Saturday, November 10, 2018

Digital learning will have a big impact in education process: VC

KARAIKUDI, NOVEMBER 10, 2018 00:00 IST

‘ Enrolment in ‘Swayam’ has touched 2.750’


The word ‘digital’ is used in all spheres of human activity. It has become inseparable and inevitable in daily life, playing a pivotal role in the learning for students now, said N. Rajendran, Vice-Chancellor, Alagappa University.

Presiding over an one-day workshop on ‘Design and development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)’ for the faculty members of the university and affiliated college here on Thursday, he said the digital initiatives would have a far-reaching impact in the education process. The Central government had exclusively dedicated the portal, ‘Swayam,’ for online learning and within a short span of its launching in 2014, it was offering more than 800 free courses in many disciplines, he said.

The online courses helped the students acquire knowledge and develop communication and other skills in an easy and interesting manner, he said. Thanks to online learning, a student could listen to a lecture of an eminent IIT professor while sitting at home.

Mr. Rajendran said when he assumed office as Vice-Chancellor in June this year, the enrolment in ‘Swayam’ in the úniversity was 1,000 and the number had increased to 2,750 now. The University was following the guidelines of University Grants Commission (UGC) in terms of activities of ‘Swayam, he said and asked the teachers to develop MOOC courses in regional language.

S. Gowri, Director, Education Multi Media Research Centre (EMMRC), Anna University, Chennai, who inaugurated the workshop, said that though many countries offered MOOC courses, India alone offered them free of cost to the students.

Referring to apprehensions that the technology would replace teachers in future, he said the technology, in fact, would support the teachers and make learning easy. “The technology reduces the burden of teachers,” he said.

He said 30 EMMRCs were functioning across the country, including two in Tamil Nadu. “EMMRC plays a key role in helping students learn at their own pace and at the place of their convenience,” he said.

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