The restrictions imposed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is pushing people to rely on technology to go about their business while staying indoors.
Be it education, healthcare or other services, technology-driven solutions are coming handy to beat the lockdown blues.
The use of technology is catching up fast among the educational institutions. Considered as an education hub, Tirupati has many institutions of national repute such as the IIT and the IISER, apart from half a dozen of universities.
The trend face-to-face lessons is losing ground as all educational institutions have been closed since months, and the online education has taken it place. No only the big institutions, even schools have taken to the technology route to continue classes.
Many schools are using digital platforms in both offline and online mode—live classes or recorded lessons which help the students to learn from the comforts of their homes. The schools are opting for online or offline modes, depending on various factors such as mobility of teachers and internet bandwidth at students’ location.
However, the online education has its own challenges. “Even as online education is inevitable amid the pandemic, concentrating on lessons in this format is difficult for primary level students. The methodology needs to be reinvented to suit the need of the students,” says N. Satyanarayana Raju, Director of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Sri Venkateswara Vidyalaya.
Parental support, he says, would go a long way in retaining children’s attention on classes in online mode. Even some organisations offering private tuitions have started online classes. The colleges and universities are preferring webinars to seminars.
Treatment and awareness
The healthcare sector is also relying on technology more than before. As the denizens are hesitant to see doctors in the out-patient wings owing to the fears of contracting the infection, doctors are reaching out to patients in the ‘virtual’ mode.
The technology is playing a vital role in creating awareness on various ailments and preacautionary measures.
Senior physician P. Krishna Prasanthi, who regularly conducts diabetes awareness programmes, has now started ‘live sessions’.
“Our recent webinar on diabetes self-care evoked a good response. I am now inspired to conduct more such programmes online,” says Dr. Prasanthi, who is the former president of IMA, Tirupati.
Religious sessions
As a religious centre, Tirupati is also witnessing social and religious organisations conducting online sessions on Bhagavad Gita, Divya Prabandham and slokas.
