The switching angles play a vital role in varying the total harmonics distortion in the operation of a multilevel inverter. This paper proposes a modified nearest level modulation scheme to be employed on multilevel inverter for the electrical engineering students in power electronics course. Compared to the conventional nearest level modulation scheme, the proposed modulation scheme is found to facilitate a reduction in the total harmonics distortion at the output of the inverter. An algorithm has been designed for this purpose. The algorithm not only provides an easy approach in calculating the total harmonics distortion but also to reduce the total harmonics distortion. Since the algorithm is applicable to multilevel inverter of any level output, it gives the students a deeper understanding of operation of various multilevel inverter topologies. The proposed scheme is also compared with three other conventional schemes in order to thoroughly understand the importance of total harmonics distortion. Validation of the modified nearest level modulation and nearest level modulation has been done on a cascaded H-bridge inverter for 11 different types of configuration. Simulation has been implemented using the MATLAB/Simulink 2015b software package. A hardware prototype with a specification similar to that of simulation is also presented. With the proper understanding of the algorithm presented, it is very easy to teach multilevel inverter topics under the field of power electronics. © The Author(s) 2019.