Deemed univs take digital plunge for next academic yr

Deemed univs take digital plunge for next academic yr

Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

Chennai: 06.07.2020

With educational institutions expected to remain closed for at least the next few months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the deemed universities in Tamil Nadu have decided to start their next academic year with online classes from the first week of August. These institutes are planning to deliver 50% to 75% of the content online in 2020-21.

Some are prepared to take a deep plunge into digital learning by developing new learning management systems for taking classes and giving assignments. They have invested in acquiring licenses for web platforms, for digital tests and training their faculty members on online content creation.

“We will offer most of the courses online for the coming academic year,” says Sandeep Sancheti, vicechancellor of SRMIST (SRM Institute of Science and Technology).

The institute will start the new academic year from August 3 for existing students. However, conducting online classes for some courses like medical, dental and hotel management will be difficult as they require hands-on training.

“It will not be 100% online. It can be 10% offline and 90% online or 25% offline and 75% online. In a year, students can come for a month or so to finish the laboratory part physically,” he said.

Online classes would be one of the ways to follow social distancing on campuses as it can reduce students’ strength, he added.

Due to the costs involved in getting licenses, establishing infrastructure like servers and studios, digital examination (proctoring tests) and creating enough bandwidth, the tuition fee and other fees will not be reduced. The cost of the digital test is also expected to be doubled due to the involvement of third-party agencies Institutes like VIT are preparing their staff and students to offer courses in online mode for the next academic year.

“We have digitized all our processes and started training students on the virtual mode of operation. All faculty members in VIT are now trained online course developers,” said Anand Samuel, vice-chancellor of Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT).