PG students can choose 44 subjects under UGC-MOOC SWAYAM platform

Mysuru: The 103-year-old University of Mysore (UoM) has become the first University in Karnataka to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) by adopting SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds). The very important aspect of this revolutionary platform given by the UGC (University Grants Commission) is that one can get teaching and lessons from experts in various parts of the country, said Mysore University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar.

He was speaking after inaugurating a one-day workshop on ‘Adoption of UGC-MOOCs SWAYAM courses’ organised by College Development Council (CDC) and SWAYAM Digital Learning Monitoring Cell at Vijnana Bhavan in Manasagangothri here this morning and said that this workshop is being conducted to bring about awareness among both teachers and students with regard to online courses and exams.

Any new system when it is introduced always faces resistance like the semester system and the introduction of the CBCS (Choice Based Credit System) did earlier. But this is a new era and it is the time of digital education which has come to the country and the teachers cannot sit back and say that they are not ready. It is not only students but even public can make use of this platform, he said.

In the New Education Policy (NEP) the aim is to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) as the number of enrolment in Post Graduate courses are going down. MOOC helps in increasing the enrolment through online and hybrid learning where teachers who cannot go to rural areas can teach online and thus the students can be benefited, said Prof. Hemantha Kumar.

In the first phase of the project, SWAYAM is adopted at the UoM Post Graduate Centres in Manasagangothri, Hemagangothri in Hassan and Mandya PG Centre. About 183 students had enrolled in 18 subjects and 163 students appeared for UGC-MOOCs SWAYAM course exam held on Jan.19 and 20, 2019 of which 113 (69.32%) students passed the exam by securing 40 and above percentage, he said and added that the performance of the University was above the national average of 50 percent.

VC Prof. Hemantha Kumar pointed out that in the current phase, these courses will also be made available to the affiliated colleges of the UoM. Post Graduate students of UOM now have the option of choosing 44 subjects under UGC MOOCs SWAYAM which starts from July-November 2019, he added.

This workshop is to make the teachers aware of the online courses and how to motivate the students to take up these courses, said Prof. Hemantha Kumar.

CDC Director Dr. Srikantaswamy in his power point presentation said that this is a multi-lingual platform where students can learn in Kannada also without having knowledge of English.

UoM Registrar Prof. Lingaraj Gandhi also spoke. SWAYAM Courses Co-ordinator Dr. H.S.Kumara spoke about the courses.

Chairpersons and SWAYAM mentors in PG Centres, UoM, CBCS Nodal officers, Principals of affiliated colleges are participating in the one-day workshop.