By upholding the slogan of ‘Vasudeiva Kutumbakam’ ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future, the Central University of Odisha organized a seminar on “Blending Teaching & Learning through Technology” under the aegis of G20 Jan Bhagidari on 17 April 2023 in its campus at Sunabeda. Eminent educationist Prof H. K. Senapaty, Professor, RIE, Bhubaneswar & Former Director, NCERT, attended as the Chief Speaker and delivered an insightful lecture. Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor Prof. Chakradhar Tripathi conveyed his best wishes for the success of the programme and hoped the seminar would provide a platform for students, educators, researchers, and policymakers to discuss the potential of technology integration in education. Dr. Sourav Gupta, Assistant Professor & Head of Department (In-Charge), DJMC, and Coordinator of the seminar, delivered the welcome note and outlined the concept of G20 Jan Bhagidari and the significance of India’s G20 presidency. Dr. Pradosh Kumar Rath, Assistant Professor, DJMC & Nodal Officer, G 20 Jan Bhagidari, presided over the programme.
Prof Senapaty highlighted the need to adopt technology as a tool to enhance teaching and learning processes. He emphasized that technology can create interactive and engaging student learning experiences, making education more accessible and inclusive. He gave a detailed note on blending teaching and learning by speaking about how NEP 2020 would be implemented and technology is going to influence its implementation. By giving a brief on the past educational policies, he gave a clear comparison to NEP 2020.
Presenting the vision of the New Education Policy, he said, “firstly the focus is on Indian Ethos, and secondly, learners should be connected to their roots.” He added, “the emphasis is firstly on inclusive, equative, vibrant knowledge society and secondly, on the promotion of fundamental duties. The expectation of this policy is not only to prepare Indian citizens rather global citizens.” While putting light on the developing technology and its involvement in education, he said “technology is a tool it cannot replace a teacher, but it is also just to facilitate”. He added, “pedagogy and technology are very closely related, and pedagogy forever dominates technology”. Moving forward, he said, “in the previous education policies, the approach was product-oriented, but now in NEP 2020, we are focusing on the Process-oriented approach”.
Observations were shared by faculty members H. S. Mohapatra, Prof. Hemraj Meena, Dr. B.K Srinivas, Dr. R. K Parhi and Dr. Phagunath Bhoi. A brief question and answer session by the students followed this. A vote of thanks was extended by Dr. P K Rath, Nodal Officer, G 20 Jan Bhagidari.
