The emergence of COVID 19 pandemic has ushered in, a disruptive influence on our teaching practices, by compelling us to look beyond the conventional approaches to teaching - learning. Though a welcome development, there is a lurking risk of trivialisation of the potentially liberating option. The migration to digital platforms must be tempered with a thorough understanding of the digital approach to education management, and this includes both an incremental, and exponential shift in our mindset.
Online teaching can never be practiced by transporting the conventional practices on to the digital environment. It has to pass through the phases of adaptation by the teachers, students, and also the educational administrators. It is not just the matter of infrastructure and financial investment, but also and more importantly the investment of passion, commitment, and smart work to create a sustainable blend of online and conventional educational practices.
The teachers must therefore be sufficiently trained in the understanding of the Strengths, Challenges, Opportunities, and Threats of the imminent normalisation of Blended Learning, and provided with the 'handholding' to cross the bridge. Universities have the responsibility for moderating this paradigm shift in the educational landscape. In this background, the RGUHS Academic & Administrative Training Institute (RAATI), a Capacity-Building Initiative of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka has reinvented the Faculty Development Programs (FDPs) to include a Foundation Course in Educational Methodology Online (FCEM Online) as a new training vertical.
The training rolled out for the teachers of affiliated homeopathic colleges must emerge as a rallying point to bring about substantial academic investment. This must lead us to generation of learning resources with active contribution from every teacher. In this regard, I invite your opinions on this blog. We can use this as launchpad to explore the further horizons of possibilities.
