COVID-19 and Its Impact on the Education Sector
The whole world is facing a severe and acute public health emergency due to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic. Over a billion students worldwide are unable to go to school or university, as precautionary measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. This pandemic is expected to have an unprecedented amount of impact on the education sector worldwide.
With schools and universities being temporarily closed around the world, educators were forced to implement new steps to ensure the health and safety of students and employees while ensuring the continuity of the classes. As a result, the virtual class concept was implemented by the majority of the schools and universities around the world as a new normal.
Initiatives of Texila American University
With this new normal taking over the face-to-face teaching pattern, Texila American University (TAU) has implemented virtual classes with the goal of providing academic services to students without compromising the safety of students and faculty.
- Virtual Classes
The virtual classes were implemented for all colleges, including Medicine, Nursing, Public Health, and Business. For the College of Medicine, all the basic science semester sessions are running as per the MD program’s academic schedule to ensure that students do not miss out on any important topic or concept. These sessions are a combination of live lectures supported by:- PowerPoint Presentations (PPTs),
- Interactive Sessions,
- Assessments, and
- Support Materials
that are being shared ahead of time. - Learning Management System
Our students have access to our Learning management system (LMS). On LMS, they can access the PPTs for specific topics being taught for a particular session. Study materials such as videos, articles, etc. are uploaded on the LMS for student’s access. - Ponce Health Resources
Students also have access to Ponce Health Resources, which accommodates thousands of video lectures. Concurrently, interactive sessions are conducted via Zoom. It allows student-faculty interaction and ensures that students have the opportunity to clarify any doubts they may have. - Online Assessments and Engagements
Assessments and frequent quizzes or MCQs are given by faculty. Students are also made to submit written assignments for evaluation.
Clinical Science is more challenging than Basic Science since it is mainly based on patient interaction and hands-on experience. It is impossible to provide bedside mannerisms and hands-on clinical skills online. However, the plan was to provide activities online and engage students.
Didactic lectures on clinical topics and case presentations are being conducted using the online platform. Interactive mock cases are presented to the students online. With the guidance of the faculty and instructors, the students are insisted to submit their assessment of the case presented.
Similarly, the basic science study materials are uploaded on the LMS for student’s access. And online assessments are given. - Weekly Panel Discussions
TAU also implemented weekly panel discussions with students and faculty. It is initiated to engage student discussion on recent development in medical education and COVID preparedness. These sessions often include TAU’s faculty and students and outside experts. Whether the world has combated the COVID-19 pandemic or not, TAU has reduced its impact on the students’ education. Please visit our news and events and COVID information pages to know more about our recent activities and initiatives that were taken to ensure the continuity of the classes.
