Partap College of Education, Ludhiana organised a webinar under the patronage of International Professional Development Association, U.K. on the topic “Assessment of Online Teaching and Learning” which was attended by nearly 80 teachers, researchers and scholars.  Prof. Hazel Bryan, Chair IPDA, UK was the chairperson of the webinar. Dr. Manpreet Kaur, Secretary, IPDA, India and Principal, Partap College of Education welcomed the chairperson, keynote speakers and all attendees. She elaborated the purpose of selecting the topic of the webinar.

Prof. Hazel Bryan in her inaugural address expressed her glee to be part of this webinar and conveyed her best wishes to all the participants. She also asserted that today’s webinar will help to improve the evaluation process in online education and the objective of creating suitable environment for education post pandemic can also be hoped to get fulfilled.  Dr. Ramesh Sandhu, Vice Chair, IPDA, India, delivered keynote on the topic “Digital divide and COVID-19”. He mentioned that this pandemic has adversely affected every aspect of life and education is no exception. In this situation it is pertinent to be digitally literate to survive. Prof. Vandana Punia, Dean Faculty of Education, Guru Jambheshwar University of Sci & Tech., Hisar, Haryana presented key note on the topic “Facilitating Emergency Remote Teaching during Pandemic- Blessing or curse?”. In her speech, she focused on the need to adapt new innovations and technology to meet the changing needs of changing time.

Technical resource person, Mr. Jaspal Singh, Block Education Mentor, Ludhiana in his presentation asserted that in, teachers from government schools of Punjab are trying hard to impart education to their students by adopting various new techniques and with use of technology. He elucidated the efforts that has been made to stay connected with students to educate them. Another technical resource person, Mr. Deepak Kumar, Block Education Mentor, Jalandhar told that due to pandemic a mobile app “Punjab Educare’ was developed for government school students of Punjab state which has been liked and followed in other states too. He also highlighted the key factors of this app and its functioning.

The second phase of webinar emerged as an interesting and healthy discussion session in which panellists with respective specialisation from various institutes and states of India came up with thought provoking views on the theme and related subthemes of the webinar. Not only this, queries of attendees were also answered by subject experts.  

Prof. Balwant Singh, Chair, IPDA India in his presidential remarks appreciated the views expressed by all keynote speakers and technical resource persons. He added that it is high time to ponder and discover ways to strengthen the examination and evaluation system to provide better education to our students. He also appreciated and congratulated the makers of Punjab educare app which is a useful tool in hands of teachers, parents and students.

Prof. Hazel Bryan in her concluding remarks appreciated all the speakers and asserted that such intellectual sessions ought to be organised on regular intervals to develop the spirt of professional development among all professionals especially teachers. The webinar ended with the vote of thanks presented by Ms. Balwinder Kaur, Asst. Prof. of the college.