National Convention on Digital Initiatives was held at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi. 700 Vice Chancellors from across the Country and Heads of IISc/IITs/IIMs/NITs/IIITs participated in this event.
The function was organised on the eve of the Guru Poornima, a day for salutation to the teachers.
In this Convention, President of India, Pranab Mukherjee launched the three initiatives of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India: These are:
- SWAYAM
- 32 SWAYAM Prabha DTH Channels
- National Academic Depository
SWAYAM: India has become one of the few countries in the World which has its own online interactive learning platform that provides, not only video lectures, reading material but also assignments/quizzes that could end up in securing credits after completing the assessment system. More than 400 Courses are available on SWAYAM covering all the engineering and non-engineering subjects at undergraduate and post-graduate levels. The UGC has already issued Regulation that allows transfer of credits earned through the courses done through SWAYAM into the academic record of the students. It is now possible for the students and others to take courses of the prestigious IITs or IIMs without formally studying there. The platform has been constructed by Microsoft with totally indigenous efforts. The courses are available on www.swayam.gov.in
The SWAYAM Prabha channels are available for free for anyone who has a set top box to receive either DD Free Dish or DishTV. These channels transmit 4 hours of fresh content every day, and contain lectures from the best teachers in the Country. There is no monthly charge for viewing these channels. These channels include the IIT-PAL channels which were intended to help students taking the prestigious JEE examination, taught by the IIT faculty.
National Academic Depository would help in easy authentication of the credentials issued by the institutions. This would also help in increasing transparency and ease of operation.
This was the biggest ever gathering of heads of all the higher educational institutions in the Country. Many digital initiatives taken under the National Mission for Education through ICT was showcased in the meeting.
The meeting ended with adoption of “ Programme 17 for 17” : – A 17 point action plan for 2017 – for building digital campuses and high quality education. The action plan covers measures like universal adoption of digital education, digital financial transactions in the campuses from the current academic year.
Three Books were launched on the occasion – account of NMEICT initiatives, list of 323 courses which are on offer in the current academic semester and a eBook of presentation of digital best practices by more than 500 institutions.
