most revolutionary contribution of technology has to be the
democratisation of knowledge all around the world.
Online courses on a wide range of topics are provided openly and for
free by premier institutionsof the world. As these courses reach
larger audiences, they will mitigate the huge gap in knowledge created
due to lack of fundamental resources and varying methods of teaching.
Thesecourses would not only benefit students but will also prove to be
touchstone for teachers.
Among the open educationcourses available on the Web, the most popular
oneis OpenCourseWare (OCW) run by Massachusetts Institute of
Technology (MIT), which provides all itseducation materials from
undergraduate level to graduate level for free. As of now, more than
2,080 courses are available online. Many of them include lecture
notes, interactive Web demonstrations, textbooks written by MIT
professors and streaming video lectures. Details of the available
lectures can be found at http://ocw.mit.edu . Along with MIT's own
site, video lectures are also available on YouTube and iTunes and can
be streamed online or can also be downloaded for viewing offline.
MITx, a recent online learning initiative by MIT, offers a portfolio
of its courses through online interactive learning platform. It has
been designed keeping in mind all aspects of difficulties that might
be faced by students on the online platform. It would not onlyoffer
online laboratories, student-to-student communication, but wouldalso
provide a chance to earn certification of completion award by
MITx,based on the mastery of the subject.
Other options
Among the courses offered by other universities, videocourses of
Harvard, Yale University, University of California – Berkeley, and
Stanford University are worth checking out, but unlike MIT OCW, these
are restricted in number.
In 1999, the idea of havingan enhanced learning programme involving
the Indian Institutes of Technology and Indian Institutes of
Management was conceived by IIT Madras, which was subsequently funded
by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Today, it is known as
the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL).
As of now, 260 courses are available online, but this number is set to
reach 1,000 in the next phase of the programme. With more than 4,900
hours of classroom course, illustration of concepts via animations,
links for reference books, discussionforums and case studies, it has
enough potential to disseminate quality education among Indian
students. In the era of ubiquitous mobile phones, 3GP format of video
courses are especially made for mobile phone users.
Virtual Labs is a new initiative to provide remote access to labs in
various disciplines of science and engineering ( www.vlab.co.in )
taken up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. At a time when
a majority of institutions are facing a crunch in testing equipment
and resources, this would provide a platform where resources can be
shared.
The integration of NPTEL with Virtual Labs will provide a complete
package for education by bridging the gap between theory and practice.
The hurdle
A major hindrance in taking the online education programme to the
remotest of places is lack of infrastructure. Two things that are
prerequisitefor the programme's success are affordable computer
devices and availability of adequate Internet speed.
The low-cost Aakash tablets seem to be a strongstep towards online
education revolution. However, its availability and reliability are
the issues the government must sort out as soon as possible. Making
courses available on DVDs and harddisks for affordable prices can
mitigate the problem of online streaming of videos on low-speed
Internet.