Written by Tanisha Cardozo || Team Allycaral
St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa organized a six-day Faculty Development Programme on “Open Educational Resources and Artificial Intelligence in Teaching and Research” from October 18–24, 2025. The programme was inaugurated by Prof. (Dr.) Gervasio S. F. L. Mendes, Additional Director, Directorate of Higher Education, Government of Goa, with Fr. Marianno Dias, Assistant to the Secretary, Diocesan Society of Education, as Guest of Honour. Also present were Dr. Osborne Terrence Dsouza, CEO and Co-Founder of Juana Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Officiating Principal Ms. Ursula Barreto, and Administrator Rev. Fr. Antonio Salema.
Prof. Mendes, in his keynote address, praised the college for conducting a timely programme, highlighting how artificial intelligence and open educational resources are reshaping higher education. The first two days of the FDP were led by Dr. Osborne D’Souza, who introduced participants to prompt engineering and demonstrated platforms including ChatGPT, Gamma.app, and Elicit.com for academic presentations and research. He also recommended Microsoft’s AI for Educators programme and emphasized the need for educators to upskill to adapt to emerging technologies.
On the third day, Dr. Gaurang Patkar, Professor and Head of Computer Engineering at Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda, conducted sessions on AI-powered leadership, neural networks, and tools such as Socrative, Plicker, and Canva AI. He encouraged faculty to use AI as a co-pilot to enhance creativity and demonstrated Python-based exercises in machine learning and deep learning.
Day four featured actor and voice artist Mr. Ashwin Mushran, who delivered an engaging session titled “Million Dollar Presence,” emphasizing effective communication, warmth, and capability in creating a strong educator presence.
The final two days were facilitated by Prof. Santhosh Kumar G of Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala, and Prof. S. Senthilnathan, Director (In-charge), UGC-MMTTC, Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu. Prof. Santhosh focused on student-centered learning, demonstrating tools like Vids, QuestionWell, Notebook LM, and AI Studio, along with hands-on activities for lesson planning and quizzes. Prof. Senthilnathan introduced faculty to OER platforms including LOC, NDLI, SWAYAM, MIT OCW, MOOCs, Virtual Labs, Khan Academy, podcasts, and blogs.
The valedictory session was graced by Joshua D’Souza, Deputy Speaker and alumnus, who praised the FDP as a game-changer for educators. The programme received positive feedback from both internal and external participants, reflecting the college’s commitment to equipping faculty with modern pedagogical tools to enhance teaching, learning, and research.
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