They were supplemented by more than two dozen courses in core science, language and management recommended for all engineering undergraduates.
Engineering colleges can also acquire the courseware and provide it through their own intranet for a fee, estimated at about Rs5 lakh. The revenue will be used to sustain the programme, and is expected to be a fraction of the investment in the courseware.
For the colleges, the IIT faculty is also studying the use of a “creative commons” licence that favours users’ rights. This alternative system means colleges can tailor the course material to suit training requirements, as long as the IITs get credit.
“Engineering colleges across the country have their own methods of training and they may be constrained if they are provided material that is copyright protected. By using the creative commons licence, we are providing them with a lot of flexibility in using the material,” says Shishir Jha of IIT Bombay and project lead of Creative Commons, India.
The project is loosely modelled on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s OpenCourseWare, a free publication of course material.
But, says IIT Bombay’s Moudgalya, the efforts that have gone into the creation of this project have been far more intensive. “We have gone through the syllabus prescribed by the All India Council for Technical Education and evolved the programme around this syllabus to ensure that it is relevant,” he says, referring to the government agency that regulates private engineering colleges.
The NPTEL project is now ready to move into the Rs90- crore phase II, which is still at a proposal stage. This involves expanding subjects covered to include chemical, metallurgical and aerospace engineering and some sciences, in addition to engineering electives and postgraduate courses.
It is also looking to create and share content with the National Institutes of Technology (NITs) and other prestigious colleges.
“By 2010, we hope to cover most of the learning materials in post-secondary science and engineering education. This can be achieved if we establish a strong partnership with 20 NITs and other leading engineering institutions,” says IIT Madras’ Krishnan.
An early benficiary of NPTEL, the NIT in Karnataka says experts’ knowledge benefits both faculty and students.
“For an institute such as ours, where lack of resources is not a very big concern, the courseware provides good support as supplementary education,” says director Sandeep Sancheti.
The project, he adds, has tremendous potential in revolutionizing engineering education in the country. “Engineering education is in a constant flux and we do not have enough expertise in a lot of emerging fields. This initiative can help us overcome a shortage problem by maximizing our limited resources,” Sancheti says.
Several workshops have been held and more are planned to bring teachers around the country in touch with the NPTEL faculty, eventually enabling them design their own courses and spearhead technology-based education in India.