The most significant experiment underway in the history of teachinglearning
during the forced closure of educational institutions is to identify and collect
evidence on both the strength and drawbacks of teaching-learning in virtual mode.
Teachers are at the epicenter of a massive scale switch over of practice of learningteaching.
Teachers need to possess skills that are instrumental in ensuring desired
learning outcomes. Research data shows that there are effective teaching strategies for
the virtual environment. Still, there are disconnect and inadequacies in the application
of these strategies and teachers’ perception of the outcomes, which demands capacity
building for practicing teachers. Considering the emergency of designing unique
models of the capacity building program for traditional teachers, in early June 2020,
‘Bichitra Pathshala’ conducted a short online course for teachers to help them
overcome technical hurdles and create learner-centric environments in the virtual
model. A combination of data collection methods, including the validated open-ended
questionnaire and focus group discussion, was conducted on the synchronous virtual
digital platform. The findings revealed that during the switch over to virtual learningteaching
mode, initially, the teachers were at a loss to address the students
satisfactorily, but gradually the teachers learned to apply techno-pedagogical skills in
their teaching-learning designs, and gradually they could ensure components of social
presence and teaching presence in the virtual environment. Teachers felt further
empowered when they could adopt asynchronous learning mode and showed
confidence in their professional role.
Keywords: Asynchronous Mode, Behaviorism, Cognitivism, Cognitive Presence,
Constructivism, COVID-19, Digital Platform, E-Learning, Focus Group, Online
Course, Online Learning, Pandemic, Pedagogy, Social Presence, Students, synchronous Mode, Teachers, Teaching Presence, Virtual Classroom, Virtual Learning
Teaching.
