Launching Virtual Academy
Launching Virtual Academy
Right from Feb’20 the Global news was saturated with one story the COVID-19 Pandemic and we all had to eventually adapt to the new way of living. This of course includes the way we educate our children. The consequences of prolonged school closure could be felt at the very heart of the education system. Questions concerning participation in activities, grading, assessments of progress and of course the wider societal implications were the worrying factors. Some parents are not in a position to support their child’s learning effectively. A number of disadvantaged children will struggle to adapt to current reality with less access to learning material and less support at home which was a big worry.
Foreseeing all this we at GDGGS started holding demo sessions for our staff preparing them for future and developing an online teaching programme by discussing various e platforms right from beginning of march itself and our journey to actual teaching really began. It was a novel concept for everyone, teachers, students, parents and all the other staff within school community. From live teaching to recorded videos and a mix of assignments, activities and questionnaires. Our school set up a wonderful system comprising Zoom, Google Meets, PPTs and MS Teams sessions. A virtual Planner was designed by a coordinator with daily attendance, Synchronous and asynchronous inquiry based, group activities with a lot of strategies which would include differentiation. It’s not easy to replace the personal touch and classroom environment but our teachers managed their best by addressing each and every concern of the parents with the help of the IT Team, the Coordinator and myself in the best way possible. Every learning engagement was designed in such a way that it gives opportunity to the child to question, think and act. Also, our students are given a chance to voice their opinions, make a choice and take ownership of their learnings which we call Student Agency. We are still trying to jump through these hurdles and master the Distance Learning Program.
While this is an unprecedented crisis that has induced high levels of anxiety, it is also a time where we are trying to do things differently and learning from experience. The parent’s ability to adapt rapidly to this new way of working and educating their children at home has been extraordinary and our biggest support. We should be grateful that we have the technology to assist us and when we will get over this crisis, we will not return to the world as it was but rather would have prepared ourselves and our children to face a world that will be…. in the future.
Lastly, we are distanced but not alone !
For learning at GD Goenka Global School never stops.
We all thank you for being so supportive in this journey and welcome all our new parents to look at our G D Goenka Global Virtual Academy as a novel concept of exceptional online teaching for the holistic development of our young learners !
