Pre-semester learning in full swing at Pearl Academy, Mumbai

Like every class 12 student, Shreya Singh, was excited about her life after the board exams. An ambitious, 20 years old, was decisive about what she wants to pursue next and had started looking for the best colleges and institutes. Then COVID-19 struck, leaving her feeling uncertain about her 2020 plans as she wondered how her first year of college would be like without face-to-face classes. How will she feel comfortable with the teachers whom she has not met in person or bond with her batch-mates without on-campus introductions?

Today, Shreya has forgotten all about the uncertainties and questions that bothered her. She is busy contemplating what questions she is going to ask to the who's who of the creative world that are interacting with her and her batch-mates at the Pearl Academy Mumbai campus, where she has enrolled for the Entertainment (Media & Communication) UG program.

Raveena Tandon- Bollywood superstar and national award winner; Bobbi Brown- International Beauty Mogul; Ashwin Sanghi- New York Times Bestselling Author; Rajeev Masand- Film critic and entertainment journalist; Masako Ono- Japan's cultural ambassador to India are not the only ones who have been to the Pearl Academy virtual campus so far. The power-packed list of creative veterans also includes Vitor Hugo Aguiar, a visualizer extraordinaire from Portugal who was also an award winner at the Hamburg Film Festival; Basia Szkutnicka, global design consultant and Professor of Practice (Fashion Design) at Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Alexandra Mor, Creative Director, VOGUE Italia Protagonist Sustainable Haute Jewellery Annual Exhibition; and director Mira Nair.

These masterclasses have been an enormous hit amongst the 2020 cohort of Pearl Academy, with a combined attendance of over 5000. Shreya is one of them.

To ensure an uninterrupted yet immersive learning experience despite the COVID-19 limitations, Pearl Academy has designed an eight-week long pre-semester learning module for the new batch of 2020. It consists of four modules- ‘Around the world in 60 days', ‘Whose class is it now?', ‘Socially plugged' and ‘Create a new world.' These modules are unique and enable the students to get in touch with their creative, imaginative side while helping them build the subject knowledge and social skills.

The module ‘Whose class is it now?' is run mostly on Instagram, a social media platform that Shreya and her generation love to hang out on. It focuses on bringing back creative geniuses from the past like Frida Kahlo, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Steve Jobs, Rabindra Nath Tagore, and Cleopatra to teach students about art, history, design. It is a contemporary way of enhancing students' creative thinking.

The module, ‘Create a new world,' embeds playful learning and engagement in a gamified way. Knowing that students are from diverse directions of education and multiple locations, it focuses on their ideation, planning, collaboration, and communication skills. ‘Socially plugged' is an icebreaker module, intended to facilitate a social connection between the students in the current scenario of social distancing. The new batch gets to interact with Pearl teachers, senior students, alumni, and participate in virtual talent shows and fresher's party. This way, freshers like Shreya will be at ease when the campuses open again, leading to collaboration and teamwork in the classrooms and, of course, friendships.

Shreya did not know that the virtual classes can be fun and productive at the same time. She uses Pearl Academy's online learning management system- ‘Blackboard Collaborate' to take lectures, clarify doubts with her professors, stay up to date with assignments, and participate in discussions with her classmates. Though she is looking forward to the campus life, for now, she is content and convinced that her plans for turning her dreams into reality are on track.

Admissions open for UG and PG programs in Design, Fashion, Business and Media. To apply log on to www.pearlacademy.com

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