LTEO lead e-learning developments in India
University of Bath staff, Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou, Head of e-Learning and Gwen van der Velden,
Director of Learning and Teaching Enhancement have today returned from a visit to Hyderabad, India
on behalf of the
British
Council. Part of their visit involved presenting institutional approaches to e-learning
developments, open educational resources and MOOCs to a conference of Vice Chancellors of Indian
Institutions. Bath’s involvement in Futurelearn, the first UK MOOC platform, was a major area of
interest for the Indian institutions who have a particular interest in using e-learning to widen
access to university study. India has an ambitious and well-funded ‘National mission on Education
through ICT’ which aims to 'reach the unreachables’ – future students in faraway villages and
regions.
Their schedule also included a two day workshop in instructional design for learning in
conjunction with the IIIT Hyderabad, a public lecture on the future of Open Education Resources and
MOOCs in particular, and visits to the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad and the
prestigious University of Hyderabad. On visiting the University of Hyderabad, Gwen and Kyriaki
encountered much interest in future collaboration on both research and distance learning between
the two research-intensive institutions. Gwen noted that the interest in Bath of researchers and
the senior team at Hyderabad was impressive and she is looking forward to exploring how potential
collaborations might come to fruition after talking to academic colleagues here at Bath.
The visit was supported by the British Council, who have now also supported a grant for
further such visits and a UK visit for senior managers of Indian institutions, the Indian Ministry
with responsibility for Higher Education in India and relevant members of the British Council, to
learn more about blended and distance learning and how institutions can successfully transform
their teaching through the use of e-learning.
Colleagues from the University of Bath who have an interest in working with Indian
institutions are most welcome to contact
Gwen van der Velden (ex 3775) or
Kyriaki Anagnostopoulou (ex 5578)
to discuss any ideas or potential linkage further.
