| Introduction | | | | campus colleges. This will result in:- |
| With ever increasing use of technology and the | | | | • Uniformity in the coverage of the syllabus and its |
| internet in India and ever growing demand and need | | | | standardization. |
| for expanding the coverage of Higher Technical | | | | • Discovering the shortcoming of the syllabus and |
| Education there is a wide scope of introducing | | | | a common platform for discussing the same for future |
| technology in the way the Higher Technical Education | | | | revision. |
| is imparted in India. In today's environment mostly the | | | | • Clarification of the basic through advanced |
| methods employed are labor intensive, limited to class | | | | concepts through the chatting/tools offered by |
| room interaction, access to which is not available to | | | | concerned selected service of the CMS. |
| students in the event of they missing out the classes | | | | • Standardization and sharing of the grading and |
| due to certain reasons. In addition there are difficulties | | | | assessment of the students without significant |
| in explaining and demonstrating the complex subjects | | | | variation form teacher to teacher. |
| involving three dimensional figures/models. More over it | | | | • Moderation of the grading centrally. |
| is an accepted fact that it is difficult for the students to | | | | • Readily available standardized course material |
| concentrate on a subject in a typical classroom | | | | which can be developed by networking of teachers |
| environment for more than about 20 minutes. The best | | | | sharing same subject in the university but at different |
| of students have often been found to be loosing | | | | institutions. |
| concentration after about 20 minutes of classroom | | | | • Standardization of reference books and the |
| teaching which mostly becomes monotonous in | | | | topics to be covered. |
| traditional class where teacher mostly resorts to one | | | | • Standardization of the depth of individual topics to |
| way transmission without initiating interactive discussion. | | | | be covered for each subject. |
| Though interactive sessions offer little improvement | | | | • Typical standardization of question bank. |
| but it is not always possible to initiate the interaction till | | | | • Development of reference standard study |
| the time the students have developed certain level of | | | | material at the center of excellence which can be |
| understanding of basic concepts and fully understand | | | | shared by all other institutions. |
| the prerequisite required for a typical course. | | | | • Automation of tutorial submission, FAQ answers, |
| Background | | | | question paper generation, and response to earlier |
| In order to improve teaching learning process it is | | | | similar question asked. |
| important that we go beyond the boundaries of | | | | • Provision of authenticated links to related and |
| classroom and fixed timetable limits. The teaching | | | | useful material for further higher study for research. |
| material must be delivered to the student at a time, | | | | The System can be Implemented in these steps: |
| pace and place which provides best learning | | | | Conceive, design and develop a two tier education |
| environment for him. This may have lot of variation | | | | system based on nodal concept of center of |
| depending on individual students needs. The EDUSAT | | | | excellence in Engineering Education (Higher technical |
| program launched at the initiative of the government | | | | education) typical to Indian Universities by selecting the |
| has also not achieved the desired success though | | | | best suitable tools offered by Course Management |
| large numbers of terminals have been established all | | | | Systems (CMS) available and demonstrate the viability |
| over India and best of Professors are delivering | | | | of the concept. |
| lectures in real time environment. The root cause of | | | | (1) Step one: |
| failure can be attributed to the fact that it is still not | | | | (a) Identify the essential and desirable features which |
| getting out of a typical class room environment. | | | | should be offered by the nodal center of excellence, in |
| Though virtual classrooms have been created but still it | | | | typical Indian University environment, to make it |
| is limited to formalities of a classroom. | | | | effective in sharing and updating its resources. |
| Use of technology in improving the teaching learning | | | | (b) Carry out comparative study of the available |
| process normally termed as Educational Technology - | | | | course management systems world wide and |
| also known variously as e-learning, instructional | | | | selecting the best suitable system for this purpose. |
| technology and learning technology - is the use of | | | | (2) Step Two: Developing a comprehensive module in |
| technology to support the enhancement of learning | | | | selected course which should preferably support |
| process. It impacts upon the learning process, e.g. in | | | | following features:- |
| delivering learning materials, facilitating communication | | | | (a) Learning Tools |
| and providing assessment and feedback. This | | | | • Book marking |
| technology can effectively be used to enhance and | | | | • Student Area |
| supplement the classroom teaching wherein the | | | | • Library and Information Access |
| material is once again made available to the student at | | | | • Annotation |
| a time, pace and place that is best suitable for his | | | | • Glossary |
| needs. It will fill in the blanks which he must have drawn | | | | • Course Index/Search Engine |
| while he was in the classroom and could not clarify his | | | | • Learning Exemplars/Guidance |
| concepts due to certain reasons. More ever certain | | | | • Access to Grades |
| other things like tutorials, tests, assignments etc can | | | | • Student Guide |
| also handled effectively on line thereby saving the | | | | • Self-Assessment Exercises |
| valuable time of the competent faculty members | | | | • Study Skill Building |
| which can be used for other more useful activities. | | | | • Student Web Pages |
| Course management systems (CMSs), which are | | | | (b) Collaboration Tools |
| online systems, were designed and developed to | | | | • Discussion Options |
| support classroom learning in academic settings, such | | | | • File Sharing |
| as universities and other Educational Institutes. CMSs | | | | • Work Group Areas |
| provide instructors with the ability to perform the | | | | (c)Faculty Tools |
| following tasks: | | | | • Course Planning, Design, Templates |
| • Place course materials online. Most CMSs | | | | • Automated Glossary |
| provide pre-programmed buttons for the course | | | | • Automated Course TOC/Index/Search Engine |
| syllabus, course schedule, and course materials linked | | | | • File Management |
| to specific lessons, such as copies of readings and | | | | • Instructor Guide/Course Exemplars |
| PowerPoint slides from lectures. | | | | • Web Search Tools |
| • Track student progress through assessment | | | | • Multimedia Capability |
| features, which enable instructors to give quizzes and | | | | (d)Course Management |
| tests online, and an online grade book, where | | | | • Course Pages |
| instructors can post student grades. | | | | • Student Management |
| • Discussion board, where instructors and students | | | | • Automatic student assignment reminders |
| can discuss readings and continue class discussions | | | | (currently none of the CMS offer this currently) |
| between formal class sessions. | | | | • Course Archive/Backup/Replication |
| • Other communications tools, which let instructors | | | | • Course Revision |
| send announcements to classes and communicate | | | | • Online Help/FAQs |
| individually with students. | | | | • Administration Tools |
| • Lock box for students, where students can store | | | | • Automated Registration |
| class materials in a safe place-either a presentation to | | | | • Security |
| give later in class or backing up class assignments in a | | | | • Student Transcript |
| safe place. | | | | (3) Step Three: Implementing the nodal concept of |
| • Course statistics, which provide information on | | | | center of excellence in real time and initiate the |
| the use of the course site, including who used the | | | | process for demonstration purposes. |
| course site and when. | | | | Milestones completed |
| • Examples of CMSs include the commercial | | | | Nodal concept has widely been applied in service, |
| products Blackboard and WebCT, and the open | | | | telecommunication and repair & maintenance |
| source system like Moodle. | | | | industry wherein certain nodal centers are created |
| Motivation | | | | with all the facilities and expertise available at easily |
| With ever increasing need for automation in the | | | | accessible place which can be accessed by the |
| education system and the Government having decided | | | | prospective customers. In telecommunications wherein |
| to go for decentralization in Higher Technical Education | | | | certain communication nodes are created and users |
| in a big way there has been mushrooming growth of | | | | can hook on to these nodes for getting the desired |
| Engineering Institutions all over India. Good faculty | | | | services. In education system the concept has widely |
| members with thorough understanding of basic through | | | | been applied in various admission management |
| advanced topics are difficult to find. With the current | | | | systems and placement services. |
| system of the faculty resources being utilized only for | | | | The concept of creating the Nodal center of |
| the benefit of the students enrolled with the Institute | | | | excellence has been experimented in India by |
| University employing the concerned faculty, the scarce | | | | EDUSAT which is based on real time lectures in virtual |
| resources are not being utilized optimally. With the | | | | classroom environment. However it has not invoked |
| current developments and availability of Information | | | | much enthusiasm. The root cause for this can be |
| Technology tools it may be possible to share the rich | | | | attributed to the fact that the lecture tends to be |
| experiences of the distinguished faculty resources of | | | | monologue and is not at a place, pace and time as |
| certain key institutions in a typical University by other | | | | may be required by the perspective learner. More over |
| inexperienced faculty members of the same university | | | | it lacks personal contact between the teacher and the |
| engaged in teaching similar or same subjects. | | | | students. The proposed two tier system of education |
| The basic idea will be to introduce two tier system in | | | | involving nodal concept is intended to supplement the |
| the higher technical education. The first tier will involve | | | | classroom teaching. It will be designed to optimize the |
| a continuous and consistent effort made to train and | | | | contact time between the teacher and students in a |
| educate the fresh and inexperienced faculty members | | | | way that the most important tings are attended to |
| by using real time interaction with a group of | | | | during the contact period and things of lesser |
| experienced faculty members located at a center of | | | | importance can be attended to by the course |
| excellence. This will involve creation of a "Nodal Center | | | | management system like tutorials, class tests, |
| of Excellence" for each of the course being offered | | | | assignments etc. |
| by the university. Such nodal center will design and | | | | This concept can be related to the service industry |
| develop a course by using the best suitable and simple | | | | where in a nodal point, which can be termed as centre |
| to operate tools available in course management | | | | of excellence, is established which caters to the |
| systems to perfection. This course will compulsorily be | | | | training needs of service engineers who are placed all |
| subscribed to by all faculty members engaged in | | | | over the operational areas. These service engineers in |
| teaching same course all throughout the University. | | | | turn provide service to the customers. In case they |
| They can share the expertise available at the nodal | | | | find they are not able to address the problem they |
| center and also clarify the intricacies of the subjects | | | | consult the nodal point for further advice. Almost same |
| on a day to day basis as the course advances in the | | | | concept is applied in case of maintenance support |
| semester. | | | | provided by most of the companies for maintenance |
| The second tier of the system will involve Individual | | | | cover provided to their customers. |
| teachers who are already subscribed to the first tier | | | | The defense forces are known to have been using |
| discussed above. Such teachers will run their own | | | | multi tier system for their training, maintenance and |
| course management systems for the benefit of the | | | | repair needs, though their system is not automated but |
| students attending their lectures. | | | | the nodal concept is well established. In the proposed |
| In this manner all the center of excellence established | | | | system we intend to use the two tier system with |
| everywhere can be shared by all the institutes | | | | automation by using Course Management Systems. |
| affiliated to the university and also the university | | | | |