Objectives

The main objectives of the one-day workshop on "Content Development and Content Assessment Workshop in the course of Database Management System" were:

• To familiarize the participants with e-learning technologies and methodologies adopted in the Content Development & Content Assessment under Kerala Education Grid Project
• To make teachers aware of content quality from the learning perspective through the Content Quality Metric [CQM] or other approaches
• To assess the usability of the content compiled and edited by the Course Expert Group - Database Management System.
• Encourage and build the capacity of teachers to create web-enabled course content for their classes themeselves with the help of KEG team
• To collect feedback on the quality and usability of the e-courseware developed so far and suggestions to enrich the same

Participants

Teachers from all the Engineering colleges of Kerala were invited for the workshop. A total of fifty six faculty in the different engineering colleges of Kerala participated in the Workshop. The list of participants is given below:

e-Courseware development on Database Management System

The Education Grid Resource Centre at IIITM-K is hosting the Course Expert Group [CEG] for developing the e-courseware on Database Management System. The following Course Experts are assigned to prepare, compile, assess open content and edit the course material in the subject:

Mr. Abdul Nizar of College of Engineering Trivandrum is the convener for the CEG-DBMS. The CEG-DBMS prepared the first version of the e-ourseware for use by the college teachers. Database Management System course is presented as a sequence of the following Learning Modules:

• Introduction
• Data Modeling
• Data Models
• Relational Model
• Database Design
• Query Languages
• File Organization,Indexing and Hashing
• Transaction Processing
• Concurrency Control
• Database Backup and Recovery
• Query Processing and Optimization
• Advanced Database Application
• Distributed Databases
• Object Oriented Database Design
• Implementing Security in Databases
• Case Study on Popular Database Packages

The courseware in the form of several learning modules is mounted in the Course Management System of the Kerala Education Grid portal.

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Information Brochure

Brochure

Workshop Schedule

The workshop was divided into two sessions. The sessions were highly interactive and the speakers were able to generate ample interest among the participants. Prof. Krithi Ramamritham, IIT Bombay took a session on 'Spirit and objectives in teaching DBMS'. Dr. S. Neethi of TCS Corporate Training Centre, Technopark Trivandrum took a session on 'Expectations of the industry from the graduates of colleges'. Yet another session on 'Practical Exercises in DBMS' was taken by Mr. R. Jaykrishnan of IBS, Technopark, Trivandrum. There were presentation sessions from other CEG members and the participants took part enthusiastically. The last session was the Panel Discussion moderated by Dr. S. Neethi Mrs Meera Siddharthan of TCS.

• Program Schedule

Panel Discussions

Panel Discussion -- a report

General Feedback Session

A general feedback session was conducted. This session was to collect some information regarding the Database Management System course being conducted in different universities. See the Questionaire for the feedback. The response was good and the participants had many queries relating to the digital libraries, course management systems, development and management of content and effective use of the e-learning platform and collaborative tools. See the FEEDBACK.

Acknowledgment

Special thanks go to all the members of CEG-DBMS for their expert support and guidelines. We also wish to thank all the participants who made the sessions very interactive, informative and interesting. The following members helped by sharing their perceptions, ideas, experiences and insights with us in making it a great success.

Summary of participants view

• The concept of Kerala Education Grid was well received and appreciated by all the participants
  
• They were eager to exploit the benefits of e-leaning methodologies and new concepts especially like Digital Library, Course Management Systems and Streaming media
  
• Participants requested for more workshops to be conducted in future with focus on one or two key concepts and ideas. Need for ample practical exercises was highlighted.
  
• Some effective methodologies have to be evolved to train teachers in using e-learning facilities, collaborative tools and digital library utilities.
  
• Orient the teachers to make their classroom sessions in the colleges more interactive. This will encourage the students to participate and come forward with their doubts and express their understandings.
  
• There was consensus regarding the importance of practical exercises related to the course. The teachers need support from the industry experts and experienced faculty in this regard to bridge the gulf between the industry requirement and current university education.
• To encourage the learner, each module must be explained with the help of real world scenario.
• More workshops are expected in future on the topics: 'steganography', 'mobile communication', 'data structures and algorithms' and 'analysis and complexity' etc.
• During such workshops, include sessions wherein participants can clear his/her doubts from the experts
• Workshops should be organised for students as well to encourage and expose them towards the current requirements of the industries. Also organise seminars on 'how to teach and implement principles of Database Design'
• Continuing education of teachers wherein advanced technology is exposed in a systematic manner
• Lab classes should be included along with the theoretical lectures
• Advanced topics should also be included in the course
• Guide the students to undertake and execute live projects
• More discussions on 'expectations of industry from graduates of colleges' should be organised

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