A series of engaging and interactive Online Webinars were conducted on Monday, 6th December 2021 for the students of Classes VI-VIII of Delhi Public School R.K. Puram on the online platform of Zoom.
The first online webinar was organised on the topic ‘Cyber Security and Cyber Essentials’ from 11:00 AM-11:45 AM and the Guest Speaker for the session was Mr Mukesh Kumar, Head of the Department of Computer Science at Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram.After a warm welcome by the members of the Student Council, Mr Mukesh began the session by tracing the interesting history of computer technology and email. He also illustrated the latest news in the cyber world through a wide variety of newspaper snippets and colourful visuals.
Elaborating on the theme of ‘Cyber Security and Cyber Essentials’, Mr Mukesh went on to explain a number of ways through which we could protect ourselves and our organisation in the cyber world. He emphasised on the importance of cyber safety and enumerated the steps through which cyber security can be protected from potential threats such as virus, hackers, worms, etc. He also spoke about the Do’s and Don’ts of Cyber Safety and explained the meaning of some important terms such as phishing, computer worm, computer virus, botnet, pharming, spyware, dark web, etc.
The speaker also guided the students by illustrating different ways such as safe browsing, resetting and cleaning up Google Chrome, browsing in incognito or private windows, how to avoid spamming, etc. through which the students can increase the functionality of Google Chrome while using it on a daily basis through their institutional IDs.
The presentation was followed by a Question-Answer Session during which Mr Mukesh answered a number of queries from the students.
The session was well-placed and it encouraged the children to ask a wide variety of questions about the cyber world and the personal challenges that they encounter while navigating through it, especially in a pandemic-stricken era where online schools have become the new normal. The students’ engagement and interest in the webinar was reflected through the number of queries put forward by the students which prompted the Guest Speaker to promise to conduct another similar program in the future.
The second online webinar was conducted on the topic ‘Theatre in Education’ from 12:00 PM-12:45 PM and the Guest Speaker for the session was Mr Stephen Marazzi, an eminent theatre personality. Following a gracious welcome by the members of the Student Council, Mr Marazzi captured the attention of the audience from the very beginning of the webinar by playing a small piece of music on his keyboard. He then proceeded to explain how ‘drama’ is the heart of all theatre activities.
Through interesting anecdotes and captivating enactments, Mr Marazzi explained to the students how drama and theatre can be used in the field of education through interdisciplinary studies. He played the popular English song ‘Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Do’ on his keyboard and illustrated how this very easy song can be dramatised and used to learn important concepts of Science, Music, Arts and English. He also enacted the popular fairy tale of ‘Three Little Piggies’ namely, Aklu, Shaklu and Baklu and elucidated how simple concepts of Science as well as other subjects can be learnt through theatre and drama.
The students were completely enraptured by Mr Marazzi and his dynamic presence during the webinar. They enthusiastically participated in the songs and chants led by the speaker and thoroughly enjoyed the session. The speaker also encouraged the children to submit their own creative stories to him in the form of drawings/write-ups and promised to choose the best stories as the premise for his own theatrical productions.
The programmes were concluded by the vote of thanks, which were delivered by Ms Vinita Gupta, the Supervisor of Classes VI-VIII. She thanked the esteemed speakers for sparing their valuable time for these webinars as well as the Principal, Ms Padma Srinivasan, for her support and guidance in organising these webinars. Based on themes relevant to the students of Classes VI-VIII, the online webinars were a grand success that not only proved to be beneficial for the students but were also thoroughly enjoyed by them.