Leveraging ICT for driving Quality in Indian Higher Education

Leveraging ICT for driving Quality in Indian Higher Education Ashok Jhunjhunwala, IIT Madras

[email protected]

1EDU Leaders Conference, Chennai

ICT and Education

• India has 1.2 Billion people

• Education is a major challenge• Problem in terms of Quantity

• In early 80s• Much less than 50% children went to

school• there were about 100 engineering

colleges -> 25000 students a year

• Problem in terms of Equity• Education was for upper strata of

society

• Problem in terms of Quality

• India has 1.2 Billion people

• Education is a major challenge• Problem in terms of Quantity

• In early 80s• Much less than 50% children went to

school• there were about 100 engineering

colleges -> 25000 students a year

• Problem in terms of Equity• Education was for upper strata of

society

• Problem in terms of Quality

• Major gains in Quantity and Equity

• 96% of children enter school• 1.76M enter Engineering in 3498

colleges (up from 0.55M in 1511 colleges in 2004)

• 0.385M enter Management in 2467 colleges (up from 0.084M in 1132 colleges in 2004)

• Engg. fees: 30-40K in Govt and ₹75K – 200K in private

• College Loans up to 50200C from ₹4600C in 2004 with 6% NPA₹

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Can ICT help make a major impact in Education Quality?

Education is Having Its Internet Moment

• In a recent article Karen Cator wrote “This is education’s Internet moment. Are we ready?”

• Over 6 million watch Khan Academy’s 4,400 videos on math, science and history every month?

• MIT’s Open-Course-Ware initiative has produced thousands of college courses

• iTunes U surpassed one billion downloads• 160,000 registered for Stanford’s Thrun’s free on-line

MOOC course “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence”

• Will Technology replace teachers? • Soon Karen wrote her next article that it will not


MHRD recognises this need• Quality Enhancement in Engineering Education (QEEE)

Committee towards improving quality in five hundred tier-2 and tier-3 colleges

• Recognises the role that ICT-based education can play• But also recognises the role that the teachers and educational

institutes would continue to play• Figures out how ICT can help enhance quality in education

• Especially in countries like India where rapid expansion has implied poorly trained teachers

• Interventions can be particularly sought through


Direct-to-students D2S: remote ICT

based intervention

Training teachers using ICT

Using ICT to enhance governance and transparency in

education

Design of D2S recognizes Global eLearning Trends

Advantages of ICT in education recognized globally• Taking limited resources: teachers, quality learning

material to many• Enabling different pedagogical methods: video,

animation, 2D/3D viewing, games, simulations…

• Enabling individualized any-time, any-where learning• Interactive and two-way learning process

D2S designed to incorporate all the above advantages but aims at supplementing and empowering the local resources / teachers, rather than replacing them


Need to figure out• What works and what does not

• Which aspect of the program helps which section of students – highly motivated, middle of the class, least motivated

• What kind of programs / subjects make most impact?

• What is the role of the local faculty?


Experiment & Evaluate: Direct-to-Students

• Delivery to 500 colleges (100 college pilot from Jan14)• Live Classes• e-Content• Tutorials and Group Discussions • Courses on Web: MOOC• Practice and Lab experiments• Vocational Augmentation Courses

• Enablers • ICT infrastructure (Connectivity & Device) provision and

management


Live Classes• Placing the Best teachers in front of students

• Live delivery of High Quality Classes in classrooms using video on DTH and high-speed internet • Controlled interactivity between students and Teacher

• Part of main curriculum in selected colleges• about fifteen classes• where rest of course/ tutorials/ Interactions handled by local faculty• Local faculty to be present during live-classes for interactions

• Pilot with 10 courses in diverse disciplines in 100 engineering colleges from January 2014


Addresses need to enhance problem solving skills

Synced with Live Class – Live Class Instructor provides structured problem / assignment sheets and conducts remote sessions with local teachers on approach to solving

Local teacher, based on inputs from Live Faculty, holds weekly tutorial sessions at their college

Technology also allows for tutor to sign in from outside the college and conduct remote sessions

Addresses need to enhance problem solving skills

Synced with Live Class – Live Class Instructor provides structured problem / assignment sheets and conducts remote sessions with local teachers on approach to solving

Local teacher, based on inputs from Live Faculty, holds weekly tutorial sessions at their college

Technology also allows for tutor to sign in from outside the college and conduct remote sessions

Institute Server Students& Local Faculty

Broadband

Remote Tutor

TUTORIALSD2S Methodology


Two bridge programs Offered1. Learning Python (In vernacular language)

Offered in 6 Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Oriya, Bengali and Hindi)

Sessions to have a dedicated remote tutor logged in to interact with students from each college through the QEEE software

Exams to be conducted and certificate to be provided

2. Spoken English.Aims at students who are handicapped due to inadequate English

language skills.Conducted as a series of live sessions with extensive interaction.Local faculty to be involved in evaluation of spoken exercises.Certificate to be provided

Bridge Programs

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Pilot implementation of D2S undertaken Jan – Apr 2014

12 Live Courses 1. Comp Arch and Org2. EM Fields 3. Probability and Statistics 4. Linear Algebra5. Comp Methods in TFE6. Engg ThermoD7. Geotech Analysis 8. Engg Mech 9. Engg Flu Mech 10.Operating Sys11.Heat Transfer12.Wireless Comm

1 Tutorial1. Computer Arch & Org

2 Virtual Labs 1. Digital Signal Processing Lab (IITM)2. Virtual Smart Structures Lab (IITD)

1 MOOCSAlgorithms (MSR, India)


Live Class using White Board


Tutorial Session in progress


Overall Feedback

Stakeholders# of

respons# of

collegeav #/

course

Exceeds expectations (scores 4

or 5)

Below expectations (scores 1 or

2)

Neutral (score

3)

QEEE Coordinator 70 70 53% 22% 26%

System Admin 57 57 55% 27% 17%

Local Teachers 56 16 4.3 63% 21% 16%

Students 4570 26 326.4 40% 35% 24%


Feedback considered stakeholder wise, student wise, course wise and college wise…

Detailed Analysis of feedback

Exceeds expectation

• Live classes very well received by colleges

• Core concepts taught by IIT faculty helped students in GATE preparation and placement interviews

• Tutorial module provided hands-on and problem solving approach to understanding concepts

• Need the program to offer more number of courses across semesters

Below Expectation

• Syllabus mismatch – Local faculty be involved in finalizing course content

• Start at 9 AM instead of 8 AM • Suggested whiteboard /QEEE

software tools be used for lectures rather than blackboard for better clarity

• Need for uninterrupted network connectivity for the smooth functioning of the program


Learnings from Phase I

• Implementation issues to be addressed• 8:00 am too early for start of live lectures• Mid term break to be introduced for colleges to adjust their internal teaching schedule and exams

• Strengthen technology• Platform to be upgraded to enable continued access to content• Issues with audio / video, connectivity to be addressed - Colleges to be tested comprehensively for readiness and ratings provided for the same

• Local faculty involvement to be strengthened• Local faculty to be involved in curriculum planning for the 15 QEEE sessions

• Increase interaction between local and IIT faculty• Issues of “standard”, curriculum mismatch can be addressed


Changes in implementation to suit all•Live Classes to start at 9:00 am •Have a “Mid term break” between the 15 lectures: for colleges to make

adjustments to their teaching and exam schedules

Increase “inclusion” of local colleges into the program•Colleges involved in course and curriculum finalisation•Local teachers involved in tutorials, exam grading and delivery

Increase commitment by ensuring accountability•Student attendance to be made compulsory•Extensive monitoring, feedback and rating on commitment to program•Performance in QEEE exams to reflect on overall grade of student•QEEE certificates to be awarded based on participation and performance

Program modified in Phase II based on feedback…


Geographical distribution (Sem started Aug 1, 2014)

145 colleges

Phase II


Offerings for term starting Aug 1

LIVE CLASS

1. Math I (Tut)2. Math III (Tut)3. Physics (Tut)4. Transportation & Traffic

Engg5. Analog Circuits6. Intro to DB7. Mass Transfer8. Indus Engg & OR (Tut)9. DSP10. Machine Design (Tut)11. Data Struc & Algo12. Chemical Reaction Engg

(Tut)13. Smart Struc (Tut)14. Software Engg15. Fibre Optic Comm (Tut)

LABS

1. DSP2. Smart

Structures Lab3. Physics Lab BRIDGE & INDUSTRY

BRIDGE1. Spoken English2. Learning Python3. Industry Bridge

sessions from CII

MOOCs1. Basic Electric

Circuits, IITM2. Theoretical

Computer Science, MSR


• 15-18 sessions to be delivered by senior industry persons from a variety of industry sectors including Aerospace, IT, Elect, Telecom, Auto, Chemical, Utilities, Consumer durables etc.• hosted companies including TCS, CTS, Siemens, Flextronics, Ford,

Hyundai, Saint Gobain, Rolls Royce, Kirloskar, BPCL, ONGC, Cavinkare, etc. and others like Microsoft

• 2 hour sessions to include a video on technology, talk by the industry person, panel discussions and extensive interaction with students• Aimed at exposing students to these industry sectors

• Ideal for 4th-5th and 6th-7th semester students

Industry Bridge – Technology Trends in Industry

CII- QEEE program


Phase II Program related feedback• Content & Level mismatch

• Course content/syllabus mismatch of QEEE coursework and college coursework• Some courses required students to have completed pre requisites

• Lack of sufficient scope for interaction• In a 1 hour class, 45-50 mins is spent in teaching leaving very little time for student

interaction• Assignments and in-class quiz could be given for every class to keep students involved

and motivated• Local faculty need more and frequent interaction with IIT faculty

• Method of teaching• Subjects involving derivations need to be explained much more. Lectures can

preferably start with a review of previous class and conclude with a summary. E.g.; Analog and S/W Engg, Math I and Machine Design. Basics need to be covered in greater depth especially in courses such as FOC.

• Faculty to include more case studies in their sessions for improved interaction


Why should we not discontinue QEEE?

Implementation RelatedScheduling

• Program timetable to be frozen and provided to colleges in advance

• Short notice cancellations of classes need to be avoided

• Start date of course to be kept consistent to the start of the college semester

• Cancellation of classes can be communicated as SMS’s in addition to emails.

• Avoid scheduling sessions between 9-10am and 1-2 pm

• Colleges tend to lose two hours of college class for one hour of QEEE class

Access to content

• Syllabus to be shared before the start of course registration . This is to give an idea of the content before colleges opt for the course

• Handouts/lecture notes for all courses to be made available to students in advance

• Uploading recorded lecture videos to be done immediately after the completion of the live lecture

• Assignment reminders to go to Local faculty as SMS and emails

Logistics

• Studio needs to be used for lecture delivery at IIT end for good quality. (This was in connection with the lecture delivered from IITK)

• Coordinators, Sys Admins and Local Faculty to be given certificate of participation to incentivize them to be proactive

• Only local faculty of a particular course to be notified of revisions pertaining to that course

• Colleges to have a dedicated staff for System Admin activities (not as an add on responsibility for a local faculty)

• Interdisciplinary subjects (e.g. DSP) can be opened up to larger audience compared to other specific courses. This can be achieved by setting up additional QEEE classrooms at the college end.


Technology Related

Software• Buffering issues in Spoken English classes

when videos are shared to be looked into• Recorded lectures to be available

immediately after the class., Rewinding option while viewing recorded lectures to be enabled

• Password resetting on software needs to be made more straightforward.

• Start Button is unavailable on local server. Hence class had to be accessed from the cloud server

• Forum to be created for use by faculty and students for every course

• Audio bridge to be added to compensate for unsuccessful interaction with the IIT faculty through live class software.

Hardware• DTH can be a good supplement for

the program. But video quality needs to be improved

• To recheck port from which official emails are sent out. Emails are received in junk for a few recipients.

• Colleges to dedicate the required bandwidth only for QEEE. QEEE team to monitor bandwidth at every college. Priority link to be given to all QEEE colleges.

• Production quality to be improved. Attention to be paid to camera focus, lighting issues, echo etc.

• DTH to be made digital instead of the present Analog


Learnings from Phase II

Increase “engagement” Need to build a “always on”

communication channel between live faculty – student as well as live faculty – local faculty

Improve interaction through more quizzes, Q & A

Address “sync” issues Syllabus mismatch

Time table mismatch

Level mismatch

Program for 2015 redesigned to incorporate learnings…

Live interaction “Live” reproduces a face-to-face session more

effectively than recorded video

“Live” improve commitment and compliance

Spoken English & CII Bridge Well appreciated by students

Fills an important gap in engineering education

Emphasis on problem solving Tutorial and assignment sheets contributing to

understanding of theory and application

IIT faculty lectures are more application oriented and less “bookish”

What works Areas for improvement


• E- Books

• Text and picture and some questions at end of each chapter• Works well for highly motivated students

• Video Lectures• Lectures on a subject recorded using video: for example

NPTEL• No interaction• Typical length of videos around 40 minutes to an hour

• beyond attention span of most students (only for highly motivated)

• e-content • Web based reading material with some animations and

audio / video• Limited interaction available


Interactive e-book: Going Beyond existing Learning Material

Course MaterialEnrich course contents with Text, Images, Videos, Animations, PDF, PPT, Hyperlinks

• Auto Evaluation of Objective type questions.• Peer evaluation of subjective type questions

Evaluation

• Discuss Course Materials• Post Questions• Exchange Ideas

Discussion Forums

Learning Materials• Dictionary • Bookmark • Chat

Crowd Translation

• Quiz • Assignments • Workbook

Knowledge Assessment

A comprehensive attempt at facilitating online teaching and learning


On top of it

• The e- book captures every stroke of a

student and stores in a database

for analytics• To provide student / teacher / parent feedback

• How long did the student spend on each section• What all did she do?• How many questions

did she answer right in the first instant

• How many times didshe revise


Benchmark the activity / performance of the student

with that of her peers

Benchmark the activity / performance of the student

with that of her peers

Phase III design modified…• Deliver one or more “concepts” within a course

• Each module is a “complete” concept: Colleges can weave in the module/topic into their overall course • Accompanied by a coursepack with all the relevant material in advance

• 1 hour of tutorial – part of each module

• Spot quizzes as well as exams introduced as part of the delivery model

• Increase “engagement”

• Active forums on the coursepack for interactions – one forum for faculty-faculty interactions and another forum open to all

• Frequent meetings ( telecon and Videoconf) between IIT faculty and local faculty

• Improved in-session feedback

• Faculty get feedback directly from colleges through forums and meetings; indirectly from program team based on students’ use of feedback

• Colleges get feedback on attendance, participation, bandwidth during sessions, exam results etc.


To Sum Up• Improving Quality using ICT requires a lot of

experimentation• A number of failures and learning from failures• We are still far from understanding what really works

• But there is a little doubt that ICT is a great tool• Dogma and hard beliefs will hurt us• Hard work is needed to find right solution


Leveraging ICT for driving Quality in Indian Higher Education

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