Challenges and opportunities for students during Covid discussed

Patiala, September 12

Experts at Punjabi University, Patiala, discussed the ‘LIS Education in the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Opportunities’ during the inaugural ‘Professor Inder Vir Malhan Memorial Lecture’.

The event was organised by the Indian Association of Teachers of Library and Information Science (IATLIS) here on Saturday.

Dr Pradeepa Wijetunge, Director, National Institute of Library and Information Sciences, University of Colombo, discussed the LIS education challenges during the pandemic.

She explained the current global scenario of Covid-19, its effects on general life and on higher education, the learners in new normal and responsibilities of the LIS educators.

She also focused on the South Asian scenario and further discussed issues, including lack of device connectivity and skills, digital divide and lack of family support to female students during Covid-19 environment.

Wijetunge, however, said universities can provide free devices to students, besides enabling free zoom access to them through research networks and open learning free platforms, such as Coursera, to overcome the challenges.

She also discussed new opportunities for the teachers, including different content delivery methods and assessment, learning new skills and areas of research and opportunities to collaborate on online platforms. — TNS