Faculty flag DU move to offer credits through online courses

Delhi University faces faculty backlash over proposed online credit courses via MOOCs, citing concerns on learning impact ahead of an Academic Council meeting.

The Delhi University’s proposal to allow credit-based courses through online platforms such as Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds (SWAYAM) and other massive open online courses (MOOCs) has drawn criticism from faculty ahead of a detailed discussion in the upcoming Academic Council (AC) meeting.

While the university said the move would offer greater flexibility in earning academic credits, faculty members said it could negatively impact learning outcomes (HT)

While the university said the move would offer greater flexibility in earning academic credits, faculty members said it could negatively impact learning outcomes.

The AC meeting, scheduled for April 15, is set to discuss guidelines for earning credits prescribed for a programme through online courses. “To consider the recommendations for providing flexibility to students to earn credits through courses offered by SWAYAM and similar MOOC platforms approved by the university, and guidelines for the same,” the supplementary agenda for the meeting stated.

“Every department of the university shall constitute a panel comprising experienced faculty to identify and suggest suitable courses available on digital learning programmes (DLP), with the head of the department as chairperson,” the document added.

Calling it an attack on critical academic culture, Anumeha Mishra, an AC member and assistant professor at the Faculty of Law, said the move would severely impact the teaching process.

“SWAYAM and MOOCs are an attempt by the government to promote online courses at the expense of physical teaching processes that allow interaction and conversation, not create alienated beings. This is yet another assault on comprehensive and critical academic culture,” Mishra said.

Another AC member and faculty member in the Department of Education, Latika Gupta, alleged that the push for online courses stemmed from a lack of adequate infrastructure, including faculty and classrooms.

“The university has introduced several new courses under the four-year undergraduate programme but lacks sufficient teaching staff and classroom infrastructure, leading to a push towards online courses as a proposed solution. However, with students already heavily engaged in online activities, teachers have an even more important role to play,” Gupta said.

In addition, the council will discuss a proposal to introduce a Semester Away Programme (SAP) in collaboration with foreign educational institutions, aimed at providing undergraduate students with global exposure under the Undergraduate Curriculum Framework 2022.