How renowned universities are coping with quality education even during Covid-19?

PANDEMIC UNDERLINING THE WORTH OF DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE

In the face of this upheaval, the academic institutions that had developed familiarity with the remote learning tools in the pre-pandemic period itself, found themselves with an edge over the others. Spearheading the list of the Indian Universities reaping the early movers advantage were, Galgotias University, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, BITS, J.S.S. Academy of Technical Education, the LNM Institute of Information Technology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Vidyapeeth, Nirma University, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham and Symbiosis International. Even before the COVID19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill, multiple platforms had been mushrooming to facilitate online learning.

But the general reception offered to these was that of disinterest. When forced into utilizing technologies available for online education, the first step for the educators involved identifying the platform(s) that could cater to their distinct requirements.

For Galgotias University, it was about making the optimum utilization of the diverse tools on offer. And thus Zoom, Moodle, Google Classrooms, Google Hangouts, Skype, Webex, and Virtual Labs were called into action. Additionally, the students at Galgotias University were provided 15,000+ online lectures, 9,000+ e-learning resources, 3,000+ virtual classroom instances, 4,000+ online assignments, 1,000+ virtual videos, and 500+ virtual programming labs to pick from. They were given access to over 4,000 courses on industry-ready skills on multiple MOOC platforms (for credit transfer). To enhance the learning curve of the students, the University also shared e-resources such as NPTEL, SWAYAM, Udemy, Coursera, and MIT OpenCourseWare links. And the students continue to avail the benefits of these facilities to supplement the learnings received in their physical classrooms with the University campus having reopened now.

Even during the lockdown, the University arranged for online seminars & masterclass by the industry experts for students across the courses to enrich their learnings. Dhruv Galgotia, CEO Galgotias University explains, “Students had an edge during the COVID crisis as they are exposed to quality online lectures, World-class E-learning resources, virtual interactive classroom, online assignments, innovative video content and virtual programming Labs which make the online learning experience effective and enjoyable for every student”. Viewing the challenges posed by the pandemic as opportunities, Galgotias University ensured zero academic loss apart from increased student engagement and enhanced learning amidst the COVID crisis.

The robust and dynamic management system at Galgotias University, used the latest tools & softwares for not just online teaching but also online assessments and examinations. Armed with the latest software, the University remains in a position to deal with the issues of impersonation, unfair means and various other aspects of cheating to ensure fair examinations for all stakeholders. It managed to successfully hold internships and placement interviews too online. During the placement for the year 2020-21, the students came out with flying colours, bagging lucrative jobs in reputed companies such as Infosys, Cognizant, Wipro & Amazon among others.

Galgotias University became the first to conduct an online fest which witnessed the participation of over 10,000 national & international students. These students got the opportunity to showcase their talents in 50+ events from the safety of their homes. Despite the huge scale involved, it managed to successfully pull off the event.

Continuing to thrive during the pandemic, Galgotias University was awarded the QS award for e-learning and also received recognition from the Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh for ranking No.1 in providing e-content to the online digital library of the Government of Uttar Pradesh.

TAPPING INTO THE EXISTING RESOURCES

With the overnight shift from physical classrooms to e-rooms, also throwing up coordination challenges, many Universities deployed their own apps to streamline operations. The mobile apps at Galgotias, Manipal and SRM continue to not only help students to plan their lectures but also keep them informed of all seminars, activities and events. They keep the students informed and updated on their attendances, results, and course handouts provided by faculty. Additionally, these apps have been constantly enhancing their utility with new & upgraded features.

STAYING ABREAST WITH THE CHANGES

With Industry 4.0 already having made inroads in India, the need is strongly being felt for a regular supply of manpower equipped to deal with this dramatic shift in technology. It is important to consider the fact that this new phase in the Industrial Revolution focuses heavily on interconnectivity, automation, machine learning, and real-time data. The increase in automation and connected systems also demand workforce transformation. And to meet the requirements of the fourth generation industrial revolution, academic institutions are called on to supply a tech savvy talent pool capable of optimizing the power of the new disruptive manufacturing technologies.

Having always stayed open to the new advances in technologies, Galgotias University has been providing parallel learning environments to its students for over a decade now. Galgotias University has also placed importance on faculty training & assessment to keep up to date with Industry 4.0. And for the purpose, has had tie ups with several subject matter expert trainers. And thus its students have always been ahead in terms of learning & adapting to Industry 4.0 technologies. Overall too, the faculty development programs at Galgotias University have been on outcome based education, teaching-learning pedagogy, and new quality benchmarks to help the students with industry relevant skills.

HARNESSING EXTENDED REALITY

Though since its inception, Edtech was touted as the future of education, the pandemic hastened its acceptance as the norm. With the massive increase in traffic, Edtech platforms have been making the most of the diverse feedback to add new features. Cutting edge technologies such as virtual reality, artificial intelligence and augmented reality have been integrated. These have served to open the door of endless possibilities, creating room for immersive and integrative learning experiences. While traditional lectures primarily involve auditory & written learning styles with the addition of visuals. Immersive learning employs technology to also bring under its ambit kinetic elements. In the scientific disciplines, it provides educationally powerful dynamic visual representations to allow for real time interactions. VR can transport students to environments or periods that otherwise would not have been possible. Capable of augmenting computer generated graphics into a real environment on screen, AR can bring scientific concepts to life. It was the AR technology that was behind the extremely gripping Pokémon Go, the 2016 mobile game.

With the AR & VR technology making learning more interactive & engaging, they have been promoting sharper concentration levels among the students. By laying emphasis on exploration & practice, rather than just theories, they also contribute in boosting retention. At the Galgotias University, the students enrolled in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Microbiology and other basic sciences have been using virtual labs for fully interactive simulations. In the virtual laboratories, the students get to perform experiments, collect data and answer questions to assess their understanding. A combination of animations, illustrations and videos are provided to the students to engage and enlighten them.

TAKING GIANT STRIDES INTO FUTURE

The Indian universities which focused on remodeling their curriculum in the pre-pandemic period are now receiving the dividends of having integrated academics with industry. Universities such as Galgotias, Manipal, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham & Symbiosis have always displayed proactiveness in introducing new courses keeping the future scope in mind. Galgotias University has been offering emerging advanced technology courses such as Internet of Things (IoT), cyber security, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, robotics, augmented reality and big data analytics.

Additionally, Galgotias Centre for Technology Innovation and Incubation (GCTII) established in association with the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) provides the platform for innovative skills and business ideas to turn into a pool of start-ups.

At Galgotias University, the focus has firmly been on multidisciplinary research and education. “The education dissemination model has been carefully curated to impart it with the flexibility of adapting to online, offline & hybrid learnings.” says Aradhana Galgotia, Director Operations Galgotias University. It is this versatility that enabled it to face up to the challenges posed by the COVID19 pandemic and now equips it to seamlessly switch back to offline & hybrid classrooms. The university, in pursuing its aspirations to be globally celebrated for offering innovation at the intersection of disciplines, has set an example for other academic institutions in India to follow.

(A marketing initiative by Open Avenues)

About The Author

Open