Events

26 Feb 2007-28 Feb 2007|Noida | Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi

Amity Teachers Present Papers on E-learning in Teacher Education at International Conference, Delhi University

An International Conference organized by All India Association of Teacher Educators and Commonwealth of Learning at Central Institute of Education, University of Delhi from February 26 to February 28, 2007 was inaugurated by the Vice-Chancellor of University of Delhi Prof. Deepak Pental. The key-note address was delivered by Dato Prof. Emeritus G. Dhanarajan, Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive Officer, Wawasan Open University, Malaysia wherein the theme of the conference was ‘E-Learning in Teacher Education’.

Abstracts were invited for this conference from all over India. Almost 180 abstracts were received by the organizers out of which around 80 were selected for presentation. Two eminent academicians of Amity Institute of Education were invited to present their papers: Dr. Ranjana Bhatia, Prof. & Principal, Amity Institute of Education, Saket, New Delhi and Dr. Sanjna Vij, Lecturer, Amity Institute of Education, Saket, New Delhi.

The abstracts of the paper by Dr. Ranjana Bhatia talked about Institutions who have invested lot of money in infrastructure as well as in capacity building to optimize the use of technology for teaching learning. It has been observed that technology has optimized learning but at the same time has created some amount of confusion. This is because of the lack of training in technical and pedagogical skills in using e-learning.

While it is essential to have e-learning in teacher education, it is also essential to be aware of its shortcomings. Teacher education is a programme which is based on a lot of practical work. E-learning, therefore, in teacher education has to be included keeping in view the requirement of this practical course in mind.

For introducing e-learning in teacher education, a better way of doing would be to blend the traditional learning with e-learning. When we blend the traditional methods of learning, we are not actually replacing them by e-learning but allowing e-learning to develop a kind of bond. This collaboration between the traditional and the new approach can bring about best styles of learning for the students. This blended learning can also help those who fail to gain totally from traditional or purely e-learning approach.

It is however important to ensure that the teacher education gets the right blend of teaching learning styles, the course content, the learning technology etc. The idea here is to ensure that the traditional ways of learning are not lost and at the same time, the new techniques through e-learning are mixed as smoothly as possible.

The abstract of the papers presented by Dr. Sanjna Vij on the topic Online pedagogic balance in technology education dwelt on the development of curriculum in classrooms considering the needs and interests of students, which facilitates critical thinking. Teaching and learning occur differently today from how they did as recently as a decade ago. Widespread social, economic and technology change is transforming student populations, the curricula and learning cultures of university classrooms. Technology convergence and global media networks offer educators a range of online services and products that are well suited to classroom use. Some of these services include the World Wide Web, email discussion groups, video conferencing and internet relay chart. The policies, pedagogies and practices of education programmes today need to be learner-directed, collaborative customized.

The paper discussions how globally, online projects allow students to look into the lives of students of their own age and of varying life situations. This broadens their world of understanding and opens up physical and symbolic lines of communication. With online projects such as Cyberfair Inquiry Based Research, Virtual Field Trips and peer-editing-writing-group, students are able to reach out to other cultures, perspectives and ideas. For educators, the internet allo