“This is a space that is a reservoir of knowledge for students and for those too who are serving imprisonment in prisons. This is an attempt to create rainbows in our lives.”
Professor (Dr.) Vartika Nanda
Started in 2006, VN ki Paathshaala (www.vartikananda.blogspot.com) is a distinguished digital space created by Professor (Dr.) Vartika Nanda primarily for students pursuing journalism and media professionals. The core objective of the blog is to serve as a comprehensive, sustained online learning platform, enabling students from diverse backgrounds to delve deeply into media studies and develop their academic and professional writing skills. This initiative proved particularly crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it became a vital support system for students.
The blog is divided into two parts:
1. Media-centric and the other is
2. Prison-centric
Objectives of the Blog:
The blog aims to educate, inform, and create a space for students, media enthusiasts, and media-literate individuals. The following are the objectives of the blog:
- Impart media education and make readers media literate.
- Spread ideas about ethical journalism.
- Create an information bank related to media and journalism.
- Build a space for readers to create, share and discuss concerns related to journalism, media, and social change.
- Space to share stories and podcasts of Kissa Khaki Ka and Tinka Tinka, to create awareness on prison reforms.
Characteristics of the Blog:
- Gateway to Information: The blog acts as a crucial link to trusted and credible media knowledge in an era where media literacy is vital.
- Effective Learning Platform: Its user-friendly structure, well-organized documentation, and categorization make education clear, creative, and easily accessible.
- Curiosity Generation: It successfully generates curiosity for complex or unfamiliar media themes.
- Syllabus Reinforcement: The blog covers research notes, academic readings, syllabus references, significantly benefiting students to understand concepts and reducing the gap between home and classroom.
- Pandemic Support System: It served as a vital bridge between students and teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic, replacing the exhaustion of the period with a desire to learn more.
- Sustained Engagement (Post-Pandemic): The platform maintains daily updates, including weekly information, articles by budding writers, and new research notes, ensuring a continuous learning environment.
Academic Learning, Media Education and Publishing
The blog is carefully organized with multiple segments that directly support academic learning and departmental activities. It includes class notes on various syllabus relevant topics, weekly reports of lectures for students, a Media Research Cell established in 2020 with three LSR students for scholarly inquiry, innovative pedagogy for teaching methods and a Media Glossary for basic media terminology.
- Academic and Research Support: The platform is extensively utilized by media students, professors, and researchers as a rich resource for teaching purposes, as well as for developing dissertations, research papers, journals and articles.
- Media Education: This section of the blog focuses on crucial readings for BA (Hons) Journalism students under the Delhi University LOCF syllabus.
- Providing notes on core papers such as Introduction to Journalism, Advanced Broadcast Media, and Media Laws and Ethics.
- Featuring a section of suggested readings (including books like Mass Media in a Changing World and The Journalist’s Handbook) covering diverse topics from media ethics to online journalism.
- Weekly Reports: The blog archives weekly reports detailing the activities of every student batch, providing regular records of the department's day-to-day progress and academic engagement.
- Workshops: It serves as a central reference point for the department's practical learning by featuring insightful reports and summaries on various workshops and speaker sessions, including those conducted during the annual academic meet, Juxtapose.
- Newsletters: All departmental publications are housed under the blog’s banner, providing a consolidated archive of newsletters that showcase the practical, student-led journalistic work taking place within the classes (e.g., magazine and newspaper-making group activities).
- Students Creativity: The student work showcased on the display boards of LSR serves as a dynamic, visible, and creative outlet for the new batch at LSR to express their ideas and collaborate. This celebrates the creativity of each new batch.
- Student Publications: A key feature is its function as a publishing platform, allowing students to post their write-ups and publish their work, giving them early exposure and a professional portfolio.
- Departmental Activities in LSR: The blog also serves as a public record for the regular activities held by and for the Journalism students, connecting the academic world with the wider media community.
NAAC Visit 2022 and Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms
Initiatives of Tinka Tinka Foundation (TTF)
Prison Reforms movements were officially featured during the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) Peer Team visit to Lady Shri Ram College in 2022. This was a formal acknowledgement of the work's academic and social impact.
The inclusion of the Tinka Tinka work during the NAAC visit underscores the integration of social responsibility and action-oriented research within the college's academic profile. This exhibit during the NAAC visit served as a concrete example of the college's good practice in blending academic journalism with impactful social responsibility and community outreach.
Key highlights of the showcase included:
- Focus on Jail Radio: The showcase primarily highlighted the Tinka Jail Radio initiative, which was conceived and executed by Dr. Nanda in various Indian jails (such as those in districts of Haryana, Agra, and Dehradun). The exhibit celebrated the philanthropic reforms and achievements of the Tinka Tinka Foundation.
- Academic Recognition: The inclusion of this work in the college’s NAAC assessment process was significant, marking the first time the Tinka Tinka movement agreed to be part of a university-level academic platform.
- Student Exhibit: Students from the Journalism Department at LSR organized an exhibit on the Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms at the Aung San Suu Kyi Centre for Peace on campus.
Innovative Teaching Pedagogy
Dr. Vartika Nanda hasn't just built a teaching platform; she's created a vibrant digital ecosystem for the Journalism Department at LSR. The core of her approach lies in the edu-blog, which is more than a syllabus guide - it's a single, organized repository of knowledge that brings immense relief to students who no longer have to frantically search for trusted material. Crucially, this is a two-way street of learning. Through the student contribution section, she empowers young minds to take ownership, turning passive readers into active contributors who build team spirit and presentation confidence. By seamlessly weaving in documentation of departmental life and her groundbreaking Tinka Tinka prison reform work, she ensures that journalism isn't just theory on a page, but a tool for social change, offering students a truly holistic, deeply engaging education with a conscience.
Assignments and Innovation
Dr. Vartika Nanda's blog transforms traditional academic assignments into an innovative, continuous, and dynamic learning process. Rather than relying solely on private submission, the blog features a crucial 'Student Contribution' section that acts as a public-facing platform for assignments. Students are encouraged to share their research, scholarly articles, and class material, which not only enhances their presentation skills and communication but also instantly turns their coursework into published content and a resource for their peers. This innovative pedagogical move leverages the digital space to encourage accountability, foster a powerful team spirit and sense of ownership, and ensures that class assignments contribute directly to the department's larger, living digital archive of knowledge.
Exploring the Power of Edublogs in Higher Education: A Dissertation
Jaisila Bajaj, from the Batch of 2023 (Department of Journalism, LSR), wrote a dissertation titled “The Efficacy of Edublogs as Alternative Learning Tools in Higher Education.” Her research explored how educational blogs can enhance engagement and serve as effective supplements to traditional teaching methods. Carried out in the context of higher education institutions, the study examined the growing relevance of digital learning spaces and academic communities. Through interviews, case studies and an analysis of popular teacher blogs, Jaisila investigated the effectiveness of edublogs, the challenges faced by bloggers and strategies to increase readership. Her work highlighted how edublogs foster collaboration, creativity, and continuous learning, emphasizing their transformative potential in reshaping the modern educational experience.
- Life Lessons and Advice: The series includes videos like "First Day in College” where Dr. Nanda shares reflections on pivotal moments in a student's life and the transformative journey that begins upon entering college.
- Book Reviews and Literary Analysis: The channel features literary commentary and book reviews, such as the video discussing the book "Mera Japan”, linking academic discourse to contemporary literature.
- Travelogues and Global Conversations: Videos document journeys and interesting encounters, such as the "Visit to Bhimbetka" and a conversation with an "Indian student in Spain," embedding educational content within a travelogue format.
- Prison Reform (Tinka Tinka): The channel also archives content related to Dr. Nanda's extensive work in prison reform, including TEDx talks on the Tinka Tinka Prison Reforms movement, aligning the educational platform with her social activism.
- Tinka Jail Radio: This is the practical cornerstone of the initiative, establishing functional in-house radio stations (like those in Haryana, Agra, and Dehradun). Inmates are trained as Radio Jockeys (RJs) to broadcast internal programs, allowing them to express themselves, share stories, and aid the rehabilitation process.
- Tinka Prison Radio Podcasts: These are the only podcasts in India dedicated entirely to prison reform. Scripted and narrated by Dr. Nanda, they feature original voices and stories directly from the prisons, giving the outside world an intimate and ethical window into the realities of incarceration and transformation.
- Books on Jails: The academic and journalistic foundation is built upon a series of critically acclaimed books that serve as detailed accounts and literary masterpieces on life behind bars. Notable titles include:
Tinka Tinka Dasna
Tinka Tinka Madhya Pradesh
Radio in Prison
- Tinka Awards: To recognize and encourage latent talent and positive change within prisons, Dr. Nanda instituted two exclusive annual national awards:
- Complete Knowledge in One Place: Students find notes, articles, and compiled links on and beyond the academic syllabus, providing thorough information about all topics. This makes studying extremely efficient as everything they need is instantly available, eliminating the need to search widely for material.
- Encouraging Active Contribution: The 'Student Contribution' feature actively involves students, allowing them to share research and scholarly material in groups or individually. This process has successfully boosted team spirit, presentation skills, and communication among students.
- Motivation and Awareness: The blog features insightful reports on departmental activities, including events like the annual academic meet 'Juxtapose' and practical class work (newsletter and magazine-making). These reports motivate and create enthusiasm for participation, ensuring students are always aware of major happenings even if they couldn't attend in real time.
- Podcast: 25 July 2024, First Day of College at LSR:First Day in College। कॉलेज में पहला दिन। VN Ki Paathshala। Vartika Nanda
- Dr. Vartika Nanda’s Blog: Dr. Vartika Nanda: Media Educator & Prison Reformer
- About VN Ki Pathshaala: VN Ki Pathshaala
- Dr. Vartika Nanda’s Website: Vartika Nanda
- Delhi Police Podcast Episodes: Kissa Khaki Ka: Kissa Khaki Ka - किस्सा खाकी का
- Delhi Police Website: Kissa Khaki Ka Podcast Series
- Students’ feedback: https://vartikananda.blogspot.com/search/label/Feedback
- Dissertation by Jaisila Bajaj | LSR | 2023 | The Efficacy of Edublogs as Alternative Learning Tools in Higher Education
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