Belling the dreaded Common Admission Test (CAT) will not be the only way to get an opportunity to study a course at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB). The premier institute is all set to open its doors to aspiring learners, albeit virtually.
Starting this July, anyone anywhere in the world can log on to IIMBx through edX (a non-profit online initiative by MIT and Harvard) and learn one or more Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) any time. Significantly, while the courses are free, earning a certificate at the end of it will cost $25 each, while IIMB will be spending nearly Rs. 18 lakh delivering each course. The institute has set up two MOOC studios on campus for the purpose.
Announcing details of the initiative – said to be the first by any IIM – IIMB Director Sushil Vachani said on Thursday that the primary objective is social welfare. Terming the “real estate based education” as “limiting”, he said it is necessary to upgrade the skills of a vast majority of workers to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’. This could mean having management programmes for small businesses and kirana store owners.
IIMB is open to having collaborations with the other IIMs as well as the IITs, he added.
Faculty members involved in delivering the first set of MOOCs said emphasis on design, execution and packaging was given in a 40:20:40 ratio. The exercise had also changed the way they would approach regular classroom teaching, they all echoed.
While eight five-week courses will be rolled out this year, the number will reach 10 by May 2016.
Anant Agarwal, CEO, edX said there are 4.5 million students for the company’s courses worldwide, with five lakh being from India.
