DoE to hold orientation session for teachers to prepare them for Virtual School

In preparation for the Delhi Model Virtual School (DMVS), the Directorate of Education (DoE) will on Thursday begin conducting orientation sessions for computer science teachers of government schools. The two-day orientation will mainly cover discussing the teaching modules and patterns of the virtual school with the teachers.

“We plan to start admissions for the virtual model school this month. We are still in the planning stage and will release detailed information on the mode of assessment, academic cycle, and admission process by next week. For now, we have just started the process of getting our teachers acquainted with the learning model,” said a senior official in the education department.

The virtual school is one of the flagship projects of the Delhi government which aims to facilitate easy learning for students who want to benefit from the “Delhi model of education”. The setting up of the school was announced in March this year during the annual budget.

The model virtual school will be governed by the Delhi Schools of Specialized Excellence Society and will be affiliated to the newly formed Delhi Board of Secondary Education (DBSE), which has collaborated with the International Baccalaureate as a knowledge partner for its curriculum framework.

“It will function for classes 9-12. For the year 2021-22, the school shall offer admission to students in Class 9 and 11,” said a DoE circular signed by deputy director education (schools).

In August, HT had first reported that DMVS will cater to students interested in studying from home, such as sportspersons, artists or school dropouts,and will admit students in classes 9 and 11 within Delhi. DMVS plans to expand to other parts of the country later.

On Tuesday, DoE released a circular saying that an orientation session will be conducted for computer science teachers in 10 batches between Thursday and Friday. The Core Academic Unit, which helped conduct online classes during the pandemic, will also play a key role in developing content and working on its delivery across schools.

“In these sessions, participants will be briefed about the modalities of the virtual school and various aspects of teacher and student selection. This will be followed by answering their queries and collecting their feedback,” DoE said.

The department has also asked mentor teachers and computer teachers in these schools to conduct an outreach event on DMVS for other teachers of their schools. “They [computer teachers] will also identify and reach out to potential students (and their parents, if possible) who could be part of DMVS, especially those who have dropped out of Directorate of Education schools and are eligible for studying in Class 9 or 11,” the circular stated.

Mentor teachers said that computer science teachers were picked for the training first due to their technical skills and the readiness to replicate the learning modules among other teachers.

Under DVMS, the evaluation of learning goals will be conducted through “technology-assisted assessments” via a unique learning management system or designated assessment centres. “Modes of assessment will vary from quizzes, assignments, live assessments, and proctored examinations,” stated a document on the planning of the school.

The learning management system will host several functions, including live streaming of sessions, act as a virtual library, assign and evaluate paperless assignments, maintain class calendars, conduct virtual conversations, and set up an artificial intelligence-based interface to create a personalised learning flow according to the level of each student.

Reflecting on the plans, mentor teacher Poonam (who goes by her first name) said, “Though online classes have been going on for over a year now, not all our teachers are 100% tech-savvy. So we decided to start with computer teachers because the virtual model school will involve more tech-based activities such as creating quizzes or polls according to a student’s learning level. The computer teachers can adopt these practices and later train other teachers.”