[Assam] Learn IIT courses online!(http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=14306354)

[Buljit Buragohain]

      Learn IIT courses online!        By K.Sreedevi | Saturday, 07 October , 2006, 10:53           Chennai: If you have been one of those aspiring engineers who missed the IIT bus, here's hope for you. What if you can't study at the Indian Institute of Technology? Here is a chance for you to learn the prestigious curriculum under various streams of engineering online and at free of cost.   In a unique initiative called the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), all the seven IITs of the country along with the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) of Bangalore have joined hands to offer their courses online. The educational majors have jointly launched a web site called http://nptel.iitm.ac.in , which has been operational since September 3, 2006. Though the site awards no certification or diploma from the institutes, it allows free access to study materials of about 120-odd courses under various streams offered by them.   Highlighting the objective of the
 site, Professor Mangala Sunder Krishnan, Web coordinator, NPTEL, says, "the key idea is to provide error-free and good quality content in engineering and science subjects in a uniform and structured manner to all non-IIT students of the country." To ensure standardisation of the content in the site, about 300 faculty from all the 8 institutes have been working on the project for the last three years. The syllabi has been structured on the lines of AICTE (All India Council of Technical Education) curriculum, that is offered by all technical and engineering universities and colleges in the country. Thought right now there are only 120 courses, this number is expected to go up to 400 in a couple of months.                  The idea for an online educational platform for IIT courses was mooted way back in 1999. However, the work on the programme had begun in 2003. "To bring various faculty of 8 institutes under one roof, to draft a common curriculum and to distribute the work
 among them was an arduous and time-consuming task. It was a process by itself," says Prof Krishnan.   The Ministry of Human Resources Development has funded about Rs 20.5 crore towards the first phase of the project. The next phase of the programme, however, will have a larger purview to include management and science subjects, remarks Prof Krishnan. Under the second phase, which will begin on January 1, 2007, the coordinators are looking at utilising the knowledge of non-IIT teachers and experts.   Apart from allowing students to download various course materials, the web site will soon feature a bulletin board for students to post their queries on the subject. There will also be a facility for threaded discussion on each of the subjects so that the members can interact with each other.   Also on cards are video lectures on each of the subject. However, bandwidth is a major hampering issue. About 4000-5000 hours of video content by IIT faculty on various subjects is now
 ready. But the issue is IT infrastructure, says Prof Krishnan.      "On a larger perspective, we are looking for this site to become a virtual reference portal for 2,000-2,500 subjects. We are looking at forming a virtual university in about a decade from now, which can offer quality courses to students all over the globe," says Krishnan. A dream which can be surely of help to boost the education quality in the country. 



 				
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