Coursera, Anurag and IndiGlobal collaborate for the conference
Higher Education must adapt to a new digital world in wake of challenges posed by Automation and Covid-19, stressed, Mr Pushkar Kelkar, Regional Director, Coursera at the one-day Industry-Ready Skills Symposium organised in Anurag University Auditorium on Friday (June 3). The pandemic accelerated the pace of technological adoption worldwide with “Coursera for Campus” getting connected with 6000 institutes globally and 10 crore students with 1.5 crore from India alone, he said.
Higher education institutions should focus on a skills-first approach to design their curricula catering to industry and market needs, he said. Multi-disciplinary skills empower students to pursue multiple-career paths, Mr. Kelkar said, emphasizing that Online learning helps students pursuing higher education with immense opportunities
Anurag University Managing Trustee Mrs Neelima gave an insight of Anurag’s journey and growth since 2001 to be considered as one of the top educational institutions in the State. At present 8000 students are on rolls of our varsity and we achieved a record 2100 job placements with some students getting three to four job offers each, she added. Mrs Neelima felt blended learning is the way forward with offline and online mode of teaching complimenting each other to benefit the students.
Anurag Palla, Trustee, who was instrumental in hosting this symposium in collaboration with IndiGlobal Media Network desired participants comprising second year engineering students to keenly listen to industry experts to get an idea about market readiness and skills required and work in that regard.
Ms Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE Hub, Government of Telangana, urged the students to learn, adapt and execute while being agile developing much needed skills that will stand them in good stead in career after stepping out of college.
Reema Gupta, Director, Blended Learning, Gitam University, spoke about seven hacks for learning in the digital world. She wanted the students to look beyond one course. At Gitam, half of the students have taken four or more online courses and logged one million learning hours, she pointed out.
Dr S Ramachandram, Anurag University Vice-chancellor said varsities used to be knowledge centres earlier but now they are acting as skill and innovation centres as well.
Prof G Vishnu Murthy, Dean, School of Engineering highlighted how Anurag has always been a step ahead when it comes to education and teaching in conventional and digital methods.
Earlier Sandeep Sharma, MD at Real Page and Joint Secretary HYSEA, touched upon the Triangle concept and exhorted students to have Clarity, Capability and Motivation in what they do. Clarity on what you want to do and capability to achieve it and self motivation to pursue it is the key for success, he told the students. He advised students to work on improving communication skills which is very essential for  job recruitments.
Sudheer Goutham, Founder, CEO and Editor-in-Chief, IndiGlobal, in his introductory address opined Industry-Ready Skills Symposium was the need of the hour and complimented Coursera, Anurag for their collaboration in organizing the program.
Launching of Anurag University App
The occasion also saw the launch of Anurag University mobile App by Deepthi Ravula. The brain behind the App Anurag Palla urged the students to download the application that has multiple features. He wanted them to start using the app regularly and share their feedback to improve it further.