IIM Ranchi set to implement virtual training

By Richha Bhatnagar

Attending lectures sitting in classrooms in cold winter mornings could be quite a struggle. Here's something that could be a start to a trend.

Indian Institute of Management, Ranchi (IIM Ranchi) will now give students a possibility to learn from anywhere at anytime. From July session, IIM-Ranchi will do away with the classroom learning and will allow students to learn from anywhere in the campus through tablets or laptops.

Director of the institute said that these days' students don't like to attend the classes and attend lecture session and in order to make them comfortable, the institute authorities have decided to make this change. (Read more)

From now on, students don't need to come to classrooms to attend the lectures as now they have option to attend it virtually. The broadcast of the lectures will be live. The institute will provide students with laptops and/or tablet computers with biometric sensors that will allow face-to-face interaction between students and faculties.

Then comes the big question of attendance. To solve the attendance issue, students will have to register their thumb impression using the biometric sensor, every 30 minutes.

Additionally, students will also be asked to type their subject notes in a separate module and it will evaluate their understanding about the subject. The software will also have a special option through which students would be able to ask questions and get instantaneous replies from faculty.

A small downside to the system is that if a student does not look at the video lectures, his/her marks will be deducted and after that they would have to attend the lecture again.

Now the classrooms will be used only to scrutinize the case studies. From November onwards, such videos will be accessible for everyone across the country. The institute is also planning to set up call centers and subject experts. It will filter the questions of students and send it to those who need reply from the faculty.

Do you think virtual study can replace live classrooms? Share your thoughts