of the situation and try to reach every nook and corner of not only India as a country but the entire world. The market is set for a bigger audience. The audience could be the world.

E-Learning is a tool, which can be used for our advantage, as we are pushed to face challenges during COVID19 times. There are many portals in India like Swayam, Coursera, Udemy, Unacademy etc. Such platforms facilitate hosting of various courses online which are taught in classrooms.

 We need to work on online examination system as well during these times. Thinking out of the box and creating new avenues for online examination, continuous assessments, Web-based testing is the need of the hour. Is it possible?

Yes, it is possible. This is my opinion. We never had this situation. An extraordinary situation arose, and it requires an extraordinary solution. Let us work towards a common aim to spread positivity, which is possible. The ways and means will follow.

 The Author of this article is Shri. Tarun Shrivastava, Scientist- F, Senior Technical Director, working with National Informatics Centre and has been working with various NGOs for over 22 years. He is presently, Secretary of Lodge Trimurty No. 294, Nagpur an NGO working selflessly for relief of needy and poor during COVID19 Relief. Lodge Trimuty No. 294, Nagpur has adopted a school Smt. Dadibai Deshmukh Hindu Mulinchi Shala and Kanishta Mahavidyalaya and are to extend help on e-Learning

Click here to read about Free Social Media Mastery Courses being organised by this blog writer.

Click here to read about Free Pure Career Planning Courses being organised by this blog writer.