| |9 July 2019HIGHERReviewAs of now, the ease of entry and exit into most of the colleges in India is not creating enough barriers for them to learn. Without any barrier or quality check on both ends, the college education is being rendered ineffective. The government can play a role in overcoming this challenge. Let us assume that at the exit stage we place a government-controlled quality test. This test will regulate the efficacy of college education in any field. Throughout the world, numerous verticals already employ this technique, such as programs for architects, lawyers, doctors, and so on.Another challenge is the capability to unlearn and relearn. Once you graduate from a university program and start a job, it is frankly impossible to keep going back for re-skilling. In the fast-paced world of today, one constantly needs to re-skill themselves, no matter in what field they are working. It's a continuous process to remain relevant in your professional life.The questions we all now face are: How can we learn in such a situation? How can you learn while you work? How to make it as effective as possible? How can you learn anytime and anywhere?The answer to all these questions defines future learn-ing models. We need to look at learning from a unique perspective. In the new `effective' learning models that we are envisioning, there are some key characteristics. These are:· Learning cannot be one way. It must be Bi-directional in nature.· Learning cannot be in isolation. It must be Social.· Learning cannot be based on the traditional assess-ments. It should be experiential, based on Projects and Simulations.The last characteristic is especially interesting, as the efficacy of traditional Assessments processes has always been in doubts. Assessments based on Multiple Choice Questionnaires are not a reliable validation of required skills. They can only be assessed using the `Learning by Doing' approach. Assessments such as Projects, competi-tions, and Simulations help you realize if the learning pro-cess has been effective in re-skilling you.We, today, stand at an inflection point. Every genera-tion has had their own set of challenges to overcome. Be it independence, war, or globalization--we have overcome and adapted to every kind of change. The defining chal-lenge of our time is learning, unlearning, and re-skilling. As educators, it's our job to bridge the gap between col-lege graduates and industry ready individuals and do this effectively and nimbly. Vikas GuptaVikas Gupta is a recognized and award-winning thought leader in the publishing and knowledge industry. In a career spanning over 20 years, Vikas has been a forerunner in leading many innovative products and business models in the space of technology-driven learning solutions, research and faculty development, professional certifications and skill development.
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