Author: dit_blog

Outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted millions of lives in terms of health, lifestyle, livelihood and education globally. In the education scenario, detention of students from attending schools and colleges till the pandemic is under control will call for seismic shifts in this year’s education systems,trends and choices.Closure of schools, colleges and higher education institutions for risk-control has not only caused phenomenal disruption and inconvenience but has alsogiven way to remarkable innovations in the teaching-learning processes.

West Bengal, an Emerging Education Launchpad for Students

Although it is too early to assess the degree of transformation that will happen in education sector owing to this pandemic, we are already witnessing certaingame-changing knowledge initiatives that could impact institutions worldwide.In the year 2020, we are likely to see students across all cross-sections of the countrypreferring local, regional and nearest neighbouring destinations for quality and affordable education. West Bengal has always been deemed as the home to value-driven education both in terms of economy, facilities and academic standards.Moreover, going with the current flow we may also anticipate several othertrendsetting changes in West Bengal education framework that may be worth exploring at this point of time.

Creative Technology Solutions to Bridge Learning Gap

Educational institutions in West Bengal in association with State Universities like Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT)- formerly known as West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) are taking innovative learning initiatives through virtual mediums. Forward thinking engineering institutions like Dream Institute of Technology are leveraging online classes to replace in-person classroom learning.  Students are learning via interactive digital learning platforms likeZoom Conference Calls, engaging webinars, college online portals to catch-up with their scheduled classes and academic curriculum.  The dedicated faculty members are ensuring that their students are not deprived in anyway in their learning journey through continuous online classes. The teachers are going extra-miles to meet all-round educational demands of the students with online doubt clearing sessions, virtual home assignments and subsequent digital class assessments.

Evolution of Alternate Education Perspective

With the upsurge of COVID-19 pandemic, education has also become more introspective, dynamic and multi-dimensional. Students are encouraged to learn from their immediate environment at home. In West Bengal, University and colleges have taken dynamic steps for nurturing the academic as well as non-academic creative skills of students that include hobbies and pastimes like cooking, photography, gardening, singing, writing, reading and painting among many other talents. These special educational endeavours are inspiring students to regenerate their favourite hobbies and pastimes to unplug lateral ways of learning and share their creative ideas and thoughts with the world.

As one of the visionary engineering institutions, Dream Institute of Technology in collaboration with MAKAUT has introduced several interesting student activities and creative contests for active student engagement during lockdown phase. Students who excel in these creative activities will be rewarded with attractive gifts and recognized with jointly awarded certificates by the college and the University for boosting their motivation level.

Education Will Now Focus on Social Responsiveness

The onset of this pandemic has brought to the forefront the need for human values over and above academic knowledge, hands-on skills and creativity. The ways of learning are bound to change when educational institutions take the initiative to drive human-centred learning approach.

In West Bengal, the students and institutions have exhibited their intent to help and reach out to people in need and crisis with empathy along with responsibility. Technology is being discreetly deployed to bridge social distancing and weaken the silos caused by physical separation with online collaboration. Dream Institute of Technology, one of the far-sighted institutions in West Bengal realizes the importance of building resilience into education systems to help students face the threats and insecurities of this difficult phase with calm, positivity and conviction.

Finally, We Will Welcome the Future of Education Here

It’s been a long time that we have rested our education foundation on classroom boundaries. When the lockdown is withdrawn, the students, teachers and the institution will converge to create innovative ways of learning where they will be equipped with both real and virtual teaching-learning methodologies. Students will be able to learn from all kinds’ of environments, respect their surrounding world and appreciate people around them. They will also utilize time wisely to drive transformation through innovations. West Bengal has been very prompt to adapt, relearn and stay abreast with rapid changes in the education system during this pandemic phase and as a result promises to evolve as one of the futuristic education hubs in India in the near future.

Innovation is achieved by providing something original that contributes towards overall efficiency leading to an idea that significantly impacts society. In this era of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as industry 4.0, “innovation” will play a pivotal role in adding great value to every dimension across industries, cultures and lifestyles. It will take innovative minds to lead change and build a “smart nation” with continuously evolving technologies like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Internet of Things, Cloud Computing and Cognitive Intelligence. In this article we will explore few reasons why engineering education must go through a paradigm shift to stay aligned with the latest technological progression.

1. Keep Pace With Technological Revolution

The evolution of technology demands new talents and skills to support growth and hence needs immediate upgradation of the existing engineering curriculum. Modern engineers need innovation to scale-up their skills to contribute towards this industrial revolution. The biggest talent for engineers in the coming times will to imbibe ‘systems thinking’, the ability to understand the efficient integration of unconnected things and leverage this influence for the growth of the company. In the same vein, they will need high levels of collaboration and communication skills – to reap the benefits of a connected environment that allows huge growth through seamless processes. And finally, the future engineers should be able to foster complete and absolute adaptability to change. Many institutions have already initiated this change in engineering education approach and many more need to begin this process of transformation. Progressive engineering institutions like Dream Institute of Technology focuses on experiential teaching learning practices, industry-oriented internships and advanced induction programmes in the industry to facilitate students to emerge as skilled and industry ready professionals who will be  able to apply these skills.

2. New Age Engineers are Problem Solvers

In the modern times, engineers globally must be aware of their roles as problem solvers who can address major challenges in society with their skills and innovative mindset. From global corporations to small businesses, national governments to local governments, many are avidly searching for ways to come up with sustainable solutions to combat pressing environmental challenges like reduction of carbon footprint in manufacturing, identifying alternative energy sources for energy conservation, safeguarding data and national wealth and improvement of overall well-being of humanity. Dream Institute of Technology, one of the leading engineering colleges in West Bengal encourage their engineering students to undertake innovative projects that can deal with acute health and other issues related to the welfare of society.

 3. Modern Engineers Can Enhance Living Standards

Engineers today can wield their capacity to entirely transform the way we live with their innovation.  From health to entertainment, from this planet to space, engineers can help us add value to each and every chain of creation. Today engineers have impacted businesses and tremendously enhanced communication pathways with their capability to blend knowledge with skill, innovation and ability to implement them in challenging scenarios. That is why aspiring engineers at Dream Institute of Technology give emphasis on amalgamation of their technological skills with management understanding so that they can develop products that can improve lifestyle and fulfill the needs of modern consumers.

4.  Rising Demand for Technology-oriented Talents

New roles are also emerging as a result of tremendous technological innovation. Emerging career opportunities in engineering domain is creating phenomenal career scope for modern engineers. In the near future, engineers need to deliver on business goals will continue to be a challenge for many organizations.  Modern industries need proficient talents with creativity, critical thinking, communication ability, leadership and management capability to bridge the skill-gap. Strategic talent transformation teaching-learning measures by progressive engineering institutions can start to address this talent gap. This step is the stepping stone that can ultimately facilitate budding engineers attain a competitive advantage in the talent marketplace tomorrow.

5. Capitalize Technological Ecosystem

The marvelous thing about technology is that it has catapulted human knowledge level to a great extent. People are getting more and more informative and productive by leveraging technology. Students do not lack in ideas, but they need an environment which is conducive for the incubation of these ideas. The engineering institutes must provide students with a stimulating learning space where they can experiment, research and develop these innovative ideas into reality with proper guidance and cooperation.

Final Takeaway

The strong sense of urgency that’s pushing the industry to spearhead the upcoming technological evolution will demand engineers with deep domain knowledge and mental agility. The aspiring engineers with the help of enterprising engineering institutes need to fuel their innovative thinking to feed this appetite of smart growth in order to secure their professional careers in future. Dream Institute of Technology is also gearing up with their innovative education initiatives for facilitating students to capitalize the massive career opportunities related with this technological revolution.