Registered with Posted at Mumbai Patrika Channel Sorting Office Mumbai 400001. Registrar of Newspaper under RNI NO. 47090/88 Licensed to post on 10th or 11th of every month Published on Regd. No. MCS / 151 / 2019-21 Total 8 Pages 10th of every month. olume 32 # 04 V 1th July 2020 Issue Price Rs. 1 1 From the President 's Desk Dear Readers Summer greetings to all the KAP and YAC members! Happy and safe Holi, as members participate in this carefree festival of colours this month, followed by Cheti Chand. This is an It is a pleasure to welcome you all to our Amil Samachar in a new avatar. These are unparalleled times and all important Sindhi festival celebrated along with Ugadi and Gudi Padwa. Sindhi Amils have adapted to all religious festivals of us are under a lockdown but it is great to see how all our families are coping with the crisis So many of you wherever they have migrated. Here’s wishing all the members a Happy New Year too. have come forward and helped communities around you with monetary and physical help. Families are bonding and spending time together something we could not do in busy times. Younger children and students On 23rd February 2020, Khudabadi Amil Panchayat completed 68 years of its services to the community and humanity. The are using this time to acquire additional skills through the various educational programs that are available. event was celebrated at Gurudwara, Navjivan Society, Mumbai Central with a Bhog Ceremony. The Path Sahib was read by Joginder Singh and Sompal Singh. The Bhog Ceremony was followed by Ardas wherein all the members prayed for the The pandemic has compelled us to embrace technology and helped us to become agile in adopting digital transformation. continuity of growth and prosperity of the KAP and the YAC member. On this occasion Ms Biindu Khurana conducted the kirtan. You are at the cusp of seeing a new normal which will revolutionise the way businesses and relationships will unfurl bringing a new digital world full of new age education. Let us all accept this new normal and carry on our lives with passion and On the occasion of Cheti Chand, the YAC members will be celebrating the Sindhi New Year at an old age home. compassion. Congratulations to the Managing Committees of KAP and YAC for their continuous hard work to make the year a success. We look forward to another eventful year. Warm Regards, Dr. Indu Shahani Warm Regards, Dr. Indu Shahani LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME...... This pandemic will be over in times to come, but the life will never be the same again. It has radically altered our daily lives. This is probably the largest shutdown in human history of this magnitude the world over. This current shock will have long term consequences for the planet. This is a world war of a different kind, fighting and surviving against a common enemy. And strangely in this war, most of the people will emerge as winners on many fronts. This winning is of the SELF from the inside out. The world within was gradually evolving when the world was locking down. Learning took a major leap forward. Self development became one of the many virtues in this period. Moreover there has been great growth in the world of digital technology, the leap that didn't happen in years took just a few months. Digital transformation is the norm where you will have no choice, for instance the online meetings has come here to stay forever. This technological revolution translates to just one thing, quicker you adapt the stronger you will be. This has also given birth for the Panchayat to connect far and wide, an opportunity to reach people in distant lands, something that didn't happen since a long period. In this issue of Amil Samachar the Sindhi matter couldn't be printed. We will still endeavour to release printed editions in the future. However, we will have to wait until this challenging times settles down. Till then let's make the most of these moments. Editor – Dr. Indu Shahani Amil Samachar July 2020 EDUCATION : THE NEW NORMAL – Dr. Indu Shahani Teachers & Students Adapt To This New Way Of Teaching Learning It was on March 11, 2020 that WHO declared COVID-19 as pandemic and on the same day ISDI & ISME with all its five schools of Design, Innovation, Business Management, Entrepreneurship, Communication, and Hospitality & Film Making School decided to go online. All our faculty went into a war zone and while grappling with the same challenges, which all educational institutions faced due to the lockdown i.e. they trained themselves overnight on how to leverage technology and break the physical and mental barriers for continuing the process of education in a digital format, over a sustained period. Our educational institutions developed a 'new normal' of Work from Home which for our educators has Training for Faculty however been how to Teach from Home and help students Learn from Home. Digital education is providing both teachers and students new opportunities to teach and learn thereby ensuring greater participation in the overall learning process. The real test was to see how quickly the faculty and the administration adapted to adopting technology in the teaching learning process. An overwhelming support from parents coupled with the support from the Schools to staff who did not have the facilities at home, has led to what we can term as 'Digitality' - the New Normal in Education which required the educational institution to have the agility for digital transformation. New experiences and use of the best digital platforms has generated an unprecedented participation of students breaking all previous records of class attendance. The faculty engagement has also reached to a new high and a renewed enthusiasm is seen among the faculty to try out newer ways of teaching and assessing students. Student Speak- Sahil Gandhi says, “My College has come up with a really innovative solution to an otherwise dire situation and I'm glad to be a part of this institution that always puts its students first and offers such a versatile learning experience.” Student Teacher Engagement The last three months (April – June 2020) have thrown up some very interesting statistics as far as the teaching learning at the five schools goes: 11700 lecture hours till date 2000 Students taking Online Classes each day 150 Unique Faculty 145 Classes per day 2.5 hours average per day teaching by a faculty 93% Average Class Attendance per day Design Cannot be taught online- A Myth There was a general sense that design cannot be taught online. The faculty at ISDI- School of Design & Innovation have broken that myth and have established beyond any doubt, that Design can be taught through digital medium and all learning outcomes can be achieved just as they would be achieved in any physical classroom. To give an example here: Our Fashion Design Department used technology at its best to teach all aspects from Sketching, Cutting, Assembling, Constructing to Displaying through a virtual Ramp walk, the fashion apparels designed in the virtual classroom. The students of the Film School too under the guidance of faculty have created some outstanding class work using the digital software and technology Student Speak - Zubaida Basrai says, “The digital learning sessions have really been exciting. It has taken the same learning experience a notch higher by making them even more interesting. Thank You for such enthusiastic and motivated faculty.” The new normal that we are currently experiencing in education has thrown up some great opportunity of industry interactions for the students and faculty at the five schools. Industry stalwarts who would have found it impossible to spare any time in the past have managed to spend a few hours engaging in Webinars and such interactions have opened up newer horizons for our students for career options Continued on page 3 July 2020 Amil Samachar Student Speak -Shaili Jhaveri says, "The classes have allowed us students to enhance our time management skills along with helping us understand concepts in a more holistic manner. We feel at par with the world that is digitizing so quickly." The new normal that we are currently experiencing in education has thrown up some great opportunity of industry interactions for the students and faculty at the five schools. Industry stalwarts who would have found it impossible to spare any time in the past have managed to spend a few hours engaging in Webinars and such interactions have opened up newer horizons for our students for career options. The virtual mode has also thrown the world open to renowned external faculty who are being invited from various countries such as UK, Russia, United States and Latin America and from prominent universities like Rutgers Business School for taking master classes for students. In a short span of 90 days, the five schools have seen close to 250 special sessions with Industry experts on myriad topics covering the most contemporary issues to guide the students into a bright future. To name a few of these webinars: ¢What is Design & Understanding of Design Galaxy by Harshvardhan Upadhaya | Lead Designer Samsung Designing for E-commerce and Career options by Sidddhartha Saini | Associate Director of Design for Anouk and Taavi @ Myntra.com ¢Future of fashion magazines in a post Covid-19 world by Meenakshi Iyer | Associate Editor Elle Magazine ¢Fire Side Chat - Benaisha Kharas & Yash Dongre - Image & Mental Health Consultant | TEDx Speaker |Fashion Style Expert ¢Rich Legacy of Family Business (4 generations of Bajaj Family) by Shekhar Bajaj | Chairman and MD, Bajaj Electrical Ltd.