A virtual TEDx event held on 24 May focused on the theme,  RESILIENCE – Celebrating Covid Heroes and Other Change Makers. Speakers included Prof. P J Narayanan; Sri Kalvakuntla Taraka Rama Rao, Cabinet Minister for IT E&C, MA&UD and Industries & Commerce Departments; World Health Organization (WHO) chief scientist Dr. Soumya Swaminathan; women’s rights activist Dr. Ranjana Kumari; chief economic adviser to the Govt of India Dr. Krishnamurthy Subramanian; actor, producer and tech entrepreneur Purab Kohli; cardiothoracic surgeon and pilot Dr. Venkatramana Vijay; interaction designer Sindhoora Yalla and British Deputy High Commissioner Hyderabad, Andrew Fleming.

Prof. P J Narayanan spoke on Learning or Assessment – What’s More Important? He  summarised IIIT Hyderabad’s considerations as it went online and now as it looks at the world that is rapidly changing and the opportunity it presents to take a fresh look at how pedagogy can and will change. Prof. Narayanan said, “The current education system primarily works guided by exams, evaluations and assessments, and not by kindling the spark of curiosity in the learner’s mind. As COVID-19 has put brakes on the traditional teaching methods in schools and colleges, the silver lining is that it has handed educationists the right opportunity to rethink the way we approach learning at institutions, questioning the fundamentals and fighting our own demons. We prepare students for the last job in their careers because preparing them for the first job is too easy. What lasts till the last job is the ability to learn, and a positive attitude towards the society and their role in it.” 

His talk was extremely well received by the audience and was in fact the most appreciated talk that day! Listen to it at  https://youtu.be/priTbUiZGFI