The fourth edition of the 'Techspectations’, Kerala's premier digital summit hosted by Manoramaonline, on Saturday delved into the immense possibilities in digital education and the huge challenges it faced. Tech experts, influencers in the tech field, heads of top brands and start-ups are among the speakers at the virtual meet. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan delivered the keynote address on the topic National Education Policy (NEP): Approach, Opportunities and Challenges. Karnataka’s Minister for Higher Education Minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan spoke on National Education Policy and its broader impacts on the education ecosystem.
The discussions and sessions at 'Techspectations Educate 2021' have been formulated with the objective of providing a holistic view of the challenges and opportunities facing the educational sector.
The programme
In his keynote address, Union Minister of Education, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan said the benefits of digital education could be fully utilised only when every student in the country secured access to digital devices.
While delivering the lead talk, Karnataka minister Dr C N Ashwath Narayan explained how Covid-19 disrupted the education ecosystem at the same time accelerating the use of technology and online education. "It should co-exist with offline education. So hybrid learning is the way forward,” he added.
While addressing the gathering, leading educationist Dr Chenraj Roychand, Chancellor, Jain (Deemed-to-be University) said that online learning is not just a passing phase triggered by the Covid pandemic, but the way ahead.
Kiruba Shankar, CEO, Business Blogging Pvt Ltd; and Mariam M Mathew, CEO, Manoramaonline also addressed the participants at the opening ceremony.
In the first panel discussion of the summit on 'Kerala EdTech Startup Ecosystem' John M Thomas, CEO, Infopark Kerala; Shery S Kurian, CEO, Tutorcomp; Muhammed Rashid, Founder & CEO, Codesap Technologies LLP; Saiju Aravind, Founder & CEO, EduBrisk; and Joyal Joseph Joy, Founder, Teacherind shared insights about the massive opportunities in the Edtech field.
In the second panel on 'Online Upskilling Challenges & Vision Beyond 2021', the participants - Arjun Mohan, CEO–India, upGrad; Dr Raj Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Jain (Deemed-to-be University); Sasank Potturu, CEO, Conduira; Dr Rajeev Ramachandran, Business Head – Horizon, Manorama; and Tom Joseph, Director – New Initiatives, Jain (Deemed-to-be-University) - opined that relevant and future-proof upskilling is the way forward.
In his talk that followed the panel discussion, Siddharth Banerjee, Managing Director – India & Asia, Pearson, stressed the growing need for accreditation and quality assessment.
The final panel discussion of Techspectations - 'The Immersive Classroom: Experiences with AR/VR & New Age Technology' - was attended by Teresa Jacobs, Executive Director – Learning, ISDC; Dr Manoj Nagasampige, Director – Directorate of Online Education, Manipal Academy of Higher Education; Jaya Nagarajan, Principal, Hari Sri Vidya Nidhi School; Aditi Chatterjee, Director – Research and Innovation, Silver Hills Higher Secondary School; and Ajith Jacob, Principal, The Choice School.