When screens replace schools

There is a need to get comfortable with blended learning modes as the threat of pandemics is real, alive and constant

Innovations in education have provided options to students in the last one-and-a-half years that they might have not had access to in the past when technology was neither this advanced nor this widespread. But up ahead are further challenges, and there’s a need to get comfortable with blended learning modes as we prepare to live in a world where the threat of pandemics is real, alive and constant. The unprecedented closure of schools and colleges in March 2020 meant educational institutions across Tamil Nadu had to scramble to figure out alternatives and ensure that learning continued. For teachers, students and other stakeholders, the last 18 months have been dedicated to a massive overhaul of the education system without any preparation or warning — exploring viable ecosystems for alternate learning, overcoming concerns about access and infrastructure, revamping teaching methodologies to suit these alternate methods and viable assessment patterns.