Impact and awareness of COVID-19 on rural communities – an empirical study of India

Purpose: To study the impact, awareness and preparedness of COVID-19, a “pandemic” that has aroused the attention of the entire world because of rapid infection rates;among the targeted rural communities as basis to analyze their self-sustainability level. Design/methodology/approach: A mixed methodology/approach combining critical literature review and questionnaire-based survey has been followed in two villages, covering a sample of 150 households located in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh, India. The parameters were selected to check awareness/preparedness regarding basic guidelines, immunity, requirements of essential facilities to deal with COVID-19 patients, the effect of lockdown on social and financial status, difficulties in education. Findings: The villages have the potential to transform into Smart Villages or Smart Communities with the adaption of self-sustainable processes. The self-reliance on agriculture and traditional lifestyle in targeted rural areas make them relatively safer as compared to the urban areas. The community's overall awareness about COVID-19 and its preparedness was found satisfactory, with some variations that require more innovative strategies with academic interventions. Research limitations/implications: Although the scope of the study was limited to two remote villages of Himachal Pradesh (India), the results could be generalized for in-depth understanding about other villages in the state to convert them into smart villages. Originality/value: It summarizes a systemic perspective based on selected parameters on how COVID-19 lockdown has affected different aspects of life in rural communities. Further, collaborative efforts and adoption of self-sustainability model can lead to the remarkable transformation of villages into smart villages. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID-19 and its implications on students’ learning behaviour

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the educational institutions in India suddenly switched to online mode of teaching. This new learning mode gives the flexibility to connect at any time from any place. This sudden shift has impacted the learning behaviour of students to a large extent, which is studied and analysed in this paper for a computer programming course. An online questionnaire is prepared and circulated among the students for which 158 responses were received. Based on the responses, it is found out from the analysis that 75.32% of students favour learning this course in offline mode while 48.1% favour the virtual mode. The maximum support for the classroom teaching is evident from the data which shows that 98.73% students find the teacher’s competency good in offline mode, 98.1% find teacher’s content delivery effective in offline mode and 79.75% are of the view that possibility of frequent interaction is more in offline mode, whereas 87.97%, 85.44% and 42.41% of students are congenial with the online mode in terms of same parameters. Also, 69.62% of students are comfortable with offline mode, while 55.06% with online mode. For evaluation mode and pattern of question paper, 78.5% favour online mode of evaluation with a mix of multiple-choice questions and coding questions. It is irrespective of their preference to offline mode for teaching-learning. In the end, some recommendations are proposed based on the analysis to improve the teaching-learning methodology during the time of crisis. © 2021