Revisiting gurukul pedagogue - a forgotten pathway to make virtual learning viable and wholesome

Education from time immemorial, continue to be the most integral aspect of any civilization. Over the years, it has adapted itself to the changing needs of time and to keep abreast with evolutionary changes and steering towards becoming a meaningful process and promoting lifelong learning. An education system that originated in the eastern world and continues to be a source of inspiration is the ancient Gurukul education system of India. During the modern times, one aspect which halted every walk of human life in every corner of the world, but at the same time, opened up new perspective and orientation of life, which otherwise would never have been explored is Novel Covid – 19 pandemic. Pedagogue and teaching-learning process too received intellectual churning during pandemic which resulted in surfacing of a cream of innovative and technology-based teaching - learning practices. Online or virtual mode of teaching which emerged as a boon during the lockdown, took over the baton to continue the rally of education to the next level. The process of transitioning from a traditional teaching method to the innovative online method requires the academic institution in general and the faculty in particular to meticulously plan activities, tasks, and evaluation methods. This also requires the formulation of a supportive policy by the government with scope for alterations with the changing tides. Despite the challenges faced, online platforms facilitated the continuity of learning process during lockdown and salvaged the education system from the loss of an academic year. Choice Based Credit System (CBCS) found a new boat to sail in the form of digital learning mode. The cloud platform made the atlas shrink and helped the students to avail the lectures of experts from any part of the world, which was even unthinkable with traditional learning. Time, space and economy are the other benefits of online education. The present study endeavors to explore the pros and cons of online mode of learning and also to identify the challenges of hybrid mode or assimilating the virtual mode into the physical mode of learning. This paper also endeavors to trace the relevance of reassertion of Gurukul Pedagogue through virtual channels. Ancient Indian indigenous education, through gurukuls facilitated activity-based learning, focused on applied knowledge, enriched with values and ethics, and aimed at holistic development of the student. The present paper attempts to ponder the feasibility of reviving gurukul pedagogue and to identify the possibilities of blending it with modern education through the virtual platforms.