Now, IGNOU courses on mobiles, broadbandE

Now, IGNOU courses on mobiles, broadband
29 Sep 2008, Sapna Verma,TNN (TIMES OF INDIA)

NEW DELHI: For students enrolled with Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), especially those staying abroad or in remote areas of India, IG
NOU has some good news. Getting information about IGNOU for its students will now be as simple as SMSing one's friends. As IGNOU kicks off the first level of its mobile services in the next 15 days, sending SMSes in a prescribed format will be enough to get all information about its courses such as exam dates, updating personal details etc.

"This service will make information gathering and other exhausting procedure very simple and instant. It is a first of its kind experiment to be used by a university or educational institution in India. Most of the students enrolled with IGNOU are either students who are pursuing their regular courses or students who are already working. This service will save their time,'' said P V Suresh, senior lecturer in School of Computer and Information Sciences.

Explaining the project, Suresh said, "The project has three levels. The first level will be started within 15 days wherein bulk messages will be send to millions of students enrolled with IGNOU containing information about various courses, subjects and also about this SMS service.''

Elaborating on the other two levels, Suresh said, "The second level will involve enabling the students to send SMSes to the university to get information on various courses, subjects, related projects, examination and its results. In the third level, the students will be able to update their personal details in their profiles, like address, phone number etc, directly through the software designed by us.''

While this service intends to make things simple for all IGNOU students, the main beneficiaries will be students staying abroad or in far off areas of the country. Said the IGNOU electronic media production centre director V K Arora, "As IGNOU does not hold regular classes, student can be updated about exams, fees instalments, study material, subjects and their related projects and other things, which earlier were very difficult to be communicated about. A student staying in some remote area might not have access to Internet, but can get information through a mobile phone. Similarly, it will be very difficult for a student in some other country to come every time as it is very time consuming, but sending an SMS is instant.''

P V Suresh, talking about the credibility of the service said, "The SMSes have to be sent in a particular format as prescribed by the university, which will ensure privacy and credibility of the service.''