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| Today 'Living Conversations' stands as the only life skills course globally,that has received Blackboard Catalyst Award in the 'Teaching & Learning' category. |
Blackboard Catalyst Award Winner, 2022
It was a 'dream-come-true-moment' when I received the news that 'Living Conversations' has won this year's Blackboard Catalyst Award for being a highly innovative lifeskills course with adaption of new delivery, pedagogical models, and tools for positively influencing the educational experience of learners.
I truly know how much this international recognition means to me, and to all the efforts I made to make 'Living Conversations' really a remarkable life skills course.
Needless to say, 'Living Conversations' did bring positive changes in the UPES student community in terms of their communication, confidence, and attitude.
What makes this award more than an award is because of the following factors,
(i) Today 'Living Conversations' stands as the only life skills course globally, that has received Blackboard Catalyst Award in the 'Teaching & Learning' category.
(ii) 'Living Conversations' competed against 27 best universities globally including Johns Hopkins University, Texas Tech University, University of Illinois Chicago, King Faisal University (Saudi Arabia), Seneca College (Canada), Torrens University (Australia) to name a few. Full list is here.
(iii) And most importantly, this brings School for Life's 2nd Blackboard Award (Asia Pacific) in a row, and School of Liberal Studies' 1st Blackboard Award (Worldwide).
It was a 'dream-come-true-moment' when I received the news that 'Living Conversations' has won this year's Blackboard Catalyst Award for being a highly innovative #lifeskills course with adaption of new delivery, pedagogical models, and tools for positively influencing the educational experience of learners.
2 years ago, as a course leader, I shouldered the responsibility of designing and developing a life skills course that could help students learn 21st century skills (like communication, collaboration, and confidence) and help them become the best versions of themselves.
Please remember, this journey had started during the covid times when it was quite challenging to deliver life skills sessions physically due to the lockdown. Everything was to be offered in online mode.
'Living Conversations' was supposed to be extremely engaging, interactive, and a youth-friendly course and it took me a considerable amount of time experimenting with, and fine-tuning the course content, course delivery plan, and course evaluation strategy.
Today when I look back, I believe it was all worth it. On record, more than 90% of student community experienced a paradigm shift in their KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude). Almost all of them recommended this distinguishing life skills course to other learners.
Several student success stories (national as well as international) based on their exceptional project-work (as performed under 'Living Conversations' course requirement) are the testimonials to the fact that 'Living Conversations' favorably impacted student experience and engagement.
Best part is that the legacy of 'Living Conversations' continued even after the lockdown was over, and when classes started in f2f mode. Eventually, my experiences as a course leader and the brilliant success of 'Living Conversations' have taught me 3 most important academic lessons,
(1) One should plan and design a high quality, pedagogically sound, student-centered curriculum, based on the achievement of learning outcomes.
(2) One should keep following up with the other course instructors to make sure that teaching is consistent and of high quality.
(3) And above all, one should maintain an oversight of students' growth with measurable results, to foster academic excellence.
Thank you Sharmila Katre for being an amazing guide, mentor, and 'teacher' and helping me build 'Living Conversations'.
Thank you Manisha Mohan for your trust and positive leadership that proved to be a game changer.
Thanks a million Ritam Dutta, Pooja Khanna, Bitopi Dutta, Dr. Annapurna Parige Nippani, Rekha Verma, Dr Sakshi Chanana for being extraordinary course instructors and offering your best. You definitely made a difference!
P.S. This year's Blackboard catalyst team award has given me a thousand times more 'sense of accomplishment' than my last year's blackboard 'solo' award.
