Paper short abstract:

85% university students in India faced learning loss during Covid, according to a survey by TeamLease ‘Covid-19 Learning Loss in Higher Education’ (Indian Express, 14th Feb2022).

Paper long abstract:

It states that, “in a comparison between India and G7 countries such as Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and the United States, India has an estimated learning loss of 40-60% while other countries range from 9.84% (France) to 31.16% (Italy)” recording the main reasons for this as “the digital divide, slow governance at government institutions, pre-existing capacity deficits, longer lockdowns than most countries, and weak online teaching/learning content”. Keeping this scenario in mind, *it becomes extremely important for us to assimilate our knowledge of virtual learning, inter-connectivity and mobility as a springboard towards turning crisis into opportunities for the future. The covid-19 pandemic has already prompted an innovative step towards technological handholding and reorienting communication strategies. Leveraging on this*, the present paper explores the experiential reality of the teaching learning experience through the lens of an educator, during virtual interaction through the various waves of the Covid pandemic. It explores both fractured communication as well as innovative teaching pedagogy. The attempt is to draw a parallel between classroom experiences in the physical space and the virtual space, looking at how communication can be strengthened and how the student community comes together inspite of adversities. The aim is to explore and document experiences to overcome future eventualities, influence hybrid as well as virtual mode of teaching with a futuristic perspective and inform policy from a grounded embedded experience.

Keywords

Digital classroom, Technology, experiential learning