Going Digital in the New Normal: Are Our SAUs Ready?

Abstract

Digital Technologies are an indispensable part of higher education and their integration in agricultural higher education have been initiated for many purposes such as for administration of agricultural institutions, record-keeping, research, teaching and learning process etc. Education Division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has spent crores of rupees on establishment of e-libraries, SMART classrooms, SMART seminar halls, strengthening of computer laboratories and Educational Technology Cells in State Agricultural Universities of the country apart from developing e-courses, platforms like e-granth etc. In spite of all these efforts, there still exists a gap between the efforts made and actual implementation in the teaching – learning process in agricultural education in our universities. To create a digital ecosystem, the first step is to bring it into practice in the administrative procedures. Thus, an attempt was made to find out the status of digital tools at administrative level in the temples of learning. The study employed exploratory research design conducted in the State Agricultural Universities of northern India (Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Gujarat and Rajasthan). Universities and Colleges were selected through purposive sampling and so were the Deans and nodal officers. The salient results of this study revealed that use of digitised administrative procedure was remarkable due to presence of ample infrastructural facilities but its integration in mode of course delivery was not prominent. Educational Technology Cells, SMART classrooms, SMART seminar halls, computer laboratories and e-libraries were an integral part of most universities but internet speed was not up to the mark. On the basis of the findings, it is suggested that high speed internet facilities with latest digital gadgets, establishment of Directorate of Information Technology in all State Agricultural Universities, uniformity in the content of all SAU web sites and their periodical updating. Development of e-courses and mobile Applications related to agricultural education is the need of the hour. Virtual classrooms are the only pathways to curb the menace of faculty crunch in agricultural universities as well as in the new normal (post covid -19).