More of India’s Universities Go Digital
Madras University’s recent announcements of the creation of a virtual university and a digital library are being echoed around the country. The august institution may not be the trendsetter in these circumstances, as technological expansion is spilling out too concurrently for any one source to be the inspiration.
Even before Madras University’s 150th anniversary celebrations kicked off, the Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi announced its plans to digitize over 1,600 rare books and 2,500 delicate manuscripts dating from the 16th to the 19th century. The University’s library is also famous for housing original documents pertaining to India’s independence from Britain in 1947.
This digitzation project holds import over regular digital libraries, because old papers are extremely fragile, and only by making digital copies can they be preserved with assurance for generations to come. In addition, digital copies will be available to a much larger group of people, because this solution eliminates the concern of manuscripts fragmenting through frequent handling. S.M. Afzal, a university official, asserted that the University’s “primary aim is to help researchers from across the country to access the rare books, papers and manuscripts.”
Meanwhile, the Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) declared the launch of its new Digital Campus. The title of ‘Digital Campus’ has been accomplished with the distribution of 3,000 laptops to students and 1,500 laptops to faculty members. Wi-Fi has also been installed in certain locations such as the MAHE University building, its Food Court and select hostels. Soon, 35 hostels and 24 academic buildings will have wireless connectivity.
MAHE’s additional decision to include its Medical program in this digital expansion gives this program the additional distinction of being the very first university in the country to offer eLearning opportunities to medical students as part of the MCI curriculum. Over 2,500 medical students will benefit from their eLearning system.
MAHE’s newly unveiled 24-hour 7-day-a-week Data Center features world-class technology to facilitate the application and admissions processes. Online admission tests and online applications will be connected to centers for examination across the country. The Data Center also houses the Video Conferencing system through which live lectures from Beaumont Hospital in the U.S.A. will reach the Indian medical students. Business and administrative courses will profit by the new PeopleSoft ERP system, and the IT programs will receive courses through the multi-media VSAT system.
The Manipal education network has come a long way from its origins in the Kasturba Medical College that opened its doors to 100 students in 1953. Today, than 4,000 students train to become doctors at KMC–and the larger Manipal Group consists of 2 Universities, 7 campuses in Bangalore, Mangalore, Manipal, Malaysia, Sikkim, Nepal and Dubai, 24 professional colleges and 70,000 students.
Furthermore, Manipal Universal Learning (ManipalU) has long sinced offered distance and continuing education to nearly 55,000 students at 500 Learning Centers around the country. No doubt its new commitment to its eLearning program will help expand all its programs further. Said Dr. Ramdas Pai, the President of MAHE, “We firmly believe in leveraging technology and systems in imparting world class education.”