 My colleagues from Institute of Distance and Open Learning University of Mumbai, I am not basically from the background, which you can say is technical one where I can completely relate to the idea of moodle. But I have been part of this learning environment in the sense that some of my trainers are sitting out here who taught me how to understand the platform. I am talking from the perspective of that when as a teacher, we try to use this platform specifically in the public universities. I'm not talking about institutions like IITs out here or IAMs out here or Tata Institute of Social Science out here. I'm talking about public universities. I'm not even talking about private universities. Say for example, there was a presentation, opening presentation by D.Y. Patil. I'm talking about public universities from the teachers aspect and also from the aspect of how exactly the moodle has picked up and how much it is being used. So that is the focus of the presentation. Already, I think right from the beginning session, the discussion is on that when you talk about open resource learning management systems, there are multiple advantages associated with the same. Say for example, when you refer to any online learning management system, it's freely available. Moodle is one of them. It is easily accessible. Once you have the connectivity, you can just go for it. You can customize it. It is scalable. You can have possibly lakhs of users at one point of time when you're running programs on the same. You can build in interactive courses. It can become a platform of blended learning. It can be a platform for offering online courses per se. You can do so many assessment formats which you can run on these kind of platforms and the cost advantage because this is completely for free. And all these advantages are available as far as Moodle is concerned. When you talk about versions, they are regularly updating it. They are customizing it. They are helping in customization. They are continuously answering to the query. Say for example, the presentation which was done previously, the idea she spoke about, that how she had put in a query and within us she got a response. So all these things are available when you talk about Moodle as a platform. It is helping universities in building up courses which assist in blended learning, registering users, online assessment, tracking the progress of the students. Everything is there. And worldwide, there are examples where universities have used it. Say for example, when you refer to Brazil, multiple universities and possibly again, lakhs of users, Germany same as the case or Italy same as the case. So Saudi government itself has been promoting it. South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States. So there are lakhs and lakhs of users when you're talking about Moodle as a platform. But when you talk about India and when you talk about public universities, because I am a teacher from a public university, we need to understand that what exactly is the scenario. So what I did was I selected the top 10 public universities in India and the basis of this selection criteria is NIRF ranking. That can be controversial. People can say why this, why that, but there has to be one. So I selected national ranking framework, which is used by Ministry of Human Resource Development itself and top 10 public universities from there were drawn out. So they happen to be JNU, then it is BHU, which is Banaras Hindu University, Jadavpur University, Anna University, University of Hyderabad, University of Delhi, Pune University, Savitri Bhai Phulay, Pune University, Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Malia Aslami University and University of Kolkata, because University of Mumbai does not come into that top 10. But because I come from that university, I've also put in there. But rankings are not the issue out here. The issue out here is that how much are the public universities in India in spite of whatever Moodle can offer on its platform are actively using it. So further, in order to understand the usage, I navigated through all these universities and I went beyond that also. It's not that I just limited my study to these universities. What I realized are there are certain universities which are extremely active and there are certain universities which are completely passive. They are doing nothing except for holding once in a year or maybe once in two, three years of workshop. Beyond that, they are doing nothing. There is only a lip service as far as Moodle is concerned. So the active universities first, that is let's start with the good part of it first. When you talk about active universities, say for example, Anna University, which is in the list of top 10 universities. It is using both UG as well as PG courses, but most of these courses which they are offering through the Moodle is the technical courses. So BE, ME, MCA. They're being actively being offered in the sense that not completely, it's part of it. Assisted learning kind of environment. It's not even blended possibly. It is assisted kind of learning environment which is being offered. But at least a university which is a public university is making an attempt to do that. When you talk about University of Delhi extremely active and specifically when you refer to courses, various disciplines. It is not just limited to the technical courses. It is also incorporating commerce and management, humanities and multiple platforms. When you talk about virtual learning environment, they are using multiple platforms through which they can extend these courses. And again, I'll not say that this is completely being offered on the platform of Moodle, but it is kind of an attempt which is being made in the sense a little bit of it is blended, a little bit of it is assisted learning, but extremely active. Like when you see the way they have progressed, the way they are using the platform, it's extremely appreciable. The third university which I'll say is active, but then I've written limited activity is Savitri by Fuli again among the top ten universities. Very few courses are being offered, physics, chemistry, one, I think four or five courses in a skill development, electronics, four or five courses beyond that, not much. And it's not even regularly being updated. It means it's not very current in the sense that if I wish to connect and if I wish to say, okay, can I keep on learning on this platform? That is not what is happening. Jamia Miliya Aslamiya, again very limited activity, science and mathematical courses. These are the focus of this specific university. University of Mumbai where I come from again, there is a limited activity. I'm not saying that there is no activity at all. There's limited activity in the sense that I am a faculty from management department. And somehow the use of model is limited to Institute of Distance and Open Learning. It has not spread across varied departments. Say for example, I was quite impressed with what D.Y. Partil is doing. D.Y. Partil is trying to make an attempt that various schools, various departments are getting connected and are being, I'll not say pressurized because that is the word he also did not use, but are being encouraged to use model as a allied platform in order to offer learning, which can go beyond classroom. Possibly students can again revisit some of the lectures, students can access PPT, et cetera. So as far as University of Mumbai is concerned, the institution which I come from, the use is limited and use is limited to Institute of Distance and Open Learning. But that I believe is again a disservice to the model as a platform because it is not just meant for Institute of Distance and Open Learning kind of environment. You can use it in so many multiple ways. IDIA is an example. Okay, so it can be used in multiple ways. But unfortunately, that is the status right now. When you refer to other universities, I'll say they are just doing lip service. JNU, which is the top most public university in the list, NIRF in the list. They have no model platform at all. Except for holding a workshop way back in 2013-14, they have not gone beyond anything as far as that platform is concerned. Same is applicable to Banaras Hindu University. Some attempt has been made by their IIT school. But then there also the use is extremely limited. Jadavpur University, almost absent. University of Hyderabad, nothing is available. Aligarh Muslim University, nothing is available. And Calcutta University, nothing is available. So this is the status of when you talk about top 10 public universities in India. What can be the reasons? See, I have not conducted a survey to find out the reasons. But being a teacher of a public university, what I can say, the reasons are definitely some of this. Limited awareness. I come from, as I said, Department of Management University of Mumbai. It was kind of my own learning desire that I tried to understand Moodle as a platform. And I felt, yes, it can be incorporated. But the kind of push which is generally needed because you need to break barriers. You need to understand that it can be used on a large scale. Somehow those barriers are not going away. Those barriers are existing. Maybe faculty still is not able to understand that how widely you can use it and how scalable it is. So that definitely is a problem. Again, when you look at IITs, when you look at use of Moodle, somehow a perception has been built up that this platform is most suitable for those who understand technology and come from science and mathematical backgrounds. Okay, but again, that is not the case. This is using it wonderfully. IDIA, the presentation just before me, has depicted that how wonderfully you can use it. But somehow this perception is existing. And another thing which I believe now is becoming an unfortunate part is that the focus from Moodle, the way it was there, say for example, three years ago, four years ago, five years back, that how you can scale it, how it can be beneficial for assisted classroom learning or say for example, even for offering online courses, that's going away in the sense that now, when you look at India per se, more focus is on other platforms which are not typically one where you can create a lot of blended learning. Okay, so these platforms are say for example, NPTEL, okay, or say for example, Schwem. I'm not saying that they are not good enough. But then the kind of customization options which are available, the way you can do blended learning, the way possibly you can provide assisted learning options, the way possibly you can reach till the last mile and build up possibly online tests, say for example, to build up capabilities among those who otherwise cannot have access to proper education. Those are possibly are not the formats which are available as far as these are concerned. Yes, I want to do a course. I can do that through ABC, but I can't get all those advantages which are available on Moodle. So possibly when you look at public universities and when I come from a public universities, I'll say a lot more needs to be done. There are certain universities, public universities where leaders have been very active. SNDT University for example, during the tenure of the previous vice chancellor, the way beautifully this university built up Moodle as a platform. And now with that we see not being there. The way now this is getting eroded is something which I believe public universities need to look at. Advantages have to be focused upon so that what this aspect LMS Moodle is meant for actually is used appropriately as far as Indian public universities are concerned. Thank you. As you stated in the problems that national program by IIT is a problem, but I got introduced to Moodle through that program. So as part of FDP programs that are connected by IITs, I was introduced to Moodle and after that I was, I implemented Moodle in our college. So how can we define that it's a problem? See I'm not saying it's a problem per se. What is happening that focus, see for any kind of LMS to pick up, there needs to be a focus on the same. Once that focus shifts, then it's very difficult to build up in terms of scale. So when you look at government of India focus at the moment, it's not so much on using this kind of platform for building up scale in public education as much as it on the courses which can be offered through NPTEL or say for example, swim. I'm not discrediting them, not at all. I'm saying it's about the focus at the moment. Ma'am just a very short question. Yes. Are you saying that these public universities don't use any LMS or are you saying that they don't use Moodle specifically only? No, I'm not saying that public universities are not using any LMS. Okay, but see one, when you talk about LMS and public university, the cost advantage is definitely an aspect which is looked into because funding aspect is definitely an issue. So Moodle is one which is very A, the cost aspect is negligible. You can scale it, you can customize it, fine. So it's not that the public universities are not exploring, but this was one or this is one which is most widely used across the board. So when you look at top ten public universities and usage, I've already presented you. What is the status here? I'm Abhijit, I'm from Pune, College of Engineering Pune. I think it's a very nice gathering of academicians here who are concerned that the usage of Moodle somehow should grow everywhere. But I think it is futile to go into all these comparisons with NPTEL or Swayam or any other platform because I think competition is going to be there. In a sense, sometimes I think perhaps for one of my courses I should use EDX and it will serve my purpose better, but that doesn't stop me from loving Moodle for whatever it has to offer me and for ten years we have been using it continuously. I think again it is futile to even compare what the top-notch universities are doing as far as Moodle adoption is concerned because either the change comes from top or from bottom. Either it has to be the Divai Party management starting it from the top and telling everyone that now everyone should adopt Moodle or it has to be some faculty member taking initiative that I want this thing in our place and people start using it. I would say that NPTEL or Swayam kind of platform we should look at them more as enablers of education and which is again a motto of Moodle and not as competitors per se. Thank you. Okay, I'd also like to add on to what you just now said. I also don't want to put it as competitor. Neither did I have an intention of the same, but what is important is that we need to look beyond them. Say for example, when I was looking at JNU, as I said, no, it's rank one public university. What they have done when they talk about their online learning resources, they have listed these, EDAX, etc., they have listed it for this, this, for this, this, for this, this. But you need to go beyond them. Yes, you can integrate them because Moodle provides you that flexibility. You can integrate so many things into it. So that flexibility has to be used if you really wish to build up scalable learning management systems. So unfortunately somehow in some of the cases that is not being done. The question is, I'm here at the back. My name is Sadakat Mula, I'm from TISS. What the previous person told, I think at the end it comes down to the competition itself because for example now at this, Moodle is being used across projects and across the university. We are also using EDAX at some of the projects and we have our own platforms being developed as well. So at the end, I think we do need to come to a point where we select some of the best working models for the platform, for the learning systems because there is a, there's so much which is being developed in technology and technology is being dubbed as a game changer or a revolutionizing education, etc., etc. So what do you propose? How do educators and educational institutions should select or choose educational platforms? What are the criteria's one should look for? Or do you have such criteria's there out in the research arenas? First of all, I think it's a very interesting discussion which you have raised and you yourself have kind of answered it by saying that we need to look at multiple options, right? See what I found as a learner while I was studying the platform of Moodle is that it provides you that blend in case you want to blend multiple formats to it, it's possible and it also creates interactive dialogue kind of platform. So, and it is not closed in the sense that on this platform you can't use other platforms. You can build in links, you can build in videos, you can do so many things. So what's more important is choosing those learning management systems or maybe even platforms which give you that flexibility to navigate. That's very important. Myself Satish, again from TIS. So I'm talking particularly about the problem that when we are using any platform. So I'm not talking particularly about usage of any platform but do we think like I would like to get reviews from others as well on this? Do we think problem also lies in the development of the content itself? Doesn't matter like which platform we are using but the content itself like developing the content meaning whatever simulations, GIFs or along with the text itself, so is there any lag in that itself which is making losing out on the platform usage? Okay, in case you're opening up the question to others it will be great but yeah. Can I add to, yeah I'm here. Yeah, so I think the problem is that we are only looking at why public universities are not using LMS but we are not asking the fundamental question that as a society and as a government how much has the new world really absorbed into our institutions? Are our institutions looking at digitization and education per se? Use of an LMS comes much, much later and use of content comes much later. Are we questioning the education system and seeing now in the new digital world the entire game has changed and therefore I think we need to move to this, this, this. So without looking at the entire philosophical picture of whether country is going digitally or whether world is going digitally the public universities are going to be like this for the next 10 years because they are just not absorbing what is happening outside. Private universities we saw the example, right? So I think we are not, as a country we are not moving because some of the fundamental questions we are not able to answer and culturally we have certain issues with moving towards technology. The distinction between who does technology and content is a big problem in this country and we are not addressing that. Most of the model sites of top colleges including, including tests I'm sorry to say and St. Xavier's College are underutilized and not being used. Somebody sets up the model, nobody uses it after that. Why? Okay, because as a culture there is not an absorption of this digitization into us as teachers, as educators, as government people as people who make policy. We think education is X and digitization is Y. So we don't integrate it. Okay, so I think we need much more discussion on the fundamental aspects. Why DU has absorbed it and why Anna University has not or whatever is secondary as a country and the students are learning somewhere else. So I mean we really need to look at the education system entirely. From my experience what I'll say is from my experience again working for a public university as I've already said during the presentation there are silos. It appears to be as if model is meant for distance and open learning education. The benefits of using model as a blended classroom teaching platform is still not understood. As an assisted allied platform is still not understood. Can you use it in regular teaching? Is it still not understood? So there is very low awareness regarding the same and people still strongly feel it as a very technical platform. Students also do not have awareness in the sense that yes they are very much connected. Once you give them that platform they will very quickly pick it up but unfortunately that's not building up. Thank you.