Memorabilia 2022
From the Desk of the Head of the Department . . .
This passing out batch, i.e.,
2020-22 will go in the annals as ‘the Corona Batch’. Among several
disruptions #Covid19 pandemic brought in, the disruption to education system is
of a curious kind. On one hand it gave ample opportunities to explore new
dimensions in online pedagogy, while on the other hand it made us realize
several vital pedagogical issues, which were, hitherto, taken as granted.
The benefits of teaching
this batch were innumerable. Right from the beginning, it was challenging to
build a rapport with students as students have never visited department or
teachers, personally. To bridge this gap, we tried our best to make teaching as
interesting and engaging as possible. And hence, we have to ‘revisit &
relearn’ pedagogy of teaching in online remote mode. We also have to try our
hands at new technologies like OBS, Live Streaming, Video Recording, Learning
Glass, Video Conferencing etc. It was not only to use these technologies but
also to make it effective and engaging for learners. Going down the memory lane
of screenshots taken during first week of teaching this batch was a good memory
to see how it all began. The Google Class & the Group were introduced in
live video conferencing session – and OBS was used to make it engaging. The
learning glass was also used to see that the teaching does not become dull and
boring. The first two pictures in the below given collage-pyramid are telling this story. However, the story of disruption does not end
here. The other side of the story, the students’ side, had also been of great
learning importance.
The students story told
from the perspective of teacher has a few significant aspects. The teacher
expects curiosity in the eyes of the students. This curiosity is what is
driving force for the teacher. Well, in this remote emergency, if there is one
very challenging thing, it was to feel the curiosity in the eyes of the
students. As most of the students keep their camera’s off, it was not
possible to see even normal gestures, forget the curiosity in the eyes.
Somehow, it was very difficult to make it understand students that keeping
camera on while attending the sessions is necessary. A few students were able
to understand this. These students were like oasis in the desert.
These students who kept their cameras own while attending the online sessions
were such a great relief in the troubling and chaotic situation. Among the few
students who understood this, three students deserve special mention. Daya,
Nidhi and Riddhi – they were the most consistent in regularly attending the
sessions with camera on. We, the teachers, expect to have similar students, in
troubling times, wherein one can experience if the attempts made for engaging
the learners are materializing or not. The bottom picture of the
screenshot-pyramid (given above) is the evidence of this. Such a participation
by students in remote teaching is very crucial.
The number of students in
this Corona Batch was also considerably low than normal class strength. That
was like a double whammy. One, virtual existence of all of us and on it, low
number. Some may say it is good. Easy to manage! Well, yes, that’s true but we
wanted to do lots of activities. Without good number of participations from
equally good number of students, it is difficult to carry on the show. We
believe, education is not only completing syllabus and the routine academic
rigor. It is all about participating in co-curricular, extra-curricular
activities like reading papers in seminars, publishing research papers,
participating in cultural and sports events. It is not to say that there was
complete stand-still to all these activities. However, it reduced drastically
in this passing out batch 2020-22. Even with all these limitations of second
wave of corona pandemic and lockdowns of academic institutes and activities not
happening as such, our students have participated in around 40 events. Have a
look at the chart in Memorabilia 2022 – page number 138/139. In spite of
reasonably good participation in the troubling time, we were not able to get laurels
and accolades. Except for FIRST positions by Riddhi Bhatt in Essay
Writing and Khushbu Lakhupota in Research Paper Writing
competitions, the participation did not yield desired result. Apart from this
sorry state of affairs, even use of library substantially reduced during this
year. Normally, all students have their library card and keep on visiting
library occasionally to exchange books. This time, several students did not
open an account with University Central Library. To add to this sorry state of
affairs, several students’ committees remained ineffective or inactive. This is
a great lesson to remembered. This is an example of why education is not only
completing syllabus. When the students are not able to have physical gatherings
in an academic institute, there are innumerable life-skills which are not
acquired. Yes, some are genius and they do not require such training or
orientation. Nevertheless, we need to build an environment wherein all these
life-skills are acquired without much effort. We are unhappy to see that many
talented students are passing out without brushing up their talent, many
committee leaders are passing out without learning leadership skills, many are
passing out without getting the finishing fine touch of our Department of
English.
It is not to be concluded
that all was dark and dull. We have seen amazing participation from Kishan, Latta,
and Sneha in various events. Apart from Daya, Nidhi & Riddhi, Latta &
Khushboo have displayed an amazing development in their performances from first
to the last semester. Chandani, Sneha, Jignesh, Bhavyang, Pina & Aditi were
also very good and performed as expected. Hiral and Nandita are talented but
somehow, they were not able explore their potential during the studies.
Bhumika, Anjali & Stuti are also good in several things but were not able
to perform as per their capacities. You all have incredible spart within
yourself. Had there been no corona pandemic, we would surely have been able to
fire it and see the sparkles that you all are capable of.
With a sense of pastness,
we are all supposed to look forward towards future. Bygone is bygone. No one
can amend the past. But future is still in our hand, in our control. From the
pandemic year we learn to be ready for whatsoever befall on us. Without giving
an iota of doubt or an inch of hesitation, we shall be ready to live life it
all its fullest capacity.
On behalf of Department
of English, MKBU, I wish you all a great future.
Let yourself metamorphose
into something so beautiful that we feel proud to say that ‘s/he is our
student’. ~ Dilip Barad
