A record 50 percent rise has been witnessed in the number of students registering for pursing massive open online courses (MOOCs) at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya from March to July this year, thanks to Covid-19 fear which made pupils opt for online instead of regular courses. "Till March, there were around 26,300 registrations which shot up by more than 13,000 in six months," said DAVV media in-charge Chandan Gupta.

In the times of Covid-19, when the classes are held online even for regular courses, the MOOC programmes classes which are already conducted in virtual mode got an overwhelming response from students, at least at DAVV.

A look at the MOOCs registration data at DAVV revealed that online courses run by the university saw the highest number of registrations in the year 2020 compared to previous years. In more than one-and-a half-dozen courses, close to 40,000 students are studying. The university administration has sent these figures to the Ministry of Education.

The university started offering MOOC programmes since 2017-18. In the initial year, around 12,000 students had registered. Gradually, the number of courses started increasing and UGC started giving credit in online courses. The credits were being added to the regular courses. Due to this, the interest of students increased in online courses. Digital Marketing, Environment Study, Financial Accounting, Cyber Security and Forensics, Photography (Level 2) are the hot courses in 2020-21. Gupta said that five new online courses have been started between July and September. They are Digital Marketing, Environment Study, Financial Accounting, Photography (Phase II) and Retail Marketing. He said that now courses are designed on the basis of demand by students.

BOARD EXAM 2020-21: Urban, rural divide on reducing syllabus

School holds pre-board exam without permission, action likely

Education Minister inaugurated 46 online ATAL FDPs by AICTE