IT companies giving inputs for online course

National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL), led by IIT and IISc, will move to a massive open online course platform, which may be provided by Google's Coursebuilder or Harvard and MIT-promoted online course platform edX, or both.

The three courses have been developed in association with IT firms TCS and Cognizant, which are giving inputs for the course material. Also, their centres across the country will also be available to NPTEL for conducting the final exams. Nasscom is supporting the venture and Infosys and Wipro are expected to join soon. Faculty from seven IIITs are helping with the course material.

"IT companies want to improve the quality of education and are working with IIT faculty. It is not a replacement for in-house training but students will be better qualified," said professor K Mangala Sunder, national coordinator of NPTEL.

NPTEL is looking for a software platform to host its content along the lines of international providers Coursera and edX. Both Coursera and edX have millions of users, and Indians account for about 15%, second only to the US. The NPTEL channel, currently on YouTube, has 1.5 lakh subscribers and 8.7 crore views.