20 Per Cent Delhi University Courses May Soon Go Online Through SWAYAM Portal

Those planning to enroll themselves in any course at Delhi University may be in for luck soon if they prefer online teaching.

Delhi University may provide up to 20 per cent of its courses through online medium on the SWAYAM portal. A proposal in this regard will be placed before the Academic Council during its meeting scheduled for November 30.

Delhi University does not provide MOOCs through SWAYAM, a government portal for free online courses for students.

Delhi University

What does the proposal state?

The proposal states that DU colleges may consider providing up to 20 per cent of the total courses offered in a particular programme in a semester in online mode.

This was done to supplement the teaching-learning process in the institute, the proposal said.

Why is DU planning to introduce online courses?

Unsplash

The proposal by DU to introduce online courses is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

The NEP aims to achieve a 50 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GRE) in higher education by 2035 with the help of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by the SWAYAM platform.

Earlier this year, the university's Department of Commerce had expressed its desire to implement MOOCs developed by department teachers and develop its course content based on the university's curriculum.

How is academia expected to react to online courses at DU?

The proposal is expected to be opposed by a large majority of AC members who feel that employment generation at the university will be at risk amid the push for online learning, according to Maya John, assistant professor, Jesus Mary College.

"Almost 90 per cent of the Academic Council members will oppose this proposal as it is an anti-student and anti-teacher move. Classroom teaching is very important for many students who come from different backgrounds, and this will also impact the need for teaching staff who will be substituted by online learning on Swayam," she said.

What is SWAYAM portal?

SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is an Indian government portal for free open online course (MOOC) platform providing educational courses for university and college learners.

Swayam portal

The courses hosted on SWAYAM are in 4 quadrants ¨C

(1) video lecture
(2) specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed
(3) self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes, and (4) an online discussion forum for clearing the doubts.

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