Monday, October 24, 2016

Blended Learning: A Wave of Change for Education Improvement

We all are very well aware of the technical disruption that the Internet has created over the last decade. Education therefore could not remain far from the Internet's invasion. The way education is now imparted across the globe is seeing transforming changes. Blended learning is rooting itself in the education system not only in countries like US or UK, but it has found its way to India as well. 


Though there are certain disagreements as in what does the term blended learning exactly means, in a nutshell, it is a way of learning that constitutes online and brick-and-mortar system of knowledge impartation in certain ratios. It helps a student cover the course with the freedom of time, space and pace, while at the same time offering holistic development by intensive classroom interaction with peer students and the faculty. The faculty have by and large assumed the role of enablers, facilitators and mentors. The blended learning demands the faculty to be a step ahead in blended learning in its effort to effectively add value to students learning. Blended learning has evolved a lot, from CD-ROMs to a stream of videos using satellite.

Many of the engineering universities in Delhi/NCR have already made a substantial progress on implementing blended learning. Universities like The NorthCap University, Gurgaon have been practising this concept for over two years now. The campus is fully ICT enabled which makes blended learning sufficiently feasible. Students at NCU can easily access online libraries for various projects, research and development and use LMS which provides for students’ access to online material, videos and subject related superior information from MOOCs posted by the faculty for the students on regular basis. Smart classroom is yet another useful tool that is popular amongst students of the university.

“The best part about getting onlineaccess to the video lectures is that classroom's time is utilised in structured exercises and practical implementations of the concepts.”- A faculty member of The NorthCap University.

It was no surprise that the number of students taking online courses globally rose from 45,000 to 3 million in just a decade's time since 2010. In the current scenario, the numbers continue to swell by the day. The only disadvantage the engineering universities in Delhi/NCR observe is that students who lack self-motivation find it difficult to copeup with the concept of blended learning. The financial investment and lack of a learning environment can be still be overcome, but to cater to students with lower motivation remains a major concern even for the universities across the globe. The NorthCap University and certain universities across the globe, have had extensive discussions on the same within the University, and have tried increasing the classroom time for these students. The aim is not to force blended learning down the throat but to see that students are motivated and hand-held to grapple with the new system which undoubtedly holds the future.

Faculty and students are increasingly taking up MOOCs. This adds a huge variety and scope in blended learning. Various companies like Adobe, Blackboard and others have come up with a number of options for blended learning. Flipboard is extensively used in developed countries as one of the most useful instrument of blended learning. The major benefits students across the globe have observed that it operates on a largecanvass for students to learn from various sources at their own pace and convenience and substantially add to their learning in the classroom. This offers choice to students to go beyond their chartered curriculum and embrace new interests as well.With no more restrictions of place or time, blended learning has the power to make the Right to Education a reality. It is indeed a positive wave of change in the education system and is likely to be the most favoured choice by students of the future.

Universities such as NCU shall continue to be torchbearers for other colleges and universities in the Northern region to adopt blended learning of their students.

Thursday, October 20, 2016

Alumni Interaction

The Department of CSE&IT organized an expert talk and interactive session on ‘Basic Organizational Ethics’ by Mr Pranav Bhardwaj (CSE Alumni, 2006-2010) on 6 October 2016. Mr Bhardwaj is currently working as an Instructional Designer and Business Developer at Genpact. He has expertise in Business Analytics and Content Management. During the interactive lecture, Mr Bhardwaj shared his professional journey and struggles with the students. The students were inspired by his words and raised many queries which were aptly answered. The event was coordinated by Ms Jyotsna, Asst professor, Dept of CSE&IT.


Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Bust your stress

Ms Shaveta Arora
Asst Professor
The NorthCap University, Gurgaon 

Experience, live and enjoy your student life by overcoming ‘stress’ and be successful.

Stressful situations usually occur when we constantly think about a bad past experience or about a possible threat in the future and create an image in our mind about something which hasn’t even occurred yet. It may also occur when we have plenty of tasks to complete within limited time. In all these scenarios our body releases certain hormones which cause the body to take some immediate action and usually the actions taken in these circumstances do not bring fruitful results.

We already know prevention is better than cure as it is better to stop something in the first place than to repair the damage after it has happened. We also know that many diseases occur in human body only because we do not pay attention towards our health at the time when it is important. When you ask your doctor about it, he/she often tells us that ‘stress’ is the root cause or an important reason for any disease in our body.

Here are some tips and simple tricks which can free you from stress in your life:
  • Discipline – Well planned and disciplined life can completely prevent stress from emerging at the initial stages. 
  • Prioritization – Most of us try to complete multiple tasks at the same time which creates confusion and slows down the functioning of our brain and we do not get results as per our expectations. To overcome this, we can easily identify important tasks out of our pending jobs and write them in a notepad. We can finish our work faster and without taking stress.
  • Yoga/Exercise – Yoga is one of the powerful tools to reduce stress, lower blood pressure and lower your heart rate. It is better to practice it early in the morning however it can be practiced at other time of the day as per convenience. But it should be practiced regularly. Light exercises, jogging and brisk walking are some add on tools to beat stress. Staying physically active and mentally calm is the need of the hour and even our Prime Minister is a firm believer of this formula.
  • Meditation – As performing yoga brings control over your bodies, meditation brings control and calmness to your mind. The art of controlling your mind will bring infinite peace within you.
  • Healthy diet – Students these days have back-to-back tuition classes and they sometimes skip meals or take fast foods from outside. Parents need to guide their children by giving them alternative of fast foods. Students also need to be self-motivated for following a healthy diet and eat all meals on time which will ultimately boost immunity levels and will make body and brain ready to fight any kind of upcoming stress.
Certain things to follow while overcoming stress: 
  • Do not compare yourself with other students or your friends.
  • Read newspaper every day, preferably in the morning.
  • Avoid keeping television/ laptop/ mobile in your bedroom.
  • Avoid smoking or drinking alcohol.
  • Take a sleep of 7 hours every day.
  • Last but not the least, avoid spending too much time on social networking websites and digital media.

Remember, life is moving really fast and we are flowing with it. Everyone needs to take a break and check within, whether you are flowing in the right direction. We are all blessed with technology and with help of it we can complete our tasks in minutes which used to take hours and days earlier, but still 24 hours seem slightly less. To be successful in life you do not have to score 100% or be No.1 in studies. If you simply give 100% of your own capabilities, there is plenty of room for success for each one of us. Hope you identify and find a way which is right for you.

Enjoy your student life! It is of the best part of an individual life.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Altercation: The Great Debate

To focus on Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologies, The NorthCap University, Gurgaon (NCU) organized a debating event on the theme of his vision of a secular state  where religious values are cherished and respected in all spheres of life, public as well as private and no religion is allowed to dominate the other.Abhivyakt, the Speech and Debating Club, NCU, under Centre for Languages Learning (CLL), organized ‘Altercation: The Great Debate’, an inter-collegiate debate competition on ‘Interpretation of secularism works in opposition to freedom of religion which undermines its constitutional validity’ on 7 October 2016. Students from colleges across the country participated in the event. 


The debate consisted of two rounds in which participants from fifteen teams from colleges all over the country enthusiastically participated and argued their stand.  Six teams were selected for the final round. Hans Raj College;  Jamia Millia Islamia; MSIT, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi; Aligarh Muslim University; Dr Ram Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow; Lloyd Law College, Greater Noida were the finalists. The debate brimmed with intellectual arguments on the constitution and freedom to practice various rituals in India.


The thought provoking topic for debate was also highlighted by the comments of a young, eminent Prof. (Dr) Gnyana Gurunathan, the Chief Guest and Special judge for the evening. After a vibrant session of arguments, which flew back and forth, Anuj Bansal and Sahil Yadav of DrRam Manohar Lohia National Law University, Lucknow emerged as winners while Sidharth Arora and Rajat Bawaniwal, Faculty of Law, Jamia Millia Islamia were declared as the runners-up. The faculty coordinator for the event was Dr Divyabha Vashisth.

Thursday, October 6, 2016

SPACE Day Celebrated at the University

The Department of Civil &Environmental Engineering organized their annual technical fest ‘SPACE Day’ on 4 October 2016. SPACE is the Society in Pursuit of Advances in Civil Engineering. The fest was inaugurated by the Pro-Vice Chancellor, Brig. SK Sharma (Retd), Director SOET, Prof. Ravindra Ojha, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dr Pramila Goyal and HOD Civil & Environmental Engineering, Dr Amit Srivastava. The ceremony started with the lamp lighting followed by the launch of first edition of SPACE magazine. The ceremony also included a talk by Brig. SK Sharma where he motivated the students about Civil Engineering and its importance. A cultural dance performance by a team of students and faculty was presented which filled the audience with enthusiasm. The opening ceremony ended with announcement of the new SPACE team for the academic year 2016-17.


The SPACE Day constituted various technical and non-technical events planned like Bridge making competition wherein 25 teams from different batches participated, Bollywood quiz, dance competition, photo contest etc. Towards the end of the Day, Dr Amit Srivastava, HoD distributed certificates and prizes to the winners of different competitions.