Learn about consumer behaviour from a teacher at a different college or study elasticity of demand sitting at home or in another part of the world.
Students will now be able to access subject material online thanks to the Mumbai University's newly launched “Open Education Resource“ on Wikieducator. This allows teachers to upload content for free that can then be accessed by students across streams, across colleges and across cities.
The project has been launched on a pilot basis for modules in microeconomics and soft skills, and will be expanded to other subjects. The first set of 20 modules on these two subjects went up on the site last month after the first set of teacher training workshops.
“Economics is one of the most taught subjects at the university, and students also find it difficult,“ said Kavita Laghate, coordinator of the project and an associate professor at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
“The best teachers may not always be available, students from different colleges may not be able to access their notes. This opens up the system.“
Laghate added that soft skills, which includes communication and etiquette, was chosen because “it would benefit everyone“.
The modules have been pitched at the level of first year students, and over time will be expanded to cover the second year and third year syllabi as well.
The topics uploaded so far include: oligopoly, consumer behaviour, cost concepts and dumping The system will also allow for corrections and modifications by users, which would be vetted by senior academics. All the material is free of charge.
“Teachers should produce material for global education,“ said Rajpal Hande, director of the board of college and university development of the University. “Not only will our teachers be teaching their students, they will be reaching out to a global audience.“
The teachers will attend another round of workshops later this month. The project has begun with a group of 25 teachers, but hopes to include other academics who would like to contribute.
Source | Hindustan Times | 18 November 2011
