Indian Institute of Management (IIMB) has become the first business school in India to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) through their program called ‘IIMBx’. The program desires to provide quality education free of cost. The courses have been carefully designed to cater to a divergent group of learners, who can utilize these courses to hone their managerial skills.
This is good news, considering the plight of students who face fierce competition every year trying to get a seat in a tier-one college. There is no shortage of people who want to learn. However, only a chosen few realize their dream of getting good higher education. Due to physical and financial limitations deserving candidates lose out on numerous opportunities. These Massive Open Online Courses could help in solving that problem. As stated by Dr. Sushil Vachani, Director of IIMB, these courses are aimed at creating a social impact and revolutionizing learning with the help of technology. July 2015 will see the launch of the inaugural courses on Business Statistics, IT Innovation and Operations Management. The courses will be taught by some of the most qualified professors the Institute has to offer. ‘IIMBx’ plans on introducing ten courses in the first year of its launch. To increase accessibility they also have plans to make the content of these courses available in regional transcripts.
The response to these courses has been overwhelming. The courses in a short span of time have received thousands of registrations. The first course on ‘Statistics for Business” starts on July 7th, followed by courses on Innovation and IT Management (21st July, 2015) and Introduction to Operation Management (18th August, 2015). The mediums used for teaching would be videos, quizzes, assignments etc. This would make the process of learning interactive and continuous assessment would help monitor the growth of each student. With the help of discussion forums students can clear their doubts as well as engage in discussions and debates. In order to maintain the high standards of education IIMB is known for, these courses will be closely studied and evaluated for further improvement. At the termination of each course a student would get a free certificate. However, for the price of $25 one can also get a verified certificate.
‘IIMBx’ is a free learning platform created in association with ‘Edx’, a non-profit initiative of Harvard and MIT. Edx started in 2012, has continued to provide free education to millions due to its affiliation to many top notch institution like Stanford University, Harvard, IIT Bombay, to name a few.
IIMBx is a step in the right direction. Aligning technology with the method of teaching could lessen the gaps in our educational system. It is a great initiative with a very promising future.
Link to the courses- here
Contributed by Anchita Sharma
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