When the Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology (RSET) in Kochi closed, along with other engineering colleges in the State, it was an unforeseen situation for the students and the faculty. The faculty had no time to work on a plan around the situation. Brainstorming with the RSET Alumni Association, the faculty and management discussed ways and means to work out possible alternatives. The outcome was the decision to migrate to an online model – RSET Online – to teach remotely, conduct seminars, assignments and other activities.
“In the current scenario, we have no clue on when the offline system will be back in place. We want to cover as many theory sessions possible online during this break, so that we can focus more on the practical sessions when the students are back in campus” said Fr. Joel George Pulolil CMI, the coordinator of RSET Online.
Relevant for all
A team comprising the faculty and alumni members was put in place to roll out an online programme that could be used by any engineering student in Kerala, following the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (APJKTU) syllabus. RSET estimates that in Kerala alone, there are more than 140 colleges with more than 30,000 students. The short, concise videos, first of which were posted on March 17, cover topics in minimum time using minimum internet bandwidth usage.
“As of today, our faculty members have uploaded more than 300 videos on different branches of engineering, mathematics, chemistry and economics. I hope this will enable all the students under APJKTU,” says Prof. (Dr) PS Sreejith, Principal RSET.
The videos are posted in separate folders department-wise with an accompanying note with semester and course details ease of use/access. RSET Online primarily follows the syllabus prescribed by APJKTU, the first priority is for topics of modules 5 and 6, since most institutions would have covered the first three topics by March. The team is still working from home preparing videos and tutorials; they record the videos, which is reviewed by a department committee by senior professors after which the videos are published on RSET’s Facebook page, website and YouTube channel. “The reviewing helps us maintain the quality of the videos,” says Rijin John, president of the RSET Alumni Association. “While the 220-odd faculty members create the content, the alumni helped with the technical side,” says Fr. (Dr) Mathew Vattachara CMI, Director RSET.
“What worked in our favour was that we put the plan in place before the actual lockdown — we spent two days working with the faculty, so their orientation was set for the project,” says Rijin. “The tutorials have been accessed not only by our students or those in India but also by those overseas,” he adds.
“We want the students to keep in touch with their teachers and subjects. The response to this model was overwhelming with close to 50,000 views in such a short duration,” Rijin concludes.
