Published since 07.2002
Published on April 04, 2008
CONNECTED: KAPAN UNIVERSITY EQUIPPED, WAITING FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
- Sargis Manukyan, 37, candidate of technical sciences, is one of those unique lecturers who crosses the Yerevan-Kapan highway to deliver a lecture at the Kapan branch of the State Engineering University of Armenia. The branch has serious needs for qualified lecturers; the issue has remained unresolved over the years. Manukyan says coming once a term for a week, during all the days of that week he tries to give his students as much as they’d have to learn during the whole term. “I understand that they get tired listening to a lecture on the same subject for the third class of the day in a row. But that way it makes 15 lectures a week, which is the same as taking that subject once a week during the term.” It’s not the best method, Manukyan thinks, but is a way out. Despite the fact that, according to its charter, this institution of higher education can have both Master’s and post-graduate courses, the low number of qualified lecturers does not provide such opportunity, and 8-10 percent of graduates take a Master’s course in Yerevan. During the 10 years of its existence only 8 out 636 graduates of the Kapan branch have upgraded to a post-graduate level. At the early stage of its foundation the branch had to invite lecturers more often. “But later I realized that the branch wasn’t growing that way. And, besides, in terms of that distance, coming here is quite difficult; so we asked for personnel to be trained for us,” says the Director of the branch Seyran Balasanyan. “Of course there are fields for which we still invite professors, but there are seven local professors with PhDs working here, besides the invited ones come for a short term – under the circumstances of being 320 km away from Yerevan it’s impossible to be constantly traveling, and nobody wants to move here, even more- we fail to keep our own personnel from leaving. ” The director says that only 20 percent of post-graduates return to Kapan, and that even the highly-educated prefer higher paying jobs in the nearby mines, where a salary of nearly $1,000 eclipses whatever academics (HOW MUCH ARE PROFESSORS PAID) offers.(the lecturer in Kapan gets 70,000 dram ($225), professors gets $500) Soon, though, the university will face the challenge of offering master’s and post-graduate courses. In order to do that 51 percent of the tutorial staff must have PhDs in which case the state will give accreditation. Now only 18.5 percent has scientific degrees and titles. Balasanyan has found a way out. He has been to the United States, studied similar issues related to education process, the same problem exists there too. Qualified specialists, especially in the technical field, don’t want to reside in small towns. For example, the University of California has one central university and 27 branches, and there are many institutions like that. “They don’t have as qualified tutorial staff working in the branches as we require here. But they found a solution: they have a well-developed distance learning system, and even in those areas where they do have qualified staff, students prefer distance learning, for this they use two channels (special TV and internet),” he says. In such a region as Kapan Balasanyan sees the possibility to replenish the university’s teaching staff with qualified specialists in using high technology. Making distance learning a reality here is not such a remote and unrealistic idea. Balasanyan explains that apart from the usual Internet, there is also inter-republic network (intranet) the traffic of which almost does not affect the tuition fee. It’s a special cheap network not requiring high-speed connection and enabling the connection between Yerevan University and its Kapan branch. “The speed is enough to ensure interactive communication, meaning that a lecturer can see the auditorium in Kapan and the students will see him in real time. This way we can arrange lectures, laboratory activities.” The students are currently carrying out virtual laboratory activities at Tennessee State University’s free online laboratory. “By introduction of distance learning we are planning to use other such laboratories at those universities or institutes which provide it free of charge, and if we can afford also at paid ones.” Balasanyan says that Yerevan is not ready yet to implement distance learning, whereas Kapan has been working in that direction for a long time, connecting to SDN (system digital network) since June. They have facilities: adjusted interactive whiteboards, up-to-date projectors, web-cameras. They are waiting for the Yerevan university to connect to the networks, and that’s all they need. The branch (with 410 students and offering five majors) has received offers from lecturers who are ready to conduct such lessons from Yerevan. It is not excluded that from here too qualified specialists would deliver lectures for students in Yerevan. “Sometimes we think that Kapan universities and institutes are condemned, that we have no future. But with such rapid development of high technology our future becomes more distinct. We can even provide better quality through distance learning, because we won’t be relying only on Yerevan; we’ll try to make use of other universities’ experience, lectures etc,” Balasanyan says.
- Armine Avagyan
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Armine AvagyanSargis Manukyan, 37, candidate of technical sciences, is one of those unique lecturers who crosses the Yerevan-Kapan highway to deliver a lecture at the Kapan branch of the State Engineering University ...MOTHER NATURE WRECKS NKR: SEVERE STORM AFTERMATH IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
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Today in Armenian history- 1820 Birth of Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimyan "Hairik" in Van (Western Armenia). He died in 1907.
- 1915 Death of Arshak Vramian, a representative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party.
- 1920 Genocide of the Armenians in Sooshee (Gharabagh).
- 1922 Death of Leopold Favri, benefactor and Swiss-Armenian armenologist. He supported orphanages in the Armenian provinces.
- 1945 Death of Vahan Tekeyan, writer, speaker, and public figure. He was born in 1878.
- 1957 Death of actor Ashot Shaghatoonee. He was born in 1882.
- 1995 Garegin I elected Catholicos of the Armenian Church. He became the 131st Spiritual Leader of Armenian Holy Apostolic Church.
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