As is evident across the world – like several aspects of human life, the Coronavirus pandemic has affected the education sector in a big way! So it is that, the pandemic has disrupted business schools and management students globally. In fact, COVID-19 has closed campuses, disrupted study schedules, and created a challenging environment for anyone considering a management degree today. But there’s also a bright side to the coronavirus outbreak, with management students and staff coming together to support each other through the crisis.
One of the ways in which this crisis is being countered is that many colleges and universities worldwide have moved their teaching online. This simply means that students are still provided with the required number of class hours but without face-to-face contact with teachers. In India too many colleges and universities have switched on the online mode of teaching. And, we at Asian Business School (ABS), Noida were one of first colleges to switch on to this new mode of teaching having shifted our PGDM classes online by way of video lectures and live classes on Zoom amidst this coronavirus threat quite early on in time.
Today, we are proud to state that ABS has successfully taken PGDM classes seamlessly online amidst this unprecedented coronavirus threat! The entire ABS faculty is tirelessly at work, preparing and delivering their respective lectures as per the curriculum schedule. Every day, these video lectures are being religiously uploaded and made available on YouTube channels simulating a virtual classroom environment. ABS students are seamlessly accessing these video lectures and moving on with their studies uninterruptedly.
Additionally, live classes on Zoom – which is a video conferencing tool for virtual meetings and hangouts – are held regularly whereby the entire class of ABS PGDM students connect through video calls for a live classroom session with their professors and lecturers.
Apart from these well-prepared video lectures and live classes on Zoom, ABS students are also encouraged to raise their queries and clear their doubts by writing E-mails and using WhatsApp. Beyond this, they have also been allowed to call-up their respective subject professors/lecturers on their personal/official mobile numbers and clarify all their queries & doubts on each and every lesson before proceeding with them any further.
It goes without saying that the purpose of these additional measures and instructions is simple – viz., to leave-no-stone-unturned, so to say, in making these virtual classes an enriching real-time learning experience that Asian Business School is best known for!
Here, it will not be out of place to put in a word of caution!
As stated above, like so many aspects of human existence across the globe, the Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has also started impacting the working of the all-so-important ‘Social Media’ in a significant way today. As per latest reports, many videos are likely to be taken down for content policy violations. The report says that Google has warned that the number of videos taken down could increase. With the novel Coronavirus outbreak, the company has been relying on automated software, so the employees have been advised to stay at homes. YouTube and its other business divisions have been using artificial intelligence and automated tools that will help the company identify any content that is problematic, the report said. It added that despite being advanced, these softwares are not that accurate as humans which in turn could lead to more errors.
Since the ABS video lectures that are being uploaded on YouTube happen to be a vital part of the ‘Social Media’, ABS students are well-advised that they be careful in their access and use of these online teaching tools and methods and rely on their basic intelligence as well. A word of advice here is that in case of any doubt or clarifications, they should without delay talk to their respective teachers/lecturers before proceeding on with their learnings from these video lectures.