S. Vishnu Sharma
NPTEL-IIT Madras, (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning-IIT Madras) launched special online lecture series for students who are affected by COVID-19 lockdown. The one-hour interactive lecture series kickstarted by NPTEL-IIT Madras are focused on various topics that would be of high relevance to students. The lecture series began on 13 April and will go on till the COVID-19 lock down comes to an end.
NPTEL-IIT Madras, 2020
The topics on which the lectures will be given are mentioned below:
| 1. | Careers and job opportunities |
| 2. | Technology and Research |
| 3. | General topics of interest like time management, joy of teaching, soft skills, film
sense, entrepreneurship, among others |
| 4. | The Inside stories and Inspiring journeys of successful people |
They are livestreamed on NPTEL-IIT Madras YouTube channel and are available free of cost to everyone. The NPTEL-IIT Madras YouTube channel is available on the link ‘https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE4XxsWyoii6hx3zU_TB2mw‘
A chat box will be available during the sessions through which viewers can ask questions in real-time during these lectures.
Each lecture is around 45 minutes and is followed by 15 minutes of Question-and-Answer session. Professor Andrew Thangaraj, faculty in-charge, NPTEL-IIT Madras said these lectures provide students an exposure to listen to eminent speakers from various domains. They can go a long way in motivating students to aspire higher and learn better.
NPTEL- IIT Madras was always keen to launch such a full-fledged lecture series on career options available to students.
These talks by industry professionals provide the students first-hand insights into the aspects of the courses to be pursued, the work life balance in the career described.
There is no better time than now to offer this series as it would benefit students and faculty members who have to remain in their homes for their safety, he said.
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Speaking further about the lecture series of NPTEL-IIT Madras Ms. Bharathi, Senior Project Officer, NPTEL-IIT Madras said the response to the lecture series has been commendable with the first session in this series on ‘Film Sense’ garnering more than 11,000 views.
Viewers are asking for full-fledged course on this subject in addition to requesting for more such talks and inputs on how to get into films! We would be very happy to have IIT Madras alumni in the industry who wish to be a part of this series and speak on a topic that fit into any of the above genres.
We plan to invite people from varied walks of lives such as musicians, sports people, people from banking/finance sector, medical doctors to come in and share their experiences to enthuse the young blood to dream big and achieve the impossible, she said.
NPTEL-IIT Madras is actively reaching out to major technology companies such as IBM, Google, CapGemini, Infosys and GE Healthcare to have their heads participate in this lecture series.
The lectures will also be archived on nptel.ac.in and will remain open for everyone. NPTEL-IIT Madras is also planning to conduct up to two sessions a day (5 pm to 8 pm on weekdays and 5 pm to 9 pm on weekends).
Keep checking the website nptel.ac.in for updates on lectures in the upcoming weeks. There are also plans to continue this lecture series even after the lockdown based on the response and feedback received.
About IIT Madras
Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IITM) was established in 1959 by the Government of India as
an institute of national importance.
The activities of the Institute in various fields of Technology and Science are carried out in 16 academic departments and several advanced interdisciplinary Research Academic Centres.
The Institute offers undergraduate and post-graduate programmes leading to the B.Tech., M.Sc., M.B.A., M.Tech., M.S., and Ph.D., degrees in a variety of specialisations.
IITM is a residential institute with more than 580 faculty and 9,500 students. Students from 18 countries are enrolled here.
IITM fosters an active entrepreneurial culture with strong curricular support and through the IITM Incubation Cell.
IITM has been ranked No.1 in the Overall Institutions category in India Rankings 2019 released by National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Human Resources Development, Govt. of India. The Institute has also been ranked No.1 in the Engineering Institutions category in the same Rankings for four consecutive years – 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
It was also adjudged as the ‘Top innovative Institution’ in the country in the Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements (ARIIA) 2019 launched by Innovation Cell of MHRD.