DAVIET starts online classes for students during the covid-19 lockdown

Jalandhar: DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology does a first by taking the initiative to provide online education to its students during the COVID- 19 lockdown. It is pertinent to mention here that Punjab government has imposed a curfew along with a complete lockdown to halt the spread of Corona virus. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked every citizen of the nation to observe social distancing to stay healthy and safe. During these tough times, the future of the students’ community was at stake as they missed valuable study hours in colleges. To ensure the uninterrupted study hours for students, DAVIET came up with the idea of work from home for teachers and encouraged the students and teachers alike to utilize the time by interacting and discussing the course contents online. 
Dr. Manoj Kumar, principal DAVIET expressed his happiness at the response of the students and the willingness of the teachers to go an extra mile to deliver quality academic content. He shared that DAV College Managing Committee, New Delhi has firmly stood by the initiative and has ensured that there is no obstacle in the path of implementation of the initiative. Padamshree Dr Punam Suri, President DAVCMC New Delhi has taken personal interest in the imparting of online education to students and under his tutelage the DAV family has always been willing to serve the society. Elaborating on delivery of online education with the able guidance of Shiv Raman Gaur, IAS, Director Higher Education, DAVCMC, New Delhi, Dr Manoj shared that teachers of DAVIET have engaged the students through dedicated WhatsApp groups, Google classrooms, M-Tutors, TCS iON Digital Glass Room, Zoom online conference classrooms, MOOCs, Moodle, Virtual Labs where they have provided the students notes, e-content, videos specific to topics and NPTEL videos. Further through products like E-Box and Talent Rank students have constantly improved their knowledge base and have remained updated with the latest in their respective fields. Students have also been encouraged to enroll for MOOCS so as to improve their skills set. 
Further elaborating about the use of online education, Dr. Manoj said that this will open the doors for a new kind of education environment in the institutes. It will soon become a habit and routine to deliver education in this manner as a supplement to conventional class room education which will further reap rich dividends. Students will have multiple access to recorded lectures of teachers so that even if they are unable to understand it at first go, they can always take another attempt by re-visiting the recorded lecture session. Moreover in case a student is unable to attend a lecture due to medical reason or some other problem, he or she can always go to the online recorded lecture and hence will not get affected on syllabus part. Using Virtual Labs, students are even performing the practical and experimental work related to some of the subjects which is the most important aspect of Engineering Education. He said that these innovative methods will increase the inclination of students towards studies and will improve the overall scenario of education in the country. Even the relatively more experienced and non-tech savvy faculty members are enjoying the use of technology in curricula delivery, he added.
In the time of uncertainty amid amidst CORONA-19 outbreak DAVIET under the guidance of DAV Colleges Managing stands tall to impart quality education to dissipate the clouds of darkness. 
Many of the faculty members and students have also shared their views on this mode of instruction delivery. Some of those are presented here-under:
“I want to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to all fighters against Corona who are  working day and night for our safety like Doctors, Nurses, paramedical staff, lab technicians, bankers, official and staff members of electricity and water supply departments, Police paramilitary and Army along with farmers and the official on special duty.
During this lockdown period I as a teacher, to fulfill my social obligation kept myself at home and tried to perform my duties so as to minimise the loss of studies of my students. For encouraging the online study of the students I learnt many new technologies like Zoom video class, effective use of Google classroom, spreadsheet and YouTube to share study material with my students. In this lockdown period we all are experiencing an uncertainty phase, different types of public opinion and problem are being faced. 
Hoping that this phase will be over very soon with a new Dawn.”
Dr. Ashok Kumar, Associate Professor, Applied Science Department, DAVIET, Jalandhar
“I am student of BBA 1st year, studying in DAVIET hence want to share my opinion regarding our teachers during this adverse time of corona quarantine no study is possible in college but at home our teachers are helping us with full dedication providing us notes ,pdf , sharing links of YouTube regarding chapters and solving our doubts. So we are not facing any trouble regarding this and our study is going great.So during this hard time we must stay at home until its not properly safe.”
Clinton Ahluwalia
“As the Nation wide lockdown imposed due to Covid-19 has been affecting physical class room teaching. Under the able guidance of Padamshri Dr. Punam Suri, President DAVCMC, New Delhi and Principal Dr.  Manoj Kumar our institute has shifted to e-learning pedagogies to engage the students and cover up their academic loss.  I am using Google Class Room,  Zoom, WhatsApp, YouTube and other platforms such as Swayam, Nptel for sharing study material and delivering lectures. I  am  regularly sending & evaluating assignments,Tutorial sheets and Quiz through online mode. I am developing you tube videos of various topics to guide students. Our principal and HOD are daily taking reports for  topics and syllabus coverage. We  teachers, nation builders are trying our best to contact each and every student and solve their queries “
Dr. Suman  Tandon, Associate Professor, Dept.of Business Management, DAVIET, Jalandhar 
“As we all know that COVID 19 has emerged as the most disastrous And challenging disease in the world which can spread itself just by being in contact with each other, So to prevent the spread of disease our classes are holded for timing. To prevent the loss of our education and for the sake of students health  the faculty took a step of online learning for the students. This step is really a great one for the betterment and enhancement of students. 
Online Learning provides us the ability to interact with our faculty. It provides fast and visualised learning. Our teachers are providing us with notes, online lectures through video conferencing, video lectures to cover up the syllabus. 
I feel that by using voice recording and video lectures, teachers can now provide more personal, meaningful and more effective instruction in a visually supported manner. Also we can listen to the lectures again and again for better understanding. Since students can decide when and how often they listen or watch, an element of choice is added as a step towards promoting learner autonomy. The assignments given by our teachers make us responsible for the work and study. I think this is a great step by the faculty in order to provide visual learning for the students. As the exams are approaching the students should also take it seriously and make the best use of it.” 
Ayush Julka (student), BTech IT 2nd Semester
DAVIET, Jalandhar
“I am Yashika , a student of DAV Institute of Engineering and Technology. I am currently pursuing BHMCT. As everybody is aware that our country is threatened with the spread of COVID 19 (coronavirus) epidemic which has already been declared as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. The government of India and Punjab government has declared curfew lock down till 14 April 2020 so the social distancing besides other measures can be implemented for containment of this pandemic. In view of the above calamity our respective Principal and teachers decided to take the initiative to provide us education through online classes in this predicament. The teachers are helping in various ways by providing online classes and notes in the form of pdf. The online classes through the ZOOM portal seemed similar to our regular class as we can ask questions in between if we have any query. The teachers also have an interactive session when we end our topic about the same so that all our doubts are cleared. Furthermore, they also uploaded the online sessions on  YouTube so that we can be facilitated if any internet disruption occurs. We really appreciate the efforts and contributions of the teachers in providing us quality education and time despite all the issues arising till date. In crux , myself and my other fellow mates are completely satisfied with this mode of online education which is being provided to us.”
“In online teaching, I personally experience as the lecture prepared, recorded and delivered continuously as per schedule bring a teacher whole self to the class. The recorded lecture captures expertise and persona of teachers to its full extent. Course content well organized help students to study content seamlessly and their attention remains focused on learning the material. In an era where technology is advancing at an unprecedented rate, using it to prepare and deliver lectures online definitely help students.” 
Inderdeep Singh, Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering)