IIM-C plans online distance learning

Jaidev Majumdar in Kolkata

The Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIM-C), is mulling an online foray into distance education. IIM-C, the first in its family to go ahead with the project, has formed a three-member committee to hasten the initiative. It has also teamed up with publishing house Macmillan India to jointly offer the management development programmes online.

IIM-C plans to offer a programme each on corporate finance and organisational behaviour under the management development programme. Each course will of six weeks’ duration and open to working executives. They are expected to begin in late January.

Prof Mritiunjoy Mohanti of the faculty of economics, who is also the convenor of the committee, says it is merely a beginning that IIM-C has made so far as online distance learning is concerned.

“We intend to be the first among all IIMs to go online with this project,” he says. “Depending on how it fares, we have plans to introduce other subjects as well,” Prof Mohanti adds.

There will be practically no brick-and-mortar content in these online programmes. The content will be delivered using media such as CD-ROM, Web-based and streaming video, with the media mix being tailored specifically to the nature of the content to be delivered.

“It is also important to underline that IIM-C does not see distance education as a substitute for its ‘brick-and-mortar’ programmes but rather as a new delivery mode that targets different needs and niches,” says Prof Mohanti.

IIM-C recently signed a MoU with Macmillan India to jointly promote the programmes. According to Prof Mohanti: “The collaboration with Macmillan is not a one-off but represents the first step in a strategic move towards becoming a leading player in the delivery of management education in the distance mode.”