National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning
 | |
| Founder | |
|---|---|
| Type | Educational |
| Focus | Science, Engineering |
| Method | Video and Web resource |
| Website |
nptel |
The National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), a project funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), provides e-learning through online Web and Video courses in Engineering, Sciences, Technology, Management and Humanities. This is a joint initiative by seven IITs and IISc Bangalore. Other selected premier institutions also act as Associate Partner Institutions.
NPTEL is a curriculum building exercise and is directed towards providing learning materials in science and engineering by adhering to the syllabi of All India Council for Technical Education and the slightly modified curricula of major affiliating Universities. It has developed curriculum based video courses and web-based e-courses targeting students and faculty of institutions offering UG engineering programs.
About the Courses
NPTEL provides free online courseware in the form of web courses and video lectures. These lectures utilize a multitude of facilities of the video medium such as chalk-and-talk, tablet writing, power point, two and three dimensional animations, interactive codes, etc. Each course comprises approximately 40 video lectures of about 1 hour duration. An online discussion forum is incorporated wherein students can post and review questions. Wherever applicable, course assignments, handouts, self-evaluation tasks, etc. have been integrated. Workshops are routinely conducted for institutes, students, mentors, etc. under the auspices of NPTEL.
Disciplines
There are approximately 750 courses in various disciplines currently being offered across Engineering, Sciences, Technology, Management and Humanities. Some of these disciplines are mentioned in the table below:
| Aerospace Engineering | Biotechnology |
| Atmospheric Science | Chemical Engineering |
| Basic courses | Chemistry and Biochemistry |
| Civil Engineering | Mathematics |
| Computer Science and Engineering | Mechanical Engineering |
| Electrical Engineering | Metallurgy and Material Science |
| Electronics and Communication Engineering | Mining Engineering |
| Engineering Design | |
| Environmental Engineering | Ocean Engineering |
| General | Physics |
| Humanities and Social Science | Textile Engineering |
| Management |
Speech to Text Transcription
Text transcriptions of all the video lectures are available on the official NPTEL website in the following formats:
- audio file (mp3 format)
- transcript (pdf format)
- subtitles to all videos
Upcoming features:
- search within video
- local language translations
Access to courses
The online courseware provided by NPTEL is free. One may access these courses utilizing any of the following methods:
- Through the official NPTEL website http://nptel.ac.in. These videos may be downloaded in MP4, FLV and 3gp formats.
- As video streams on demand through YouTube http://www.youtube.com/iit. They can be downloaded using any browser add-ons.
- Institutions may provide hard disks and receive copies of these courses free of cost at the NPTEL office, IIT Madras.
- They are broadcast through the Eklavya channel provided by Gyan Darshan (Door Darshan Television, Govt. of India enterprise).
Individuals who are unable to download lectures due to bandwidth constraints may purchase the video courses in DVDs from BodhBridge Educational Services Private Limited, Chennai, by paying a nominal fee that covers the cost of 2 DVDs and shipment logistics.
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Participating Institutions
Seven Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT Bombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore (IISc) have come together to create course contents for NPTEL.
- Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay
- Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
- Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (coordinating Institute)
- Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
- Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Impact of NPTEL
NPTEL contents are being used by various educational institutions as part of their teaching-learning process. While faculty members are using these contents as part of their lesson plan to teach university curriculum, students are using NPTEL not only to prepare for technical jobs and competitive exams, but also as a platform for constant learning and updating knowledge for the ever-changing environment and market realities. NPTEL contents are designed such that they enhance and complement students’ residential learning experience at their given institutions.
History of the Programme
The idea of having a Technology enhanced learning initiative involving IITs and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) was first proposed by IISc Bangalore in the year 1999 immediately following a Workshop on Technology Enhanced Learning (WoTEL) conducted in Bangalore in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, USA. Following that, significant infrastructure for the production of video-based teaching material by the institutes was set up. As of March 2014, approximately 750 video courses and web-based courses have been developed by the faculty members of these institutions.
GATE Preparation using NPTEL Material
GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) is IIT’s competitive entrance exam for Master’s and Doctoral programs across India. NPTEL provides GATE question papers and mock tests on its official website nptel.ac.in. Previous 3 year question papers with reference to NPTEL content are available. Practice tests (without solution) are also available for students that mimic the actual online exam pattern.
Certification Courses
Certification courses are offered by NPTEL in association with industry partners NASSCOM and Google. This is a free course and is open to all college students in any engineering or science stream in India. Currently, these certifications are offered for one course - Algorithms, Data Structures and Programming Languages.
These courses offered 2 or 3 times every year are aimed at bridging the gap between academia and industry. On successful completion of the course, an in-person, proctored exam can be taken by paying a nominal fee. Those who pass the exam will be awarded a certificate.