REALITY IN VIRTUALITY

Reality in Virtuality

Virtual Schools are in themselves a renaissance of physical schools! From the naughtiest of mischief to the silliest act of innocence, what hacks would you bring about as a student? Many ideas, but how do we take these ideas from reality to virtuality? Right from a student’s heart, the hacks and moments of virtual school – Reality in Virtuality!

“Things are super uncertain. When we see the sun going down, the stars come out of nowhere!”

That’s how Virtual Classrooms came into our daily life! When the Covid-19 came along as a threat to schooling (more than it did to our lives!) the solution was facing the Virtuality! This “Apocalypse” turned the tables and made us all learn that the future is uncertain, live in the present, don’t get stressed out because of the future because you can only make do with what’s happening now. We need to learn how to deal with adversity.

Yet, there is something that remains unaffected… Studies! It is something that is our fate, a converging destiny that our teachers have designed for us! Even if we are in a serious fight, may not be able to come alive out of it, there is one thing we will surely do during that fight, Go to schools. And, there we are, amidst of doing the same on our laptops, phones and becoming more of Tech Savvy Digi-smart Generation!

Virtual Gains

The benefits of virtual schooling all in all is something that has made the teaching-learning process even more efficient. There is infact, reality in virtuality.

If we were to talk about the plus-points of Virtual Classrooms from a Student’s perspective, they would be more of mischief and hacks being implemented throughout to make the classes jollier! Thus, I believe the “IDEAL” gains of going Virtual as evident would be-

• The shortening of the communication gap between the teachers and students, who can connect more often virtually.
• The Tranquillity! The students needn’t be all dressed up in uniforms, prepare for going to schools and can attend the classes from the comfort of their beds.
• Getting into the Curious mode! With the Grand Exposure to internet, the discussion becomes even more fruitful and you never know when one of your friends will question the font of the screen shared itself!
• The resources! The content and books available online are enough to keep one entangled for a lifetime. The virtual classrooms have brought the plan of “The world is an open book” in fruition. And the fact here is that we are not only reading the content in this book but also filling it up with our piece of mind!

Now, let us move from Virtual Gains to Virtual Hacks – the most awaited section, at least for the students!

THE HACKS AND MOMENTS OF VIRTUAL SCHOOL

It is a child’s nature to bring out joy in every seemingly little thing. A child is always present in the present and hence mindful and cheerful. The virtual schooling becomes even more enthusiastic and lively with the popping up of the ideas that are cooked up in the devil’s workshop! Most of them create a healthy menace and create moments worth cherishing.

THE VIRTUAL BACKGROUNDS

The virtual backgrounds themselves are exploitable. The best hack would be putting the virtual background as your face itself!

Tell the class you have learnt something new – the art of Ventriloquism. Where your video is frozen on the screen but your voice is fluent. The class is bound to go nuts after knowing the hack (the reality in virtuality of the hack) behind this background!

THE MIC OFF CUSTOM

This trick is the one that goes for all time! The strangest thing, I as a student have observed is that the MICs (micrphone) work perfectly fine during the attendance but forget their functioning during Q/A (Question and Answer) sessions just like a selective memory loss in movies!

To try this out, you gotta be really good at typing! Use the chat to answer, meanwhile taking your time. Though for productive and effective sessions, an Ideal student always keeps up with his/her MIC, but in some emergencies, The Chat Box changes the whole scenario!

THE MIC ON NORM

Some students keep themselves muted the whole time whereas some do not mute themselves at all! The accidental voices that are heard during the class are enough to make the day mellifluous but you got to make sure, you are not the clown of the class!

EVERYONE! CAMERAS ON

If the students are the computers, the teachers are the antivirus software, who make sure that we are not derailed from our path because of enhancing technology! When the network fluctuates (usually!), the class becomes more of a meditation place and the teacher’s voice is like the chanting! To break through this, teachers have come out with new rules like Turning the Camera on, taking attendance anytime during the class and what not (another moment that will stay forever)!

THE TOO MANY TABS OPTION

The Internet is so vast and ubiquitous. Going from one tab to another won’t be rocket science even for a beginner! When the teacher shares the screen, the URL can be easily found and saved in another tab to be gone through afterwards to understand the concept even better.

SO, REALITY IN VIRTUALITY – IN A NUTSHELL….

What might be hacks and tricks for students, is sheer naughtiness for the teachers! The common fact is that both of them put their pain and efforts to make the platform of online schooling fantabulous. Important learning – the ‘reality in virtuality’ though is that in the end, the antivirus controls the computer!

It is not upto fate, but it is what you make.

Gauri Wadehra

It really is up to us if we are willing to go all out for something such as studying or not. Virtual schooling sounds cool and is in fact cool but it is cool till the time we let it be. It is beneficial for us to learn and grow overall in all spheres of life.

Some little practical jokes are enough to ring the door of felicity amidst the gloom. But these bring joy only as long as they are little. Excess of anything is bad and thus there should be a balance of jokes and learning. As long as these go hand in hand, the pranks would be like apricity, bringing eternal warmth to the wintry chill of virtual schooling. That would be our perfect idea of reality in virtuality!

Editor’s Note:

We hope reading about ‘Reality in Virtuality’ – how students bring joy to virtual schooling, brought a smile to your face too! If yes, read a fun and pun account of how adults deal with Zoom calls at work. You will find these Zoom tips handy, whether you are getting into a Zoomathon or becoming a Zoombie! You may also want to read ‘Vanity Of A Stone’ a metaphorical poem about the effects of haughtiness or about Mindfulness by Gauri Wadehra.

About The Author

Gauri Wadehra is an aspiring poet who enjoys writing to express herself. She is a keen learner and believes that every little thing in itself is enough to lead to a greater outcome.

Gauri is a passionate speaker too. She likes to dedicate her free time to reading, singing, basketball and playing varied instruments.