Lessons In Solitude

Punam Mishra, a faculty member in the Jaipur-based J.K. Lakshmipat University’s (JKLU) Institute of Management, wasn’t sure if she could do it. This was in March this year when the decision was taken to shift teaching to the online mode due to COVID-19. More than six months later, she feels she is an expert in the use of Zoom, Microsoft Team and other video conferencing tools, and conducts classes without hassles.

Her colleagues too were initially apprehensive and hesitant, but do not face difficulties anymore. They learnt the tricks of online tools, albeit with help from each other. Weekly informal training sessions were organised by the varsity for faculty members. “It was scary in the beginning as we had not used these platforms. But we took the challenge head-on. We are ­comfortable with them and could smoothly conduct the classes. We still face a few technical issues, but we can handle them,” says Mishra.

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But this is one side of the story. Professors complain that their workload has grown bigger because of technology. Many spend double the time to prepare for online classes, as ­compared to the physical ones. “I work 16 hours a day because I need 3-4 extra hours for the online classes. It’s time-­consuming since we have to think of not just the coursework, but PPT presentations, and video simulations. And I have to teach almost 150 students,” says IIM-Indore’s Prashant Salwan.

The more astute teachers, especially those who are comfortable with global best ­practices, contend that there are gaps in ­online education. For example, they are ­unable to watch the students at the same time, as in a physical class, on a real-time basis to intervene instantly. Peer-to-peer learning, when one student learns from ­another in the class, is absent. “It is ­frustrating. Sometimes, I am even angry that the students don’t get the best learning,” says a ­Bangalore-based professor.

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Students endorse this view. They don’t blame their teachers, but point to the inherent limitations of technology in the learning process. For one, online classes cannot be as interactive, either consciously or subconsciously, as the physical ones. “When we are within the confines of a physical class, we look at each other, learn from one another and question the professors seamlessly. This isn’t possible through a monitor or screen,” says a student at Pune’s Amity University.

At the same time, cost-cutting and reduction in faculty ­members across colleges and institutes have forced existing staff to work overtime. This was more ­relevant bec­ause the syllabus for the various courses remained the same. In addition, the number of classes per day came down—so the number of days went up—because colleges bel­ieved that it would be unproductive to make the students sit in front of their computers for hours. These led to stress for both the teachers and learners.

For both the sections, there are no holidays or weekends. In some ­ins­titutes, the first class starts at 8-9 am, and the last one is held between 7 pm and 9 pm. “Earlier, on Wednesdays, we had the half-day free, and the same was the case with the second half on Sundays. This is no longer the case. There are no holidays. In any case, the thinking is that the students are in their homes, and cannot go anywhere. What will they do with their extra time?” explains Salwan.

Students need to grapple with additional reading materials, including numerous case studies in management institutes, to catch up with the syllabus. This is also to ensure that online discussions, interactions and other exercises yield the desired objectives. Hence, the students feel they need to work extra in their spare time, even as their professors tend to go too fast in a bid to complete the syllabus. There is thus little or no time to absorb and digest what is taught.

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“We had a couple of courses, which were intensive, and we got a lot of reading materials to be finished within two weeks. Neither the students nor the teachers were comfortable with the situation. But we had no options,” says a student of Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. However, he adds that he was not “disappointed” with online classes. Another Delhi-based student feels that the off-line work seems to consume more hours than the online classes these days.

Given such constraints, a few institutes were forced to innovate, experiment and come up with new ideas to teach. These included changes in pedagogy. The aim was to make online classes interactive, engaging and effective. This was especially the case with professional colleges and management institutes. JKLU, for instance, started regular tutorials for students as a part of the overall process. Earlier, tutorials were seen as ­external aids for the weak students.

IIM’s Salwan, who teaches business models, found ways to make his classes more interactive and interesting. He asks the students to study a specific model in advance, and the online classes are used only to discuss and debate its intricacies, ­successes, and failures. “This helps us to use the time available more effectively, and also engage the students more excitingly,” he explains. In a sense, the passive and sanitised online class becomes more intense, close and active.

Unlike in a regular class, technology enables the students to go back and forth to check what their professors said, and listen to the students’ feedback. A student of ISB admits, “It’s a mixed bag. There are great teachers and not-so-great ones in every institute. One of the things I liked was that I could access and watch the video ­recordings of the classes, and observe what I could not earlier. They were quite useful and enhanced the overall learning process.”

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However, the extensive use of ICT leads to social and cultural issues, which are more manifest in the smaller cities and towns. For example, students in the bigger cities do not have issues with connectivity (due to better Wi-Fi) and spaces (bigger homes). But those in far-off locations, semi-urban and rural areas have to deal with them, apart from the regular disruptions in electricity supplies. Their families do not fully grasp the concept of privacy during classes.

The lower-income families spend a ­fortune because they believe that long stints in the hostels and at the campuses will ­improve their children’s soft skills. “MBAs need to prepare students for teamwork, ­instill organisational and communication skills, provide hands-on experiences, and develop personality and leadership traits. These were missing in the online setup,” says a student, who recently finished his MBA from the Mumbai-based Welingkar Institute.

In fact, the students miss the campuses—the fun part, as well as regular interactions with friends and professors. The ­institutes aim to counter these desires through online dances, singing and other extracurricular activities. This year, seniors were urged to mentor the freshers through video calls. “But it is not the same feeling,” says a student. A faculty member of the Noida-based Amity University adds, “Students are eager to come back to the campus as they miss its life.”

A student at Pune’s Amity University, who identified herself only as S, say she is cooped up in front of her laptop in her room for hours. She occasionally gets bored, fiddles with her mobile and even switches off the computer camera. She disgustedly says that she is willing to undergo online classes only if she can go back to the campus during the last semester. This is her final year, and she desperately wants to be with the college mates before the hectic work schedules consume her.