GNDU faculty proficient in MOOC pedagogy workshop concluded
Gurpreet kaur / royalpatiala.in/ Amritsar
Prof (Dr) S.S. Behl, Dean academic affairs of Guru Nanak Dev University stressed on the importance of development of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) especially in languages for the Indian diaspora. which would be instrumental in strengthening student learning and design outreach programmes to be introduced in the near future. He said that under this students from distant areas could achieve as per their choice. He was delivereing his lecture while presiding over the Valedictory session of a one week workshop organized by Department of Education.
He said that the trained participants would be instrumental in designing and preparing MOOC courses for various audiences including the marginalised section of our society and more importantly connect students with the latest research findings and applications in educational field. He also congratulated the participants on successful completion of the workshop and declared that with these courses a new beginning in the field of digital education has been initiated at Guru Nanak Dev University.
This one week workshop was organised on ‘Design, develop and deliver MOOC course’ for the university faculty under Centre of learning and pedagogic study, School of Education under Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya National Mission on Teachers and Teaching (PMMMNMTT) scheme, MHRD was concluded.
Prof. Hardeep Singh, Dean Students Welfare and Head, Department of Computer Sciences of the University appreciated the participants as well as the project coordinator for training the participants in development of web tools. He reiterated the importance of keeping oneself updated for the successful implementation of MOOC programme. He also highlighted the importance of developing and utilizing Open Source ICT Tools and Technologies in Teaching, Learning and Student Evaluation for the digital teaching and learning process. Prof. Avinash Nagpal, Sakshi and Saibal Kumar Saha shared their experiences and reflections on the workshop.
Prof Amit Kauts, Project Coordinator, School of Education while welcoming the guests and participants shared that the basic goal of this workshop is to equip the teachers with the opportunity to reach out to the large scale mass audiences with resources for professional development. He also shared that during the workshop, the participants were divided into nine groups and each group prepared MOOC course for four weeks in four quadrants (MOOC Pedagogy) which was also posted on the MOODLE platform. Prof. Kauts stressed that through this workshop, the faculty was ready to develop MOOC course for their own professional enrichment and advancement of university. He further added that in the present context, there is a need for the higher education faculty to cater to the growing population of online learners for the coming generation.
Dr. Deepa Sikand Kauts, Head, Department of Education, emphasized that Many prominent universities are continuing to use MOOC platform, compiling materials from on-campus programs in order to expand their reach, promote their programs and, as an aside, to advance societal knowledge.. She elaborated on the challenges faced by the teachers in accepting and adapting to the e-learning technology and online learning platforms. She opined that learning of online teaching has become a necessity for their own professional growth as well as strengthening research and student support at university level. She thanked the guests of the day and certificates were distributed to the participants.
