Colleges resort to online classes to wrap up portions

TNN | Mar 28, 2020, 04.26 AM IST

Trichy: Faculty members of city colleges have been resorting to virtual classes using mobile applications and software to complete the remaining portion of the even semester this year.

The even semester was on the verge of getting over when institutions were closed as a preventive step to contain the spread of Covid-19. Since students are confined to home during the lockdown, teachers are using the opportunity to engage with them to complete the portion.

Virtual classes are effective than asking students to self-study through e-content. The students can also clear their doubts at the end of the session, said the head of Biotechnology and Microbiology department M S Mohamed Jaabir.

The biotechnology department of National College Trichy (NCT) has been effectively using ‘Google handout meet’ mobile application to conduct online classes.

“Some departments have completed their portions and are focusing on their practical exams. But biotechnology comparatively has large portion and this software has been effective in bringing students together to cover the remaining portion,” he said.

Students only have to find a space in their home to attend the classes. It was easy to take classes through the software to share the presentation apart from discussing and answering their questions, added Jaabir.

“We should have completed the portions in a matter of seven or eight more days when colleges had to be closed,” said K Valavan, principal, Saranathan College of Engineering.

They were told that the academic days lost will be compensated with rescheduling of working days. It is vital to complete one or two remaining chapters to go ahead with practical examinations, he said.

“We are sending e-content to students and looking into the possibility of conducting the third internal assessment online. But we will have to see how sincerely students are taking it,” he said.

There are many softwares to conduct online classes, he added.