Panaji: The State Council for Education Research and Training in collaboration with the directorate of education and the Million Sparks Foundation has started a module-based online capacity building programme for schoolteachers from July 13, aimed towards equipping them with knowledge to prepare syllabus-based videos as well as spread awareness about mental health of students.
Although the programme is not compulsory, around 8,000 state teachers from primary level to higher secondary level have registered themselves for the same.
The training of the teachers as regards online teaching has become important since the reopening of schools for the new academic year has been inordinately delayed due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. SCERT-Goa director Nagaraj Honnekeri told ‘The Navhind Times’ that the first two topics under this programme are ‘making good videos as teaching aids’ and ‘mental health awareness’.
“The MSF is set up by the IITans, and hence this programme is thought provoking,” he remarked, pointing out that although the topics are same for teachers teaching at all levels, the information provided to them would be level-specific, that is according to the classes they are teaching.
“The two topics will train the teachers to prepare good educational content in the form of videos, as well as taking care of the psychological needs of the students,” Honnekeri said, maintaining that more and more subjects would be introduced in coming months.
“The online training for ‘making good videos as teaching aids’ topic will be conducted from July 13 to July 24, while that for ‘mental health awareness’ will be conducted from August 10 to August 21,” he noted. The ten-day-long training sessions will be conducted remotely through a mobile application called ChalkLit conceptualised by the MSF.
ChalkLit is available 24×7 and can be downloaded by teachers at any time.
The SCERT-Goa director said the ten-hour-module under the programme can be completed by teachers in five days, eight days or ten days, as per their convenience, that is the teachers will be able to complete the training at their own pace during the stipulated days.
“The teachers completing the particular module under the OCBP will then have to undergo a small test,” he said, mentioning that the progress of the teachers in this training would be monitored through an in-built system in the ChalkLit app.
Teachers undergoing this programme are required to complete 100 per cent progress of the training before the deadline, to be eligible for the award of certificate.
The certificate will be available online through the ChalkLit app and the certified teachers would be notified about the same. Teachers can use this certificate for their professional development while writing their resumes for the confidential report.
The particular programme had been drafted in a manner such that the current level of understanding of the teacher gets tested, after which they are provided a review of newer teaching methods based on learning outcomes.
Some teachers, however, are critical of using an app for developing their teaching capacity, when the details of the app creator are not known.
A few other teachers said the app is making the entire process faceless, and is using a one-size-fits-all approach towards the needs of the teachers as well as students, especially for complex topics like mental health of students.