India’s First Virtual Technical University
India's first
virtual tech university taking
shape
Seven IITs, Indian Institute of Science team
up for the project
Seven Indian
Institutes of Technology (IITs)
have teamed with Indian Institute
of Science (IISc) to set up India's first home-grown virtual
technology university. The IITs involved are those based in Mumbai,
Delhi, Guwahati, Chennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee.
Officials of these IITs have said they will meet in Delhi next month to firm up
the details of the project, which could be a reality in the next two-three
years. "This will purely be an effort of Indian technology institutes. We
have learnt a lot from our international counterparts; we have also been
running NPTEL (National
Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) successfully for all
these years. This is a step forward for us," said Kushal Sen,
professor, IIT-Delhi.
The virtual
university could work at two levels -provide a degree directly and second, tie
up with other universities to transfer credits for a degree.
Initially, the
online NPTEL content delivered by the IITs (on the website
http://nptel.iitm.ac.in) could serve as the base for the proposed university.
NPTEL is a joint venture between the seven IITs and IISc. The programme offers
web- and video-based course material for basic sciences, engineering and
humanities. It was started along the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's OpenCourseWare programme.
Students from
887 engineering, technology, science and management institutes in India use
NPTEL courses. As of June this year, NPTEL had 372 web courses and 398 video
courses. These courses are accessible freely through the YouTube channel.
So far,
students across the world could download NPTEL courses, without the IITs being
given any credit for this. Now, students can seek credits, certificates and
degrees for all that they learn on the NPTEL platform. The virtual university
will allow engineering students who cannot make it to the IITs to have access
to these premier institutions' learning material and bag online engineering
degrees.
The IITs are
also in talks with information technology and engineering companies for them to
provide employment value to the degrees offered by the proposed university.
"In India, the problem is when you give degrees, there is an employment
value attached to it. We are thinking we should have on board some employers to
give weightage to the degrees and certificates provided," said an IIT
professor.
To support the
project, the IITs will seek grants from the ministry of human resource
development.
Source | Business Standard | 18 July 2014
shape
Seven IITs, Indian Institute of Science team
up for the project
Seven Indian
Institutes of Technology (IITs)
have teamed with Indian Institute
of Science (IISc) to set up India's first home-grown virtual
technology university. The IITs involved are those based in Mumbai,
Delhi, Guwahati, Chennai, Kanpur, Kharagpur and Roorkee.
Officials of these IITs have said they will meet in Delhi next month to firm up
the details of the project, which could be a reality in the next two-three
years. "This will purely be an effort of Indian technology institutes. We
have learnt a lot from our international counterparts; we have also been
running NPTEL (National
Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) successfully for all
these years. This is a step forward for us," said Kushal Sen,
professor, IIT-Delhi.
The virtual
university could work at two levels -provide a degree directly and second, tie
up with other universities to transfer credits for a degree.
Initially, the
online NPTEL content delivered by the IITs (on the website
http://nptel.iitm.ac.in) could serve as the base for the proposed university.
NPTEL is a joint venture between the seven IITs and IISc. The programme offers
web- and video-based course material for basic sciences, engineering and
humanities. It was started along the lines of the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology's OpenCourseWare programme.
Students from
887 engineering, technology, science and management institutes in India use
NPTEL courses. As of June this year, NPTEL had 372 web courses and 398 video
courses. These courses are accessible freely through the YouTube channel.
So far,
students across the world could download NPTEL courses, without the IITs being
given any credit for this. Now, students can seek credits, certificates and
degrees for all that they learn on the NPTEL platform. The virtual university
will allow engineering students who cannot make it to the IITs to have access
to these premier institutions' learning material and bag online engineering
degrees.
The IITs are
also in talks with information technology and engineering companies for them to
provide employment value to the degrees offered by the proposed university.
"In India, the problem is when you give degrees, there is an employment
value attached to it. We are thinking we should have on board some employers to
give weightage to the degrees and certificates provided," said an IIT
professor.
To support the
project, the IITs will seek grants from the ministry of human resource
development.
Source | Business Standard | 18 July 2014
