VISAKHAPATNAM: Xavier Institute of Management-Bhubaneswar (XIMB) has opened a `virtual classroom' in Visakhapatnam for its one-year post-graduate certificate programme in business management (PGCPBM).

This major breakthrough in distance learning in the country has been made possible, thanks to XIMB's tie-up with Reliance Infocomm utilising Reliance WebWorld's over 240 outlets.

Blueshift, the Atlanta and Chennai-based software and services provider that specialises in turnkey solutions for academia and HR (human resources) process autonomy for corporates, will be the coordinator and manager of the programme.

A Reliance Infocomm spokesman told The Hindu that in due course, all management and customised training programmes for enterprises would be made available through this mode.

"Virtual classrooms will be as good as the real ones, except that students will participate from our platform utilising the state-of-the-art, most powerful and most flexible cutting-edge video conferencing technology available with WebWorld.

Students can see and hear the [XIMB] professor live and view slides and audio-visuals, besides participating in interactive sessions with the teacher and other students,'' he explained.

Another advantage, according to him, is that those students who miss the class here could catch up with the video recording on-demand at WebWorlds.

Students could also access the virtual classroom in any of Reliance WebWorld's customer convenience centres spread over 100 cities in the country.

Quoting XIMB Director E. Abraham and Blueshift Chairman Sankaran Ranganathan, the Reliance Infocomm spokesman said: "We have brought technology to the educational process by promoting the virtual classroom concept which makes it possible for graduates and working executives to do a world class management programme without having to re-locate themselves from their home towns, thereby reducing their expenses.''

Graduates of any discipline, with two years work experience are eligible for admission to the PGCPBM course, the prospectus of which is available at the Reliance Webworld centre in Dwarakanagar up to October 20.

Selection process

After registering the application, a candidate will be given a unique Registration User ID and password for accessing the XIMB PGCBM website for online student registration through the online application form.

After this preliminary process, suitable candidates will be intimated by mail about personal interviews, which will be held through video conferencing at Reliance WebWorld.

The final selection will be based on the candidate's performance in the personal interview, academic record and relevant work experience.

The course, which will begin in November, comprises of 240 hours of live video conferencing and 60 hours of real time classroom interaction for one week.

Interested candidates can contact P. Mahadevan (mobile: 93931-00147).

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