Google, the Internet giant, is now engaged in the educational field. Google joined hands with the reputed IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) and NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) to provide free online tech courses for students. The courses are created by IITs and are powered by Google.
NPTEL or National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning is an initiative taken jointly by IITs and IISc. Through this joint initiative, free online tech courses and certification in various engineering topics are being offered to the students. The courses are designed by the faculties of IITs and hence, it is ensured that you are learning from the best faculties you can ever have.
While educational institutions are busy managing and creating the free online tech courses, Google will take care of the infrastructure and tools. To power the courses, Google’s open-source platform known as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) or Course Builder is being used. While these courses are being created and published, the NPTEL YouTube channel already has more than 13,000 videos of such IIT lectures. More than 110 million viewers have already viewed these online courses.
Free online tech courses by NPTEL
These free online tech courses by NPTEL are free for all; hence students across India can take benefit of this imitative without spending even a penny. If students want a certification for the online courses they are undertaking, then there are certification exams. Students can appear for the certification exams by paying a nominal fee.
How to register for these courses
Registration for these free online tech courses is very easy. You need to have a Google account before registration because the authentication by this website is done using your Google account. After you have registered for a particular course you will be able to view the course. Go here for details.
Who all are supporting this noble cause
In the welcome video of NPTEL online certification courses, many well-known personalities have supported this cause. These include, Ramanathan V Guha, Vice President Google India; Laxmi Narayanan, Vice Chairman Cognizant; K Ananth Krishan, Vice President and CTO TCS and Dr Sandhya Chintala, Executive Director SSC, NASSCOM.
Ram Guha mentioned in his speech that Google is currently not thinking in about the monetary benefits of this initiative as he is sure about the long term benefits to the company.
