Seeing Lockdown in a new light—Self-study and Skill Building Resources

Vinod kakumanu
April 7, 2020, 1 p.m.

In the wake of COVID-19 lockdown, the schools across the country are closed and the examinations have been cancelled. State boards and the CBSE has announced that it will promote the students from class 1 to 8 without the examinations, academic calendars are being redesigned. The entire scenario seems overwhelming.It’s not just the millenials who are witnessing a pandemicrather it’s a first for all existing generations. Every walk of life has been effected and education is the one among them that can see a reshaping.If children lose perspective at this point, there is a fear of lapse of continuity and given the suddenness of the turn of events, there is a general lack of planning which in turn is responsible for a lack of adequate response.

It’s important that we keep children motivated and point out to them that this hiatus does not indicate that studies are irrelevant. Structured self-study can recreate perspective and make the entire period less uncertain in terms of educational progress.

Self-study becomes even more challenging when it is the sole mode of study, just like these days. Self-study usually complements the schooling and sometimes it is limited to homework. It peaks during the exams and now with all these causative elements missing, self-study is solely dependent on the motivation of the student. In short, self-study, in these times is not an easy task, it has to be driven through direction and organization

To create a meaningful self-study regimen, following steps can be followed--

Plan the study and set goals

Create a plan which is centered on a set of goals which can be completion of a topic, understanding a new concept, solving a new problem etc. reminders can be set and self-assessment through worksheets can help you adhere to your plan.

Documenting your self-study exercise

Documenting or taking notes can help you remain focused and organized. The notes can be prepared in a way that they are easy to revisit and they contain your interpretation of the topic. Notes can help you gain insight into the working of your mind and learning patterns, this is what is called metacognition.

Video Lectures

You can simulate a classroom with the help of video lectures albeit you do not have peers around. If you are relatively more enterprising, you can have an online group study, though it would not strictly be self-study. There are a range of topics that are covered in the video lectures. You can watch these lectures both online and offline.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has made all SWAYAM courses free for students.

Mock Test/Online Quiz

The point of assessment is to keep the motivation up and give a direction to the study. It can be made competitive for increased effect. Mock tests and quizzes are available online for almost all topics and high scores are listed in many of them.

Recreational reading

School routine and assignment may have kept you from reading books. You can use this time to rekindle your reading habit. Recreational reading will complement your self-study routine as long as you choose the right kind of books. Both non-fiction and fiction books will give you a taste for reading books and that will have a positive effect on your studies. Recreational reading will also give you much required relaxation and will re-energize you.

Self-study can be taken to another level by honing up your skills and getting career-oriented

There are some important resources that have come to my notice recently, I am listing them here for your benefit. These websites and portals are rich resources for acquiring new skills and they also have counselors to help you in clearing your doubts relating education and career.

Yocket: this Mumbai based educational enterprise is getting popular among the students who want to go abroad for their studies in future. The website give you access to counselors who are equipped to guide you in your search for best programmes and destinations. They will also help you by guiding you as to how you can acquire skills needed for getting into various programs across the world. Yocket gives a mobile application too. Information and interfaces are in a DIY format in this application.

There are helpline numbers too where you can schedule calls with the counselors for personalized attention.

STEMROBO Technologies: it is a New Delhi based educational technology enterprise specializing in the field of STEM education for K-12 students. They provide online virtual cloud- based Learning Management Model which is applied on their learning platform called Tinker. Students from class 4 to12 class can avail free services on this platform. When it comes to learning new skills, this platform is of great value as it has program and experiment Game Designing, Python, GUI (Graphical user interface), Robotics & DIY coding which children can get familiar with at home.

It has to be admitted that with an unplanned sudden halt in the systems that we had come to think of as given, a space of re-imagination has been created. It is time that children start realize anew the value of the role of regular schooling and school environment and learn something new in the time which has fallen in their lot.