By Thenmoli Rajantran, Lecturer, School of Communication & Design
When matters of education are discussed, the topics sometimes invite one to consider the history and along with it, the progression of time and the evolution of education. Through history, we’ve come to learn that change is the ultimate product of time and that sometimes with change we often get progress. We try to find newer and better ways to improve upon the old and that is precisely what SEGi College is pushing towards as an institution of higher education.
But we at SEGi refuse to give in to the tyranny of time, and we are proving that we are able to stand firm amidst the chaos caused by COVID-19 pandemic. SEGi quickly transitioned itself from working in the regular classroom setting to a more accommodating and virtual one through its well-mixed combination of the course management system, Blackboard, and online chat applications like Zoom and Skype. And although Blackboard was used by SEGi long before the pandemic came into play, it has become so much more than a mere attempt to stay organised. It has become a major part of SEGi’s delivery of knowledge as it connects its lecturers and students by allowing the former to set up tasks for the latter to do and discuss within it, allowing for a more interactive approach to learning.
Outside of online classes, SEGi has been holding webinar sessions to educate our students and other participants on various topics that are relevant to current times, such as the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) by talking about its importance and integration into modern society. Another webinar held by SEGi discussed emotional well-being, something which is definitely needed now more than ever through these especially trying times. The speaker, Ms Kwan Pearl Li, a licensed and registered counsellor, talked eloquently about mental health and offered great advice to the participants.
Although the methods of conveying knowledge have significantly changed over the past two decades, it can be observed that online learning is inherently inevitable, and the pandemic may have actually quickened its journey. But we were always supposed to reach this stage in the evolution of education and quite soon the physical classroom setting that we were once accustomed to will no longer be, but that’s isn’t to say that it’s a bad thing, for, without change, progress simply cannot come to pass.