Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

E-Learning and ICT in Engineering Education: A Case of GNDEC, Ludhiana

Amanjot Kaur Gill and Sandeep Singh Gill
Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College
Ludhiana
amanjot@gndec.ac.in; ssg@gndec.ac.in

ABSTRACT
E-learning and usage of Information and
Communication Technology (ICT) has started
impacting Engineering education in India in a big
way. Usage of multimedia tools, virtual learning
environments, simulation softwares, lecturing
through online mode, video and CD ROM recorded
lectures, video conferencing, access to e-resources
like books, journals, conference proceedings as well
as access to the finest brains in the field are some of
the key areas in which ICT and E-learning has
shown its impact. The present paper studies the
effect of E-learning and ICT on teaching learning
process and upgradation of faculty skills in Guru
Nanak Dev Engineering College (GNDEC),
Ludhiana. A comprehensive study of ICT
infrastructure and resources is made and view of
faculty and students regarding its adequacy and
usefulness analyzed. Based on the study
recommendations for future are made.

KEYWORDS
Education, E-learning, E-resources, Faculty, ICT,
Internet, Students.

1 INTRODUCTION
With India becoming a signatory of
Washington Accord and adoption of outcome
based education (OBE), E-learning and usage
of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) has started impacting Engineering
education in India in a big way. Usage of
multimedia
tools,
virtual
learning
environments, simulation softwares, lecturing
through online mode, video and CD ROM
recorded lectures, video conferencing, access to

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC

e-resources like books, journals, conference

proceedings as well as access to the finest
brains in the field are some of the key areas in
which ICT and E-learning has shown its
impact.
Teaching highly technical subjects using the
common E-learning tools is a challenging task.
The general rules that may apply to the arts and
social sciences fail miserably as learning in
engineering occurs in discrete quanta and the
failure of a student to grasp certain basic
fundamentals will not foster further learning in
a given subject area or topic. Therefore, support
structures for E-learning in Engineering
Education are very important for successful
delivery.
An important initiative in this regard was the
National Broadband Policy initiated in 2004 in
India which paved the way for adoption of
broadband technology in the country. The
National Knowledge Commission (NKC) was
established by the Government in 2005 to focus
on
Indias competitive advantage in
Knowledge-intensive Service Sector (Sharma,
2013). The National Knowledge Network
(NKN) which was established on the
recommendation of NKC is a state-of the- art
multi-gigabit pan-India network for providing a
unified high speed network backbone for all
knowledge related institutions in the country.
The network is envisaged to create a pool of
qualified professionals while establishing
quality institutions with excellent research
facilities. The UGC-Infonet 2.0 (University
Grants Commission, India, 2012) launched on
April, 2010, paved the way for strengthening
the NKN which has plans to provide 1GB
Internet connectivity to the universities in the

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

country. Government of India has initiated the

National Mission on Education through ICT
(NMEICT) where the focus is on creation of
infrastructure and generation of re-usable
digital content.
1.1 Review of Literature
A number of researchers have worked in this
field over the years. The previous research is
studied in this section to analyze work done and
find areas in which research is required in
future.
A study chaired by Rao [1] in the Indian
Institutes of Technology (IIT) brings out that
there are many areas in which ICT can be used
in IIT. This includes access to IIT faculty and
students to information available on
cyberspace, help to faculty and students of
other Engineering colleges by creating course
material, and making it available through Elearning and ICT modes and collaborative work
with other global institutions.
A few suggestions have been made to use Elearning for informal and vocational training,
which is highly effective for a developing
country like India, where a majority of
population is living in rural/ remote areas and
has received almost negligible formal education
[2].
Another paper addresses the ways in which
India is trying to improve the quality of
engineering education in the country and
provide wide access to such education through
technology mediated learning. Appropriate
training of teachers is the other area of focus
that will help achieve this goal and lead to a
virtual university in future [3].
Nath et al. [4] in their paper examine a number
of issues including technology, teaching,
learning, organizational issues, and makes
general recommendations for the successful use
of ICT. They also look into E-learning
limitation
in
particular
related
with
technologies, personal issues, comparison with
traditional campus learning, design and other
issues. At the end paper suggests that

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC

synchronous tools should be integrated into

asynchronous environments to allow for anytime learning model [5].
Imran[6] presents future perspective in relation
to E-learning in India, where demand within
higher education is no different from that seen
in developed countries. E-learning is the most
innovative application of the Internet and it has
done wonders globally and currently is
disseminating education in classrooms as well.
The findings by Pulist [7] indicate that the
implementation
of
E-Learning
in
Commonwealth Asian countries is moving
forward. Though institutions are facing
different challenges, the enthusiasm among the
faculty and staff is high and need sustenance.
Institutions are integrating ICTs and online
technologies in their programmes. E-Learning
programmes are largely offered in blended
mode, thus making a strong case for offering
completely online programmes.
In another paper the applications of E-learning,
and its current practice in engineering education
in engineering institutions of the state of
Jammu and Kashmir is examined. The results
are discussed in light of relevant research and
recommendations for improving E-learning
implementations in engineering education are
given [8].
Kaware and Sain [9] say that today virtual
classrooms are functioning in a system of
virtual reality in the Indian educational
scenario, where the teacher and students
converse in real time, simulating the
conventional classroom. In this paper they
focus on virtual learning and propose that it is
capable of replacing partially or totally the
conventional educational, evaluative and
administrative functioning of a regular
classroom by adopting the advanced computer
and ICT technologies.
Another paper suggests that synchronous tools
should be integrated into asynchronous
environments to allow for any-time learning
model and also suggests that E-Learning needs
to improve from various barriers and training of
users should also be done [10].

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

1.2 Profile of institution

The present paper studies the effect of Elearning and ICT on teaching learning process
and upgradation of faculty skills in Guru Nanak
Dev Engineering College (GNDEC), Ludhiana.
The college, established in 1956, is one of the
oldest in North India. It is an autonomous
institution and is accreditated by National
Assessment and Accreditation Council with A
grade. Its UG programmes in Engineering have
been accreditated by National Board of
Accreditation thrice since 2004. The institution
is also ISO 9001-2008 certified since last 13
years. It is running 7 UG and 13 PG courses in
Engineering besides MBA, MCA and doctorate
programmes.
A comprehensive study of ICT infrastructure
and resources is made and view of faculty and
students regarding its adequacy and usefulness
analyzed. Based on the study recommendations
for future are made.
2 CASE STUDY
The study has been conducted in GNDEC
amongst Faculty and UG Engineering students.
Research instruments in form of questionnaires
were designed separately for both faculty and
UG Engineering students. A sample of 50
teachers from different departments was
surveyed. Similarly 100 students spread over all
departments and admission batches were
administered the questionnaire. Initially the
questionnaire was pilot tested and necessary
changes incorporated based upon the response
by test sample.
The UG curriculum in GNDEC comprises of
four components namely theory courses,
practical courses, industrial training, and
project work. The teaching and learning process
is a blend of traditional classroom teaching as
well, modern E-learning and ICT interventions.
Experiments of practical courses are conducted
in the laboratory where traditional equipment as
well as simulation tools and softwares are

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC

used. Outcome based education has been

implemented wherein vision, mission of
institute as well as departments are defined and
well integrated with each other. Programme
educational objectives, program outcomes, and
course outcomes are defined and evaluated
using direct and indirect tools, with use of ICT
for evaluation of attainment. Rubrics are used
for evaluating laboratory classes, major project,
industrial training etc.
A majority of classrooms are equipped with
LCD projectors and internet. There are around
1200 computers and laptops in the college
which are available for both faculty and
students. The 80 acre campus, which includes
academic areas, hostels, and staff quarters, is
connected with internet of bandwidth 50 mbps
either through wired or Wi-Fi mode. Online
access is available to various e-resources like ejournals, e-books, databases, proceedings, and
theses etc. There are seminar rooms equipped
with smart boards and video conferencing
facilities which are also used for online lectures
from other prestigious institutes like Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, under
the quality enhancement in engineering
education (QEEE). Video conferencing has also
been used for faculty skill upgradation
programmes in collaboration with National
Institute of Technical Teachers Training and
Research (NITTTR), Chandigarh. Students
performance is assessed separately on the basis
of score obtained by them in written and
practical tests as well as continuous evaluation
in classroom and laboratory using devised tools
like rubrics.
2.1 Results and discussion
Faculty respondent profile included 10 percent
Professors, 20 percent Associate Professors,
and 70 percent Assistant Professors. Amongst
them 25 percent were doctorate holders and
remaining Masters Degree holders. The
professional
experience
in
engineering
education was more than five years for 40
percent of respondents and less than five years

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

for the remaining 60 percent. Average age

profile for 75 percent of faculty was less than
40 years. Amongst the respondents 65 percent
were male faculty members and remaining were
female members. E-learning and ICT was
introduced in the college around 15 years ago in
some or the other form. This included video
classes which were transmitted from the Edusat
satellite. Attendance of students, examination
process including result declaration, feedback
from students, alumni, employers etc. are all
taken online using in-house software. The
college has its own web server. Recently it has
started a community FM radio station through
which dissemination of information is being
done both within the college and in the local
community.
S.No
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.

Table 1. ICT/E-learning adoption

ICT/E-learning Components
% adoption
Usage of E-library/E-books etc.
55
Video Lectures from NPTEL
10
PowerPoint Presentations
42
Course Plan/schedule/coverage
100
Lab Demo videos/simulations
10
Virtual Laboratory
05
Online/ Video conferencing
16
Attended ICT based FDPs
20
Library facilitation for E-learning
100
Course material design
25
ICT based research collaboration
10
Online Student feedback
100
Online assignments/ Projects
35
Enroll video courses like QEEE
10
Internet usage for solutions
41
Online simulations
05
Online Evaluation/ assessment
90
ICT
based
Off
campus
20
collaboration
Student record and conduct
100
Social media connect with student
12

Table 1 summarizes component-wise current

practice of ICT by faculty members in
engineering education at GNDEC. The data is
presented as percentage of use (varying from
never used to extensively used) of each
component. ICT is extensively used in course
planning, scheduling and coverage. It is also
used for student feedback, evaluation and

ISBN: 978-1-941968-14-7 2015 SDIWC

assessment besides keeping record of student

attendance, examination, and conduct. E books,
journals and other components of an E-library
are put into use by a majority of the teachers.
Power point presentations, online assignments
and projects, as well as course material design
are done using ICT. A blend of traditional and
E-learning/ICT based teaching learning
pedagogy is being practiced. A small
percentage of courses are being supplemented
through video conferencing classes under
QEEE programme being conducted by IIT,
Madras. Some initiatives have been taken to
train teachers through ICT as well have
collaborative programs with other institutions.
Internet availability is their throughout the
campus with wired/ Wi-Fi access and is used by
a substantial number of users for additional
help in search of Engineering solutions. Library
is well equipped to facilitate E-learning through
online Journal/ conference proceedings, video
lectures like NPETL, digitized theses at PG/
Ph.D. level and facilities for video conferencing
and 20 computers/ laptops. ICT is yet to pick up
in a big way in the laboratories as shown
through responses to lab demos/simulations and
virtual laboratory. However, a large number of
application softwares are being taught to
students and are also available for research. ICT
based research collaboration is around 10%
which needs to be enhanced. Curriculum Econtent is being developed both in-house as
well out sourced. As regards automation, the
college is developing its own solutions through
a dedicated team of Programmers and faculty.
The results obtained above were verified with a
survey of students. In most of the categories
related to students the responses generally
followed those obtained from the teachers.
There was no significant variation. It is seen
that there is an institutional emphasis on
promotion of E-learning and ICT. Gradually the
interest of both students and teachers is
increasing towards adoption of this culture.
This is being driven by excellent Einfrastructure availability as well regulatory/
accreditation body requirements.

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Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Digital Information Processing, E-Business and Cloud Computing, Reduit, Mauritius 2015

Some of the major challenges to the

implementation of E-learning and ICT include
work
overload
on
the
teachers,
resistance/sluggishness against change, lack of
proper training to some of the teachers as well
as limited computing skills. Continuous up
gradation and removal of obsolescence in Einfrastructure is another big challenge facing
the college.

REFERENCES
[1]

P. Rama Rao, Technology in Education and

Research, Chapter Twelve, IIT Review, 2004, pp.
131-138.

[2]

D. Aggarwal, Role of e-Learning in A Developing

Country Like India, Proceedings of the 3rd National
Conference; INDIACom-2009 Computing For
Nation Development, February 2009.

[3]

B.
Bhattacharya, Distance Education through
Technology Mediated Learning: The Engineering
Education Scenario in India, Report, Centre for
Educational Technology, Indian Institute of
Technology.

[4]

J. Nath, S. Ghosh , S. Agarwal, and A. Nath, ELearning Methodologies And Its Trends In Modern
Information Technology,
Journal of Global
Research in Computer Science, vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 4852, April 2012.

[5]

D.
Mahanta and M. Ahmed, E-Learning
Objectives, Methodologies, Tools and its
Limitation, International Journal of Innovative
Technology and Exploring Engineering, vol. 2,
Issue. 1, pp. 46-51, December 2012.

[6]

S. M. Imran, Trends And Issues of E-Learning In

LIS-Education In India: A Pragmatic Perspective,
Brazilian Journal of Information Science, Marlia
(SP), vol.6, no.2, pp.26-45, Jul./Dec. 2012.

[7]

S.K. Pulist, eLearning in Commonwealth Asia 2013,

Copyright CEMCA, 2013.

[8]

M. T. Bandaya, M. Ahmed, and T. R. Jan,

Applications of e-Learning in engineering
education: A case study, Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences vol. 123, pp. 406 413, 2014.

[9]

S.S. Kaware and S.K. Sain, Virtual Learning in

Current Indian Educational Scenario, Educationia
Confab, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 1-5, June 2014.

[10]

D. Mahanta and M. Ahmed, E-Learning Objectives,

Methodologies, Tools and its Limitation,
International Journal of Innovative Technology and
Exploring Engineering, vol. 2, Issue-1, pp. 46-51,
December 2012

[11]

A. S. Pitchian and D. Churchill, E-Learning Design

for Engineering Education, Fourth Asia-Pacific
Conference on Problem-Based Learning, Hatyai,
Songkola, Thailand, 2002.

[12]

S. K. Sarangi, Continuing Engineering Education

through E-learning: A strategy for development,
International
Association
for
Continuing
Engineering Education News Letter, 2004.

3 CONCLUSIONS
ICT and E-learning are being implemented in
engineering institutions all over India.
However, the level and quality of this
implementation differs across institutions
depending upon the quality of faculty and
available infrastructure.
Pitchian and Churchil [11] and Sarangi [12] in
their research have postulated that the required
competencies for engineers as identified by
ABET (http://www.abet.org/) are enhanced by
the use of E-learning. At GNDEC, it is seen
that with the institute offering itself for peer
review through various agencies like National
Board of Accreditation (NBA) and National
Assessment
and Accreditation Council
(NAAC), from time to time, its level of
adoption of E-learning and ICT has been
increasing over time. The college, being one of
the oldest in Northern India, presents a
fascinating case on the subject being studied. It
presents a situation wherein massive
infrastructure is available in all areas including
computing hardware and software but level of
adoption is slow and steady due to old faculty
not being ready to adopt newer techniques by
moving out of their comfort zone. However,
younger faculty is driving the winds of change
and slowly but inexorably leading the institute
towards adoption of ICT/ E-learning and use of
E-Technology. It is expected that within the
next five years the college shall reach a right
blend of traditional and ICT based learning and
be a driver in bringing change in other institutes
in the region.

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