COVID-19 Lockdown 2: Teachers get trained online on digital platforms

NEW DELHI: With online teaching becoming the norm due to the lockdown, Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Kerala are taking the lead in making teachers familiar with digital platforms.

In Tamil Nadu, 550 teachers from Coimbatore district, mostly drawn from government schools, are now getting trained to conduct online classes using various software applications and tools.

The online course began in Coimbatore on April 17 and 150 teachers were trained in the first batch.

“Another 150 teachers will be trained by the end of April,” Coimbatore district chief educational officer P. Usha told The Hindu .

Educational institutions across the country have been directed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) to take to the online modes of teaching.

The course named ‘Digital Mastery’ focused on teaching how to use Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint. The course also included training on using emails and online searches effectively.

The classes were held through video conferencing. A trainer handles a group of 10 teachers in three sessions per week for the 12 one-hour sessions.

The teachers will also be trained on the course on ‘Communicative English’, Usha told The Hindu.

University of Delhi and Kerala

Other higher education institutions are also switching over to online teaching. The University of Delhi had advised the teachers to use Google Classroom User Guide and Hangouts Tutorial to understand how to use these apps for conducting online classes.

In Kerala, the Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) has given online IT training to over 81,000 primary teachers in the state.

"Special IT training has been arranged with the inclusion of necessary support files, video tutorials and other resources. Teachers would be able to participate in the training programme either through self-learning using the available resources or through group study,” K Anvar Sadath, chief executive officer, KITE told the Indian Express.

It is for the first time in India that digital training of teachers is being conducted on such a massive scale.

KITE is responsible for using information and communication technology to enhance learning in Kerala’s government schools.

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