NATIONAL PROGRAMME ON TECHNOLOGY ENHANCED LEARNING (NPTEL)
The objective of TEL is to enhance the way students learn concepts, to enhance the learning component and to reduce the tedious and mechanical aspects of some of the current learning methods through the use of technology in a variety of forms: a) Computer applications include: • Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) that uses the computer as a selfcontained teaching machine to present individual lessons. • Computer-Managed Instruction (CMI) that uses the computer to organize instruction and track student records and progress. The instruction itself need not be delivered via a computer, although CAI is often combined with CMI. • Computer-Mediated Education (CME) consisting of applications that facilitate the delivery of instruction. Examples include networked classrooms, electronic mail, discussion boards, real-time computer conferencing and World-Wide Web (WWW) applications. b) Voice - Instructional audio tools that include interactive technologies of telephone, audio conferencing, and the passive (i.e., one-way) audio tools of tapes and radio. c) Video - Instructional video tools that include still images such as slides, prerecorded moving images (e.g., film, videotape), and real-time moving images combined with audio conferencing (one-way or two-way video with two-way audio). d) Print – instructional print formats that include textbooks, study guides, workbooks and case studies.'
Technology enhanced learning initiative involving IITs and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) was first proposed by IIT Madras in the year 1999, immediately following a Workshop on Technology Enhanced Learning (WoTEL) conducted in Chennai in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, USA. The 4 vast experience of CMU in setting up a successful virtual university in Mexico was useful in drawing up the initial proposal which envisaged four initiatives, namely providing distance education, developing interactive and electronic resources for core courses for undergraduates, conducting joint Ph. D. programmes and setting up a digital library focused on the role of technology in knowledge accumulation, storing and disseminating content for education in three sectors: university, industry and government. A formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between five IITs, four IIMs and CMU established a Virtual Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning (VCTEL). It was the first initiative in which all IITs and IIMs shared a common vision and proposed to work together to improve the quality of science, engineering and management education all across the country by offering courses through VCTEL. This proposal was submitted to MHRD in 1999 and revised several times.
The broad aim of the project NPTEL is to facilitate the competitiveness of Indian industry in the global markets through improving the quality and reach of engineering education. The operational objective of NPTEL is to make high quality learning material available to students of engineering institutions across the country by exploiting the advances in information and communication technology. The target group for this project consists of students and faculty of institutions offering undergraduate engineering programmes in India. The educational goals are: • Make video lectures in a format appropriate for broadcasting that would provide quality content through the Technology channel named the Eklavya channel by the previous Honorable Minister for Human Resource Development in recognition of the first student of distance education named in the great Indian epic Mahabharata thousands of years ago. • Create web-based (e-learning) material and make it available in the form of a portal / DVDs that would be tailored to meet the needs of engineering students across the country. • Create a website for NPTEL activity. • Make e-learning material available in the web for the video lectures to supplement class room teaching. • Advise target institutions with regard to the software/hardware requirements for benefiting from the national project. NPTEL has developed curriculum based video courses (110 new courses and 109 existing courses encapsulated in digital video format) and web-based e-courses (129). This has been undertaken by IITs (Seven) and IISc Bangalore as Partner Institutions (PI) and other selected premier institutions as Associate Partner Institutions (API) through a collaborative effort.
Five branches of engineering (Civil, Electrical, Electronics and Communication, Computer Science and Engineering, and Mechanical) were addressed in the first phase. Each Institute identified the courses in which it would like to participate as video (V) or Web (W) based content contributor. The core courses common to all these disciplines including basic science and engineering were addressed by a core courses group also formed of members from all PIs. The courses were allotted to PIs as per the following: The TEL coordinator from each Institute prepared a list of courses for which he obtained the consent of faculty from that PI. The discipline coordinators in each discipline met and then determined the allocation of courses to PIs. The TEL PIC finalized the allotment of courses to the Institute. In content creation each PI was also able to involve faculty from other PIs with experience and willingness to jointly develop the course with its own faculty and encourage it as much as possible. However, the PIs were responsible for the delivery of courses assigned to them
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