Blended MOOCs by SWAYAM – NPTEL

Goal:

SWAYAM is a program initiated by the Govt. of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity, and quality, to take the best teaching-learning resources to everyone.

Context:

Self-learning using curated courses offered on the SWAYAM-NPTEL platform instills learning how to learn. Also, to promote quality and to provide access, we are encouraging the digital content and assessment leading to valid certification by SWAYAM-NPTEL. The interdisciplinary approach by way of offering Minors/Majors in UG-Engineering programs is encouraged by this initiative. The courses on frontiers of engineering/emerging areas, employability skill-oriented courses are offered with ease without compromising on regular curriculum. Moreover, the current pandemic disrupted regular learning. We believe that quality learning can be sustained by blending MOOCs learning. The credits earned may be deposited in the ABC repository, which can be redeemed as per the NEP 2020.

Practice:

The Mechanical Engineering department gives information to the students about the courses offered in MOOCs. If any course is in the curriculum, that particular course will be aligned with MOOCs offered on the SWAYAM-NPTEL platform. Mentors are appointed for each course.

Asynchronous learning is complemented by Face-to-face synchronous learning in the classroom. Students are informed to go through the video content and course handout in an asynchronous manner. The classroom activities and laboratory sessions are conducted by the concerned mentor, who supplements learning and promotes higher-order cognition in learning. The synchronous learning instills confidence in the students for taking up regular assignments and submitting them in a timely manner. The mentor encourages the students to go for certification.