Various online platforms launched by educational institutes and education department are facing tremendous issue of slow internet speed in dissemination of learning via portals.
“We are trying our best to engage students on digitalplatforms and students are also interested in such initiative but the onlyproblem is slow speed of internet which hampers the learning process anddisturbs the continuity of a lecture,” said a private school teacher.
Various government and private schools are putting theirefforts in uploading online tutorials and e-content on the school websiteswhile teachers are also reaching out to students by uploading video lectures onYoutube channels and Facebook pages.
But the slow speed of 2G internet in Kashmir disturbs theentire model of e-learning.
However, both government and private schools in their bid toengage students have started reaching out to students on digital platforms likeGoogle classrooms, Zoom App and other types of social media.
The initiatives are being taken despite the availability oflimited 2G internet services. “It is difficult to stream live classes inKashmir given the non-availability of high speed internet. So we recordlectures on different subjects and upload them on YouTube channel for studentsto download and watch later,” a school teacher said.
The government school teachers have set up Zoom Cloudclasses in various districts besides giving online lectures through Googleclassrooms.
Already the school education department has distributedstudy material among the students to cover their syllabus of Unit I and II attheir homes amid the lockdown
“We have distributed the study material among 3.75 lakhstudents across Kashmir. Schools in two districts are yet to distribute thematerial but the process will be completed in two days,” Director SchoolEducation Kashmir (DSEK) Muhammad Younis Malik said.
The department has also started televised classes forstudents on DD channel. The two half-hourly duration classes are beingtelecasted every day at 4 pm and 6 pm respectively. “We are exploring varioustypes of digital platforms that can be used to engage students sitting at theirhomes. Some of the schools have also uploaded the video lectures of theteachers on their school websites,” Malik said.
“We are mulling to set up dedicated digital classrooms inschools. It will be a permanent feature to have video lectures and onlinecontent available for students,” Malik said.
He said that District Resource Groups (DRGs) have uploaded150 lessons on various subjects on YouTube channels.
“We have a team of 700 DRGs who are well trained and subjectspecialists. They have been entrusted to run this initiative and make it asuccess,” DSEK said.