Edu-leaders

Teaching is the central mission of institutions of higher learning. Today’s classrooms have transformed with cell phones, computers, internet, and interactive boards. Yet in developing countries, important gaps remain in the current knowledge base about what works and what doesn’t.

Administrators are questioning the economic wisdom of employing faculty. Why not, they ask, simply use videos to record and stream the best lectures from around the world to all students? Can teachers be replaced by a video of the lecture? As a teacher I know that teaching is not about me, it is all about students. And secondly, teaching is not the same thing  as telling. It is and will always be a vital, enriching human interaction. How we teach is more important than what we teach. A true teacher inspires first, influences second, third and only third informs.

I have come to see my interaction with students as one of deep complexity. Sometimes I relate to them as a friend who encourages and advises, sometimes as an expert who can explain complicated information, sometimes as just a team member who is working together to master a body of knowledge. I am still discovering how to do these things better, still evolving, still excited and enjoying every minute of teaching.

The impact of our teaching will extend long beyond our lifetime because a small part of every living, loving teacher is in the students we touch, the students we teach, the students we reach!

It is this challenge that technology should address — enabling teachers to interact individually with students and helping them go beyond pedagogy and evaluation to infuse an interest in life long learning.

However, technology today does enable and improve quality in education, and Manipal University realised the benefits of IT as an enabler in the effective delivery of higher education and healthcare functions early.

Our innovative usage of technology led to IBM awarding Dr HS Ballal, Pro Chancellor of Manipal University, the “IBM Achiever Award” for being a leader in using IT in higher education space.

Our interactive and informative website representing all institutions under Manipal University functions as a gateway to prospective students, parents as well as our alumni. The intranet portal for on-campus students, faculty and administrators provides a platform for various self service functions. This has automated workflow, and increased the overall productivity.

Our admissions office is also automated. Prospective students can pay the application fee through credit card or net banking. The applications are scanned using OCR technology and the data along with the photograph and signature images are captured. The application status can also be t racked onl ine by students.

Online Test Booking System, a web based scheduling software enables candidates to appear for the online entrance test at their convenience. The results also appear instantaneously.

The Student Information System Software integrates various departments like the admissions, student finance, hostels, evaluation as well as all the college offices of Manipal University. This helps administration and sharing of the data and also avoids replication of work.

The university has wired and wireless infrastructure in the campus. We provide a laptop, packaged with all campus services to each student in Engineering, Medicine and Dentistry. There are about 8000 notebooks on campus connecting students.

In the first of its kind initiative in India, we also provide laptops to our entire faculty (nearly 2100), free of cost, to promote innovative teaching methods and research activities. The professional notebooks from HP, Lenovo and Apple have created a huge impact on the teaching- learning process in the university. We have an online attendance system in some institutions and departments. Our classrooms have the latest state-of-the-art audio visual facilities and some also have video conferencing facilities.

All central libraries are connected through EPAC the web-enabled Library Search Engine, that can be used to search any item in a library and even online journals subscribed by the library. The health sciences library through its micro site provides electronic access to various full text and bibliographical databases.

Our alumni affairs office has been set up with the core principles of service, teaching, training, administration and research. The alumni portal helps alumni get information about the university, fellow students, juniors, conferences, alumni meets, featured alumni, success stories of alumni using this portal.