The COVID-19 lockdown has altered the very paradigm of seminars, workshops and conferences, much to the relief of the academic institutions in the Tiruchi region.
The concept of finding sponsors for meeting expenditure towards travel and hospitality of invited dignitaries is passe. While the expenditure is nil, the quality of knowledge-sharing has gone up many notches, as speakers of high calibre could be arranged for online academic programmes, said Megala, principal of Government Arts College, Tiruchi. The college's Department of Chemistry organised two webinars by roping in speakers from prestigious institutions from India and abroad.
Faculty of other departments have also conducted e-quizzes involving participation of students from various colleges, she said.
Conduct of these events will stand the institution in good stead to improve rating by National Assessment and Accreditation Agency, she said.
"The webinars have brought colleges with varying economic mite on a common pedestal," Prof. Megala observed.
More importantly, there is vibrancy among prominent speakers to play instrumental roles in knowledge-sharing on the virtual platform in the lockdown situation, said N. Sivakumaran, chief coordinator of AICTE's Margdarshan Scheme for knowledge sharing being implemented by the National Institute of Technology - Tiruchi.
Other organisations in the academic arena are also deriving the best out of the situation. The Institution of Engineers, Tiruchi, for instance, has been able to enlist quality speakers for its periodic lecture programmes. The online lecture through Zoom application scheduled for Tuesday at 5.30 p.m., is to be delivered by Ignacio Camarillo, Director and Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University.
Thanks to the advisory issued by the University Grants Commission to higher educational institutions to embrace online platform for academic activities, webinars have become the watchword.
On its part, the Higher Education Department of the State Government had also encouraged government colleges to strengthen expertise for online teaching-learning, by conducting an online workshop for principals during May.
