Dear reader,
In this pandemic situation, using web technology for teaching-learning has gained more prominence and is considered a new normal way of education. The universities, colleges, and schools have now decided to start this academic year on virtual mode and continue with it till normalcy is returned. This decision has mandated even those teachers who have never used technology earlier to adopt technology for teaching. It has become necessary for teachers not only to know about the Learning Management Systems (LMS) they use but also other tools they can integrate into their LMS for making teaching- learning collaborative and interactive. Further, teachers who have adopted online or remote teaching should also be aware of the challenges they are likely to face and devise methods to overcome them.
In this light, Dolan Das in his article, Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Teaching in India: A New Age Challenges for Teachers, focuses on e-learning as an alternate mode of teaching during pandemic and enumerates on the change in the roles of teachers in e-teaching and also the challenges they face in the process. Dilip Barad in his, From Blended Teaching to Digital Portfolio: Sharing Experience of Teaching through Technology emphasises the need to choose an LMS considering the pedagogical purposes and the facilities students possess. Nagamani in Padlet-Web 2.0 tool, introduces the tool, Padlet, and points out the different ways of using it for English Language Teaching. Pravin S. Kale and Meena Kute in their article, Use of E-resources for Teaching and Learning English, list down various resources available on the Internet which can be used by the teachers of English in their classrooms.
The current issue attempts to give an idea of teaching-learning scenario during COVID 19 pandemic, changing roles of teachers and challenges they face in e-learning scenario, the points to be considered while choosing a digital platform/ LMS, the tool and the resources that can be used for making teaching learning interactive and engaging.
Dr R Jaya
Editor