E-Learning and ICT in Engineering Education: A Case of GNDEC, Ludhiana

Amanjot Kaur Gill and Sandeep Singh Gill

Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College

Ludhiana

amanjot@gndec.ac.in; ssg@gndec.ac.in

ABSTRACT

E-learning and usage of Information and

Communication Technology (ICT) has started

impacting Engineering education in India in a big

way. Usage of multimedia tools, virtual learning

environments, simulation softwares, lecturing through online mode, video and CD ROM recorded

lectures, video conferencing, access to e-resources

like books, journals, conference proceedings as well

as access to the finest brains in the field are some of

the key areas in which ICT and E-learning has

shown its impact. The present paper studies the

effect of E-learning and ICT on teaching learning

process and upgradation of faculty skills in Guru

Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC),

Ludhiana. A comprehensive study of ICT

infrastructure and resources is made and view of

faculty and students regarding its adequacy and

usefulness analyzed. Based on the study

recommendations for future are made.

KEYWORDS

Education, E-learning, E-resources, Faculty, ICT,

Internet, Students.

1 INTRODUCTION

With India becoming a signatory of

Washington Accord and adoption of outcome

based education (OBE), E-learning and usage

of Information and Communication Technology

(ICT) has started impacting Engineering

education in India in a big way. Usage of

multimedia tools, virtual learning

environments, simulation softwares, lecturing through online mode, video and CD ROM

recorded lectures, video conferencing, access to

e-resources like books, journals, conference

proceedings as well as access to the finest

brains in the field are some of the key areas in

which ICT and E-learning has shown its

impact.

Teaching highly technical subjects using the

common E-learning tools is a challenging task.

The general rules that may apply to the arts and

social sciences fail miserably as learning in

engineering occurs in discrete quanta and the

failure of a student to grasp certain basic

fundamentals will not foster further learning in

a given subject area or topic. Therefore, support

structures for E-learning in Engineering

Education are very important for successful

delivery.

An important initiative in this regard was the

National Broadband Policy initiated in 2004 in

India which paved the way for adoption of

broadband technology in the country. The

National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was

established by the Government in 2005 to focus

on Indias competitive advantage in Knowledge-intensive Service Sector (Sharma,

2013). The National Knowledge Network

(NKN) which was established on the

recommendation of NKC is a state-of the- art multi-gigabit pan-India network for providing a

unified high speed network backbone for all

knowledge related institutions in the country. The network is envisaged to create a pool of

qualified professionals while establishing

quality institutions with excellent research

facilities. The UGC-Infonet 2.0 (University

Grants Commission, India, 2012) launched on

April, 2010, paved the way for strengthening

the NKN which has plans to provide 1GB

Internet connectivity to the universities in the

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC 48

country. Government of India has initiated the

National Mission on Education through ICT

(NMEICT) where the focus is on creation of

infrastructure and generation of re-usable

digital content.

1.1 Review of Literature

A number of researchers have worked in this

field over the years. The previous research is

studied in this section to analyze work done and

find areas in which research is required in

future.

A study chaired by Rao [1] in the Indian

Institutes of Technology (IIT) brings out that

there are many areas in which ICT can be used

in IIT. This includes access to IIT faculty and

students to information available on

cyberspace, help to faculty and students of

other Engineering colleges by creating course

material, and making it available through E-

learning and ICT modes and collaborative work

with other global institutions.

A few suggestions have been made to use E-

learning for informal and vocational training,

which is highly effective for a developing

country like India, where a majority of

population is living in rural/ remote areas and

has received almost negligible formal education

[2].

Another paper addresses the ways in which

India is trying to improve the quality of

engineering education in the country and

provide wide access to such education through

technology mediated learning. Appropriate

training of teachers is the other area of focus

that will help achieve this goal and lead to a

virtual university in future [3].

Nath et al. [4] in their paper examine a number

of issues including technology, teaching,

learning, organizational issues, and makes

general recommendations for the successful use

of ICT. They also look into E-learning

limitation in particular related with

technologies, personal issues, comparison with

traditional campus learning, design and other

issues. At the end paper suggests that

synchronous tools should be integrated into

asynchronous environments to allow for any-time learning model [5]. Imran[6] presents future perspective in relation

to E-learning in India, where demand within

higher education is no different from that seen

in developed countries. E-learning is the most

innovative application of the Internet and it has

done wonders globally and currently is

disseminating education in classrooms as well.

The findings by Pulist [7] indicate that the

implementation of E-Learning in

Commonwealth Asian countries is moving

forward. Though institutions are facing

different challenges, the enthusiasm among the

faculty and staff is high and need sustenance.

Institutions are integrating ICTs and online

technologies in their programmes. E-Learning

programmes are largely offered in blended

mode, thus making a strong case for offering

completely online programmes.

In another paper the applications of E-learning,

and its current practice in engineering education

in engineering institutions of the state of

Jammu and Kashmir is examined. The results

are discussed in light of relevant research and

recommendations for improving E-learning

implementations in engineering education are

given [8].

Kaware and Sain [9] say that today virtual

classrooms are functioning in a system of

virtual reality in the Indian educational

scenario, where the teacher and students

converse in real time, simulating the

conventional classroom. In this paper they

focus on virtual learning and propose that it is

capable of replacing partially or totally the

conventional educational, evaluative and

administrative functioning of a regular

classroom by adopting the advanced computer

and ICT technologies.

Another paper suggests that synchronous tools

should be integrated into asynchronous

environments to allow for any-time learning model and also suggests that E-Learning needs

to improve from various barriers and training of

users should also be done [10].

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC 49

1.2 Profile of institution

The present paper studies the effect of E-

learning and ICT on teaching learning process

and upgradation of faculty skills in Guru Nanak

Dev Engineering College (GNDEC), Ludhiana.

The college, established in 1956, is one of the

oldest in North India. It is an autonomous

institution and is accreditated by National

Assessment and Accreditation Council with A grade. Its UG programmes in Engineering have

been accreditated by National Board of

Accreditation thrice since 2004. The institution

is also ISO 9001-2008 certified since last 13

years. It is running 7 UG and 13 PG courses in

Engineering besides MBA, MCA and doctorate

programmes.

A comprehensive study of ICT infrastructure

and resources is made and view of faculty and

students regarding its adequacy and usefulness

analyzed. Based on the study recommendations

for future are made.

2 CASE STUDY

The study has been conducted in GNDEC

amongst Faculty and UG Engineering students.

Research instruments in form of questionnaires

were designed separately for both faculty and

UG Engineering students. A sample of 50

teachers from different departments was

surveyed. Similarly 100 students spread over all

departments and admission batches were

administered the questionnaire. Initially the

questionnaire was pilot tested and necessary

changes incorporated based upon the response

by test sample.

The UG curriculum in GNDEC comprises of

four components namely theory courses,

practical courses, industrial training, and

project work. The teaching and learning process

is a blend of traditional classroom teaching as

well, modern E-learning and ICT interventions.

Experiments of practical courses are conducted

in the laboratory where traditional equipment as

well as simulation tools and softwares are

used. Outcome based education has been

implemented wherein vision, mission of

institute as well as departments are defined and

well integrated with each other. Programme

educational objectives, program outcomes, and

course outcomes are defined and evaluated

using direct and indirect tools, with use of ICT

for evaluation of attainment. Rubrics are used

for evaluating laboratory classes, major project,

industrial training etc.

A majority of classrooms are equipped with

LCD projectors and internet. There are around

1200 computers and laptops in the college

which are available for both faculty and

students. The 80 acre campus, which includes

academic areas, hostels, and staff quarters, is

connected with internet of bandwidth 50 mbps

either through wired or Wi-Fi mode. Online

access is available to various e-resources like e-

journals, e-books, databases, proceedings, and

theses etc. There are seminar rooms equipped

with smart boards and video conferencing

facilities which are also used for online lectures

from other prestigious institutes like Indian

Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, under

the quality enhancement in engineering

education (QEEE). Video conferencing has also

been used for faculty skill upgradation

programmes in collaboration with National

Institute of Technical Teachers Training and

Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh. Students performance is assessed separately on the basis

of score obtained by them in written and

practical tests as well as continuous evaluation

in classroom and laboratory using devised tools

like rubrics.

2.1 Results and discussion

Faculty respondent profile included 10 percent

Professors, 20 percent Associate Professors,

and 70 percent Assistant Professors. Amongst

them 25 percent were doctorate holders and

remaining Masters Degree holders. The

professional experience in engineering

education was more than five years for 40

percent of respondents and less than five years

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC 50

for the remaining 60 percent. Average age

profile for 75 percent of faculty was less than

40 years. Amongst the respondents 65 percent

were male faculty members and remaining were

female members. E-learning and ICT was

introduced in the college around 15 years ago in

some or the other form. This included video

classes which were transmitted from the Edusat

satellite. Attendance of students, examination

process including result declaration, feedback

from students, alumni, employers etc. are all

taken online using in-house software. The

college has its own web server. Recently it has

started a community FM radio station through

which dissemination of information is being

done both within the college and in the local

community.

Table 1. ICT/E-learning adoption

S.No ICT/E-learning Components % adoption

1. Usage of E-library/E-books etc. 55

2. Video Lectures from NPTEL 10

3. PowerPoint Presentations 42

4. Course Plan/schedule/coverage 100

5. Lab Demo videos/simulations 10

6. Virtual Laboratory 05

7. Online/ Video conferencing 16

8. Attended ICT based FDPs 20

9. Library facilitation for E-learning 100

10. Course material design 25

11. ICT based research collaboration 10

12. Online Student feedback 100

13. Online assignments/ Projects 35

14. Enroll video courses like QEEE 10

15. Internet usage for solutions 41

16. Online simulations 05

17. Online Evaluation/ assessment 90

18. ICT based Off campus

collaboration

20

19. Student record and conduct 100

20. Social media connect with student 12

Table 1 summarizes component-wise current

practice of ICT by faculty members in

engineering education at GNDEC. The data is

presented as percentage of use (varying from

never used to extensively used) of each

component. ICT is extensively used in course

planning, scheduling and coverage. It is also

used for student feedback, evaluation and

assessment besides keeping record of student

attendance, examination, and conduct. E books,

journals and other components of an E-library

are put into use by a majority of the teachers.

Power point presentations, online assignments

and projects, as well as course material design

are done using ICT. A blend of traditional and

E-learning/ICT based teaching learning

pedagogy is being practiced. A small

percentage of courses are being supplemented

through video conferencing classes under

QEEE programme being conducted by IIT,

Madras. Some initiatives have been taken to

train teachers through ICT as well have

collaborative programs with other institutions.

Internet availability is their throughout the

campus with wired/ Wi-Fi access and is used by

a substantial number of users for additional

help in search of Engineering solutions. Library

is well equipped to facilitate E-learning through

online Journal/ conference proceedings, video

lectures like NPETL, digitized theses at PG/

Ph.D. level and facilities for video conferencing

and 20 computers/ laptops. ICT is yet to pick up

in a big way in the laboratories as shown

through responses to lab demos/simulations and

virtual laboratory. However, a large number of

application softwares are being taught to students and are also available for research. ICT

based research collaboration is around 10%

which needs to be enhanced. Curriculum E-

content is being developed both in-house as

well out sourced. As regards automation, the

college is developing its own solutions through

a dedicated team of Programmers and faculty.

The results obtained above were verified with a

survey of students. In most of the categories

related to students the responses generally

followed those obtained from the teachers.

There was no significant variation. It is seen

that there is an institutional emphasis on

promotion of E-learning and ICT. Gradually the

interest of both students and teachers is

increasing towards adoption of this culture.

This is being driven by excellent E-

infrastructure availability as well regulatory/

accreditation body requirements.

Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC 51

Some of the major challenges to the

implementation of E-learning and ICT include

work overload on the teachers,

resistance/sluggishness against change, lack of

proper training to some of the teachers as well

as limited computing skills. Continuous up

gradation and removal of obsolescence in E-

infrastructure is another big challenge facing

the college.

3 CONCLUSIONS

ICT and E-learning are being implemented in

engineering institutions all over India.

However, the level and quality of this

implementation differs across institutions

depending upon the quality of faculty and

available infrastructure.

Pitchian and Churchil [11] and Sarangi [12] in

their research have postulated that the required

competencies for engineers as identified by

ABET (http://www.abet.org/) are enhanced by

the use of E-learning. At GNDEC, it is seen

that with the institute offering itself for peer

review through various agencies like National

Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National

Assessment and Accreditation Council

(NAAC), from time to time, its level of

adoption of E-learning and ICT has been

increasing over time. The college, being one of

the oldest in Northern India, presents a

fascinating case on the subject being studied. It

presents a situation wherein massive

infrastructure is available in all areas including

computing hardware and software but level of

adoption is slow and steady due to old faculty

not being ready to adopt newer techniques by

moving out of their comfort zone. However,

younger faculty is driving the winds of change

and slowly but inexorably leading the institute

towards adoption of ICT/ E-learning and use of

E-Technology. It is expected that within the

next five years the college shall reach a right

blend of traditional and ICT based learning and

be a driver in bringing change in other institutes

in the region.

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[3] B. Bhattacharya, Distance Education through Technology Mediated Learning: The Engineering Education Scenario in India, Report, Centre for Educational Technology, Indian Institute of Technology.

[4] J. Nath, S. Ghosh , S. Agarwal, and A. Nath, E-Learning Methodologies And Its Trends In Modern Information Technology, Journal of Global Research in Computer Science, vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 48-52, April 2012.

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[7] S.K. Pulist, eLearning in Commonwealth Asia 2013,

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[10] D. Mahanta and M. Ahmed, E-Learning Objectives,

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[11] A. S. Pitchian and D. Churchill, E-Learning Design

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC 52