Understanding New Concept Of Teaching And Learning
Harivansh Chaturvedi, Director, Birla Institute of Management Technology in interaction with BW Businessworld, sheds light on the power and limitations of online learning. Edited Excerpts:
How has the overall business landscape changed in the last few months? What parts are permanently changed and warrant new orientation?
It is not easy to imagine any sector of the global economy which has not changed. The global pandemic has caused radical changes in manufacturing, transport, health, education, services, leisure, entertainment, media, agriculture, etc. First, it disrupted the traditional way of doing things and then it accelerated the innovation, which replaced many old practices with new practices. For example, workplaces will be in hybrid mode. It will reduce the cost of running offices and save employees' time in mobility.
How is your institution coping and rising to this challenge?
When the pandemic started in March 2020, we realised that onsite classes would not be possible. We prepared a contingency plan to shift from in-person to online or virtual teaching. Our business school quickly managed this transition by training our faculty and staff within April 2020. We have prepared an elaborate Business Continuity Plan, which suggested various kinds of risk during the pandemic we were likely to face. It provided action plans to mitigate all types of risk. We have realised that health, family, relationships and emotions are crucial as livelihood and compensation. We are trying to develop more empathy in our leadership style and paying more attention to the health and wellbeing of employees.
How are you implementing hybrid learning?
From January 2021, we have started hybrid classes by having only 50 per cent of students in the classroom for having in-person teaching. The rest of the students received the online version of this class in their hostel or from their respective homes. We have implemented the Covid-19 safety protocols in a detailed manner. Videos of the classroom lectures are preserved for the later use of students.
Initially, there were doubts and apprehensions in the minds of our faculty and students, but now they have developed a good understanding of this new concept of teaching and learning. Still, we have been discussing and debating some of the best practices from leading B-schools from India and abroad to strive for excellence in hybrid learning.
What are the steps being taken to upgrade and reskill faculties?
Reskilling and upgrading the teaching prowess of faculty have been the top priority of my B-school during the last two years. We have organised a series of faculty development programs to prepare our faculty to face new challenges and uncertainties and nominated them to Faculty Development Programmes of IIM Ahmedabad and Harvard Business School, USA.
How are you collaborating with industries for internships and placements?
This has been an ongoing process for a long at our business school. Since 2016, we have been observing significant disruptive challenges happening quickly in the industry, later termed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as the Industry 4.0 or the 4th Industrial Revolution. Accordingly, we have been in dialogues with several industry bodies and big corporates to assist our faculty and students in preparing themselves for Industry 4.0.
We have introduced courses on applying disruptive technologies like AI, Robotics, Machine Learning, Deep Learning, AR, VR, 3D Printing, Quantum Computing, etc., in business and industry. While designing the curriculum of these new courses, our faculty deliberated with industry leaders and engaged them in collaborative teaching. We are also using a vast amount of literature available on the website of the World Economic Forum and other global think tanks in this emerging area.
What role can EdTechs play in management education?
During the pandemic, everybody realised the power of online learning and its limitations. Being a category-1 autonomous B-school as declared by the regulator, we were given the freedom to launch online PGDM courses without prior approval but, of course, to comply with norms. We have partnered with EdTech Startup upGrad, for launching a 2 years' online PGDM program, which was well received by the market. We understand that EdTech can be helpful in the journey of B-schools and other higher education institutions to provide opportunities in hybrid education. Their marketing and technology capabilities will be beneficial for delivering online programs.
How have government initiatives and programs impacted Business Schools?
During the pandemic times, the Ministry of Education, Government of India, UGC, AICTE and state governments have been guiding higher education institutions regarding the continuance of teaching and learning with the safety and wellbeing of learners. On several challenges faced by institutions, teachers, staff and students, regulatory bodies issued relevant instructions to deal with the evolving situation.
On 29th July 2020, National Education Policy 2020 was announced by the Union Government. We have done elaborate preparations to implement its provisions which are relevant to business education and PGDM institutions.
What would you suggest to come at par with the education system of developed nations?
Since 2008, we have been working to raise the quality and standards of teaching and learning at our B-school. It has been accredited both by NBA and NAAC with the highest scores. We are in the final stage of getting international accreditation which we have been pursuing since 2015.
We have been collaborating with more than 60 foreign B-schools and universities who are our partners. From our international partners, we have been deliberating on the best practices used by B-schools at the global level.
Our suggestion for raising the quality of Indian business education to international standards is developing a collective vision by a group of top institutions for greater internationalisation of management education in India. The Ministry of Education, the Government of India and regulatory bodies should also support it.
