Teaching statistics online during the pandemic – sharing experiences from multiple continents

Abstract

A new form of pedagogical approach was thrust upon us by the pandemic – online classrooms; a concept that was never experienced or experimented to the extent that was witnessed in the past few months. The challenges involved in online teaching are many, especially for a discipline like statistics which is essential for students undergoing courses in science, health science as well as social sciences. The challenges can be anything, including difficulty in comprehending foundational concepts through virtual classrooms, lack of availability of technical tools such as electronic gadgets or internet coverage, lack of online teaching tools and resources, absence of appropriate technical knowhow which can hinder the ease of communication between the facilitators and students, and lack of appropriate evaluation of student performances. The extent of these challenges may vary from region to region and would depend upon socio-economic profiles of the places. However, the global academic fraternity in the statistics community is committed to effective dissemination of statistics content and knowledge to students from multiple disciplines amid these changed circumstances. In such a scenario, it will be both important as well as informative to have a platform for experience sharing of experts from around the world. This will not only help us exchange information regarding multiple academic approaches and evaluation aids successfully implemented by the statistics fraternity, but also provide significant insights into the availability of shared resources and identify what worked well in different geographical regions.