Change is easy
Interestingly, the expression ‘change is easy’ is reminiscent of the very first promotional campaign of the ‘DELL’ brand when it just entered the ever-growing market of laptops years ago. It was just a tagline then for me, but I now feel it relates to my personal experience with online teaching in 2020. The year 2020 can never be erased from our memories, for it was, undeniably, a period mix of anxiety, setbacks, and stress. Despite all the doom and gloom in the world, we made peace with the situation and stepped ahead with the idea of online teaching through MS TEAMS, and proved that ‘ THE SHOW MUST GO ON’.
Up until the middle of February, it was all well and we taught with our three besties- DEARIE duster, CHEERY chalk, and OVER SMART smartboard. It’s been months and we miss those brick and mortar walls that we adorned with the exhibits of our creative works. The boards speak volumes for the spirit of competition within the students. We miss those twilight hours of winter days when we sat around the tables in groups and our students entertained us with their stand-up acts on stage on farewells and Alumni meets.
Before March 2020, we were just an acquaintance to MS Teams, but the acquaintance changed into a bond with the beginning of online classes and the bond strengthened as time progressed. So we shook hands with this software and it was followed by a very brief and brilliant period of training by the experts first and then the in-house IT department. In the initial days, it made us feel that ‘CHANGE IS NEVER EASY, BUT POSSIBLE’. A fact worthy of mention here is that we faced many glitches and hiccups owing to the issues, such as weak network, lack of understanding of the basic and advanced operations of MS TEAMS, etc.
As the time progressed, we turned friendly with the software, and then what seemed ‘IMPOSSIBLE’ in the initial days, turned into a child’s play. It’s known to all that teaching is not just about teaching. It’s a vast term and encapsulates activities, competitions, assessments, assemblies, special occasions, etc. The school encouraged us to push our limits and again there were a few more training sessions to expand our horizon of knowledge on MS TEAMS. The software facilitated the process of connecting with the students using audio and video mode, but there were two ends. We were the service provider and those at the receiving end needed guidance too.
To conclude, I would say that it is rightly said that Change is the only thing constant in life. On a brighter note, the year 2020 deserves thanks too for changing our lives. ‘Easygoing’ ones became ‘careful’, ‘junk food lovers’ shifted to ‘mother’s recipes’ and above all ‘technologically challenged’ turned ‘technology friendly’. Therefore, change is easy.
By Ranjeet Kaur, Author, and Educator
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