Noida, 11th December 2020: The research and development cell at Delhi NCR-based Asian Business School – which is a part of Asian Education Group and is ranked as one of the best B-schools in Delhi NCR – hosted a high-pitch “NATIONAL SEMINAR” on the theme “DEVELOPING VIRTUAL LEARNING RESOURCES: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS” on Friday, 11th December 2020 at its Noida campus. However, in view of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and keeping in mind the social distancing norms, this seminar was conducted via online medium through the Zoom platform.
The eminent guests and speakers at the seminar included Ms. Shreyasi Singh, Founder & CEO, Harappa Education; Mr. Suchindra Kumar, Executive Director, Ernst & Young (EY); Dr. Ankita Singh, Sr. Vice President & Global HR Head, CIGNEX Datametrix; and Mr. Sorabh Bajaj, Skills Transformation Consultant APAC, Coursera.
The event kick started with the traditional lighting of lamp and welcome introduction of dignitaries present on and off the dais. Dr. Anubhuti Dwivedi, Dean-Asian Business School welcomed the dignitaries with her welcome address and also set the theme of the Seminar with a brief introduction of the topic, which she said was “quite important and relevant in context to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” This was followed by the inaugural address by Dr. Lalitya Vir Srivastava, Director-Asian Education Group (AEG).
In his inaugural address, Dr. Lalitya Vir Srivastava, Director-Asian Education Group (AEG) said that he looked at the current pandemic as “a propellant of unplanned change and God’s gift that has helped people to develop strong alternatives and meaningful responses to the COVID challenge.” Here, he cited the example of how Asian Business School took on the challenge and successfully adapted to the online mode of teaching and learning during this crisis.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Sandeep Marwah, President, Asian Education Group (AEG) enlivened the ambience with his inspiring speech laced with some stirring Hindi couplets and said that the “pandemic has brought in a huge change … in fact, a revolution … and the only thing constant in this world now is CHANGE”. Talking about the myriad impacts of the pandemic, he said, “Let’s accept it … it is going to be there. Suddenly, the internet has become the ultimate necessities of life now and we all have to adapt to the emerging changes.”
In her eminent guest address, Ms. Shreyasi Singh, Founder & CEO, Harappa Education spoke at length about the great importance of online education during the current times and how her own venture (Harappa Education) was setting a new benchmark in this area.
Eminent guest Mr. Suchindra Kumar, Executive Director, Ernest & Young (EY), who spoke next, said, “Online education was an excellent platform that was democratizing education by opening the access to everyone, but there are several new challenges like social and peer learning aspects that will need to be overcome before it can become entirely gainful.”
The proceedings were followed by a Vote of Thanks by Mr. Ravi Sharma, Dean-Corporate Resource Cell (CRC), Asian Education Group.
The august gathering then dispersed for lunch.
The post-lunch session saw the unfolding of the “Plenary Session” on the topic “Re-Imagining the Future of Higher Education in India Through NEP 2020: Role of Blended Learning”. The session was ably moderated by Dr. Mohd Abdul Moid Siddqui, Assistant Professor-Asian Business School and the main participant in the discussion was Mr. Sorabh Bajaj, Skills Transformation Consultant APAC, Coursera.
Expounding on the topic, Mr. Sorabh Bajaj said, “Today, we need the mindset of being Lifelong Learner and look at our career span for at least 60 years.” He further stated that “careers and domains will change and we should learn to accommodate career shifts in our career planning.” He illustrated his point-of-view by way of a powerful PPT presentation on the subject that answered a lot of questions that cropped up for attention.
Following this, the session concluded with due formalities.