Open Learning Initiative (OLI)

A project under National Service Scheme (NSS), IIT Bombay

The most successful project under NSS, invited by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, to partner with them.

OLI is a portal that was launched by NSS, IITB in May 2015 to ensure that language does not become a barrier in education. Apart from the portal, the videos are also uploaded on YouTube. Educational videos are recorded by our volunteers (mostly UG students in their first, second or third years) in regional languages of India, with the aim to make the internet equally useful for students who don't study in English medium schools. Currently, the channel contains more than 350 educational videos on Science and Maths in 9 Indian languages, namely, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Odia, Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada and Telugu. There is also a course on English to benefit the students and a section on scientific experiments

The following are the long term goals of OLI:

  • Cover all the major regional languages of India
  • Reach out to as many NGOs as possible
  • Cover all the basic topics in Science and Math and also other subjects
  • Train the students in English and make them proficient in the language so that they don't face any problems in their higher studies and professional life
  • Make learning fun and interesting

I ideated, founded and led OLI as the Channel Manager for more than two years, before passing on the baton to the newer members of NSS. I built the entire eco-system around OLI: Video-makers, reviewers, content-coordinators, web team, media team and the Channel Manager. I set strict quality standards for the videos right from the launch of OLI, looking at the clarity of explanations, factual correctness, presence of illustrative examples, presence of complementary content outside of the textbook and overall appeal of the video.

OLI's impact has left us all stunned. The current numbers stand as follows:

  • Subscribers: 100,000+
  • Views: 9,500,000+
  • Videos: 350+
  • Languages: 9
Apart from the overwhelming numbers, which we never expected for regional language content, we were really humbled when we realized that OLI was being used by the district administration of Giridih (an insurgency affected district) to teach students in the absence of permanent teachers. We, sitting in our hostel rooms, were reaching out to students in places where teachers were refusing to teach. One glimpse of a session in Giridih is shown in the background image.

Also, videos from OLI were hosted on the Educational Portal of the Madhya Pradesh State Government. A few months ago, we were invited by the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, to contribute to their initiative DIKSHA- National Teacher Platform.

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