Open Educational Resources for Science and Engineering: Creation of Effective Educational Systems Without Compromising

1. Open Educational Resources for Science and Engineering: Creation of Effective Educational Systems Without Compromising Quality Mangala Sunder Krishnan Professor, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras E- Mail: mangal@iitm.ac.in; mangala_sunderk@yahoo.com

2. National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) Professor M. S. Ananth, Director, IIT Madras Overall National Coordinator Professor Mangala Sunder, Department of Chemistry, IIT Madras, National Web courses coordinator Professor Kushal Sen, Department of Textile Technology, IIT Delhi, National Video Courses Coordinator

3. NPTEL Phase I (2003-2007) • Exercise of creation of courses • Development of a working methodology between IITs and IISc • Creation of a support infrastructure • Awareness of TEL environment for future implementation • Establishing procedures for correction and feedback • ESTABLISHING DELIVERY MECHANISMS

4. NPTEL Phase I (2003-2007) • Development of course contents based on a curriculum suitable for all engineering students and teachers in India • Five most common engineering branches at the undergraduate level in Phase I, others in Phase II, III etc. • Approximately 120 courses in the web based supplements format and 120 courses of video lectures (40-plus one-hour lectures per course) • Civil, Computer science, electrical, electronics and communication, mechanical engineering and all common core science and humanities courses.

5. NPTEL Phase II • Partners: All IITs, IISc Bangalore as principal coordinating Institutions • NITs and premier University faculty willing to join the programme for open content generation as associate partners • Industry willing to build on course contents to provide value-added case studies and experiential learning • Beneficiaries: • All engineering colleges in the country • Undergraduate and postgraduate science colleges offering Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Biology and management programmes • Industries for continuous training of workforce for increased productivity • Life-long and continuous learners in India and abroad.

6. NPTEL Phase II • Highlights of Activities Proposed • Online and face-to-face feedback for all courses based on • Content level, presentation styles and clarity • Adaptability and the modular structure • Adequacy of question banks • Adequacy of case studies • Relevance to University exams and placements • Relevance to professional examination and industrial practices

7. NPTEL Phase II • Highlights of Activities Proposed • Creation of NPTEL intranet for video and web courses in all Institutions in India • Creation of a National video-on-demand server distributed across all IITs and IISc for all video lectures (bandwidth-dependent) • Creation of course based wiki-type contents to benefit all types of users • Organization of training programmes through workshops and certifying /training faculty to create content in their own environment • Helping Institutions with the pedagogical and technological issues in web based and distance learning.

8. NPTEL Phase II • Highlights of Activities Proposed • Set up an academic consortium consisting of all legal academic entities and establish general and comprehensive standards for e-learning in India. • Setup industrial partnerships with industries in manufacturing and design and establish a large number of specific industry related certification programmes (use NPTEL contents) • Set up a national institute for metadata generation, management and research • Set up a national facility for web based content development pedagogies and highly interactive test-beds for effective learning of core concepts in science and engineering.

9. “Effective” Educational Systems online • Components: • Quality and willing teachers who would experiment with the new paradigm of teaching students at a distance, not always face-to-face, i.e., using both synchronous and asynchronous modes)—It is much more demanding than conventional classrooms. • Institutions willing to set up services (LMS, Virtual labs, Portals and blogs) and maintain them 24/7 (The Sun never sets for these institutions) • Evaluation procedures for determining effectiveness of learning at a distance. (Other than conventional questions, quizzes etc. in subjects being taught). • A minimal, but essential one-to-one contact between teacher and the taught. • Technology and administrative support—outsource them for adapting to rapidly evolving technologies • Well-equipped labs and workshops in campuses which can be used all through the year.

10. An Experiment worth carrying out • A few classrooms of IITs set up with facilities for lecture delivery to anyone willing to join online (limit the number to about 1000 initially). Choose three or four courses. • Two way interactions for a world-classroom at specific hours every week through the net • Encourage periodic self-assessment of “understanding” concepts through an LMS • Bring-in a 20-25 percent component of case studies with the help of a chosen industrial expert (set up a lecture delivery mechanism from their locations if possible) • Allow for a one- or two-days on-campus interaction for all students in a course (schedule them in batches) • Conduct examination through certified centres in India at a specific time. • Offer certificates to those who complete the programme. Collect feedback and iterate the process. Most engineering and scientific successes are based on the success of iterative designs and calculations.

11. Thank You