Remote education initiatives in Chandigarh

All the inhabited sectors in UT Chandigarh are covered by school education as per habitation norms. Chandigarh has a good network of 114 Govt. schools, 7 Govt.-Aided schools, 74 recognized private schools, and 7 Central Govt. schools including Kendriya Vidyalaya /Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti/ schools run by the Air Force in their area. Barring a few, all schools are composite in nature covering grades I to X/XII.

Digital Education Initiative taken by Chandigarh:

Project Phoenix

• It is based on technology to assess the Learning Outcomes and covers the students from class 1 to 8.
• Subject Assessed : All Subjects
• This program is accessible via both Mobile App & Web Portal
• Teachers, Heads of School and Monitoring Teams monitor and track the progress of learners
• Helps to identify the gaps and weak students who are given remediation.

E-Teaching Learning

• Subject Teacher groups are formed for all subjects at Elementary, Secondary &Sr. Secondary level.
• It is based on use of available digital resources to teachers at home/school for creating E content.
• Accessible to all Teachers, Students of respective classes.
• Teachers, Head of School and Monitoring Teams track the attendance of students and progress.
• Evaluation of the Teaching Learning chapter wise is done by online Google form.

Online Teaching in Schools

• Students are regularly accessed by teachers for each subject once in a week as per common time table through WhatsApp, Google classrooms, videos and SMS etc.
• Videos of self recorded lessons and link of other online study material are being shared with students by the teachers.
• Schedule of live telecast of programs on Kishore Manch channel of Swayam Prabha is also being shared daily with students.
• Regular assignments are also being given to the students online which is then completed by the students and shared back in the same mode with the teachers. These assignments are then evaluated by the teachers and shared back with the students. The doubt if any are clarified by the teachers through digital mode.

WhatsApp Groups have been formed (Class wise/Subject wise) with teachers of the school and students for learning support and Homework. Teachers are developing short subject specific videos and are sharing the same through the WhatsApp. This helps the teachers to remain connected with the students to avoid family stress and fill in the void of sharing.

Initiative to improve Mathematical Skill in Collaboration with Khan Academy

• To Make fundamentals clear and understandable to students of all levels, a Pilot Project was launched in collaboration with Khan Academy covering 09 Govt. Schools and approx. 3000 students of upper primary classes in first go.
• Training the Heads, teachers to register the students and Access the content developed by them from time to time. (next scheduled for 30th June 2020)
• Feedback and support to teachers, Principals and Administration through WhatsApp groups, Google meet webinar’s

The project has been extended to 15 more Govt. Schools (June 2020), by covering approx. 7000 students. Presently they have a total of 24 (9+15) schools and 10, 000

Collaboration with ARPAN – Joy of Giving (NGO- INFOSYS)

ARPAN is an NGO working in Education domain since 8 years in Chandigarh region with the objective to reduce the education gap among kids from economically weaker backgrounds. In collaboration with the Education Department of Chandigarh, Arpan started - Paathshala project to eradicate the education gap in the kids of class 3rd to 5th in 5 Govt. schools:

Demo class with the teachers & students by ARPAN (Infosys) NGO:

Online Teaching for Out of School Children (OoSC) under Special Training Centres (STCS)

During lockdown period all the teachers of STC are connected through WhatsApp with students for teaching learning. Teachers also sharing their progress report and discuss their problems and counsel them. TLM and worksheets prepared by teachers as per their lesson plan and shared with the students. Home Assignments are given to the children through telephone and WhatsApp. Links of NCERT’s educational channels are also shared by teachers with students.

Online Teaching to Children with Special Needs (CWSN)

During the period of lockdown and closure of schools due to COVID-19 Children with Special Needs are being taken care of for educational needs by Resource Teachers (Special Education). Resource Teachers are making use of online educational material, worksheets available in different Apps to reach out to Children with Disabilities through WhatsApp groups. They are taking feedback from parents through phone calls or through WhatsApp. Resource Teachers are also catering to the psychological needs of CWSN during lockdown. They undertake counseling through phone calls and even guide parents on various sports training to keep their physical energy channelized.

Use of DIKSHA Portal

• It is based on technology assisted teaching and covers the students from class 6 to 10.
• Subject taught: Maths, Science, Social Science
• This program is accessible via both Mobile App & Website
• Teachers, Heads of School and Monitoring Teams monitors and tracks the progress of learners

Use of Online Evaluation 

Online MCQ based tests for Class IX & X (Mathematics) and class XII (Physics) have been conducted by Department of School Education, Chandigarh. Approx. 15000 students appeared for these tests. 

E-Pathshala

• It is based on technology assisted teaching and covers the students from class 6 to 12.
• Subject taught: Maths, Science, Social Science upto class 10 , And different streams (commerce, Science & Arts) for Sr. Secondary Classes
• This program is accessible via both Mobile App & Website
• Teachers, Heads of School and Monitoring Teams monitors and tracks the progress of learners

Kishore Manch

• It is based on technology assisted teaching and covers the students from class 9 to 12.
• Subject taught: Maths, Science, Social Science upto class 10 , And different streams (commerce, Science & Arts) for Sr. Secondary Classes
• This program is accessible via television.
• Teachers, Heads of School and Monitoring Teams monitors and tracks the progress of learners

200 Smart Classrooms through Extra marks (09 Govt. Schools and Khan Academy)

• It is based on technology assisted teaching and covers the students- class 6 to10 (Extramarks) and class 6 to 8 (Khan Academy - only Maths)
• Subject taught: Extra marks- All subjects from class 6 to 10 and Khan Academy - Maths In this program, Extra marks is device inbuilt and Khan Academy is web based, Teachers, Heads of School and Monitoring Teams monitors and tracks the progress of learners

ICT Infrastructure

ICT infrastructure has been made available in:

• 12 Govt. Schools are SMART SCHOOLs, out of which 09 Govt. Schools have 200 smart classrooms in collaboration with M/s. Extramarks Pvt. Ltd.
• 40 Govt. Sr. Secondary, 53 Govt. High Schools and 11 middle schools have computer labs.
• Most Senior Secondary and Secondary schools have multimedia projectors.
• Video Wall Setup in 03 Govt. Senior Secondary Schools

Digital Initiatives in Some Private Schools

SCHOOL-1:

During this time of COVID-19 when the new normal is all technology based, The school has kept themselves abreast with the technology. Their Virtual Classroom is a digital replica of the traditional classroom. The teachers teach the students face to face via internet enabled technology platforms like MS teams and Cisco WebEx.

Their Best Practices Involve:

• Digital Interactive Classes
• Creative and Critical Thinking modules for all subjects to enhance creativity
• Sharing modules with Hubs of Learning and other schools every week
• Conducting Assessment of Speaking Listening activities online
• Reading Challenge through Story Weaving ,Story Reading, On the spot Sentence Correction ,Cartoon Strips and Dialogue Writing etc
• Sending students’ articles for Newspapers and posting their creative work on School’s Website
• Online subject modules, Podcasts and Interactive Presentations sent through school portal
• Online assessment through Google forms and ongoing activities and correction by teachers.
• Regular Interactive sessions of teachers with Principal.
• Yoga ,Art Music and Dance is woven in our curriculum even during online classes
• Life Skills classes is yet another active class with bubbly faces enjoying and enhancing their skills
• Teachers also are enhancing their teaching learning skills by participating in various capacity building webinars

SCHOOL-2:

“Technology at school aids its students to enjoy the learning process and stakeholders to stay connected.”

• Regular online polls are conducted at school through School Pad before putting hands into any new initiative in order to take parents’ opinion and line of thoughts.
• Online SPOC/Chat Sessions: SPOC (Sole Point of Contact) and Chat sessions render a productive time to the parents in order to have fruitful conversation with them encircling students’ performance in every aspect. The whole idea behind conducting these online sessions is to review and examine students’ performance and help parents with any hassles or query. 

Source : Indian Report Digital Education