by Chandima Gangodawila
“Towards the reliability of the online learning based on Sanskrit materials.” 30th Anniversary International Research Conference of Open University of Sri Lanka, Open University of Sri Lanka, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka August 20, 2010. [In English]
Towards the Reliability of the online Learning based on Sanskrit Materials
01 Introduction
The main... more
Towards the Reliability of the online Learning based on Sanskrit Materials
01 Introduction
The main purpose of this research paper is to explore the reliability of the online learning based on the existing Sanskrit materials. At first, I should say that this doesn’t anyway mean to undermine the regular online learning system relied on Sanskrit. But, I deem it worthwhile to keep an inherent tradition of all the languages to bear a rich corpus of materials for online learning.
For Sanskrit, there can be seen a dozen of internet materials which have been published not only by some Indian websites, but also by some European and American authorities. Out of all, the Sanskrit Portal which is handled by Gerard Huet is the best, projecting the cruxes of them to a greater detail. The Sanskrit Portal generally provides with us a composite exposition of most of online materials for Sanskrit and related genres. First and foremost, it furnishes us with a list of general sites namely The Indology Site, Sanskrit Studies links, Sanskrit forums, International Sanskrit Association, Sanskrit Page, Omniglot.Then it brings to us the Sanskrit dictionary from Sanskrit heritage to Glossaire des terms Pali on Buddhiques. Digital Sanskrit library is the genre for online learning related to e-texts by which the GRETIL and Gaudiya Grantha Mandira texts have been carefully prepared. Next, the Sanskrit portal gives Devanagari fonts and translators which are aptly suitable for specific Sanskrit fonts. Educational institutes for Sanskrit in India and overseas renders us a really succinct account about the programs of online learning worldwide. The excerpts and abstracts of past Sanskrit conferences are also valuable for both the researches and common public who are keen interested in Sanskrit. Grammatical softwares such as TDIL for windows, Sanskrit Lemmatizer, Sanskrit Morphology Generator, Liberation Philology Software and The Devanagari Animated Calligraphy too drive the lovers of Sanskrit on the portions of Phonetics. The information about Sanskrit courses and workshops incluiding Spoken Programs and sessions would also be considered as some innovations for online learning.
02 Methodology
I would first describe the online learning using the softwares prepared by JNU Special Centre for Sanskrit. Then my attempt would be to cover up the Sanskrit dictionaries compiled for online learning. Moreover, my attention will focus on the German dictionaries for Sanskrit as most of the online materials for Sanskrit are in German. This will follow a copious study of individual sites prepared by Sanskrit scholars so as to have an impression of Sanskrit using the variegated ideologies .I will also not leave a scholarly discussion about how far the top-ranking departments and online Sanskrit journals have contributed to the caption.
04 Findings
One of the explorations from the JNU related softwares in the Special centre for Sanskrit Studies is that any Sanskrit researcher who is willing to study the grammatical materials does not need to grapple with any particular scholar or book related to the field .So it is a kind of immense help that they receive from online learning.
Secondly, the Sanskrit dictionaries for online learning show that they are not so flexible in the search mood. The searchable data system proves inconsistent in this regard. I also found that there are no online dictionaries in German Language for Sanskrit since most of compiled splendid Sanskrit dictionaries are in German. For instance, the Sanskrit Wotorbuch compiled by Heinrich Roth. This has not yet been published into online category by any authority.
Moving onto the individual Sanskrit sites maintained by various scholars it seems more complicated by the context and the views they hold on them due to the vividness of dogmatic views. Nevertheless, I found the website for online learning in Sanskrit made by Ulrich Stiehl as the best performance in this regard. When paying attention to the departmental sites for Sanskrit, I could investigate that they are too not systematic for online learning due to the basis they have been relied on. One of the other findings of my research is to testify the availability of Standard Online Sanskrit Journals appeared in several web pages.
05 Conclusion
In conclusion, I could say that the softwares for Sanskrit have made the traditional education easy for many, removing all the difficulties such as finding books and veteran mentors on the particular divisions of Sanskrit. It is also an indispensable necessity to build up a most proximate database for online Sanskrit dictionaries in German. Online publishing of the Wotorbuch zum Rigveda and other very usable Sanskrit dictionaries will pave the way of many researchers into a better understanding. Another salient factor is to make all the private websites related to Sanskrit consistent on all the portions. Online journals for Sanskrit should also be relied on the relevant Sanskrit of the particular countries.
Key Words: Online, Sanskrit, Learning, Indology, German, Website
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