Time is ripe for educational institutions and various organisation to up their game and utilise online apps for academic purposes and business conferences, writes Hammad Alam.
The coronavirus pandemic, which brought devastation that affected millions, also enabled some new inventions, methods and new ideas for future survival. Due to being confined indoors, many started online businesses while others started online academic courses.
Before the outbreak, online classes were not as common, but they are now known to everyone as it proving to be incredibly useful in view the current situation. Also, the online app Zoom, used for online classes, has now become the need of many.
If I talk about my university, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, the administration took an initiative to save precious time of the students and the faculty. Director Admissions Dr Ateeq-ur-Rehman worked together with the students to develop an online website "Leaning Management System" (LMS), which has all the necessary features. From a student's attendance to online submission of papers, it is enriched with many modern tools.
Due to his, our university has become the first university in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to start online classes and this is a source of pride for us. According to a student of Swabi University Saad Saud Jan, the LMS is a great initiative. Another student from Buner, Syed Zain-ul- Islam said online education the step of the varsity has projected a strong impression of Pakistani education system abroad.
In terms of the businesses too, people would use Skype or Facebook Messenger more to meet online, but a small number of them could join a conversation simultaneously. So, these platforms may not be as beneficial for conference calls and meetings. Compared to this, hundred of users can meet together on the Zoom App, with it quality being so much better than the other apps.
So, the pandemic which is considered as a crisis, has also brought some new inventions and methods that will prove to be useful for decades to come.