The University of Madras has proposed to launch online educational programmes in an effort to integrate digital learning with conventional learning.
The university will sign a memorandum with the Consortium for Educational Communication (CEC), an autonomous body in the University Grants Commission, to develop the programmes.
The agreement will make the university an affiliate member of the CEC, a nodal agency that uses various communication media for educational programmes.
University officials said CEC was one of the largest repositories of digitised educational content in the country and was also the national coordinator for massive open online courses (MOOC) for the Swayam platform. CEC oversees Swayam Prabha DTH channels, offering 11 educational channels in various disciplines.
Under the agreement, the university will develop credit-based courses to be offered through MOOCs. It will fast-track the process of developing e-learning programmes and encourage academicians and teachers to prepare digital content for the CEC platform.
The university will also use the open educational resources with the CEC to develop in-demand courses. CEC, New Delhi, and the university will jointly offer grouped MOOCs, certifying diploma courses in emerging areas in humanities, social sciences, management and computer science.
The University of Madras will co-host the digital content and the e-learning programmes will be delivered through its own learning management systems. Students will be awarded joint certificates and the credits are transferable to the students’ parent institutions.
On Monday, University of Madras’ Vice-Chancellor S. Gowri and CEC director Jagat Bhushan Nadda will sign the agreement in the presence of senior officials from both the organisations.
