We have five campuses; and I remember when the institution first started, we were having quite a bit of challenge in filling up faculty positions at the campuses. So we went to Amma for advice. We told Amma that most qualified people prefer to work in industry rather than in academia. India is today a leader in the IT industry, so many talented people are being attracted to the IT industry.

Amma suggested that if IT or information technology was the problem, then we should think of using IT itself to solve the problem. “Why don’t you connect all Amrita campuses via a high speed network?” Amma asked us. “Make sure the best professors who teach in one campus also teach classes in other campuses through this high speed network and a good e-learning platform.”

We thus started way back in 2004 and embarked on a major e-learning initiative in the institution. Our goal was to create an immersive environment for students, so that they could participate from remote class rooms. The system has now matured and has been selected by the Government of India for deployment in all 20,000 colleges and universities in India to enable e- learning.

– Dr. Venkat, Vice-Chancellor, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

The A-View system developed by an Amrita team and being deployed now in colleges and universities all over India was showcased at the recent IEEE International Conference on Technology Enhanced Education at the Amritapuri campus.

“The 1500 engineering colleges in the country need 10,000 qualified faculty members,” stated Dr. R. K. Shevgaonkar, Director, IIT Delhi, at the conference, explaining why A-View offered a viable solution for higher education.

The fact that IIT Bombay has already used A-View for conducting Teacher Empowerment Programs for thousands of faculty members across the country was highlighted.

Also highlighted was the fact that the IITs will soon offer a research-based, part-time M.Tech. degree program online using A-View.

Prof. Kamal Biljani, Principal Architect of the A-View system recalled that on September 26, 2011, the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) sent a letter to Vice-Chancellors of all universities in India, directing them to install and use A-View.

“Many big universities in India have several colleges following the same curriculum and evaluation system under their umbrellas,” explained Prof. Kamal. “Through A-View, the best teacher in a given subject can reach out to all students in all colleges easily.”

“The low-cost Akash tablet which is expected to further revolutionize higher education in India comes with A-view pre-installed,” Prof. Kamal informed.

The A-View workshop on the second day of the conference attracted wide participation. Hands-on training was provided and best practices for usage were highlighted. Participants received a certificate, which authorizes them to become A-View instructors in their own institutions.

“The hands-on workshop was useful since I will now be able to train my colleagues in the usage of the tool,” shared Ms. Suchita Rao, instructional technology specialist at IIIT Hyderabad, who participated.

A-View is a user-friendly multi-modal, multimedia-enabled, e-learning platform that can be used by faculty members to teach in a live and interactive manner to students in various geographical locations around the world simultaneously.

This award-winning, indigenously-built, e-learning tool was developed with the objective to provide value-based education to all, as part of Amrita’s mission and vision.

SEE ALSO
International Conference on Technology Enhanced Education
Benedictory Address at ICTEE 2012
Nobel Laureate Speaks at ICTEE 2012 Inauguration
ICTEE Delegates Meet Chancellor Amma
Vocational Education and Haptics at ICTEE 2012
Schools’ Workshop at ICTEE 2012
Virtual Labs Workshop at ICTEE 2012
ICTEE 2012 Concludes

January 7, 2012
Amritapuri Campus