Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Kalam launches virtual classroom

Photo: Satish. H

Inspiring presence: Former President A. P.J. Abdul Kalam interacting with the students of St. Francis College for Women on Saturday. -

Hyderabad: Osmania University has entered a new era in higher education with the launch of the ‘virtual classroom’ by former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, at the Prof. G. Ram Reddy Centre for Distance Education here on Saturday.

The unique project has come up with support from Johns Hopkins University, USA, world leader in virtual education. The Osmania University has teamed up with the Care Foundation for establishment of a state-of-the-art virtual classroom with a 2 Mbps bandwidth Internet line to conduct courses ranging from technical to medical, paramedical and vocational courses with stress on communication skills development. Soon after launching the project, Dr. Kalam interacted with the Johns Hopkins university personnel on a big screen.

Congratulating the two institutions for the initiative, Dr. Kalam wanted the lectures received from Johns Hopkins to be made available to multiple college campuses in India. Osmania University should reach out to all students with the virtual tele-education delivery system. “I visualise Johns Hopkins and Osmania collaboration will result into transforming the teaching process into learning process,” Dr. Kalam said.

The world, he said, was moving towards Internet2 applications which required enhanced networking functionality such as high bandwidth, low latency or multicast. Internet2 was about everything we do in higher education. “Whether you are in the classroom, laboratory, library or dormitory, you should be able to access Internet applications. This will provide equitable access to the education system beyond lectures and lecturers”, Dr. Kalam said.

He wanted the Osmania University to adopt the virtual tele-education system for connecting its distance education centres across the nation. “Bandwidth is the demolisher of imbalances and a great leveller in the knowledge society”, the former President said.

Dr. Kalam also launched the Golden Jubilee celebrations of St. Francis College for Women. Invited to the rendition of his favourite Tyagaraya krithi ‘Endaro Mahanubhavulu’ and a thunderous applause from the enthralled students, Dr. Kalam explained how three “great mothers” influenced him through their deeds and preachings.

“One was my own mother, the other was the mother of music, M.S. Subbulakshmi, and the third was the mother of service Mother Teresa,” he said and described womanhood as the “great creation of God.” He urged the students to set a goal, acquire knowledge to achieve it, work hard with devotion and pursue the goal with perseverance. He administered an oath to the students towards bringing change in 100 women’s lives in terms of education, empowerment and healthcare, and working to eradicate dowry, female foeticide, and crime against women and children.

Earlier, Dr. Kalam inaugurated a new course – MBA programme in Health Care and Hospital Management in the University of Hyderabad and a workshop on “Trauma and Pain Management”.

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