AMU Prof deliver keynote address, receive ‘best paper award’

Aligarh : Prof Naushad Ali PM, Department of Library and Information Science, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) discussed the need for developing Open Education Resources (OER) in higher educational institutions at the International Conference of Open Education Resources at Manonmaniam Sundaranar (MS) University, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu where he also got the ‘best paper award’ for research on ‘An Assessment of Academic Stress and its Coping Mechanisms among Library and Information Science Students during COVID-19 Pandemic in India’.

He received the award from MS University, Vice Chancellor, Prof N Chandrasekar for the paper he authored with Dr Sharaf Zehra and Priya Vaidya.

In the keynote address at the joint conference of MS University and Indian Council of Social science Research (ICSSR); Prof Naushad highlighted national and international initiatives for endorsing OER.

He said: “OERs are teaching, learning, and research materials that are either in the public domain or have been published under a license that allows for their unrestricted use, no-cost access and redistribution by others”.

“The hassle-free access of OERs is eliminating the digital divide and its importance reached new heights since the pandemic outbreak”, Prof Naushad pointed out.

He called for allowing the use of OERs in all higher educational institutes and emphasised that such a step will help in building an informed and inclusive knowledge society.

“The wide implementation of OERs will also help to achieve the United Nations 2030 agenda of Sustainable Development Goals for quality education, reduced inequalities and useful partnerships”, said Prof Naushad.