The Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) held its 22nd annual conference, AoIR2021 Independence (online), in October 2021. As part of their conference, they also invited Satellite Events, one of which was organized and hosted by Prof. Usha Raman, Department of Communication (DoC), University of Hyderabad (UoH), and Associate Prof. Nimmi Rangaswamy, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) India. The Event – Interfacing, Interacting, Internetting in Pandemic Times – was held on October 4, 2021. The professors were supported by Dr Aditya Deshbandhu and Dr Amulya Komarraju (alumni) and Chinar Mehta, Sruthy Gopal, Manisha Madapathi, and Devina Sarwatay (doctoral students) of DoC, UoH.

The Roundtable Discussion

The AoIR Satellite Event by UoH and IIIT-H began with opening remarks by Prof. Usha Raman. This was followed by introduction of the speakers by A/Prof. Nimmi Rangaswamy and Prof. Raman, and the Roundtable Discussion on six themes by senior scholars on ‘Health Wellness Design Thinking’, Dr Naveen Bagalkot, Srishti Institute; ‘Leisure Practices’, Dr Aditya Deshbandhu, Independent Researcher; ‘Relational Dynamics’, Prof. Radha Hegde, New York U; ‘Home/Office Non-Boundary’, Prof. Shilpa Phadke, TISS; ‘Platform Work’, Dr Noopur Raval, AI Now Institute; and ‘Online Teaching/Learning’, Dr SV Srinivas, Azim Premji U.

Paper Presentations

After the Roundtable, Ms Devina Sarwatay opened the Paper Presentations section of the Event by introducing the discussant, A/Prof. Sangeet Kumar, Denison U and inviting presentations by four doctoral students/ early career researchers. The papers were ‘Channel Shift: Negotiating Hunger and the ‘Online mode’ in Delhi’ by Farhat Salim, Jawaharlal Nehru University; ‘Technological Platforms and Institutional Collaborations in Higher Education – A Study of Micro-credential Programmes in India’ by Himani Sharma, MICA; ‘Social Media Engagement in the New Normal: An Exploratory Study on Facebook Users’ by Madhumita Das, Indira Gandhi National Open University; and ‘Zoom-Ing Past “The New Normal”? Understanding Students’ Engagement with Online Learning in Higher Education During the Covid-19 Pandemic’ by Sooraj Namboodiri, MICA. The presentations were followed by a discussion and Q&A led by Dr Kumar. The Event concluded with closing remarks by Dr Rangaswamy.

You can find more information and recordings from the Event here: https://tinyurl.com/AoIR-EventDetails