By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 4: Various colleges recently conglomerated for a one-day workshop, which was organised by Synod College, Shillong, to confer about the implementation of online courses in undergraduate programmes.
According to a statement here, the workshop entitled ‘SWAYAM Online Courses: Adoption and its Implementation in Undergraduate Programme’ was attended by 131 participants, which included faculty from the host institution as well as BBS College, JJM Nicholls Roy College, Mawlai Presbyterian College, Nongstoin Synod College and Nabon Wonen’s Synod College.
Synod College, Shillong, principal Dr. RM Lyngdoh, during the programme, informed how SWAYAM’s online courses provide students the access to quality education by educators from around the country.
SWAYAM Co-ordinator, NEHU, Dr. S Khatua, on the other hand, talked about the evolution of technology and the facilities that are now available for teachers and students alike in the contemporary times.
“Online education affords students and faculty the opportunity to search for and look for education and information in a way that was not possible just a few decades ago. This all speaks of the possibilities that lay before us and how SWAYAM becomes another source of learning to allow students access to quality education,” Dr. Khatua said.
Meanwhile, SWAYAM Co-ordinator, NEHU, Dr. Quendarisa Kharbuli, informed the gathering about the programmes that the central government has provided to empower and enrich the educational aspects of its citizens.
Dr. Kharbuli said how the Centre took up the opportunity to come up with massive online open courses to augment the learning experience of the students/scholars and teachers as well.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, Learning and Management Systems (LMS) have played a crucial role in building systems in place to assist in the learning process. SWAYAM is one such LMS software which is owned and run by the Government of India,” she said.
Dr. Kharbuli also highlighted that SWAYAM Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) is driven by the three cardinal principles — it can be taken up by anyone, it can be taken up from anywhere and it can be taken up at any time.
She further highlighted the challenges faced by the current infrastructure limitations in the region as the courses require students to have a gadget and a stable internet connection.
“SWAYAM is linked to the Academic Bank of Credits that allows students to take up courses from SWAYAM and their marks/credits transferred to their marksheets enabling them to get the credits required to get their degrees,” she said.
Dr. Kharbuli also encouraged teachers to create e-content and put them up in SWAYAM, so that faculty from the region can lend their expertise to a wider audience through SWAYAM.
The conference also saw meaningful deliberations between the participants and the resource persons.