Bhubaneswar, Feb. 3: Universities in the state have decided to introduce e-learning facility for undergraduate students.

Utkal University has been designated as the nodal centre for preparation of supplementary course material.

The varsity has started scouting for technical help that will produce and maintain the e-learning course material.

The varsity has already received five crores under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (Rusa) to develop e-learning contents.

This virtual tutorial assistance will be provided to supplement classroom teaching in BA, BSc and BCom (Honours and general course) under Utkal University, Berhampur University, Sambalpur University, Fakir Mohan University, North Odisha University, Ravenshaw University, Ramadevi Women's University, Khalikote University and Gangadhar Meher University.

Under the project, students will be provided a 32GB memory chip where they can save the downloaded documents. However, it has not been decided if students will be provided the chip free of cost.

"This chip will be used by the students to download the e-contents when they are in colleges. Most colleges in the state already have computer labs and Internet connectivity," said a higher education department official.

Under this project, BA courses will be prepared in both Odia and English language, while BSc and BCom will be made available only in English. The consortium of universities will come out with an interactive digital platform from where student can source their e-learning materials.

"Moreover, the faculties can also use the e-learning material for reference," said vice-chancellor of Utkal University, Ashok Das.

"A special team has been constituted with members of all the universities to implement the project. We expect to prepare the first set of contents by August," said Das.

Experienced resource personnel will be roped in for preparation of the e-materials. "The material will, however, not replace classroom teaching, but will help students clear their doubts," said Das.

Students can access contents using Wi-Fi connectivity or through college-based computer laboratories. Also since most students own smart phones nowadays, and Internet connections have also reached remote villages under government schemes, academicians are confident that these e-learning materials will help students in their studies.