New Delhi: NIIT, a global leader in skills and talent development, and edX, the non-profit global leader in online learning co-founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), entered into a strategic partnership to boost the online education space in India. As per the partnership NIIT and edX aim to create high-impact learning experiences for learners by offering a next generation Blended Learning MOOC model that provides an engaging and live interactive experience. The partnership was announced by Rajendra Pawar, Chairman NIIT and Anant Agarwal, CEO edX and MIT Professor at a press conference in the capital recently.
Under this partnership the live synchronous delivery capability and on-ground student servicing capability of NIIT will be combined with the world class MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) provided by edX and its university partners to offer talent development programs to learners in India.
To start with, programs aligned to the changing future-skill-sets requirement of the industry in areas like Programming using Python from MIT, HTML5 from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), Data Science & Analytics from Columbia University, and Data Science & Engineering with Spark from University of California, Berkeley will be offered jointly by NIIT and edX. These could be availed by students at college, recent graduates or working professionals looking to improve their skills.
NIIT will work closely with industry bodies such as NASSCOM and the member organizations to add value to the learning development initiatives. Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT, said, ” With the Indian education system moving fast towards online learning, MOOCs is a great way to bridge the quality, affordability and accessibility gap in education. With joining edX, one of the leading providers of MOOCs, NIIT aims to transform the talent development space in India by introducing the next-level of MOOC-based learning that delivers superior outcomes & higher completion rates”.
There is significant scope for improvement in MOOC space with its unique Blended Learning model as recent studies have found that completion rates of the MOOC programs are low with some reported to be significantly lower than 10%. The alliance between NIIT and edX will bring the best of eLearning and instructor-led education to the students. For select courses, NIIT & edX will offer a pre-configured course that includes the MOOC, blended services from NIIT, and the certification exam from the Institutional partner.
Anant Agarwal, CEO edX and MIT Professor, said, “At edX, we take our mission of increasing global access to high-quality education seriously. We connect learners to the best universities and institutions from around the world. India has always been a focus for us, especially with the government’s emphasis on Digitalization and Upskilling. With this strategic tie-up, edX will offer a tremendous opportunity to learners to access high-quality education, with a blend of Instructor led education by NIIT. We’re proud to partner with a pioneering organization such as NIIT, and support its mission of providing quality training & know-how to a wide spectrum of learners.”
This new initiative from NIIT and edX will open up more avenues for individuals & organization to meet their learning needs.
