SWAYAM-NPTEL Local Chapter, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana organized Faculty Development Programme on “ICT Initiatives in Technical Education” sponsored by TEQIP-III from 8-13 February, 2021. As Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is need of the hour, this programme focused on various digital initiatives in technical education. Contents of this course were aimed at making the faculty aware of the latest ICT tools and initiatives such as SWAYAM, Virtual Labs, e-PG Pathshala, SWAYAM Prabha, National Digital Library etc so that the relevant tools can be used for imparting knowledge among the students in a more interactive manner, as well as for creating an online course.
More than 100 faculty members registered for this course including from parent institute as well as from institutes of other states. This course was organized in blended mode i.e. online and offline mode. Inauguration of the event took place on February 8, 2021 in the presence of Chief Guest Dr.Buta Singh Sidhu, Vice-Chancellor, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University, Bathinda. He highlighted the role of ICT tools in teaching-learning process and discussed how it has become an indispensable part today. Dr.Sehijpal Singh, Principal GNDEC appreciated the initiative of organizing a course on much-needed topic as per the demand of today’s education system. Dr. Harwinder Singh, TEQIP-III Coordinator addressed the participants and ensured that everyone involved in the course must learn the contents and implement the same in their teaching methods. Dr. Narwant Singh Grewal and Prof. Lakhveer Singh Khana, Course Coordinators welcomed the participants.
Dr.Manpreet Singh Manna, Former Director, AICTE threw light on various ICT tools and their applicability in theoretical and practical subjects. He delievered an enlightening talk on “Vidwan” portal. Dr. Partha Pratim Das, Principal Investigator, National Digital Library of India Project, IIT Kharagpur, Dr. Anupama Sharma, PU Chandigarh, Dr. Prathap Haridoss, IIT Madras, Dr. Rakesh Wats, NITTTR Chandigarh, Dr. Vishal Gupta, University of Alabama, USA, Dr. Vinod K. Garg, Central University of Punjab Bathinda, Dr. Inderpreet Kaur, Director Engineering, Desh Bhagat University, Dr. H.S.Rai, Prof. Lakhveer Singh Khana, Dr. Nandini Sharma from GNDEC Ludhiana, Dr. Leenu Narang from Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management, Ludhiana and Mr. Sony Goyal, IIM Ahmedabad Alumnus were the resource persons for various sessions of the course in 6-day programme.
A visit to the Media centre at NITTTR Chandigarh was arranged by the organizers to give the exposure to the participants how a MOOCs course can be created and various phases involved in this process like pre-production, production and post-production stages.
Dr. Inderdeep Singh, NPTEL Coordinator, IIT Roorkee and Dr. Vishal Sharma from NIT Jalandhar graced the valedictory ceremony of the event on February 13, 2021. Overall, participants were highly benefitted from the course sessions and gained an invaluable knowledge.
