Dr. Sherry, IMT CDL Director Says- "Dot Com' Is The New DNA" At Indian Managament Conclave 2011

Online, August 20, 2012 (Newswire.com) - The second edition of the Indian Management Conclave (IMC) 2011 was held on August 11-12, 2011, in New Delhi on the theme - the 'New DNA' for Indian management education. The Conclave saw eminent leaders from the academic and corporate world addressing a congregation of 500 delegates. On Day 2, in the Special Session, the informative presentation by Dr. A. M. Sherry, Director of the IMT Centre of Distance Learning (Session Chair), demonstrated how institutions can leverage technology in the field of education to optimum effect. Presented here are excerpts from his presentation...

"It is my pleasure to be a part of the Indian Management Conclave, Two-Zero-One-One. This is a unique platform because this year, 'One' represents the management gurus present here, and the other 'One' represents the industry gurus who are also here today.

If either industry or management gurus were missing the sum total would be 'Zero'. Similarly, if academic import is supplemented by industry import, then 'One' plus 'One' will always add up to 'Two'. Here, academic gurus and industry experts are on the same platform, i.e., One plus One. And this is the beauty of the Indian Management Conclave, Two-Zero-One-One.

The theme of this session is related to technology and the use of technology. Consider this... the organiser of this event is MBA Universe.com... 'dot com'; this demonstrates not only the use of technology but also the power of technology. And this particular session is dedicated to the use of technology in management education. The theme of the Conclave is building new B-Schools; building a new DNA. I think 'dot com' is the new DNA because without this technology and without the power of this technology, such an advanced form of education would not possible.

Let me share you my own case study at IMT- CDL as a case in point...
We started the Distance Education Programme in 1980. At the time we had just 300 students but today the figure is more than 50,000. In 2002, we started a technology-based, E-MBA programme but the experiment was not wholly successful and finally we had to pull out of it. This was because there was little acceptability to such a programme in the year 2002. Our content was digital, lecture delivery and examinations were online but there was little acceptability in the market. But today, in the year 2011,things are different. How many of you use Facebook? I think everybody does. This scenario augurs well and demonstrates both the growth and the reach of technology.

In 2006, encouraged by the spurt in the growth of technology, we once again introduced the use of technology in our management programme. Our first experiment was the use of a learning management system to deliver the lectures, the content and the examination. We were the first in the country to introduce the concept of a digital library in the field of education for 50,000 students across the globe.

In 2008, we introduced an online admission process and a payment gateway to deposit the fees. We also introduced a personal contact programme through video conferencing by using a very flexible technology called WEB-EX. Despite that, these experiments were just about okay and not extremely successful.

This year we have conducted a unique experiment. We had organised workshops related to subjects such as marketing, HR, operation research, personality development, communication skills, etc. The hall the workshops were held in could hold just about 300 students and our student base is 50,000. So here's what we did... Academic gurus and industry experts delivered lectures related to marketing, operation research, etc., on the same platform, and we webcasted the entire workshop. This experiment proved to be very, very successful! Of the 50,000 students, at least 30,000 were present online, across the globe.

Additionally, with the aim of solving issues related to the current faculty crisis, we are now using the WEB-EX system developed by CISCO. With this, there is no need of a studio or a specific setup to deliver the lecture. Some of our faculty members were at our Dubai campus delivering lectures to 50,000 of our students. With this technology, they can also telecast a lecture from their residence!

Our campus is in Ghaziabad, if somebody is in Gurgaon and if he or she wants to deliver a lecture to our students, there is no need to visit the campus to do so. They can telecast the lecture from their residence itself. This is the beauty of technology! We have solved problems related to the faculty crisis simply, with the help of technology.

We are also starting another unique programme called the MS Programme in Cyber Law and Security which has two components - one related to cyber law and the other to security. There is a dearth of cyber security experts in India which means there is a huge demand. People are not even aware of cyber laws because the laws are different in India, the USA, the UK...

So what we did was this - for the cyber law component, we collaborated with the National Law University, Jodhpur where the faculty members are based in Jodhpur. And for the cyber security component, we tied up with experts based in the US. Our campus is located at Ghaziabad and our students are in different geographical locations; but we are delivering this programme with the help of technology and this experiment again, has proved to be extremely successful.

We have also implemented this technology into our Ph. D programme. Our scholars are at different locations and their supervisors are at different locations but they can interact comfortably using the WEB-EX system. Our library resources are available online and our examination system is online as well. Many people working in the corporate world who want to pursue their Ph. D are enrolled in this particular programme. They are also very keen to join educational institutions after a certain age. These people have industry exposure, they have an interest in education, and they want to join the education sector in the future. This technology will help them do that sooner than later.

At the IMT Centre of Distance Learning, we are doing our very best to resolve the major issues related with technology-based education in India. By leveraging the use and power of technology we are striving to bring education right to a student's doorstep.