Education on the virtual forum yields multifarious benefits which would not have been acquired or perhaps even conceived if our conventional educational pedagogy would obstinately have endured. Skype in the Classroom, an event organized by Microsoft, was a spectacle worth beholding with the global community of students, educators and all stakeholders of educational institutes around the world becoming acquainted and interacting with one another on the e-Forums of Skype and Microsoft Teams.
This year our students of Grade III-V travelled more than 50 thousand miles virtually, through Skype in the classroom, which enabled educators and students to connect virtually from Zambia, Wales, Nigeria, Russia and Varanasi. Our students participated in cultural exchange programmes wherein they highlighted India’s rich culture and traditions through posters, songs and verbal descriptions. Students were excited to hear about the national symbols, flags and cultural inheritances of Zambia and Nigeria, while some were amazed to hear the eye-opening facts about Wales from the students there. The students of Varanasi threw some light on their rich cultural heritage places and got acquainted about the beauty of forts and scenic places in Maharashtra. Another informative collaboration that took our students to Jalandhar and Bhopal were where the educators addressed the enthusiastic learners with sessions based on fun with science and mixed reality using Microsoft tools. The journey became even more exciting when the students got an opportunity to interact with a story-teller from Russia. They were mesmerized with her inspiring story which had an insight about Russian culture and lifestyle. Inclusive classrooms are welcoming and support the diverse academic, social, emotional, and communication needs of all students. This was very well explained by an esteemed guest speaker who enlightened our students and helped them understand and relate to this concept better.
The students and teachers of Grade VI-X also partook in this event which relieved us of the monotone online education was soon pervasively and bilaterally becoming. It commenced with exploring the history and enigmatic myths contained within a museum in Russia. Students of Grade VI-VIII visited Tate Geological Museum in Casper, Wyoming United States of America to learn about the rocks and mineral resources. virtual tour of the museum enriched their knowledge about the fossils. Virtual tour to Verkhoturye Museum of Russia and Xan Shi Museum of China gave opportunity to our students to be acquainted with the ancient culture of these countries. Subsequently, we traversed to Israel and recognized the significance of becoming a fervent environmentalist and developing into “active students of the world”. After taking quite a few visits to the United Arab Emirates, Philippines, United Kingdom, Egypt and Libya learning about informational structures, a little grammar, culture and briefly studying the Russian Revolution, we came back to India for celebrating Diwali. Students also got opportunity to attend the live events conducted by Microsoft during the Microsoft global learning connect event organized on 10th and 11th November 2020. It gave them opportunity to learn about Minecraft, space shuttle and a virtual trip to shark aquarium conducted by Mote marine lab. These events had an incredible impact on the students and gave them a wider perspective about world of Minecraft, space science and marine life.
