Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, virtually inaugurated the “Virtual Classroom” & “Agri-Diksha Web Education Channel” of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana along with 18 others in the country.
It is important to mention that GADVASU has been selected amongst the 18 elite universities by the ICAR-IASRI for setting up the Virtual Classroom facility under National Agricultural Higher Education Project.
The Minister stressed on the quality research and advanced agricultural education that can make agriculture a medium of employment generation.
At GADVASU, Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor administered the curtain raising ceremony of this virtual classroom.
He informed that this state-of-art technology allows the blend of learning media to have a better comprehension of the subjects. The Virtual Classroom takes in its’ ambit the integration of diverse technologies encompassing interactive panel, white board, synchronization with computer, visualizer, quiz option, recording of lectures and live streaming of the class making it a wholesome package having long lasting impact on veterinary education. The lectures recorded using the Virtual Classroom facility are uploaded on the Krishi Megh - National Agricultural Research and Education System-Cloud Infrastructure and Services, and this repository can be accessed by the students multiple times to have better understanding of the subjects.
He said that such initiatives are need of the hour during contemporary times for reaching out to the learners so that they may engross the educational contents at their own convenience cutting across the boundaries of space and time. He encouraged the faculty and students of the University to make best use of this central facility for getting maximum returns from the e-learning environment. The Vice-Chancellor expressed his gratefulness towards the ICAR-IASRI for considering GADVASU for establishing the Virtual Classroom and trusting this university to be an active partner in imparting education through technology to the learners of NARES. The Officers of the University were present during the inauguration programme.
Other dignitaries like Parshottam Rupala, Union Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare,
Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary (DARE) & Director General (ICAR), Sanjay Kumar Singh, Additional Secretary (DARE) & Secretary (ICAR), Dr. R.C. Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR. Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh, Director, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Director, ICAR-Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute also expressed their views in the virtual programme.
ICAR officials, Vice Chancellors of agricultural universities, scientists and a large number of students attended the programme.
