With bated breath, I was awaiting the fresh and vivacious day to bring some peace to my restless self. I felt a ripple of excitement at the thought of the very first day of my new school. I had only spoken to my classmates online for one year. The first day of offline school in an unknown place that I had never seen, was truly making me nervous and apprehensive.
My expectations from offline school were plenty. I was looking forward to a better learning experience, not just academically but socially as well. Online classes were really tiresome and not as productive as an offline class could be. Offline classes provided so many opportunities like lab classes, physical and co-curricular activities.
People usually are taken aback when they take a bite of the sandwich of reality but fortunately that was not the case with me. I must admit that my school measured up to my expectations and that the accolades that my friends had expressed regarding the school were completely real.
On my first day of school, we were taken to the science lab.I silently heaved and peered all around the place. Who would want to miss such a mesmerizing experience?
After the lab session, I was quite optimistic about the rest of the day. I was fervently waiting for the recess to break the ice and start a conversation with my new acquaintances.
The offline school was something that I was persistently looking forward to, but it’s well said: “the grass is greener on the other side”. Something similar happened to me. After attending classes in the comfort of my home I was so unaccustomed to moving around and donning the uniform along with an asphyxiating mask for long hours. To be honest I felt suffocated and throttled by that innocent-looking skirt.
Nevertheless, I got adjusted to it in a few hours and found myself enjoying coding in the computer lab. This lab was not as large as the science lab, however, it had an impressively large range of computers. The transparency of the glass panes allowed the luminous light to light up the whole room and it was oddly comforting. Though I faced a lot of problems in coding during online classes, offline classes made me a better coder. My teacher kept guiding me and eventually I too found myself engrossed in coding.
The day was definitely tiring but gave me such beautiful experiences which when revived made me feel eager and comfortable in my awesome new school. After all, who would want a tedious online class, when such a refreshing and fascinating offline class was an option?
-Prerana Moolchandani, Grade 9A, Ekya JP Nagar
It all began with ‘roasting’. Being a foodie, ‘roasting’ to me meant only one thing: marinated vegetables, fish, or meat cooked over slow heat to produce a heavenly gastronomical experience. Again, I was wrong! Roasting, as the eighth graders enlightened me, was actually a way of putting down a person with insults couched as humor….a particular favourite of the current brood of keyboard-happy netizens.
Like one thing leads to another, I went into a spree of discovery. As I read, spoke, and listened to the gen z around me, the ugly truth raised its hydra-head. Roasting, stalking, flaming were different avatars of cyberbullying. As the world battled with the lethal virus that traipsed the air we breathe, this silent pandemic has affected the virtual lives of millions of young people who were forced to spend hours before the screen. E-safety commissioners around the world report an increase of 36-50% increase of online abuse in the first three weeks of lockdown. Around 20% of the adolescent and youth population fall victim to this invisible monster. And it has also been noticed that on average only one out of ten victims report their plight.
The tentacles of cyberbullying are strong and far-reaching. Depression, anxiety, social awkwardness, low self-esteem, seclusion, and absenteeism from school and social occasions are common. Taking one’s life is also not unknown.
Now, how can an innocent joke be offensive?
If I call you an ‘elephant’ do you really become one?
Oh! I don’t really think you are ugly...it was a joke...you always overreact da.
Why do you have to be so dumb?
A joke is no longer a joke, it makes someone upset. No one enjoys a negative nickname however endearing and loving it may be. Every word we click on our keyboard leaves a thumb impression on someone’s soul. None of us actually have the right to act funny with someone’s self-esteem...make them feel worthless. But how do we draw a line between humor and insult? It is not rocket science at all...follow a few simple steps.
Step 1: After you type any comment (humorous or otherwise) before pounding on entering...take a step back.
Step 2: Click open a checkbox in your head and ask yourself ‘Is my comment going to upset the receiver? Would I like to be addressed the same way?
Step 3: THINK…..THINK….THINK
Step 4: Take responsibility for your actions and post your comment only if you are sure about it.
We do have our freedom of expression, but not the freedom to abuse and bully others on the internet which the Indian Penal Code considers a punishable offense.
If you are a victim of virtual abuse, your escape route is ‘BLOCK and TALK’. Even if your closest friend upsets or insults you do not have to take it. Block the perpetrator and talk to someone you are comfortable with: a parent, a teacher, a friend, or your school counselor. If you find someone a victim of cyberbullying, lend him/her a patient ear, validate his/her feelings, make them feel comfortable and then seek help. Your patient ear can heal wounds way better than trying to fix things in a hurry.
Hence, we can safely wrap up our three-pronged approach to battle this silent pandemic as ‘think before you type’, ‘block and talk’, and ‘listen and validate’. Be a frontline warrior and promote ethical use of social media.
Let us make an effort to be the compassionate and empathetic friend who lends a helping hand and a patient ear. Not the sarcastic and mean one. Let us not be creatures of darkness but the light at the end of a dark tunnel.
-Priyanka Ghosh, High School English Teacher, Ekya School, JP Nagar
“Technology is best when it brings people together” - Matt Mullenweg
Technology has always been used in education since ancient times. But with a sudden shift to online education in the year 2020 due to the pandemic, teachers across the globe scrambled to find the perfect technological tools. Personally, I loved this phase as there were so many tools that made learning interesting and effective.
I absolutely love using Google Suite especially Google Slides. There are so many templates that I can and have used to make my presentations eye-catching and interactive. There are many options like animation or using GIFs that make the transaction of a lesson very effective.
Another great discovery was the tool named “Canva”. This app has various preloaded templates and pictures that allow the user to create a poster, an invitation, a card, or even a presentation. My children from grades 8 to 10 love using this tool as it is very user-friendly and easy to use.
Quizzing was made interesting by Kahoot. The interface is great and the children use it to create their own quizzes and host them too. This inculcated the spirit of friendly competition and confidence in them.
Keeping in line with Ekya’s ideals, I was initially in a pickle thinking of interesting ways to put up the Plan for each class. Then I got introduced to Microsoft Whiteboard. It made my life so easy - I could plan and keep my points handy prior to transacting the class. I could draw and illustrate pretty easily too.
Tools like Padlet and Mentimeter made my online transactions easy too. From using them as a forum for expressing ideas, feelings, and thoughts to even voting on a topic, everything became so much easier.
While as a teacher, I looked for innovative ways to make teaching an enriching experience, I also came up with interesting ideas that made Internal Assessments and assignments more fun. One such assignment was to imagine as an author and create a book for Middle School children on the types of mountains. There were so many interesting, out-of-the-box submissions that made me reflect on the potential this generation carries. Another assignment involved creating awareness videos on the conservation of nature and I received very professional well-curated videos. Some children personally expressed their gratitude for giving them such assignments where they could learn and hone their skills.
After from general tools, I found some learning-area specific tools like a Visual Dictionary that not only gave the meaning of the word but also the synonyms and antonyms, the various ways it can be used in a sentence and various forms of grammar (https://visuwords.com).
Another website helped in understanding the concept of antipodal arrangement of land and water in Geography.
With the evolution of technology, the capabilities of the education industry are increasing manifold. The Internet is a vast electronic library of information, and both research and instruction can be achieved through a click of the mouse. With these advances come new responsibilities to the teacher to make sure that learning and growing never stop.
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