Andhra government switches to online classes using video-conferencing

As the country continues to take measures to contain the spread of coronavirus, Andhra Pradesh government has decided to switch to online platforms to impart education to students. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has directed the concerned authorities to take up the new medium and log into online courses.

The state has been conducting virtual classes using video conferencing platforms such as Skype, Cisco, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams to conduct online classes.

According to an official statement, over 24,000 students and 933 teachers are taking part in the online classes. Those who have no reach to the online facility, lectures on various subjects are uploaded on YouTube and the links are being shared to enable the students to get the benefit. Lecture notes are also being shared through WhatsApp and e-mail.

"Presently, 5979 classes have been organized covering various streams such as B. Tech, M. Tech, BA, MA, MCA, MBA and other disciplines. Efforts are on to complete pending syllabus and engage students productively during this time of lockdown," the statement read.

Universities are also encouraging students to enroll for free courses from online learning platforms like Udemy, Coursera, etc and utilize resources like MOOC, SWAYAM, and NPTL too.

Doordarshan lessons are being conducted for students of tenth class every day two hours in the morning and evening Radio lessons are broadcasted as well.

The statement further added that state-developed self-learning app called Abhyasa is loaded with subject videos for 10th standard that have been pooled from Dhiksha and objective type question papers have also been posted for practice.

The government also plans to create WhatsApp groups at every school which will include teachers and tenth class students. Along with that, important practice questions will be posted daily on the TV/Radio lessons in these WhatsApp groups, where students can answer from their homes and send photos of the answer sheet which can be evaluated and feedback will be given.

For the lower classes during June and July, online classes will be telecast, broadcasted as well as shared in WhatsApp groups.

On similar lines, for the teachers, a webinar series has been started from May 4 for all the teachers and daily self-assessment tests and notes are shared.

Some universities are also providing counselling sessions with assistance from their psychology department to cater to the needs of the students and society.