The two-day holiday declared for educational institutions in Karnataka in view of the BMTC staff strike in the state has meant that students could not attend their regular classes.
However, first-year BA students of Shri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain University in Bengaluru found a novel way to get around the problem. Students attended their lecture via Twitter.
Where there is a will, there is a way, they say. Ashwini M Sripad for The New Indian Express reports that the lecture was held via Periscope, the live video broadcast app by Twitter.
Prof Sachin Tantry, head of the department of Arts at the university, was overjoyed by the response he received.
“As Monday’s classes were marred by the bus strike, a student gave me this idea. We also have a WhatsApp group for each class. I sent a message at 9 am asking students to download the app. After initial hiccups, we started the class at 10.45 on Monday,” he told TNIE.
Saying that the only requirement is a smartphone or a computer with internet facility, Prof Tantry said that 55 students of the total 79 in the class attended the lecture. Another 20 students attended the lecture in the classroom, he said.
However, there were some technical snags, which he has decided to look into.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)