IIT Bombay Wiki

In six months' time, the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) will have created a Wikipedia-like portal that enables users to create content and interact with each other on its discussion forum. The wiki will give all students access to the IIT's course content, apart from providing them a forum to interact with their counterparts across India and be part of a knowledge-sharing exercise.

"Engineering students in India make up for three percent of the population. There are bright students who are outside the IIT system and want a good education. We hope the Wiki will provide them a platform to access course materials and ask questions which will get answered by teachers," said Kannan Moudgalya, head of Centre for Distance Engineering Education Programme, IITB.

"The idea is brilliant. We always wonder what is taught in the IITs that sets them apart. Getting access to their course content will give us an idea of how much we possibly miss out," said Pavan Sharma (19), first-year engineering student at Rajiv Gandhi College of Engineering, Andheri.

In the first phase, IIT-B plans to transcribe and upload five of its video lectures in five courses in electrical and computer engineering.

Gradually, 100 video courses across specialisations such as chemical, mechanical and civil engineering will be uploaded, after approval from concerned professors.

The wiki is being created as part of the Ministry of Human Resource and Development's nationwide initiative called the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology.

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