Faculty in TN govt colleges will be trained to use the online platforms

Apart from training the faculty, colleges and universities were asked to contribute through online programs to nurture the talents of students by conducting various activities, training programmes, webinars, and competitions.

A senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT NEXT that during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic period, not all the government colleges offered online classes for the students.

"Even many professors could not use the online platform to its best due to various reasons including lack of knowledge to use different software for teaching purposes", he added.

In addition, the official also pointed out that in an online environment there is vast potential for students to go off track, try to do too many irrelevant things at once. "Therefore, high-quality online instructions and contents which keeps the students engaged to reduce these issues", he said.

The official said accordingly, the faculty will be trained by the respective IT wing in the institutions involving a common programme.

Explaining the topics during the training, he said the faculty will be properly trained for maintaining contact with class in various ways including through email, videos, blogs, and class chat groups.

"Likewise, training will be given in various readily available software tools including PowerPoint, photoshop, and excel", he said adding "as the online training was no more an option, but now the authorities are considering it would be a necessity for facing pandemic or crisis situation in future".

On the further plans, the official said a common software would be developed in the future by Tamil Nadu State Council for Higher Education and the system will be used in the online teaching platform for providing uniform training to the students. "Training will be given to the teachers for using the software effectively", he said.