Synopsis
The synopsis intends to explain Simran's persective in a short and concise manner by picking out the main topics from his write-up. The longer write up is visible beow.

Pre-pandemic:

• Classrooms are not only bound by four walls but also by the textbooks they follow.
• Schools have an exam oriented approach to learning while forgoing the acutal comprehension of concepts.
• Schools create students who are competitive and not competent.
• Focus on textbooks as the primary and sometimes only source of information causes shortfall in the ability of students to understand topics.

During the pandemic:

• Pandemic and online classes forced treachers to get creative and use different learning methods and bring much needed interactivity to classrooms.
• Online debates, breakout rooms, films and other content as references created opportunities for holistic undertanding of topics
• Using other sources of information helped students to form an informed and holistic opinion on topics pertaining to society.
• Appraisal methods changed with the pandemic, moved to open book tests. This flipped the testing in favour of undertanding, organising and presenting topics as opposed to just retaining information.

Post pandemic:

• Pandemic higlighted the problems with the way we learn and forced educators to look at newer and more effiient ways of learning.
• Bringing interactivity, alternative sources of information and autonomy to do their own research are some things that ought to continue and get better after the pandemic.

====

Perspective on learning before and through various stages of the pandemic

By Simran

I truly believe that education is the key to one’s prison. It prepares us for what the real world has to offer. Prior to the Novel CoronaVirus spread, I was awaiting my 12th grade board results. I remember the last few years of my school life being quite mundane. We had spent our high school days flipping through textbooks binded within four walls trying to absorb knowledge
that we may have not fully comprehended. It was more exam oriented than learning oriented. There was competitiveness without competence.

One phrase that most of our teachers used that irked me alot was that “Your textbook is your bible”. We were taught that all we needed to know was in this textbook. I found myself often rereading chapters and being unable to trace back to the origin of certain concepts and its whys and hows. Paperback classrooms were unfortunately not adequate. I personally experienced the virtual classrooms for my freshman year of college. It was like a paradigm shift. With being stuck at home, teachers came up with unique methods of instruction and interaction. We would conduct various interactive events such as online debates, the use of break out rooms, conducting film screenings and using them as references to explain concepts. The visual aspects aided my learning experience. It also allowed us to develop a holistic understanding of concepts that are discussed through forms of media and in contemporary society. We were no longer bound to paper and pen. It brought out that practical facet of understanding.

Another huge change that I experienced was the method of appraisal. From traditional exams we moved towards open book examinations. I enjoyed studying for these exams as I didn’t have the stress to retain mass amounts of information. It was focused more on understanding, organisation and presentation. It allowed me to research on my end, read up beyond the
provided material and make comprehensive notes that were useful and to the point. I got a better idea of the learning styles that work the best for me. Covid has definitely highlighted and fast tracked the necessary changes we were ought to make
to our education system. I hope that post the pandemic we are able to retain the persistence to find creative teaching methods, refer to off-syllabus sources and create an interactive atmosphere in the classrooms.