Covid-19 has impacted almost every sector in the world. Many people have lost jobs, students are not able to join schools, the economy is going down. On the other hand, some sector has adopted this change and started working towards it. Corporate are operating from work from home, students are learning and taking classes online through zoom, skype video calls. Ms. Kiran Dham, CEO, Globus Infocom Ltd. (edtech solution provider company), in a discussion with FE Online, talked about education technology at the time of lockdown and how e-learning becomes a new normal. Also, how her company got impacted in this unprecedented times and what steps they are taking to cope up with. Excerpts:
What was the impact you have seen in the demand for products due to Covid-19?
The COVID-19 pandemic has surely impacted the market & the industry and we are also not different. Being in the institutional sales in different verticals though we were well prepared. This crisis has increased the trend of digital learning & collaboration through cloud based platforms & more educators than before, are turning to using digital devices to facilitate learning. A key reason for this has to do with the social distancing norms that everyone in society is following. Educators realise the importance of social distancing and therefore, are turning to technologies that facilitate remote learning. We being the industry leaders in education technology for past so many years, are geared up to provide best of the made In India learning & remote collaboration solutions to facilitate learning without any hassle even during this crisis.
How government schools are facilitating e-learning during lockdown?
During the nation-wide lockdown, remote learning and teaching through online media have been adopted across schools, colleges, and training centres. To facilitate learning, Government schools are also turning to e-learning. Teachers are going digital to support the continuance of learning during the lockdown.Amidst this crisis one positive change that occurred fast was the readiness & active participation of Government schools towards adaption of technology.
Government has launched several digital learning platforms for students wherein they can not only get full access to the study material but that also allows them to engage in online classes and interact with the teachers similarly like the physical classroom setting. Student can access study material in the form of Video lectures, reading material, self assessment tests, doubt clearing sessions, online discussion etc to make the experience close to the real classroom experience.
Do you think online classes are making student tech addicts? Will digital /Online education take over traditional education?
Based on the current education scenario, technology has become a huge part in children’s everyday lives. Though it has its benefits & downsides both. What parents & teachers need to realize is that how to optimize the use of technology in children’s lives since the involvement of technology is not only at home but is equally at the school too. Using it as an educational tool for enhanced learning experience has a number of benefits that teachers can’t afford to ignore. The trick, therefore, is finding balance and teach them to set boundaries & embrace model usage of technology to grab maximum benefit. To answer the second part, digital learning can never replace the traditional learning methods but can surely facilitate the whole experience &allow for a wider range of learning methods to be embraced, therefore providing each student with more opportunities for learning. The virtual education can never recreate the experience and interaction of a physical classroom.
What is the future of new-age technology post lockdown
New-age technologies like virtual classrooms will become far more commonplace than they were in the past. When the lockdown ends, the threat of COVID-19 will remain. Many people might not want to continue the regular carefree working & learning style when the risk of COVID-19 looms large. Hence in the months and years ahead, new-age technology will be far more widely used. Schools, colleges, and universities will adopt it in growing numbers. Also, more offices than ever before will begin to use new-age technologies like virtual meeting platforms.
How are you coping with the loss that happened due to Covid-19?
We are a massively innovative company. While we are affected moderately, we are gearing up for the resurgence in demand expected because of the lockdown. Globus Infocom is prepared enough to easily tide through such low times& identify growth opportunities amidst all the chaos. Being the pioneers in the education technology industry, we can easily foresee the increase in the demand of e-learning, cloud based learning & business solutions. Whole world is turning towards going digital & we are more than ready to help schools, organization & institutions to carry on with their regular sessions without any interruption.
Also, being an organisation with a visionary mindset, we have been focussing upon bringing out the positive from this scenario & leaving the negativity behind. In such circumstances, we are coming up with our newest vertical of Healthcare & wellness which will offer best of the innovative technology innovations devised to cater to the upsurged demand of the healthcare industry & help the country to continue ahead with precaution, prevention & safety measures.
We are also well poised to take on the coming surge in demand for digital displays and signages.
Explain about your new initiative.
We took Coronavirus as an advantage to benefit the company and to enter in the new segment- Healthcare & Wellness and launched products which will be highly helpful in tackling the spread of any pandemic across masses like Human Body Temperature Detection Thermal Cameras & Contactless IR Thermometer, Automatic Hand Sanitizing Digital Signage Kiosk, Disinfectant ULV Fogger, UV disinfection sterilizer can be deployed to prevent diffusion by increased awareness & sanitization. After the intensive research & study we have developed solutions which are based upon the presumption of four basic challenges, we face while a pandemic struck which are, Early discovery, Diffusion prevention, Early isolation & Early reporting. This vertical has innovated & improvised high-end technology solutions to create a safer & healthier world for us all by developing different offerings to address different challenges. All the products & offerings are completely designed In India, For India & By India as per the Indian demographical & environmental conditions
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