April 28, 2020 | Adamas University

Learning in COVID Times & Beyond: Turning a Crisis into an Opportunity

More than 770 million students have been disrupted by COVID19 and the consequent lockdowns globally. The United Nations has warned of the unparalleled scale and speed of the educational disruption being caused by Coronavirus. Every house a school, every parent a teacher as Covid-19 impacts education of 250mn school students in India.

While much harm has been done by epidemic, institutions could use crisis to sharpen strategies and practices in areas such as internationalisation and e-learning. India has over 37 million students enrolled in higher education. An interruption in the delivery of education could cause long term disruption. The pandemic requires universities to rapidly offer online learning to their students. Fortunately, technology and content are available to help universities transition online quickly and with high quality, specially on the digital plank.

Learning or academics or education broadly has three functions:
(A) creation of learning content through research, writing, packaging with visuals; (B) dissemination of learning through classes, lectures, notes, self-study, discussions; & (C) assessment and evaluation of the education of the learner by various methods.

All these three have been majorly impacted by the self-isolation rightly imposed to ensure social distancing so that the learners and the mentors may first be protected from the spread of the infection of COVID19. The lockdown across the world is a boon and a bane for the teaching-learning community today.

Digital Haves and Have Nots Dichotomy

COVID-19 is, in fact, amplifying the struggles that children are already facing globally to receive a quality education. Even before the outbreak of the virus, there were 258 million out-of-school children across the globe — principally due to poverty, poor governance, or living in or having fled an emergency or conflict. While there are programs dedicated to ending the existing crisis in global education, the dramatic escalation that the COVID19 has introduced newer challenges for around 550 million children who were so far studying but do not have access to digital learning systems.

The digitally deprived large chunk of masses- being bereft of access to digital resources like a good internet connectivity, laptop or ipad for use, electric power and smart phone- across the globe are forced to waste productive learning time. The digital divide in every developing and under-developed society was never so glaring as it is now. Though more than 70% of Indian population has been covered now with mobile telephony, the resources needed for digital learning from distance or at home are not there with more than 1 out of 4 people in the country. Same is the case with youths in the formal learning age. This is the bane today.

On the other hand, if there was no enforced social distancing and students home-locked across the nation (and the globe), the transition of those with partial or full resources to complete digital learning pedagogy would not have been quickened. What demonetization did to fin-tech, lockdown has done to edu-tech.

Digital Learning Tools Today:

Digital learning on the go or from distance calls for tech-led holistic solutions. It requires several content pieces to be transmitted digitally. These content pieces can be in the form of pdfs, ppts, URLs, YouTube links, podcast links, case-studies, etc. There can also be e-books, audio-books, kindle based content, magzter sourced magazines, etc. Then this can involve learning without being face to face through boxes, as in Google Class, or learning face to face as in Zoom live audio-visual discussions. People may also use GoToMeetings or MicrosoftMeet sessions also. Attendance can be taken on Google Spreadsheet and through Whatsapp Group chat of a batch of students too.

There are other tools that can take digital learning on the go or from distance go miles ahead. Flipped classroom method with an active learning classroom can have all study resources given a day or two in advance, and the actual session starting with a quick quiz, then doubts clearance, and thereafter a few issues of the future or counter points to what were given earlier, like possible different scenarios or new research findings not shared earlier. This is quite an effective way of learning, which is internalized, collaborative, experiential, bottom-up, as distinctly different from teaching, which is instructional, hierarchic and top-down.

Then there are MOOCs, collaborative distance learning, wikis, blogs etc. Individual resource-rich institutes develop their customized secured and IPR protected Learning Management Systems, through the use of BlackBoard or TCSion LMS. Other LMS options like Kaltura or Impartus allowing video recording of talks also ar in use in many places. There are CourseEra courses, Swayam online lessons from UGC and similar other avenues to learn online.

Learning digitally can be further assisted with Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) which can take the viewer to an enhanced experience even integrating scenarios which are yet to happen creatively bringing them within the learning experience. These are immersive and contextual experiences, and artificial intelligence driven chatbots can further enhance the digital interface of the learner and the mentor.

Digital Learning Add-ons & Social Media Value-adds:

Incorporating big data analytics and content management, educators develop an individualized curriculum that enhances how each student learns (e.g. Playlist of content in WiseWire changing for each student). Many in the West have started the use of the millennials’ language and style: Khan Academy video lessons, YouTube use, distinct style and language for young learners. Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, Imessage, Instagram, Facebook & Whatsapp are being creatively integrated with school education. There is a case of a management school in India, where the professor sends a 3 minutes interesting video on the subject he is taking up next through group whatsapp to increase interest in the batch towards the topic being taught.

In the US, the smart-phone applications like Socrative and Plickers are helping teachers interact and assess students’ progress, collaborate via cloud-based applications to work and solve a common goal. Teachers can publish real-time quizzes and polls for students via mobile devices to keep them engaged.

Further, using anything from iMovie to WeVideo, learners can create video as a learning resource. YouTube (with privacy settings) and SeeSaw or Flipgrid are also alternatives learners can make use of. The benefits of SeeSaw and Flipgrid are that students can add voice recordings or text sharing feedback with peers. Students became the co-creators of content and as a result, more engaged, including their parents. Useful apps like Book Creator, Explain Everything and EduCreations can be utilised towards this end.

There are various software used to create digital content, like Camtasia, Raptivity, Captivate, Articulate Online, etc.

Yes alongside, social media use extensively will support learning online. Facebook Page can broadcast updates and alerts. Facebook Group or Google Hangout with advanced features in G-suite can stream live lectures and host discussions. Twitter can act as a class message board. The 256 characters help to keep messages succinct. Instagram can be used for photo essays. One can create a class blog for discussions. There are many different platforms available, such as WordPress, SquareSpace, Wix, Blogger for that. And, one can create a class-specific Pinterest board as well.

Digital Assessment & Evaluation:

Online quiz, open book examination with time-managed and proctored question paper delivered online, applied questions not based on memory but comprehension, telephonic interview etc have been the usual ways of digital assessment and evaluation of learning.

Assessment refers to learner performance; it helps us decide if students are learning and where improvement in that learning is needed. Evaluation refers to a systematic process of determining the merit value or worth of the instruction or programme; it helps us determine if a course is effective (course goals) and informs our design efforts. Assessment and evaluation can be both formative (carried out during the course) and summative (carried out following the course). There can be many ways for the same. Mentors can make learners aware of expectations in advance (e.g. one week for feedback from deadline) and keep them posted (announcement: all projects have been marked). Mentors can consider auto-grading options offered by learning management systems (LMSs)/virtual learning environments (VLEs). For example, one can create tests that are multiple choice, true/false, or short answer essays and onne can set the assessments to automatically provide feedback.
Mentors can also incorporate a peer feedback process into their courses through student assignments. They get an initial level of feedback before submitting the assignment, prompt feedback, and you get a better assignment in the end.

One particular popular assessment option for online and blended learning is rubrics. In part, their popularity is based on the level of detail included. ‘Rubrics help to define the characteristics of a high-quality assignment and help the student understand assignment and assessment expectations. Rubrics also provide a range of performance by establishing categories that span the range of possible outcomes, from basic to exceptional performance on task’ (Palloff & Pratt, 2009, p.33).

If we are using an LMS/VLE, there are additional opportunities to micro-evaluate. This type of evaluation can occur through polls, reflections on your analysis of online transcripts, and student activity logs and reports. Notably, we can plan for such forms of evaluation during the course design process and embed them in the learning architecture.

Possibilities in Post COVID Education:

Hamish Coates, a professor at Tsinghua University’s Institute of Education, told Times Higher Education that “the first priority is for institutions to care for the people involved – students, faculty, staff and the communities we serve. This is a human situation.” Post this comes access to digital learning and the rest.

nline learning is the big winner from this – across all education levels; so proving quality now is at centre stage. However, going ahead, in the post COVID times, blended learning will be the way to go. The biggest future benefits of virtual instruction will come after our professors and students return to their physical classrooms. The necessity of teaching and learning with asynchronous (Canvas, Blackboard, D2L) and synchronous (Zoom) platforms will yield significant benefits when these methods are layered into face-to-face instruction. We will come back from COVID-19 with a much more widely shared understanding that digital tools are complements, not substitutes, for the intimacy and immediacy of face-to-face learning. Since professors are now moving content online, precious classroom time will be more productively utilized for discussion, debate and guided practice.

Online education will also be a strategic priority in every institute of higher education going ahead. Education managers will understand that online education is not only a potential source for new revenues, but also the core to every school’s plan for institutional resilience and academic continuity. This post-pandemic understanding will change how HEIs plan for, manage and fund online education. Previously decentralized and distributed online course development and student support functions will be centralized, subject to institutional planning and cross-campus governance. Management of online learning will be integrated into existing academic leadership structures and processes. This is the other major impact going ahead.

This blog was first published by The SomoyNews. Click here to read original article.

Masculinization of Lockdown-Colonial by Culture, Indianite in Reality- History speaks

1.Masculinization of Lockdown-Colonial by Culture

The terminology `masculinization of Medicine `or its Professionalization by the European males was a reality in the 19^th century Europe .The European society believed that the Scientific discovery and new laboratory techniques leading to treatment and experimentation of medicinal products were dominantly managed by male medicinal . Women’s` entry to Medical education was discouraged and looked down upon by pushing them to the profession of the healer, Midwife or Nurses. Thus the women were excluded from medical training or certification in 19^th century Europe. Biological arguments often used to justify women’s exclusion from the profession was explained by Dr E. H. Clark in his book ‘Sex in Education’ (Clark 1873) .To him, ‘higher education in women produces monstrous brains and puny bodies, abnormally active cerebration and abnormally weak digestion, ……’

The Medical Registration Act 1858, did not explicitly exclude women from the profession but the Royal Colleges, Universities and Medical institutions did so by either prohibiting women from studying medicine or by staying away from allowing the academic examinations to practice medicine.(Laura Jefferson, et.el. 2015).Thus while educated women from the well to do families were deprived of their right to education ,the scenario to the other part of the universe (India) was made dreadful, gloomy and damaging for the uneducated women coming from the lower stratum of the society .The contemporary legal provisions adopted then was the Contagious Diseases Act 1864.The Act meant for the punishment of the colonial women for being involved in sex profession .The absence of occupational recognition of prostitution ,the Act authorized indiscriminate punishment for all non-formal women professionals traced out on the outer space .The basic aim of the Law was to stop the spread up of Venereal diseases among the British non stationed Arm and Naval Forces personnel responsible for contaminating their wives beck in England .The Law authorized the Police forces to initiate indiscriminately custodial punishment to all women found in the outer space and to adopt physical checkup to detect the existence of diseases in them . The Medical practitioners of the Government Licensed Hospitals were asked to certify the effected women and to administer lock down for three to six months period .To the author the incidence of lock down may be claimed as the first official step towards medical isolation or quarantine but policies adopted may be phrased as `masculinization of Lockdown` because of the overall exclusion of men from trial under the 1864 Act. .Judith Walkowitz a feminist protagonist`s expression needs appreciation at this juncture .` The contiguous Diseases Act represented the “high water mark” of Governmentally approved double standards between the sexes . The Act was created to punish one gender for something that was a result of intermixing of two people. By targeting to only women sex professionals this double standard between the sexes went unopposed in public eye until late 1860`s while the regulationists were forced to rationalize their sexual discrimination and modify the contagious Diseases Act several times (Judith R,Walkowitz 1980) .

Lock Down : Indianite Reality

The parlance ` the Social Distancing` was an established taboo in Indian culture since the dawn of civilization. Due to the absence of medical support system. dependence on nature, seeking the mercy of God and social distancing were popularly accepted by the community to overcome helplessness against contagious diseases . Thus social distancing may be looked up as an ingrained Indian culture practiced by the community to drive out epidemic from the community living. The !9^th century Indian socio-religious culture records enormous information on the practice of community lockdown as protection from infectious diseases like Small Pox, Chicken Pox. Measles, Cholera, Influenza ect.. Hence social distancing, hygiene, religious rituals ,use of indigenous disinfectant were used to overcome the deadly viral attack . Among the Hindu religious community, women were engaged in offering homage to ( puja) `Sitala Mata ` (Goddess of diseases) to cool her down and to pray her for the protection of the community from heat borne diseases (TOI April 21,2019) along with the practice of lock down of the patients for 21 days .Maintaining (Indigenous mode of cleanliness included spreading caw dung water to the surroundings ,burning coconut scrub with sulfur powder , use of boiled neem leaf water to clean the patient were the exclusory the job of the family women. The success of the lock down or social distancing lately prompted the Government to officially adopt the quarantine leave for 21 days , extended till 30 days with the rule (the quarantine leave is never considered as a leave of absence of the employee ,Rule No 21 A , Leave Rule).Hence ,the overall role of Indian women in the lockdown prompted the author to call the lockdown as masculinization of diseases and the Indian women became the silent source of preserving it as an social taboo.

Social Lock Down –A scientifically recognized practice

Lock Down of Women During Pregnancy .

Customarily, Hindu women in 19^th century India used to express fear and anxieties about their pregnancy mainly due to their inability to communicate with male health care professional in the occurrence of child birth complicacy. In Indian families, pregnant women were considered as the source of welcoming the new guests in the family. Hence confining her at home and keeping her away from diseases ,was taken care of by the other women .To divert her from seeking medical support ,she was kept engaged in rituals like 1. Garbadhana` inaugural ceremony `2. Pansavana` ,a ceremony to pray the deity to govern the sex of the fetus to a male child and to prevent huge financial commitments associated with the birth of the girl child . 3. The `Simmanantannaya` involved wearing new dresses ,offering a good food to the expected mother and ornaments to wear ,to fulfill her last wishes ( the death rate among the pregnant women were very high during the time .) Hence ,the rituals were performed to keep the pregnant lady happy while maintain social distancing and to protect her from season infectious diseases .Due to lack of preventive medicine the protection of the mother during the full span of pregnancy period was spend in social distancing .

Child Birth and Social Distancing : With the child birth the mother and the child were put to lockdown beyond community reach. The conservative social taboo recommended the best site , close to the cow shed to keep away the mother – child from infection ( no established proof found ). This social distancing as a family taboo adopted to help them to grow immunity before the community assimilation.

Concluding Remarks : The practice of lockdown, though indigenous in nature ,in reality a scientifically valid alternative mode of treatment ingrained in Indian community culture. Hence , the steps taken so far to eradicate COVID 19 is adorable. Hence rigorous steps needed for its absolute success.

The author of the article however compelled to refer to the most disdainful experiences of masculanization of lockdown imposed on women community in India .The Indian lady ,known for her relentless services to the family and community are being victimized under COVID 19 lock down by their own men .They as the agent of negative patriarchy, have been indulging domestic violence in the families. Official record speak of the increase in the intensity of multi-dimensional domestic violence during COVID 19 .The PM of India has directed the NCW to address the matter .It was 30 in the beginning of the month of March 2020 rose to 69 in between 23^rd March to April 1. According to the Chief of NCW with almost 57 %of women in India are not having access to phones (Indian Express 28^th April 2020). Press Trust of India reported that, the NCW received a complaint filed by the father on behalf of his daughter whom he alleged was brutally beaten by her husband and being denied food. While another Global right organization also complained that the load of work on women has increased enormously in the houses. They are compelled to do all house hold work over and above cooking and managing the affairs while all family members are laid back home with comfort .Under the patriarchal social structure, the women were not only seen at the forefront to fight back the diseases through their heartfelt prayer to God . They were expected to nurse the virus effected patients but over and above this they have to bear with the frustration of their males for being locked down at home and shoulder domestic torture silently . .

References:

Edward H. Clarke, Sex in eduaction, or, A fair chance for the girls. Boston: J. Osgood and Company, 1873

Gatrad,A.R..M.Ray .A Sheikh. : Hindu Birth Customs BMJ Journals Archives of Diseases in Childhood

Jefferson Laura, Karen Bloor,Alan Maynrd (8th March 2015) Broitish Medical Bulletin Volume 114. Issue I Pp 05-15 .

Social Networking: An Effective Communication Tool

সামাজিক যোগসূত্র (সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং): একটি কার্যকরী যোগযোগের মাধ্যম

সামাজিক যোগসূত্র (সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং) হল এমন একধরনের কার্যকলাপ যা বিশেষত ইন্টারনেটের সহায়তায় বিভিন্ন ধরনের তথ্য ও ব্যক্তিগত বার্তা আদান-প্রদানের মাধ্যমে অন্যদের সাথে ব্যক্তিগত ও ব্যাবসায়িক সম্পর্ক তৈরি করে । বর্তমানে, সামাজিক যোগসূত্র সাইটের ব্যবহার প্রচুর পরিমাণে বৃদ্ধি পেয়েছে । 1994 খ্রিস্টাব্দ থেকে ইন্টারনেটে সামাজিক যোগসূত্রভিত্তিক কার্যকলাপ GeoCities নামক ওয়েবসাইট দিয়ে শুরু হয় যা ব্যবহারকারীগণকে তাদের প্রোফাইল ও বন্ধুর তালিকা তৈরি করতে অনুমতি দেয় । উইকিপিডিয়া অনুযায়ী, সক্রিয় সামাজিক যোগসূত্র সাইটের সংখ্যা প্রায় 250 ছাড়িয়ে গেছে ।

1971 খ্রিস্টাব্দে যখন প্রথমবারের মত ই-মেইল প্রেরণ করা সম্ভব হয়েছিল ঠিক তখন থেকেই সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিংয়ের জন্ম । পরবর্তীকালে, 1978 খ্রিস্টাব্দে, বুলেটিন বোর্ড পরিষেবা বা BBS গঠিত হয় । এই প্রযুক্তিতে ব্যক্তিগত কম্পিউটার থেকে ব্যবহারকারীরা মডেমের সহায়তায় ডায়ালের মাধ্যমে একটি হোস্ট কম্পিউটারের সাথে যুক্ত হয়ে অন্যান্য ব্যবহারকারীদের ফোন লাইনের মাধ্যমে তথ্য বিনিময় করত । বিবিএস হল প্রথম সিস্টেম যা ইন্টারনেটের সহায়তায় ব্যবহারকারীদের একে অপরের সাথে যোগাযোগ প্রদান করেছিল ।
ঠিক তার পরের বছর, প্রথম ওয়েব ব্রাউজার তৈরি হয় যা Usenet-এর মাধ্যমে তথ্য আদান-প্রদান করত । জিম এলিস এবং টম ট্রাসকট (Jim Ellis & Tom Truscott) Usenet তৈরি করেন যার দ্বারা ব্যবহারকারীরা খবর, প্রবন্ধ এবং মজার জিনিস একে অপরের সাথে আদান-প্রদান করতে পারত । বিবিএস এবং ফোরামের মত, Usenet-এ কোনো ‘কেন্দ্রীয় সার্ভার’ ছিল না । Usenet-এর এই ধারণায় বর্তমানে ‘Group’ ভিত্তিক সামাজিক যোগসূত্র সংক্রান্ত সাইটের (যেমন – Yahoo! Groups, Google Groups and Facebook Groups) তাত্ত্বিক ধারণা প্রদান করেছিল ।
1988 খ্রিস্টাব্দে ইনস্ট্যান্ট মেসেজিংয়ের ধারণার জন্ম হয় যা আইআরসি বা ইন্টারনেট রিলে চ্যাট (IRC or Internet Relay Chat) নামে পরিচিত । আইআরসি তখন ইউনিক্স ভিত্তিক ছিল । যার ফলে এই ধরনের সুবিধা শুধুমাত্র কিছু লোকের মধ্যেই সীমাবদ্ধ ছিল ।
1994 খ্রিস্টাব্দে , প্রথম জিওসিটিস (GeoCities) নামে সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইট তৈরি করা হয়েছিল । জিওসিটিস সর্বপ্রথম ব্যবহারকারীদের নিজ্স্ব ওয়েব সাইট তৈরি করার অনুমতি দিয়েছিল । ঠিক তার পরের বছর অর্থাৎ 1995 খ্রিস্টাব্দে com নামে একটি সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটের জন্ম হয় । এটি বিভিন্ন মানুষের মধ্যে যোগাযোগ স্থাপনের মাধ্যমে তাদের নিজস্ব বিষয়বস্তু ও চিন্তাধারা প্রকাশের ক্ষমতা প্রদান করত । পরবর্তীকালে আরো বেশ কিছু সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটের জন্ম হয় । সেইগুলির মধ্যে উল্লেখযোগ্য কিছু হল – Classmates, Friendzy, Hi-5 ইত্যাদি ।
দুই বছর পরে, 1997 খ্রিস্টাব্দে এওএল ইনস্ট্যান্ট মেসেঞ্জার (AOL Instant Messenger) এবং com নামে দুটি সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং পরিষেবা চালু হয় । ইনস্ট্যান্ট মেসেজিং ব্যবহারকারীদের নিজস্ব প্রোফাইল তৈরি করতে ও বন্ধুদের সাথে চ্যাট করার স্বাধীনতা প্রদান করেছিল । এওএল ইনস্ট্যান্ট মেসেঞ্জার (AOL Instant Messenger)কে বর্তমানের সামাজিক নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটগুলির অগ্রদূত হিসাবে পরিগণিত করা হয় । এই সাইটে একজন ব্যবহারকারী তার প্রোফাইলে নিজের সম্পর্কে কিছু লেখার সুযোগ পেত এবং সেই লেখাটিকে সবার সাথে শেয়ার করতে পারত । এই পরিষেবায়, ব্যবহারকারীরা খুব সহজেই অন্যের প্রোফাইল খুঁজে পেতে পারত । এইগুলি সেই সময়ের সবচেয়ে উদ্ভাবনী বৈশিষ্ট্য ছিল ।
1997 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Asian Avenue প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয়, 1999 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Black Planet প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয় এবং 2000 খ্রিস্টাব্দে হিস্পানিক সার্ভারের জন্য com প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয় । প্রথম আধুনিক সামাজিক নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইট হল ফ্রেন্ডস্টার (Friendster) । এটি প্রধানত একটি ডেটিং সাইট ছিল । প্রথম 3 মাসেই, ফ্রেন্ডস্টার 3,000,000 ব্যবহারকারীদের একত্রিত করতে পেরেছিল । ঠিক কিছুদিন পরেই, মাইস্পেসের (MySpace) জন্ম হয় । মাত্র 10 দিনের কোডিং-র পর এই সাইটটিকে চালু করা হয়েছিল । এটি খুবশীঘ্রই ফ্রেন্ডস্টার চেয়ে বেশি জনপ্রিয় হয়ে ওঠে । মাইস্পেস ফ্রেন্ডস্টারের চেয়েও ব্যবহারকারীদের বেশি স্বাধীনতা প্রদান করেছিল যেখানে ব্যবহারকারীদের অডিও ও ভিডিও তথ্য আদান-প্রদানের ব্যবস্থা ছিল ।
সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিংয়ের যুগে আর একটি মাইল ফলক হল LinkedIn । এটি 2003 খ্রিস্টাব্দে প্রতিষ্ঠিত হয়েছিল । এটি সাধারণত পেশাদারী এবং ব্যবসায়িক কাজের জন্য তৈরি করা হয়েছিল । বর্তমানে, LinkedIn-এর সদস্য সংখ্যা প্রায় 30 মিলিয়ন । পরবর্তীকালে, 2004 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Orkut ও Facebook এবং 2005 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Yahoo!360 প্রতিষ্ঠা লাভ করে । 2006 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Twitter-এর জন্ম হয় ।

Web 2.0-এর ব্যবহারের দ্বারা যে সব বিভিন্ন ধরনের ধারণা ও পরিষেবা পাওয়া যায় তার মধ্যে সামাজিক যোগসূত্র বা সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং অন্যতম । বয়েড ও এলিসান (Boyd & Ellison)-দের মতে, সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং হল ওয়েব নির্ভর পরিষেবা যা ব্যক্তিদের নিন্মলিখিত বিষয়গুলির অনুমতি দেয় – ক) একটি আবদ্ধ ব্যবস্থার মধ্যে পাবলিক (Public) বা সেমি-পাবলিক (Semi-Public) প্রোফাইল গঠন , খ) যেসব ব্যবহারকারীগণের সাথে তথ্যের বা মতামতের আদান-প্রদান করা হয় তার একটি তালিকা তৈরি এবং গ) অন্যান্য ব্যক্তিগণ কর্তৃক তৈরি করা যোগাযোগকারী ব্যক্তিদের তালিকা দেখা ও বিচরণ করা ।

2004 খ্রিস্টাব্দে টিম ও’রেইলি ও ডেল দৌগহের্ট (Tim O’Reilly and Dale Doughert) Web 2.0 আবিষ্কার করার পর থেকেই ওয়েব ভিত্তিক কমউনিটি তৈরি ও ওয়েব হোস্ট করা মাধ্যমে তথ্য আদান-প্রদান শুরু হয় । সাধারণভাবে, Web 2.0 বলতে ওয়ার্ল্ড ওয়াইড ওয়েবের একটি নতুন ধারাকে বোঝানো হয়ে থাকে । এই নতুন ধারাটি বেশ কয়েক বছর থেকে প্রসার লাভ করেছে । এই ধারার মূল লক্ষ্য হল ওয়েবের সৃজনশীলতা, পারস্পরিক যোগাযোগ, নিরাপদ তথ্য আদান-প্রদান, সহযোগিতা এবং কার্যক্ষমতাকে বৃদ্ধি করা । এই নতুন ধারা ওয়েবে বেশ কিছু নতুন সাংস্কৃতিক ও কারিগরি সম্প্রদায়ের জন্ম দিয়েছে । এর মধ্যে বিভিন্ন হোস্টিং পরিষেবাও রয়েছে । এই নতুন সম্প্রদায় ও সেবাগুলির মধ্যে আছে সামাজিক নেটওয়ার্কিংভিত্তিক ওয়েবসাইট, ভিডিও ওয়েবসাইট, উইকি, ব্লগ এবং ফোকসোনমি । Web 2.0-এর মাধ্যমে ওয়েবের একটি নতুন সংস্করণের কথা বলা হলেও এটা আসলে নতুন কোন সফ্‌টওয়্যার প্লাটফর্ম বা কারিগরি বিষয়ে নতুন কোন প্রজন্মকে নির্দেশ করে না । অর্থাৎ কারিগরি দিক দিয়ে Web ও Web 2.0-এর মধ্যে কোনই পার্থক্য নেই । পার্থক্য আছে শুধু ব্যবহার এবং উপযোগিতায় । টিম ও’রেইলির মতে, Web 2.0 is the business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as a platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform.

Web 2.0 প্রযুক্তি ইন্টারনেট ব্যবহারকারীদের জন্য একটি নতুন দিগন্ত খুলে দিয়েছে । যেমন – ওয়েব ব্লগস (Web Blogs), সোশ্যাল বুকমার্কিং (Social Bookmarking), উইকিস (Wikis), পডকাস্টস (Podcasts), সোশ্যাল সফ্টওয়্যার (Social Software), ওয়েব অ্যাপ্লিকেশন প্রোগ্রামিং ইন্টারফেস (Web Application Programming Interface) ইত্যাদি প্রযুক্তি ব্যবহারকারীগণকে বিভিন্ন ধরনের তথ্য আদান-প্রদানের সুযোগ-সুবিধা প্রদান করে থাকে ।

2008 খ্রিস্টাব্দে Ofcum কর্তৃক ‘Social Networking: Quantitative and Qualitative Research Report into Attitudes, Behaviours and Use’ নামে একটি রিপোর্ট পেশ করা হয় । এই রিপোর্ট-এ সব ধরনের সামাজিক যোগসূত্র ব্যবহারকারীদের আচরণ ও মনোভাব অনুযায়ী পাঁচটি ভাগে ভাগ করা হয়েছে । সেইগুলি হল –

যে সকল মানুষজন সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটগুলিকে ব্যবহার করেন না তাদেরও সাইটগুলিকে না ব্যবহার করার কারণের উপর ভিত্তি করে তিনটি ভাগে ভাগ করা হয়েছে । সেইগুলি হল –

একটি কার্যকরী যোগযোগের মাধ্যম হিসাবে সামাজিক যোগসূত্র (সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং) সাইটগুলি নিন্মলিখিত কাজগুলি করে থাকে –

বিশ্বব্যাপী সম্পর্ক স্থাপনের মাধ্যমে সারা বিশ্বকে একটি পরিবারে রূপান্তরিত করতে সাহায্য করে ।
Online resource তৈরিতে সাহায্য করে থাকে ।
জ্ঞান অর্জন ও জ্ঞান বিতরণের প্রক্রিয়াকে সচল রাখে ।
ব্যক্তিকে অন্যান্য দেশের ব্যক্তিদের সাথে তার নিজস্ব চিন্তাধারাকে প্রকাশ করার সুযোগ প্রদান করে থাকে ।
একই ধরনের রুচি ও ইচ্ছাযুক্ত মানুষদের খুঁজতে সাহায্য করে থাকে ।
দ্রুত তথ্য আদান-প্রদান করতে সাহায্য করে ।
যে সব ব্যক্তিরা একটু লাজুক প্রকৃতির হয় তাদের নিজস্ব ব্যক্তিসত্তাকে প্রকাশের সুযোগ করে দেয় ।
বিভিন্ন ব্যবসায়ী সংস্থা এই ধরনের সাইটগুলিতে তাদের নিজস্ব পণ্যগুলির বিজ্ঞাপন দিয়ে থাকেন যার দ্বারা ওই সাইটগুলি ব্যবহারকারী ব্যক্তিরা ওই পণ্যগুলি সম্পর্কে জানতে পারেন ।
এই ধরনের সোসাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটগুলির পেশা অনুসন্ধানের একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ প্লাটফর্ম হিসাবে কাজ করে থাকে ।
এই সাইটগুলিতে খুব সহজেই কোন একটি বিষয়ভিত্তিক event তৈরি করে সেই সম্পর্কে বিভিন্ন মানুষের মতামত পাওয়া যায়, যার দ্বারা ওই বিষয় সম্পর্কে একটি সম্যক ধারণার
জন্ম হয় ।

সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটগুলিতে বিভিন্ন ধরনের সুযোগ-সুবিধা থাকার ফলে যোগাযোগকারী ব্যক্তিদের একটি ডোমেইন তৈরি হয়ে যায় এবং ওই ডোমেইনের অন্তর্গত ব্যবহারকারীদের প্রোফাইল দেখা ও মতামত আদান-প্রদান করা সম্ভবপর হয় । সোশ্যাল নেটওয়ার্কিং সাইটগুলির সবচেয়ে গুরুত্বপূর্ণ সুবিধা হল এই সাইটগুলি অপরিচিত ব্যক্তিদের সাক্ষাৎ করার অনুমতি প্রদান করে থাকে এবং একইসাথে একজনের নিজস্ব ধ্যান-ধারণা, চিন্তা-ভাবনা ও ইচ্ছা প্রকাশের স্বাধীনতা দেয় । এই ধরনের সাইটগুলি মানুষের জীবনের কিছু আদর্শকে অনুমান করে তৈরি করা হয় যেখানে মানুষ একে অপরের সাথে কিভাবে পরিচিত হতে পারে তার উপর ভিত্তি করে যোগসূত্র কাঠামো গড়ে ওঠে ।

Robotics and Automation Plays an Important role in combating COVID19

Advanced technology play an important role in helping humans in containing the spread of virus and handling the existing cases during global fight against COVID-19.Robotics is one of the advanced technology which became very popular across the world. Large number of hospitals, nursing homes are presently uses various types of Robots to guide doctors, healthcare staffs as well a as patients.

Robots to substitute Human Workers?

Robots have the capabilities to be used for disinfection, delivering foods and medications, measuring important signs. For preventing disease, robot-controlled UV surface disinfection is being used as COVID-19 spreads not only from human body to human body via close contact but also via contaminated surface.Artificial Intelligence based Robots may be utilised to support quarantined peoples. World Health Organization has recommend safe distancing for people around the globe to prevent community level transmission of COVID-19.So robots are being used not only in the hospitals, they are used for supplying essentials in high risk areas.

How Countries are dependable on Robots

The Robots, supplied by China can disinfect, provide medicine to patients and also measure their body temperature.

In India, A Autonomous Robot, invented by Asimov Robotics ,Kerala that can be used to help critical patients in isolation ward with full support.

A humanoid robot can also be applied for delivering food and medicines to COVID-19 patients admitted in the hospital. Sawai Man Singh Government Hospital in Rajasthan has taken initiative to experiment this type of Robots to care for doctors and nursing staffs against coronavirus .

Victoria Hospital in Bengaluru has used robots to serve medicines and foods to COVID19 patients to lower the risk of Doctors, nursing staffs and housekeeping peoples.

This is also one example of good use of technology during this corona virus pandemic.

“Robots can play an important part during present situation as they can reduce the human interference at all level, starting from patient analysis to medicine delivery system and full patient care.”Lovi Raj Gupta, executive dean of Science and Technology in Punjab’s Lovely Professional University, explained.Robots can be utilised for maintaining hygiene and collecting garbage at hospitals.

Robots can provide very important task by taking body temperature of people in public places and giving social support to Corona suspected peoples as per the editorial published in journal Science Robotics. The researcher of Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok found that large, small and swarm robots that can constantly work and clean in big area could be utilised. Aerial Vehicle Drone which is a part of Robotics become very useful for safe transport of medicines and medical sample delivery.

Petrol Robots became popular in China in public places, airports which continuously informs people to wear masks, and sanitize hands. Guangzhou Gosuncn Robot Company has developed a more Advanced Robot with AI, which is having infrared thermometer, sensors and high resolution based cameras that can sense and scan temperature of group of peoples at a time within a radius of 4-5 meters which is programed inside device. If peoples are not maintaining the rules then an information being sent by robots to the medical authorities, and a real time acknowledgement will be initiated by the authorities against those peoples.

Advanced Technology is the way of the Future

These are the few applications where advanced robotics technology along with vision have taken responsibility to challenge non-human labour demand during this pandemic situation. The advanced technology like robotics became more popular in helthcare, pharmaceutical field and to provide automation in manufacturing unit to avoid the crowd inside a area during COVID19 period. As we don’t know when this pandemic will end, but for maintaining the production of industry atleast these complicated automation techniques can be utilised. This COVID19 situation is special opportunity for development of Robotics Technology. Now hospitals, industries, academics also upgrade their existing facilities with advanced technology like Robots, Artificial Intelligence, automations and digital technologies for better and safe operation.

Optical Fibre: To cater the sudden increase in demand of internet bandwidth at the time of Covid-19

“Internet”, The quintessential commodities of modern life, has seen exponential increase of its usage over the last few years due to the digital revolution happening around us. Every business from banking, e-commerce, manufacturing, retail, healthcare is rapidly adopting digital technologies like AI, Cloud, Analytics in order to stay relevant in this hyper competitive market. It is even difficult for most of us to lead a normal life without the help of internet. COVID-19, the pandemic, confined mankind within the boundary of their home, millions of people compelled to work from home and stuck to their computers than ever before. Buzzing of images, videos in social media making socialization in digital canvas. Vodafone already declared in a recent article that data traffic increase by 50% in some markets. Online services are being obstructed, broadband downloading speed becoming low and FWA has limitation.

So, are we ready to tackle this crucial situation?

Internet over Optical Fibre: The solution

Optical Fibreinternet is faster than average broadband speeds, cost-effective, safe, high speed download capabilityand it is more reliable than copper and far more stable than Wireless, mobile connectivity . If your broadband download speed is 50Mbps, (extremely generous – average internet speeds only just topped 18.7Mbps in 2017), downloading a game, 100 songs, a full HD quality movie or 100 photos is up to 20 times faster with a Gigabit Fibre connection. A household minimum broadband speed guide, provided by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) as browsing, email, and social media, need 1Mbps, video calls 6Mbps, streaming HD video 5-8 Mbps etc. This is awfullyvaluable in the time of remote work, due to Coronavirus.

When optical fibre technology started?

Euclid, also called Euclid of Alexandria, was a Greek mathematician who was born between the year of 320 and 324 BC. In his Optica, he noted that light travels in straight lines and described the law of reflection. In 1854, John Tyndall demonstrated to the Royal Society that light could be conducted through a curved stream of water which providing evidence that a light signal could be bent. The American scientist David Smith applied for a patent on a bent glass rod device to be used as a surgical lamp, in 1898. In 1961, Elias Snitzer of American Optical Corporation published a theoretical description of single mode fiber. That idea was for a medical instrument looking inside the human which is the threshold of the optical fiber. sensing, but the fiber had a light loss of 1000 dB/km and even more. A further theoretical specification was identified by the Nobel Prize winner Dr. C. K. Kao for long-range communication devices and he concluded that the fundamental limitation for glass light attenuation is below 20 dB/km in 1964. Communications devices needed to operate over much longer distances and required a low light loss of no more than 10 or 20 dB/km. This conclusion opened the intense contest to find low-loss materials and suitable fibers for reaching such criteria.

Breaking hindrance

In 1969, Kao illustrated the need for a purer form of glass to help reduce light loss and Kao with M.W. Jones measured the intrinsic loss of bulk-fused silica at 4 dB/km. After this, Robert Maurer, Donald Keck and Peter Schultzinvestigated fused silica of extreme purity, a high melting point and a low refractive index. In 1970, Corning Glass researchers solved the problems presented by Dr. Kao by inventing Optical Fiber which is efficient of carrying 65,000 times more information than copper wire. Since then the technology has been improving day by day and the current state of art fabricated fibers have losses even less than 0.2 dB/km at communication wavelength 1.55µm.

Commercial availability of optical fiber internet, which change the game

In 1975, the U.S. government had used Fibre optic cables to link two computers, reducing interference.Chicago became home to the first Fibre optic telephone communication systems, which were concealed underneath the city. At that time, the optical Fibre carried what is equivalent to 672 voice channels. In 1988, the first transatlantic Fibre-optic cable, TAT-8, transmitted data across the ocean floor from New Jersey to England and France. It was efficient of handling 40,000 simultaneous voice calls.Today more than 90 percent of the world’s long-distance traffic is conceded over optical fiber cables.

Who offers Fibre optic internet?

Over 200 internet service providers offer Fibre optic internet like Verizon, AT&T, Tata Communication, Comcast and Google Fibre etc. In India, Reliance Jio, Vodafone, Airtel, Sify Technologies etc. are helping the huge working force to work from home in this coronavirus time as front-line warrior to run India.

Major reasons why optical Fibre internet is future of world? A lesson from COVID-19 time

Most versatile technology creating backbone of 5G, WIFI, satellite so far.
Dreaming to live in smarthome and security?It will be possible by Internet of Things. Robotic surgery, professional telecommunication, distance learning, telemedicine etc. are going to be our part of life. These all technologies are possible when 5G accelerated by optical fibre internet.
Transportation and power generation are two biggest impacts on global warming. High speed Fibre internet connectivity ensure remote work to reduce both.
Don’t be surprise! Data indicates that high speed or broadband internet will improve the economic climate.
Could you remember the incident of 2019, Kingdom of Tonga faced crucial moment for few days due to cut off under marine optical Fibre? So, don’t remain in myth that internet connectivity is wireless. Hundreds of undersea optical Fibrecables controlling international data traffic.Yes, Wait for future high-speed connectivity.

6.COVID-19 outbreak changes the current scenario unpredictable than ever before. The remote working may become a preferable custom if the global workforce working remotely,report remarkably higher productivity during lockdown time. Consequently, the pandemic lesson will prepare us for the high bandwidth demands of tomorrow.

Government of any country should plan for tomorrow by investing on optical Fibre internet project. R & D sector needs to think more. Private sector should focus more on this technology and application related to it. Economy of any country lagging behind, they should make strategy promptly on optical Fibre internet. We are approaching not virtual connection, it would be physical, lively, united and progressive for human being.

FACEBOOK- THE TALENT PODIUM DURING LOCK DOWN

The covid-19 made people home bound. Government has declared lockdown from March 24^th 2020 and it may be over from May 3^rd 2020 hopefully or can be extended if the situation won’t come under control. When the phase of ‘stays home stay safe’ was promoted and appealed to the people by the government, everyone was wandering how they can survive!

It is as simple as when it is best way to understand is ‘jo dar gaya, samjho bach gaya’ (a person who panics, stays alive). Here panic signifies with stay alert and should take effective measures not to go out and assimilate. The Heroism does not stand with the famous dialogue by the character Gabbar Singh in the illustrious Hindi potboiler ‘Sholay’ to disinject courage in all fields of competition to these days.
But, sorry Gabbar, you are wrong in today’s framework.

We can say ‘together we win’. No, not ‘together’ anymore. These days it is ‘alone I win’ or you will have desecrated social distancing, the only effective measure against the spread of the virus so far.

But again in the presence of Facebook why should one think about ‘alone’ or lonely????
Lockdown means ‘a situation in which people are being restricted not to roam in a social gathering nor they can roam freely in public because of the emergency pandemic situation on being affected. This situation has a seemingly inconsequential decision that can have a huge impact on someone’s life.

Then the proverb seems to be true ‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’……

The above proverb is very much relatable in this present lockdown period. One can ask how?

Facebook proved to be the best platform to showcase your talent. In a recent study says that the usage of the all age group (18 to 60) has been increased to 85% than in January 2020. Facebook has been proved as the biggest network society where all human beings round the world connected through smart phone.

Personal Communication- It is like nano content or consumption of the messages. One need not have to contribute, create or share; rather they can only consume the ongoing trends of Facebook by giving many reactions to it. This is safest though!

Interpersonal Communication- One can chat or send messages to friend(s). It’s a two way process includes sharing, creating and contributing the liked things on Facebook.

Group Communication- Facebook gives the user to have separate groups of alike behaviours or same interest of people. It includes numerous categories to food, comic, horror, satire, memes and so on……

Mass Mediated Communication- Facebook has turned into global village where any person can contact with another with similar interest or have any particular perspectives.

Facebook as a new age of communication

The Talent is getting Explored ………

Recent lockdown in India is witnessing the various talents of individuals which are getting showcased through the platform of Facebook and it is eventually proved to be the stress buster and method of satisfaction. The following are the glimpse of these explored of talents.

Culinary Art
Music
Dance
Art
Photography
Memes
Jokes
Kitchen Gardening
Love for Pet
Elderly care
Time and amusement with kids
Self care
Craft
Reading habits
Consuming Movies
Gym at home
Exercise
Yoga
Planting
Etc, etc, and the list goes on………..

New Mode of Storytelling

Before Lockdown phase, people are likely hesitant to post their creations (yes the above mentioned activity is a tremendous way of the story telling method). But in amidst of these home bound state where you have to stay back and nothing to do…. generally the ideas, unique way of doing something and that to make people aware of it through effective narration is nothing but the newer mode of storytelling perhaps.

Lastly……

Here again we take up the proverb of ‘‘Necessity is the Mother of Invention’- why it is relevant in the context of Talent showcasing through Facebook? It is because when the necessity of the contemporary times to be at home, one needs to find out the way out to be happy and healthy (both physically and mentally).
The first phase of the lockdown sees people suffering and battling with their own self articulating how can one be at home not going out? Not assimilating with my distant friends or so. But eventually the virtual assimilation paves the way for not feeling isolated rather it’s a good time for showing others or showcase the talent of yours.

So let everyone showcase their talents more through Facebook and everyone should stays home…. stay safe is the mantra and remember ‘jo dar gaya, samjho bach gaya’ (a person who panics, stays alive).