Definitions:

SWAYAM
SWAYAM is the indigenous platform of the MHRD, GOI providing an integrated portal and platform for hosting Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) developed under the aegis of NME-ICT. Government of India adopted the MOOCs concept to supplement the formal education system in the country from high school to higher education, named aptly as the “Study Webs of Active-Learning for Young Aspiring Minds” (SWAYAM). It hosts various courses based on curriculum, continuing education and skill.

MOOCs: Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are such online courses which are developed as per the pedagogy stated herein and following the four quadrant approach consisting of video , text, self assessment and learn more.

Course: shall be of two types: credit courses and non-credit courses.

1. Credit Course shall mean a course which is taught for at least one semester as a part of a PG Programme in Indian Universities.
2. Non-Credit Course shall include courses like awareness programme, continuing education programme or of specific skill set as independent course, which are not part of any set curriculum.

Subject: shall mean a specific area under a discipline (Example: Physics) taught in an educational institution consisting of specific programme/ courses, resulting in the award of a certificate/ diploma/ degree shorter duration.

National Coordinator (NC): National Coordinators are the Institutions that have been so designated by the Ministry and assigned a specific sector or preparation of online courses for SWAYAM. NITTTR, Chennai has been assigned as NC for developing Teacher Training MOOCs.

Course Coordinator (CC): A Subject Matter Expert (SME) belonging to a reputed educational institution/Industry or a specialist in the field identified and entrusted with the task of developing online course.

Host Institution An educational institution who offers the MOOC on SWAYAM is called Host Institution. The host institution facilitates conducts the examination, evaluation and award and transfer of credits. On successful completion of each course, the Host Institution offering the MOOCs course would issue the certificate, along with the number of credits and grades, through which the student can get credits transferred into his marks certificate issued by his/her parent institution.

Parent Institution A parent institution is where a prospective learner is enrolled in a particular program and may further opt for a particular MOOC/s hosted on SWAYAM.

MOOC Structure

The MOOCs being offered on SWAYAM following the four-quadrant instructional design, as per the MHRD Revised Guidelines. The structure of each MOOC will have following components:

Quadrant-I - (e-Tutorial) Shall contain Video and Audio Content in an organized form, Animation, Simulations, video demonstrations, Virtual Labs, etc, along with the transcription of the video.	Quadrant-II - (e-Content) Shall contain self instructional material, e-Books, illustrations, case studies, presentations, Web Resources such as further references, Related Links, Open source Content on Internet, Video, Case Studies, books including e-books, research papers & journals, Anecdotal information, Historical development of the subject, Articles, etc.
Quadrant-III - (Assessment) Shall contain problems and solutions, which could be in the form of Multiple Choice Questions, Fill in the blanks, Matching Questions, Short Answer Questions, Long Answer Questions, Quizzes, Assignments and solutions, Discussion forum topics and setting up the FAQs, Clarifications on general misconceptions.	Quadrant-IV - (Discussion Forum) Discussion forum for raising of doubts and clarifying them on a near real time basis by the Course Coordinator or his team.