Authors: Dr Umashree D K, Sandeep Patil
Institutions: SRI SARVAJNA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, AZAD COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, Satara (M.S.)
Country: India
Topic: Innovation through MOOCs practices
Sector: Higher Education
UNESCO Area of Focus: Building capacity
Session Format: Presentation
Abstract
SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is an Indian Massive open online course (MOOC) platform. It is an initiative by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India to provide an integral teaching learning platform in online mode (GOI,2015). SWAYAM has emerged as a leading global MOOC provider within a short timespan with more than 10 Million registered users in 2019. This study aims to explore how SWAYAM acts as an emerging accelerator for Open and Online Education in India and abroad. It also focuses on understanding the significant role of SWAYAM in providing an open education platform to all sections of society. It is a normative survey study, which involves exploring the views and experiences of course coordinators and developers of SWAYAM. The opinions of course participants is an important element of the study. The study also emphasizes qualitative analysis of course content of SWAYAM MOOCs, investigating the effectiveness of various modes of learning. The findings of the study reveals that content and modes of presentation in SWAYAM courses are proved to be significantly effective in enhancing the cognitive abilities of the learners.The results of the study also indicate that course developers and coordinators from the various organisations have offered significantly high qualitative courses in the different dimensions of subject areas. The findings of the study reveal that SWAYAM courses attracted a large number of aspirants to enroll for the respective courses offered by various organisations. Results also reveal that there is a need in improving the course content delivery of SWAYAM MOOCs. Apart from these findings, the study has also found that the SWAYAM courses significantly accelerated the growth and development of open and online education in India within a short period and played a significant role in reaching all sectors of society by providing high quality higher education at global level.Keywords
SWAYAM, Open Education, Online Education, MOOC, OER