Pune: A new academic session has started for senior colleges, but the charm of meeting new classmates, first day orientation session between packed halls, and no face-to-face interaction.
Colleges have set up online orientation sessions to kickstart the academic year for new undergraduate courses, many of them without new books or starting to meet new friends.
First year Bachelor of Arts student Rozmin Bhagat said the first day was special for students as well as teachers.
“We are excited and scared about new beginnings in life. But virtual studies are also new, so I was scared and we still met our friends through the screen, but it’s not the same,” he added.
Bhagat said that virtual learning is not so easy, it is difficult to concentrate through the screen, and then there are also connectivity issues. “But, at least our academic year on the bright side has been in vain and we are moving forward and getting used to these new conditions,” he says. Classes began on September 1st.
Riya Zahir Samnani, another student at St. Mirza’s College, who has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, said, “I lost a lot of my classroom, my friends and my teachers. Attending a class physically and attending class online is very different. Attending online is like sitting with our phones or laptop and sitting for hours is very difficult. It was so amazing when we attended lectures by going to our colleges, we had teachers to communicate with our friends who spoke between lectures. We had a lot of fun during our college. ”
Now, students have no physical activity like competitions and events that take place in colleges. “After college, we all chilled friends, and now it’s hours on the phone. We have a seven – day induction program in which we learn about various courses, internships, club programs and other things. The first day, I logged in and saw a lot of students joining. And then and now everything is new to me, ”he added.
Srihari Sathe, a student of Brihan Maharashtra College of Commerce, said, “Getting to know new classmates, sitting in classrooms, introducing teachers and strolling inside the new college disappeared as a result of the first day of attraction Kovid. The trend that happened was not even that exciting. ”
Gulshan Gidwani, Principal, St. Mira’s College, said the first year lectures of the degree college started on September 1. There is no doubt that online teaching is a challenge and there is no substitute for face-to-face teaching. There is no doubt that teaching practice is also a facial activity and there are limitations to online teaching. But we have a six-day motivational program for our new students and it is very encouraging from the feedback from the faculty and students. ”
At St. Mirza’s College, all activities ranging from teaching to extracurricular activities, competitions, cultural events and so far up to three volumes of virtual newsletter have been conducted online.
Rajendra Junjarao, principal of the Modern College of Arts in Science and Commerce in Shivajinagar, said online teaching has started from August 1. “At the PG level, we have 100% attendance. We broadcast live with students using our YouTube channel. For first year students, we have three days of online motivation, ”he added.
The institute also conducts co-curricular activities in online mode. “Our library is well automated and we have an institutional repository. All the e-content developed is easily accessible to students at home through this IR facility. We have also created a principal’s virtual office that visitors to the college can interact with through Google Meet for interaction,” he said.
The college also has a technical team to help with cyber security.
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