Phase I – Semester Opening

Online Teaching and Learning

Background
After confirming the first COVID-19 case in Bhutan on March 6, 2020, precautionary measures were put in place by the government. The entry of foreign tourists was restricted instantly. Further, to maintain social distancing as a preventive measure from catching or spreading the virus, face to face classes in all the schools and colleges were suspended in Bhutan from March 18, 2020. Based on the directives of the Royal Government of Bhutan, as a part of preparedness and fight against the circumstantial situation (COVID-19), this response plan is prepared to ensure and cater regular online classes to the students and also to keep the staffs engaged. This online class format is an exception to cater for the exceptional situation and not an alternative to the in-class format that is used in normal situations.

Purpose
The objectives of the COVID-19 response plan are:

1. To provide a clear and concise procedure for the Staff and the Students of Gedu College of Business Studies on the online classes.
2. To ensure that all staff (teaching and administrative) will continually support students’ learning online.
3. To ensure the sharing of information related to academic activities and procedures with all concerned.

Procedures and Arrangements

1. Registration for New Students
   The registration will be done online for the new students which will be notified through college websites and social media. It is mandatory for all the students to have or create a personal email account before the registration (Preferred Gmail account). The registration will be open from 24th August 2020 to 27th August 2020. Failure to complete the online registration will be considered as non-reporting.

Note: The payment of tuition fees for the self-finance students will be notified later.

2. Online Major Selection for 2 nd Year Students
   For Year II major selection, the programme management will notify all the students via Class Representatives’ (CR). The information and online registration form for major selection will also be communicated to students through social media, the college website, and other modes of communication. The online registration for Major selection will start from 26th August (9:00 AM) and will be closed on the same day at 5.00 PM. The selection results will be declared on
   August 28, 2020.

3. Online Classes
   The online classes for the Year I, Year II, and Year III will begin from 10th September 2020. Teaching and learning including assessments are to be offered online. The Timetable for online classes shall be displayed on the college website and Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It will also be communicated to students via the College website, Social Media, and other modes of communication.
   Tutors concerned shall share the outlines for online courses on VLE and make them available to students before the commencement of the semester under the supervision of the programme leaders.

4. Attendance in Online Classes
   Attendance shall remain as one of the important components of online classes. The Office of the Dean of Academic Affairs, Office of the Programme Management, and the tutors shall make the students aware of the importance of attendance. The Office of the Programme Management will provide attendance sheets to the tutors. Tutors will take attendance for every online class sincerely and submit the record to the respective Programme Leaders. Students may check their attendance status on Attendance Portal.

If the internet is unavailable to students or faculty due to electricity or other issues, the student may inform the faculty through cell phones and Apps like WhatsApp or WeChat, etc.. about his/her presence. The faculty is to inform students in advance of this requirement.

5. Online Continuous Assessment (Quiz, Assignment, and Project, etc)

In online courses, quizzes, assignments, and project contents are required to be posted in the VLE in advance, and on specified dates, by the faculty.

Quiz, Assignment, and Project reports must be taken in written format by the faculty. Faculty should ensure that students post their copies of quizzes and assignments in the specified time given by the faculty in his/her VLE.
Faculty may also ask students to send their copies to the faculty provided email ID in case of uploading on the VLE doesn’t work.

For oral presentations (VIVA) from students on assignments and projects, a specific date, preferably multiple dates, to be announced by the faculty and specified in the VLE well in advance to the presentation day/s. Students be given the privilege by the faculty to give a presentation on the later dates through the ZOOM Meeting or Google Meet.

6. Examination

The mid-semester test and end-term examinations will be scheduled later and notified to the staff and students well in advance before 3 weeks of commencement of examinations.

7. Tools for Online Classes

Tools for conducting Online classes that are available and in use are:

1. VLE
2. Google Classroom and Google meet
3. Zoom
4. Big Blue Button
5. WeChat and WhatsApp (Secondary source of sharing information)

8. Students Guidelines and Responsibilities

Students are responsible for regularly checking their student portal in VLE for their course attendance, course outline, contents and specified dates. The students may coordinate with respective course tutors and Programme Leaders for clarifications if required.

Students are also responsible for timely uploading their assignments on VLE or email to the concerned faculty in case of uploading doesn’t work within the specified dates. Students assessment copies that are found plagiarized will be given “Zero” mark.

Students are responsible for ensuring smooth operation of the online session and not giving online session IDs to any members who are not part of the session. All students to ensure maintaining a minimum attendance of 90% for each online course and failing to obtain 90% shall not be allowed to attend the semester-end examinations.

9. Faculty Responsibilities

• The module coordinator shall submit the module work plan for the semester Sept-Dec 2020 to the programme management office latest by 5th of September 2020 and the module coordinator along with concerned tutors will choose the most appropriate mode of assessment in term of convenience, fit for purpose, evaluation and will be closely monitored by the College Academic Committee and programme management.
• Module Coordinators are requested to closely monitor and coordinate the overall teaching/learning and assessments of the module.
• All the module tutors must ensure 100% coverage of the syllabus at the end of the semester.
• All the module tutors teaching the same module must use the same assessment tools to have a set standard across the programmes.
• VLE shall be used as a primary mode of tools for online teaching and learning. Apart from VLE, tutors can use various other means of online delivery methods such as ZOOM, Big Blue Button, Skype, Google Meet, WhatsApp, etc.
• The online assessment must be completed within three weeks turnaround time.
• The tutors are responsible to notify the students in advance and alert them about the assessments. Students who failed to submit online assignments consecutively for two times shall be reported to Programme Leader Office by the respective tutors.
• All the tutors shall submit the online teaching and learning monthly report to the office of respective programme leaders. In case of the Common Foundation, the MBA Programme leader will be the focal person.
• Faculty are also requested to maintain the daily online class attendance record.

Annexure
A. Distribution of roles in COVID-19 Online Teaching and Learning Response Plan

1. Office of Dean, Academic
   1.1 Online Registration of New Students – Successfully Completed.
   (24^th August 2020 to 27^th August 2020)
   1.2 Segregating the cohort 2020 students into sections.
   
   2. ICT Officer and Team –
   2.1 Enrolment of new students into Moodle – VLE
   
   3. Responsible Faculty
   3.1 Online Orientation programmes for new students. Introduction to VLE and its functionalities. Other modes of communication in online teaching and learning. (3^rd September 2020 to 8^th September 2020)
   
   4. Office of Programme Leaders
   4.1 Re-assessment Registration and examinations schedule- BCOM PL (1^st to 5^th September 2020)
   4.2 Rechecking of papers / Re-Evaluation- MBA Programme Leader (25th and 26th August 2020- registration, 27th Verification, and 28th Result Declaration)
   4.3 Major Selection for Year II and semester registration for year III– BBA Programme Leaders (26th August 2020)
   4.4 Distribution of Timetabling of Online Classes (1 week of September) – DAA.
   4.5 Regular Classes for Year I, Year II, and Year III Begin (12th September 2020)
   
   5. Office of Dean, Academic
   5.1 Overall coordination and planning for the Autumn semester of 2020.
   
   B. Contact Persons:

Dean, Academic Affair
17560902
daa.gcbs.edu.bt

BCOM Programme Leader
17851185
bcompl.gcbs@rub.edu.bt

MBA Programme Leader
17447862
mbapl.gcbs@rub.edu.bt

BBA Programme Leader
17747093
bbapl.gcbs@rub.edu.bt

Record and Examination Officer
17664157
dorjieden.gcbs2rub.edu.bt