British Council Repeats Open Online Course

The British Council's free Massive Open Online Course Exploring English: Language and Culture is being offered on futurelearn.com for the second time, by popular demand. It is a six-week course that begins on 2 February 2015.

Chris Brandwood, Regional Business Development Manager, English, British Council South Asia, said, "This course is for those keen to improve their English for work, travel or study. Large numbers of people from across the world signed up for the first edition of the course and we look forward to large numbers this time too."

The course uses short videos to present a different topic each week, including English as a global language, the environment, entrepreneurship and literature. It centres on social interaction, where people engage in debates and participate in online quizzes, all of which encourage active learning.

Source | Times of India | 21 January 2015

Online courses by IIM, IITs from 2015, says HRD Minister

According to the Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Ms Smriti Irani, Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) will launch several free online courses in 2015.

It is a good news for general candidates as they are going to get online lectures from IIT and IIM's professors. Minimal fee will be charged for certification of the online courses. For SC, ST and specially able candidates the course will be offered free-of-cost. 

The IITs and IIMs are planning to launch the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the coming days, backed by the government's Swayam Bharat program. The government's keen interest in developing online education in the country has acted as a great motivator for the institutes. In the budget, Rs 100 crore was earmarked for online education for MOOCs as well as virtual classrooms. MOOCs may contribute towards attaining the target of training 500 million people by the year 2022, say industry experts.

Many IITs and IIMs are collaborating with international institutes, government as well as the HRD ministry to deliver MOOCs. MOOCs have become a rage globally in the field of higher education, with their interactive mode of learning and easy accessibility. Some experts however, feel that MOOCs have limited scope of filling the skills gap as they are based on one-way communication.

Source | http://indiatoday.intoday.in