Journal of Learning for Development - JL4D
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Towards Inclusive Education: A Case Study of IGNOU
No full textTowards the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007 -2012), India catered to about 20 per cent of the youth in the age group 17 to 24 years. However, to achieve the threshold level of about 30 per cent by 2020, and address concerns which perpetuate inequalities in opportunities to higher education, Government of India (GoI) formulated positive discrimination policies. Establishment of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) was one such positive step in this direction. Since 1987, IGNOU has been striving for inclusive education and reach all groups till the last mile. As a result of its dedicated efforts, at the end of 2012, it had reached 639 out of 659 districts in the country, including those in the red corridor (infested by Naxalite and Maoist extremists) passing through States of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, and West Bengal. IGNOU has been successfully imparting education and training to socially, economically, physically and/or geographically disadvantaged, in addition to women, minorities and jail inmates. Our results show that participation of rural women is particularly encouraging in all programmes but the dropout rate of these groups is rather high and success rate comparatively low
Policies Regulating the Assignments of the Bachelor of Education Programme of Indira Gandhi National Open University: A Case Study
No full textThis case study examines the policies formulated by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an open and distance learning university of India for regulating the practices related to the assignments of its Bachelor of Education programme. Following the examination it argues that some policies are formulated in the context of the pedagogic significance of assignments in distance education and aim to support learning, while others seem to have been formulated for coping with the financial and administrative limitations imposed by the high enrolment in the programme. It infers that the dichotomy in the policy objectives reflects the diverging perspectives of the policies that have not been reconciled during policy formulation. It also suggests the way the policies that subordinate quality to quantity can be revised
Sustainable Development Begins with Education
No full textThis article builds on the report of a meeting of the Memory and Future Club of the Association of Former UNESCO Staff Members held in February 2016 to discuss the impact of UNESCO's work on Education for All. It also derives from the authors' personal perspectives on the important contribution that the EFA campaign has made and could make to the overall goal of making education a vehicle for the sustainable development of our world. We celebrate its successes and explore its challenges
The Open Flip – a digital economic model for education
No full textThe advent of the internet and digital technologies has given rise to a number of new economic models. These have often been applied to education, but either through faults in the initial models or differences in the characteristics of the education sector, they have not proven to be widely applicable. The use of digital, network technologies combined with open licences is one area that has seen particular success in educational application. This field offers an economic model that has particular application to education, through the reallocation of finances to the production of openly licensed resources instead of the purchase of copyrighted ones. This has potential significant impact across a range of educational practices and beyond
Mobile Learning: Challenges for Teachers of Indian Open Universities
No full text“Mobile Learning” (m-Learning) has emerged as a trend in the field of Open and Distance Learning (ODL). It is removing the time and geographical barriers for learning by placing learning opportunities at the fingertips of learners. ODL institutes in India are also adopting mlearning in different forms; however, it is not fully implemented due to various reasons. This paper aims to explore possible challenges faced by teachers of Open Universities of India in implementation of m-learning. In this context the teachers of Indian Open Universities were surveyed to identify and rate the intensity of various challenges in the successful implementation of m-learning in the ODL system. The findings from respondents (n = 72) revealed that out of thirteen (13) challenges presented to them, the three most important challenges were: (a) lack of support for instructional design for m-learning; (b) lack of institutional policy for m-learning and (c) lack of infrastructure/technological support. These barriers were extrinsic in nature as they were institution dependent. The least important challenges were found to be: (a) intrusion on personal time due to 24 x 7 access; (b) reluctance to adopt technology and (c) difficulty of use. These barriers were intrinsic in nature as they were person-driven. Challenges of m-learning were found to be the same irrespective of gender. Institutions need to provide adequate institutional support in terms of policy, infrastructure and instructional design for the successful implementation of m-learning
Learning for Development from within and beyond the Reef: Early implementations of Open Distance Learning and Use of Open Educational Resources (OER) for the Teaching of English in a Small Island State
No full textThe following article examines the beginnings of open distance learning and use of OER by the National University of Samoa Faculty of Education to address an identified national need for more teachers and to improve their quality. It highlights related challenges in the training of teachers and how different and new modes of learning are not always immediately acceptable and effective for the learners. It also discusses different perceptions related to ODL and OER and the need for policy developments at national and institutional levels for an integrated approach that can lead to sustainability
Positioning extension Massive Open Online Courses (xMOOCs) within the open access and the lifelong learning agendas in a developing setting
No full textRecent reports on xMOOCs indicated that underprivileged learners in need for higher education have minimally been reached by these courses. While the open access agenda is needed to reach such learners, most MOOCs were developed from societies that shifted toward the lifelong learning agenda. In this paper, xMOOCs are positioned in both the open access and the lifelong learning agendas in a developing country context. Findings from ten xMOOCs are presented and discussed. The findings suggested that two of the ten xMOOCs may contribute directly to the open access agenda and two xMOOCs may contribute indirectly to the same agenda. Nine xMOOCs were found to have the potential to contribute to the lifelong learning agenda. These findings may inform policies and practices that underpin opening up higher education and open education in general
