National and International Workshops, Seminars, Symposiums and Conferences on Education
A WORKSHOP is a short-term of an academic event, where a small group of people meet to get acquainted and discuss new concepts, skills or new practices. In workshops, participants involve fully in the learning process like thinking, processing, doing, creating, and interacting. Attending a professional or academic workshop is not only an opportunity to receive new insights or knowledge, but also an excellent chance to meet one’s professional and academic peers and create a network. Workshops are more practical in nature as compared to conferences and symposiums and have different purposes such as problem-solving, training and informing. International workshops offer an even more attractive perspective of travelling and inter-cultural exchange. Now-a-days, attending an online workshop is another great option to consider, if one may not like to travel and leave one’s home or office space.
A SEMINAR is a form of academic meeting to be organized by an academic institute or a professional/commercial organization to educate and guide the participants on specific topics. It can be held at an academic institution. The attendees take active part in these meetings through discussion about the relevant topics. The seminar may be delivered as a long lecture by one or more guest speakers who are subject experts in the concerned discipline. A seminar is directed by an instructor who heads the discussion. It is followed by a question-answer session between the participants and experts, which encourage critical thinking and new ideas. The number of people attending the seminar depends on the level of the seminar to be conducted. High level seminars will have more participants and vice versa.
A SYMPOSIUM is meeting which is more formal or academic and features multiple experts delivering brief presentation in a particular field discussing a specific subject. It is also referred to as an academic conference that has an open form of platform for discussion. A symposium focuses on a particular issue rather than a general discussion and is less practical than a workshop. It is usually completed within a day and is smaller than a conference.
A CONFERENCE is a large and formal meeting that aims at discussion, consultation and problem-solving at an arranged place and scheduled date and is meant to ‘confer’ something about a topic usually of common concern to all the persons present or attending it. Conferences have specific objectives and can last for one to several days. There are various types of conferences, such as academic, business, trade, media, religious etc. An academic conference is a place for academicians and researchers who present and discuss their works. Conferences focus on innovative ideas, new trends and opportunities on their respective topics and new information can be exchanged at all types of conferences. People attending the conference can range from 50 to 1000 or more.
Difference between Workshop, Seminar, Symposium and Conference
A workshop is a meeting where a group of people learn about something through intensive discussions and activities related to it, while a seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or organized by a professional organization. A symposium is a meeting at which a number of experts in a particular field discuss a particular subject while a conference is a formal meeting of people with shared interests, involving discussion, problem-solving, and consultation.