Punjabi university HRD department organizes virtual refresher course
Kanwar Inder singh/ royalpatiala.in/ Chandigarh
Refresher Course on Information and Communication Technology organised by the Human Resource Development Department, Punjabi University, Patiala through online mode successfully concluded here today .With this refresher course the HRDC, of Punjabi University has taken a lead in the region by conducting this online program.
Prof. B. S. Ghuman, Vice-Chancellor, Punjabi University, while presiding over the valedictory session today, said that it is matter of great pride that HRDC Patiala has very successfully completed this refresher course through online mode as it has been totally a new kind of enriching experience. Organizing such online refresher courses during covid 19 is not only of great help to the faculty but is rewarding for Punjabi University also as with these programmes, we are having more wider reach in the country. Faculty participation from many distant States in the country has been very encouraging for us. Dr Ghuman said that these online initiatives are surely going to help and enrich us in the post covid times also. He further said that the times have come that now we shift to online modes with full strength keeping in mind the future demands. When we see our younger generations switching and adapting to online school teaching modes, it further compels us to have our future online education plans well in place, he said. Seeing small children studying online these days, also boost us that we all adopt this new age technology, to keep pace with the changing times as the coming years would surely be very different and demanding also. The worldwide future teaching becoming a blending of both online and offline teaching modes, would require us to prepare much in advance, he said . He also highlighted that with all the departments of the Punjabi University having Smart ClassRooms, even some of the departments having 100 percent Smart Class Rooms, we will be able to catch up with the changing trends.Such infrastructure would be beneficial for the university, he said.
Dr. Manruchi Kaur, Director, MHRD told that forty teachers from various universities and colleges of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and West Bengal participated in this course. She said that it was very encouraging experience to reach the faculty with a wide range of subjects under the ICT. Dr. Manruchi told that for 33 technical sessions in this refresher course 32 different experts from all India were invited. This has been possible through online mode only that we were able to invite the experts in such a large number as otherwise it is very difficult to come from far flung areas to deliver talk for 3 hours. Many eminent experts who delivered the lecture in various sessions included Harsuhinder Pal Singh Brar, Deputy Director, Punjab Mandi Board, Dr. Amarendra Pani, Deputy Director & Head, Research Division Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi, Prof. Niladri Sekhar Dash, Professor and Head, Linguistic Research Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, Dr. M. D. Kulkarni, Senior Director (retd), CDAC, Pune, Dr. Manoj Kumar, Director, Infilibnet, Ahmedabad, Dr. Ashmita Bakshi, Academic Coordinator, CEC-Swayam, MHRD and Dr. Rajeev R. R., Programme Head, ICFOSS were among the resource persons. Senior faculty members from Panjab University, Guru Nanak Dev University, Chitkara University and Punjabi University also delivered expert talks in various sessions in the course. Besides, Dr. H.D. Charan Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Bikaner Technical University, Bikaner also delivered his lecture to the participants. Dr. Manruchi said that suddenly with the outbreak of the Pandemic the teachers were expected to overnight transit from traditional teaching to online mode and the e- avtars, HRDC too tookup this role.This online course has been a great experience for all of us and especially the feedback by the participants has been very encouraging, she said.
Dr. Gurdeep Singh Batra, Dean Academic Affairs, said it is a highly appreciable initiative to organize the online refresher course in this time difficult time of pandemic. The teachers who have participated in this course will definitely find this course very advantageous to them .To be comfortable with the modern techniques of teaching is the need of hour, he said.
Dr. Vishal Goyal, Course Coordinator, while delivering vote of thanks told that this refresher course provided very valuable insights. While conducting this online course, all the disciplinary requirements of a refresher course were strictly adhered to as has been the practice with the traditional refresher courses, he said. The valedictory session was conducted by Dr. Brahmleen Kaur Sidhu.
August,28,2020
