[Commons-Law] IITs to invest Rs 1,500cr for virtual varsity
Via: "Prashant Iyengar"
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=311957
IITs to invest Rs 1,500cr for virtual varsity
Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai January 29, 2008
To be modelled on the Carnegie Mellon University.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are in talks with US-based
Carnegie Mellon University to set up a Virtual IIT.
To be set up at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore over the next three to
four years, it will enable aspiring IITians and engineering students
who could not make it to the premier engineering institutes of
technology to bag an IIT-equivalent degree online.
Currently, a four-year BTech (IIT) tuition fee is around Rs 27,000 per
year while that of a two-year MTech (IIT) is around Rs 5,000 per year.
The Virtual IIT, on the other hand, will be online, and therefore
cheaper. Details on charges for an online degree, forms submission,
evaluation and exams are being worked out.
The IITs will study the Carnegie Mellon University's distance learning
programme — Open Learning Initiative started in 2002 — which is
considered one of the most successful so far.
"We are studying the models of western universities as we plan to have
a full-fledged online degree-granting programme. A large number of
private institutions do not have good teachers. We want to provide an
online programme in which not only students but also professional
engineers and faculty can benefit from the engineering courses
delivered by IITs," said an IIT director.
The IITs plan to shortlist around 50 national-level engineering
colleges to set up well-equipped laboratories where students taking
online courses could go for practical sessions.
The IITs have already discussed this idea with some leading Indian IT
companies that are willing to support this initiative.
To begin with, the online National Programme on Technology Enhanced
Learning (NPTEL) course content that the IITs deliver currently on the
website http://nptel.iitm.ac.in could become the base for Virtual IIT.
The IITs also plan to make the courses available on Google and You
Tube. An online evaluation process could also be devised followed by
certification for Virtual IIT courses.
NPTEL has registered about 770,000 visits since September 2006 and in
a survey conducted by IIT Madras lasting eight to ten months when the
IITs had login/register utility, about 180,000 accessed it more than a
few times, 50 per cent of whom are employed after a degree, 40 per
cent students and about 10 per cent teachers.
Access by users in India is predominant (90 per cent), followed by
those in the US, Canada, the UK, West and South Asia (8 per cent) and
the rest scattered over 130 countries.
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage_c.php?leftnm=10&autono=311957
IITs to invest Rs 1,500cr for virtual varsity
Kalpana Pathak / Mumbai January 29, 2008
To be modelled on the Carnegie Mellon University.
The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) are in talks with US-based
Carnegie Mellon University to set up a Virtual IIT.
To be set up at a cost of over Rs 1,500 crore over the next three to
four years, it will enable aspiring IITians and engineering students
who could not make it to the premier engineering institutes of
technology to bag an IIT-equivalent degree online.
Currently, a four-year BTech (IIT) tuition fee is around Rs 27,000 per
year while that of a two-year MTech (IIT) is around Rs 5,000 per year.
The Virtual IIT, on the other hand, will be online, and therefore
cheaper. Details on charges for an online degree, forms submission,
evaluation and exams are being worked out.
The IITs will study the Carnegie Mellon University's distance learning
programme — Open Learning Initiative started in 2002 — which is
considered one of the most successful so far.
"We are studying the models of western universities as we plan to have
a full-fledged online degree-granting programme. A large number of
private institutions do not have good teachers. We want to provide an
online programme in which not only students but also professional
engineers and faculty can benefit from the engineering courses
delivered by IITs," said an IIT director.
The IITs plan to shortlist around 50 national-level engineering
colleges to set up well-equipped laboratories where students taking
online courses could go for practical sessions.
The IITs have already discussed this idea with some leading Indian IT
companies that are willing to support this initiative.
To begin with, the online National Programme on Technology Enhanced
Learning (NPTEL) course content that the IITs deliver currently on the
website http://nptel.iitm.ac.in could become the base for Virtual IIT.
The IITs also plan to make the courses available on Google and You
Tube. An online evaluation process could also be devised followed by
certification for Virtual IIT courses.
NPTEL has registered about 770,000 visits since September 2006 and in
a survey conducted by IIT Madras lasting eight to ten months when the
IITs had login/register utility, about 180,000 accessed it more than a
few times, 50 per cent of whom are employed after a degree, 40 per
cent students and about 10 per cent teachers.
Access by users in India is predominant (90 per cent), followed by
those in the US, Canada, the UK, West and South Asia (8 per cent) and
the rest scattered over 130 countries.
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