The International Webinar on Higher Education in New Normal held

COVID-19 has forced us to think and re-think about the scope of higher education in new normal. Although, we are constantly introducing technological innovation in teaching-learning and have updated the modules of pedagogy, however, few questions need to be addressed further, such as: the access to higher education, digital divide & challenges, and some other issues related to reaching the other stakeholders in higher education and achieving the ultimate objective. Consequently, it has become necessary for the higher education institutes to conduct discussion/webinar where representatives from different stakeholders can analyze the present situation, share the best practices, and draw guidelines for the future befitting their socio-economic demography.

To celebrate events like – UNAI-10, IAU-70, and UN-75, the American International University – Bangladesh (AIUB) and the Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) has jointly organized a 2-day International Webinar on ‘Higher Education in New Normal’ on the zoom platform. This international webinar addressed issues and challenges related to higher education during COVID-19 under the sub themes - ‘Evolution of Internationalization and Collaboration in HEIs’ and ‘Digital Transformation of Higher Education – Innovation and its Challenges’. Two panel discussions were held on the sub themes on two days on January 14 and 15, 2021. The webinar was supported by the International Association of Universities (IAU) and the United Nations Academic Impact.

On Thursday, January 14, 2021, the opening session of the webinar was held where Prof. Dr. Inga Zaleniene, Rector, MRU, Dr. Carmen Z Lamagna, Vice Chancellor, AIUB, Dr. Pam Fredman, President, IAU and Mr. Ramu Damodaran, Chief, UN Academic Impact (UNAI) delivered their welcome address.

About 200 participants around the globe joined this 2-day webinar where the following speakers spoke on behalf of their institutions and addressed the theme of the webinar:

1. Ms. Audra Dargyte Burokiene, Head of International Office, MRU spoke on ‘Adopting changes during/post COVID-19 to continue internationalization and cooperation between HEIs’
2. Dr. Hilligje van’t Land, Secretary General, IAU spoke on ‘IAU insights on the post-Covid new normal future challenges and opportunities’
3. Mr. Manzur H Khan, Director, Office of Student Affairs, AIUB spoke on ‘Acceptability of Online Learning during COVID-19 and preparing for higher studies in foreign universities’
4. Ms. Jurga Strimaitienė, Head of Communication and Marketing Centre, MRU spoke on ‘Higher education marketing in new normal: Impact, Challenges and Opportunities’
5. Ms. Kishwar M Chowdhury, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, AIUB spoke on ‘Transformation in industry and community exposure due to pandemic’.
6. Prof. Dr. Regina Valutytė, Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs, MRU spoke on ‘Academic ethics and transparency of evaluation during pandemic’
7. Dr. ABM Rahmatullah, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, & Associate Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences spoke on ‘Possibilities for Blended/ Hybrid teaching-learning post COVID-19’
8. Mr. Omar Hernandez, Public Information Officer, United Nations Academic Impact spoke on ‘Impact of the pandemic on HEIs: A multilateral perspective’
9. Ms. Milda Pakulyte, Manager, Digital Learning Unit, Academic Affairs, MRU spoke on ‘Overcoming challenges to connect digitally and gap in teaching/learning for online classes’
10. Mr. Manirul Islam, Director, Institute of Continuing Education and IT Operation, AIUB spoke on ‘Challenges to Digital Higher Education in Bangladesh’

A highlight of the webinar was presentation by the students of MRU and AIUB, where:

1. Ms. Laura Stefanovič, Student of MRU Law School spoke on ‘the Impact on mental health in the new normal’
2. Mr. Raaisa Tariq (BBA) and Mr. Asaf-Ud-Doulah (EEE), students of AIUB presented on ‘the Impact of Pandemic: Co-curricular and Personal Development in the New Normal’