Chandigarh
4 May 2020
DIVYA AZAD
Dev Samaj College for Women (DSCW), Sec 45, here is experimenting with a unique online teaching methodology. The traditional online system has been tweaked to include an interesting mix of inter & intra college online competitions based on pertinent subjects and also on carrying out E-Surveys on matters of interest in the COVID 19 era. The unique online methods being employed by DSCW gain importance as educational institutes have not been allowed to open as per the latest order of Chandigarh administration, in which many lock-down restrictions were lifted.
An Inter-college E-competition on Environmental Sustainability was organised. Department of English organized a creative writing competition. The competition especially focussed on the relations and responsibility of human beings towards nature, highlighting the impact of lockdown. Department of English, Punjabi and Hindi have organised an Inter-College Competition inviting essays and short stories on ‘Solitude in Lockdown’ and ‘Aekaantvaas’. Department of Economics organised two inter-college competitions giving students an opportunity to combat isolation and express their views on ‘Indian Economy Before & After Covid 19 Pandemic’ and ‘Socio- Economic Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic’. The department is organising special doubt classes also.
Dr Meena Chopra, Principal said, “Various interesting competitions were held to give the students an opportunity to express their creative talent. Besides completion of courses, care has been taken to keep the morale of the students high in this period of uncertainty. The faculty members and the administrative staff are always available to sort out any issues that the students might be facing, besides continuously furthering their academic growth and motivating them towards extra-curricular activities too.”
Another unique feature of DSCW’s online teaching campaign is the Department of Sociology’s survey about the impact of lock-down on senior citizens; the department has also invited articles on the condition of economically weaker sections during corona virus lock-down. The college’s IT department is giving an excellent opportunity to the students to tap their IT skills, by preparing PowerPoint presentations on different topics of Database Management System.
During this long period of lock-down, the welfare of students and completion of courses was a major concern for the teachers of DSCW. After deliberations with the Director, Dr Agnese Dhillon and Principal, Dr Meena Chopra, it was decided that the courses would be completed through online classes, videos, assignments and other innovative methods. Online lectures are being conducted by teachers in various subjects. Along-with the classes, assignments are also given to assess the understanding of the students. Many faculty members are uploading videos on google classroom to help the students.
