Lakshmi Prakash completed her Masters Degree in Computer Applications from Madras University, and worked in India for some time at Amrita Institute of Technology & Science (AITEC) currently under Amritha Vishwapeedam University, Kerala, India. After a few years in India, she moved to Oman in 2001 and joined Sohar University as Course Coordinator. Since then, she developed her research interest in personalized e-learning systems tools and architecture. Lakshmi is currently publishing research papers in these areas in collaboration with Prof. N.S. Kutti (Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman) and Dr. A.S.M. Sajeev (Professor of Computer Science, UNE, Adelaide, Australia).
Being an avid fan of e-Learning, Lakshmi has always believed that the availability of good quality learning resources plays a very important role in improving students’ performance. Tracking and reporting on students’ performance are two of the issues that almost all educational institutions face today. She feels that learning management systems and content portals like SkillSoft’s Books24x7 are the answer to this problem. At Sohar University, e-Learning was introduced very gradually. As the Course Coordinator and e-Learning Researcher, Lakshmi was able to introduce many of the University staff and students to a learning management system, through several workshops. It was not easy in the beginning. Unfreezing people’s mindsets, moving them to a new paradigm and freezing them again can be a challenging task indeed. The learning curve was quite high for people who were quite new to such a system. However, the students embraced the initiative and the software with open arms. e-Learning has brought Sohar University and its staff closer to students and the students closer to the learning process. They appreciate the availability of resources within the learning management system and can easily develop a learning path which helps them meet deadlines, get access to their learning topics and also communicate with their course coordinators and among themselves.
The senior management at Sohar University and the Faculty of Computing & IT was quite open to new forms of learning. Lakshmi kept in touch with Xpert Learning and after assessing their learning needs, Xpert Learning presented them with SkillSoft’s Books24x7, which suited their requirements and was subsequently acquired. Students and faculty members were grappling with the need to acquire more knowledge and needed more resources. Similar to the learning management system adoption, it was not easy to encourage the students and staff to use Books24x7; most of whom often cited time as a constraint. However, within a short period of time, Books24x7 experienced a growing number of users. This, anytime, anywhere, library with such a large and ever-growing collection of very useful book excerpts, covering almost every topic in IT, Engineering and Business is more than what we expected at the University. Now students are free not only to refer books that are mentioned in their course profiles, but also read books on the latest technologies and new research areas. Students browse the site from their mobile phones and a growing number of students are using Books24x7 more for knowledge rather than just to pass the course. The Search, Personal Folders, History, Recommended, Mobile Access, Top Titles and other features provide the much required personalization tools that endear Books24x7 to serious learners at Sohar University.
Contact Lakshmi Prakash at lakshmi@soharuni.edu.om
