Media release
Mangaluru, Mar 31: Amidst the Coronavirus lockdown, Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL), who have niched a name for itself in Mangalore as the leaders in preparing students for STEM related examinations including JEE Main, JEE Advanced, NTSE, KVPY asked its students not to return to campus after it decided to move to virtual or online teaching.
"The decision to move to virtual instruction was made to help students cope up with the loss of classes", the institution said in a statement. "The goal of these changes is to minimize students spending prolonged time in close proximity with each other in spaces such as classrooms, cafeteria and the library."
The students found themselves navigating classes as courses made their online debut. The transition comes a week after students were asked to move off-campus due to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Government
CFAL is the first among many Institutions to move its classes online using a video conference platform, as part of an effort to de-densify its campus. In the week leading up to the launch of online classes, faculty and teaching staff received training on how to use the software. The CFAL teachers use the IPAD pro to reach out to students online.
“You can do amazingly great stuff, but you have to spend a little time figuring that all out,” a faculty from CFAL said. “It is going to be a learning curve, but it's also a great chance to model to our students that we can learn new technologies and take on new challenges.”
CFAL’s online platform allows participants to 'raise hands', share screens, message the host and other attendees, and break off into smaller discussion groups. Instructors find it relatively easy to have students ask questions verbally, but it’s important for everyone to use headsets or headphones to avoid feedback and echoes. “The video classes are a clever solution for the current situation. I have not faced any major issues so far with the classes,” said Mohitha, CFAL student. Another student Rakshitha said, “The sessions are overall very well balanced and very useful.”
Though students acknowledge that the College’s sudden shift to remote learning was unprecedented and unexpected, they are optimistic about the viability of an online curriculum.
For further information contact:
Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL)
Bejai-Kapikad, Mangaluru
Phone: 0824 4279374/9900520233/98457371320