The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Online learning will go a long way in democratising classroom environment”

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Monday, Jun 30, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Online learning will go a long way in democratising classroom environment”

Staff Reporter

Panel discussion on online learning environment held

“Teachers should work wholeheartedly to make
it successful”
“Online learning environment may place strain
on the student’s eye”

CHENNAI: Representatives of the teaching fraternity, bureaucracy and multinational corporations stressed the significance of an online learning environment during a panel discussion here on Saturday.

“Online learning environment shall aim at democratising the classroom environment. This will also enable participatory learning,” said T. Udhayachandran, Director and CEO, E-Governance, Tamil Nadu.

“Online learning environment is fascinating. But it is just a tool. Teachers should reorient their strategy to make it successful,” he said.

The State government is committed to broadband connectivity, said Mr. Udhayachandran.

Sita Umamaheshwaran, principal of PSBB Millennium said, “Students with the online learning environment learn novel concepts with ease.”

Baskar Sethupathy, deputy director E-governance said, “Online learning environment should not make teachers lazy. Teachers should work wholeheartedly to make it successful.”

Expedit, coordinator, EDUSAT, said, “Tamil Nadu is one of the foremost States striving towards excellence in online learning.”

The health aspects of the online learning environment were also discussed. Some teachers felt the online learning environment may place strain on the student’s eye.

The West has started to depend on India and China for human resource on account of large working age population both countries possess, said Vinod Bernard of Learning Link Foundation.

“The information society demands the employees of an organisation critical thinking, technology and media literacy, collaborative thinking, and communication skills. According to a survey of the NSSO only 25 per cent of the graduates in India are employable. The gap lies in the schooling system, making students acquire a lesser degree of soft skills. The schooling system of the 21st century education has to give primacy to soft skills of students. Online learning environment will be helpful in this aspect,” he said.

“Intel has signed an MoU with the Governments in 50 countries to make the ‘Intel teach’ programme a successful public-private collaboration. ‘Intel teach’ programme is part of the corporate social responsibility of Intel and is done for the teachers and by the teachers,” said R. Ravichandran, Director-Sales (South Asia), Intel.

“The programme intends to make all teachers in the 1.2 million schools in India facilitators of a better learning environment,” he said.

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