2012 for me

Year 2012 has been extra productive for me, In terms of my academic achievement it has been wonderful and fruitful. For last 8 years I was struggling to understand the various modes and ways to integrate modern technology, specifically web-based resources in classroom teaching so that the cognitive, affective and psycho-motor objectives of the domain of learning are achieved in an effective manner and makes learning more interesting and understandable for teacher and  taught.

Along with my presentations on blended learning in various schools and colleges I developed a technology integrated lesson plans suggesting teachers an easy and organized way to integrate various technology tools and web resources in the classroom teaching of various subjects.

I also organized first international webinar cum seminar for the first time for learning communities Details of which can be found at

http://www.tlcseminar.in/pdf/webinar.pdf

The story of webinar 

The conception

With the increasing use of technology in almost all the professions it has now become indispensible for teaching profession also to use technology as a  platform to invigorate teaching-learning conditions and improve learning in classrooms and schools. Blended learning models have the potential to increase individualization, differentiated instruction, and engagement for all learners in a meaningful and purposeful manner in order to facilitate learning and spreading the word of knowledge and wisdom across the globe preparing teachers and students for 21^st century learning skills.

With this thought emerged the idea of conducting international webinar as an online part of international seminar with an objective to create awareness and encourage participation on global level on the theme, “Professional Development of Teachers”,

The Idea of blending webinar with that of seminar was initiated by Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator Isabella Thoburn College , Lucknow, who is working in the field of blended learning.

 The International webinar which is probably the first webinar in education sector to be blended with international seminar is a milestone in the direction of encouraging educators, academicians, teachers and students to collaborate through online interactions and presentations.

The webinar was conducted for the learning community patron by Prof. B.K.Passi UNESCO Chair and former  NCTE Vice chairman.

What is a Webinar?

The term webinar stands for interactive Web-based Seminar cum virtual dialogue, a presentation, lecture or workshop that is transmitted over the Web. Through Webinars presenters can reach educationist, academician and others within no time and is also very economical as it overcomes the travelling expense and other inconvenience.

Webinars are collaborative and include polling, question & answer sessions to allow full participation between the audience and the presenter. The presenter  can use his power point presentation ,word documents, streaming videos, white board and can also share his screen along with many other features to explain the subject to the audience.

Unlimited number of audience can interact and share their views and experiences among themselves and with the presenters through VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) or chat and can also resolve their queries immediately. The recordings of the webinars are also available for later play back facilitating self paced learning. 

This is how webinar can be a means to bring people together and can serve as an important mode for exchanging thoughts and experiences across the globe.

How does it work?
process involves the presenters and organizers of the webinar in designing the presentation and uploading the data to a website being used for conducting a webinar. The link for the same is mailed to the participants or the interested ones can also get registered to attend the webinar if it is open for everyone. The audience for a webinar logs on to the website that hosts the webinar at a set time. The presenters conducts the  webinar. The audience logs onto the hosting site at the presentation time to view a live presentation.
A webinar blends the interactive technologies of teleconferencing, the web and presentation software to produce an interactive multimedia seminar. Most webinars require participants to have a flash player installed on their computer for the full multimedia experience.
Over all seven webinars were conducted on different topics related to the theme of the seminar. The details of the webinars are as follows
The details of the webinar

Topic of webinar	Resource Person	Date (Time : 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm)
Role of technology in the professional development of teachers	Dr. Ronald shapiro, (psychologist and educationist),USA	12-5-2012
Dialogue and re-dialogue mode of paper presentation	Prof.B.K.Passi (formar UNESCO chair, former NCTE vice chairperson), India Dr. Ms. S. Passi, India	19-5-2012
Collaboration through technology	Dr. Kiran Lata Dangwal  (seminar coordinator and teacher educator, India) Dr. Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator, Lucknow, India	26-5-2012
Online Professional Development Environment	Greg Limperis (supervisor of instructional technology/consultant), USA Dr. Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator, Lucknow, India	14-7-2012
E-Learning and professional development of teachers	Ms. Pricilla,  representative of Connecting All Students Technologically (C.A.S.T.) Charlotte, United States  Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator, Lucknow, India	11-8-2012
ICT Integration in teaching	Mr. George Machlan, Edupank, Indiana, USA, Mr. Sebastian Panakal, Principal, e- school, Cohin, India Mr.Balasubramanian Ramaswami, Institute of Technical Education and Research Centre, Delhi , India  Mr. Gaurav Tekriwal, President, The Vedic Maths Forum India ,Kolkata, West Bengal, India Dr. Kiran Lata Dangwal (seminar coordinator and teacher educator, India) Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator, Lucknow, India	22-9-2012
Digital Education Revolution and smart class room	Mr. Bruce Joyce, St Simons Island, USA Mr. Joes Popoff, La Lima, Cortes Mr. Bala Ramaswami, India Dr. Kiran Lata Dangwal  (seminar coordinator and teacher educator, India) Dr. Dr. Roma Smart Joseph, Teacher Educator, Lucknow, India	27-10-2012

All the  speakers of the webinars made outstanding efforts to convey the topic of their presentation and expertise to the learners in a very effective way,  followed by rich interactive sessions. More than 120 attendees participated in the webinars marking a new beginning of a blended approach for learning beyond boundaries. 

I received twoawards " Bharat Gaurav Ratan" and " Shikshak Gaurav Ratan" for outstanding contributions made in the field of education

I owe my success to my Mom Mrs. R.B. Smart and Father Mr. B.C. Smart for  guiding me  towards the enlighting profession of teaching-learning and inculcating a never ceasing spirit of making untiring efforts. I also express my hearty thanks to my  husband Mr. R.D. Joseph for being my first mentor in the field of modern technology and continuously guiding and ushering me towards the 21st centuary in the real sense. 

 pls. check for photos