IITs’ virtual classes a great hit with colleges

At 1 pm every Monday, Prof N Swaminathan of IIT Madras delivers a lecture on machine design, a part of the mechanical engineering division. However, his students are not from IIT, but come from the 40-50 different colleges who log on to his lectures.

At 1 pm every Monday, Prof N Swaminathan of IIT Madras delivers a lecture on machine design, a part of the mechanical engineering division. However, his students are not from IIT, but come from the 40-50 different colleges who log on to his lectures.

“This is a good start. There are stumbling blocks, but the whole idea is to make an impact in society and this is a step in that direction,” said Prof Swaminathan, who conducts two virtual classes a week.

Venkatesh, a second year computer engineering student of a college in Coimbatore attends a lecture on Linear Algebra by an IIT professor.”

I could not get admission in IIT. This interface has helped me learn from one of the best of the faculty. It teaches us beyond the curriculum,” he said.

The Quality Enhancement in Engineering Education (QEEE), an initiative of the HRD ministry was conceptualised last year and the pilot project was launched in January. The second phase started last week.

“Our objective is to scale up the number of colleges to nearly 500,” said Prof Ashok Jhunjhunwala, chairman of committee, QEEE. Miraclyn Joyce, QEEE coordinator for Government College of Technology, Coimbatore added: “It is a good initiative. The students get a special feel of being taught by IIT professors.”