Browsing by Author "Panda, Santosh"

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    A Comparative Study on Training/Professional Development Needs of University Teachers on ODL Pre-Covid and Ongoing Pandemic in India
    (2022-09) Lakshmi, Pulla; Mythili, G; Panda, Santosh
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Fostering Lifelong Learning // Education is of utmost importance for social development and political change, regardless of whether it is dispensed through conventional, non-conventional or ODL mode. The Indian ODL system, geared toward this philosophy, is the second largest ODL system in the world, comprising 17 open universities and 110+ dual-mode distance education institutions. The Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) undertakes training needs assessment (TNA) studies from time to time for addressing the training needs of the ODL faculty in the country, (besides offering a PG Diploma and a Masters in DE as long-term professional development programmes, which at one point of time was offered in about 22 countries, largely supported by the Commonwealth of Learning). Recently, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the education sector to adopt changes in teaching-learning. Even though the adaptation of technologies started in the field of education prior to the pandemic, the educational institutions including ODL institutions had to go through compulsory remote online teaching during this period. It was thought prudent to undertake a TNA of ODL teachers during this pandemic and compare the variations in their training needs, which was conducted in pre-pandemic times. This paper reports the findings of a research focusing on the identification of training needs of teachers/ academics from IGNOU; their preferences on mode of training; and any difference in additional required competency during pre- and ongoing-pandemic. The data collected in January-February 2022 has been compared with the data collected in the pre-pandemic period of 2019, and implications for policy and practice on continuing professional development in ODL are drawn accordingly. // Paper ID 8780
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    Community Radio in Bangladesh: Emergence of a new School of Open Non-formal Education (ONFE)
    (2013-11) Rahman, Mizanoor; Panda, Santosh
    Bangladesh Open University (BOU) runs both formal and non-formal education (NFE) programmes using open and distance learning (ODL) mode where broadcast media (radio-TV) plays a vital role. BOU extensively uses electronic media for its 19 open-NFE (ONFE) programmes from the inception to provide information to mass people as a part of its awareness building activities. Radio has been very useful media because it is operationally low-cost and easily accessible; that’s why - open universities/distance education institutes in different countries have been using the community radio (CR) for ONFE with local dialects. The Ministry of Information, Government of People’s Republic of Bangladesh already approved 14 CR initiators for installation and operation of community radio in Bangladesh first time to provide livelihood related information to the rural communities in an understandable way on agriculture, education, health, disaster, women and child issues, market price, services, etc. It is reported that 13 out of 14 are from NGOs because they are very active in implementing the ONFE at the community level; only one license has been issued to Agriculture Information Services, a government body, in the name of “Krishi Radio”. Through issuing license for CR, government just opened the door of the third tier broadcasting in the country to spread the scope of the NFE through distance learning and NGOs will use broadcast media in an innovative way for implementing the NFE. This also created the opportunity for developing public-private partnership (PPP), say between BOU-NGO, model for distance learning and a platform of the alternative approach that is the ‘School of NFE’. This step of the broadcasting will be of great value for the BOU to use community radio for expanding ONFE from its Regional Resources Centres (RRCs) under PPP model with the local NGOs. This paper discusses these issues and finally recommend for the expansion of ONFE in the country using community radio as low-cost and effective media. // Paper ID: 95
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    Editorial: Capacity Building for New Modes of Learning and Teaching
    (2022-11-21) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    In many educational development initiatives across the globe, and especially in the Commonwealth by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), capacity building at all levels and for all categories of people has been underlined as the foundation to shifting to new modes of teaching-learning-training during Covid and also in the post-COVID-19 era. The change management formulation through the model of ‘policy-technology-capacity building’ had emerged as a significantly effective strategy toward development and especially ‘learning for development’. We need more research evidence to further support this formulation, and also to contribute to possible directions for national, institutional and individual goal-setting and strategic applications in-context. It is hoped that the contributions to this issue of JL4D will further enlighten our understanding and suggest pathways toward implementation of education and training programmes in national, regional and institutional contexts.
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    Editorial: Changing Perceptions of ‘Learning for Development’ in the New Normal
    (2023-07-18) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    In the ‘Editorial’ to the first foundation issue of this journal, then Chief Editor Professor Alan Tait had underlined: “While in most cases education is seen as an essential contributor to the human capital that countries need to grow economically and socially, there is a counter view that education, especially at the tertiary level, provides legitimacy for a filter for the labour market and legitimation of elites, and for under and unemployment, as much as it provides real skill and knowledge essential for employment for the majority. Development is in other words a contested concept, and this journal will welcome contributions to the necessary debates about how development is conceived by those who contribute to it through the organisation of learning opportunities in all their range, informal as well as formal”.
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    Editorial: COVID-19 Pandemic and Innovations in Institutional Transformation, Technology and Pedagogy
    (2020-11-20) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    Given the concern and the context, the Editorial Board of JL4D at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) took a considered decision to devote its November 2020 issue to ‘Covid and Learning for Development’. The 18 papers and one book review in this volume include five invited papers from leading global educationists, and papers comprising research articles, case studies, and field reports which, in one way or another, are related t oCOVID-19 and/or innovative teaching-learning in difficult or underdeveloped contexts.
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    Editorial: Learners as Focus in ‘Learning for Development’ (L4D)
    (2023-11-17) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    The JL4D focuses on research and case studies oriented to innovation and how does it contribute to development. In the past years, the dominant themes have been OER supporting TEL, the concept of L4D itself, and innovative technology applications to address contextual needs. As Mays (2023) points out “we need to keep thinking about the why (learning for development) and the how (technology-enabled) and keep evaluating what we are achieving (lessons of experience and research) in order to close the feedback loop into improved practice”. Within this framework, a major focus of L4D is the learner, and how learners are innovating and leveraging resources (especially technology-enabled learning resources) for self and community development. The present issue of the Journal is devoted to focusing on learners in ‘learning for development’.
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    Editorial: Learning for Development: Lessons from Diverse Contexts and Perspectives
    (2022-07-19) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    There has been a contemporary trend in educational delivery, as also in education research studies, toward technology-enabled learning, which offers scope for contexualisation and appropriateness for effective and quality individual and group learning. This trend, though, does not preclude the age-old and conventional campus-based learning. The trend, in fact, has more been toward diversified forms of ‘blended teaching-learning’ – with the nature of the ‘blend’ varying according to the context and current provision in respective educational/ national contexts. In the developing countries, the discourse is more vulnerable in respect of appropriate decision-making for an equitable and inclusive educational provision. Practical field experiences, as also rigorous research studies, should significantly contribute to such decision-making at governmental, institutional and faculty level. Keeping this in view, we have put together, in this issue of the Journal, the following research articles/ studies, case studies, reports from the field, and book reviews which may inform us in further visualising and implementing our actions.
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    Editorial: Technology and Pedagogy for Learning and Capacity Building
    (2023-03-20) Panda, Santosh; Panda, Santosh
    In any technology-enabled learning formulation, it is important to consider the pedagogic affordances of technology, and how to develop the required level of competency and concomitant capacity building to undertake teaching-learning and training activities of high quality. There are a variety of frameworks and guidelines available on TEL, and we, as teachers, trainers and researchers, need to consider reviewing the research literature, analysing the effective blending of pedagogy and technology, developing appropriate learning resources (and/or considering existing Open Educational Resources and MOOCs), understanding the challenges faced especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and appropriating the quality assurance frameworks and parameters, among others. The present issue of the Journal, comprising one invited paper, five research papers, two case studies, and two book reviews, addresses the above issues and concerns.
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    Education for Digital World - Global Efforts
    (2008) Kanwar, Asha; Panda, Santosh
    With Prof. Asha S. Kanwar, Vice President & Programme Director Commonwealth of Learning, Canada. Interviewer - Prof. S. Panda. Duration: 22:34.
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    Evaluation of Online Course on Understanding Open Educational Resources
    (2019-07) Panda, Santosh
    The piece of research reported in this monograph is an evaluative research study concerning post-facto evaluation of an online course on “Understanding Open Educational Resources (OER)” (through the LearnOER Platform) offered globally by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The online course has been offered by COL since 2015 through Moodle, but migrated to the new platform in 2018, and out of a total 4,079 registered users from 64 countries, a total of 1,419 participants have successfully completed the course (at the time of the research). OER is part of the COL’s priority area of work facilitated through the Technology-Enabled Learning (TEL) initiative comprising several innovative projects being implemented across institutions globally. The current reporting on the evaluative research focused primarily on evaluating the online course from the point of view of Return on Investment (ROI) / Return on Expectations (ROE) framework. // In what follows is a brief analytical summaries on: challenges to accessing textbooks; open educational resources (OER); need for capacity building on OER; the COL online course on OER; ROI/ROE in online learning; OER and online learning--evaluation criteria/framework; and the objectives of the present evaluative study. The subsequent chapters deal with the following: Chapter 2 (Methodology), Chapter 3 (Analysis of Data and Results), Chapter 4 (Implications for Policy and Practice).
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    Feedback on Self-Leaning Materials (SLMs) of the Junior School Certificate (JSC) Program of the Open School of Bangladesh Open University: Select Case Studies
    (2010-11) Rahman, Mizanoor; Panda, Santosh
    The main aim of this paper is to find out most appropriate strategy for producing the learning materials which is feasible for the JSC program. The specific objectives of the current research are: • to analyze the attitude and preferences of the existing tutors involved in distance teaching-learning activities of the JSC program; • to promote the key concepts and principles of improving quality of the learning materials for open school programs; • to raise awareness of the different dimensions of SLMs that need to be considered when establishing and maintaining quality; • to capitalize on understanding of the different parts of the strategy in terms of the tools /techniques of material development to enhance learning activities for the learners in the School; • to discuss what immediate steps taken in the Grade 7 & 8 for implementing quality assurance in materials;
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    Getting Published in High Impact ODL Journals (Researching & Writing Panel Discussion)
    (2022-09) Naidu, Som; McGreal, Rory; Panda, Santosh
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Inspiring Innovations [PRESENTATION] // Prof Som Naidu will talk to the following: Open, flexible and distance education draws its foundations from an eclectic knowledge base. While this provides scope for multiple perspectives, it also poses serious challenges for writing, researching and getting published in the field. Key issues among these are 1) a lack of awareness of the basic principles of open and distance learning; 2) lack of awareness of lessons already learned, and 3) lack of methodological rigour. This discussion will engage participants with a critical examination of these issues and challenges and how best to approach them. // Prof Rory McGreal will talk to the following: This session will provide prospective authors of scholarly articles with useful information on how to write a paper to increase the chances of acceptance. An adapted version of Reyes guidelines for scholarly articles will be used to provoke questions, comments and suggestions from the audience. Descriptions of journals that are accepting articles specifically on open and distance education research will be provided. The OER Knowledge Cloud will be introduced along with an explanation of how it can best be used for research. // Information will also be provided on the landscape of scholarly journals relevant to open and distance education research, including explanations of impact factors, h-index, ESCI (Emerging Sources Citation Index) and citation rankings. A description of the open access publishing environment will aim to enlighten participants on the main issues regarding what is wrong with academic publishing. The different types of openness (green, gold, etc.) will be discussed. // Prof Santosh Panda will talk to the following: The Journal of Learning for Development provides a forum for the publication of research with a focus on innovation in learning, in particular but not exclusively open and distance learning, and its contribution to development. Content includes interventions that change social and/or economic relations, especially in terms of improving equity. // JL4D publishes research articles, book reviews and reports from the field from researchers, scholars and practitioners, and seeks to engage a broad audience across that spectrum. It aims to encourage contributors starting their careers, as well as to publish the work of established and senior scholars from the Commonwealth and beyond. // Paper ID 7880
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    Handbook on In-house Style for Course Development
    (2008-03) Panda, Santosh
    Contents: Preface Section 1: About the Handbook Section 2: Open and Distance Learning Section 3: Curriculum Design Section 4: COL Template Section 5: In-house Style for Course Units
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    Impact Assessment of OER Repository of Bangladesh Open University
    (2019-09) Rahman, Md Mizanoor; Panigrahi, Manas Ranjan; Panda, Santosh
    This article reports finding from a study with the students of Bangladesh Open University which replaced traditional textbooks prepared using in-house style with openly licensed books under creative commons (CC) license and other digital content such as video and audio lectures. BOU made a deliberate decision to make textbooks open for that were copyrighted under the Creative Commons license after adoption of OER Policy in 2014. This decision was based on the accessibility and flexibility in the delivery of course content provided by textbooks. In line with this the BOU developed a repository and subsequently it was upgraded through the technology support from Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). The Repository is now full operational and with motivation of assessing the impact of the OER repository, this study has been conducted. Main stakeholders of the OER repository are the students and in Besser et al. (1999) found while students generally view textbooks as an important element of their courses and it also help classes. Distance learners attend in the tutorial sessions, and the soft copy of the learning materials has been effective in the sessions as well. BOU provides hard copies of print which are normally delay in delivery. Therefore, the students are getting used to downloading texts from the repository. More students accessed open textbooks than had handed hard copies of textbooks. Higher grades were correlated with courses that used open textbooks at BOU.// Paper ID 133
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    Linking Skill Programmes with Academic Programmes in Higher Education
    (2019) Panda, Santosh
    Though school VET is well articulated and also that the National Skill Qualifications Framework, and National Policy for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship 2015 are in place, there was a felt need to address the three areas of concern in higher education: i) vertical mobility within VET; ii) horizontal mobility between VET and HE; and iii) skilling for general higher education. COL/CEMCA took up the responsibility of reviewing the international good practices and develop further articulation and guidelines to operationalise the third area of concern, i.e. skilling and employability in undergraduate education. This write-up addresses the global meanings ascribed to skills and competencies; summarises the 21st century skills; reviews select international skill qualification frameworks for school education, VET and higher education; critically looks into the practice of VET and HE in three European countries of Austria, Germany, and Switzerland; discusses the Indian National Skill Qualifications Framework vis-à-vis the skilling system/practices in India (including those for higher education); and outlines guidelines for operationalising linage of skill programmes with higher education (UG) programmes in India.
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    Perception towards Online Teaching-Learning during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case of IGNOU Teachers and Academics
    (2022-09) Asgar, Ali; Panda, Santosh
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // The pandemic erupted due to Covid-19 has disrupted normal life and different economic, social, and educational activities globally, and India was not an exception to this changing situation. In India, a phenomenal change occurred in the education sector where state and central governments instructed or made it compulsory for educational institutions to go online and continue academic activities in the online mode. In this context, IGNOU and state open universities in India also entered to the online mode for teaching-learning (TL) and providing academic support services to learners. Teachers posted at the IGNOU headquarters and academics at the different regional centers got engaged with learners online to perform their respective responsibilities. Against this perspective, this research was conducted to find out the perceptions of teachers and academics on the the effectiveness of online TL; the constraints faced by them; and also, to suggest measures toward making online and blended TL strategies more useful. To conduct this study, a structured online questionnaire comprising the above aspects was sent to teachers and academics of the university in the last week of January, 2022. A total of 63 responses from both the teachers and academics were received and analyzed. The findings of the study suggest academic functionaries of IGNOU were ready to take the challenge positively and self-efficacy helped them in adopting online and digital pedagogies; they improved their ICT skills, although requirement of further training in online pedagogies and instructional design was indicated by them; challenges like slow broadband and non-availability of robust technical support were also reported. The study may have implications for policy and practice of the world's second-largest university which operates within India and through 14 overseas study centers with accumulative learner enrolment of above three million. // Paper ID 0769
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    Professional Development through ODL during the Pandemic: A Comparative Study of India and Guyana
    (2022-09) Priyadarshini, Anita; Panda, Santosh
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Building Resilience // The Covid-19 pandemic affected educational systems all over the world, leading to shift from face-to-face teaching-learning to a system of emergency remote learning. There are many studies that have examined the impact of these developments on conventional education as well as open and distance learning (ODL) systems. The present study is a transnational study of learners engaged in professional development in ODL institutions of India and Guyana. The study investigates comparative learner experiences with respect to four dimensions namely, quality of technology, engagement with teachers, student-student dialogue, and education-work-life balance while studying through virtual mode including in a cross-border learning scenario. // The study is a descriptive survey using a mixed mode methodology. The sample comprised 60 learners from India and Guyana enrolled in the Post Graduate Diploma in Distance Education (PGDDE) programme offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, India. The findings revealed that there were commonalities among learners in India and Guyana. Learners found live counseling sessions more engaging and interactive. It was seen that social media played a positive role in connecting learners during the pandemic and helping them to form their own learning communities. Learners in both countries felt that the education-work-life balance was disturbed during the pandemic. However there was determination among all learners to complete their online professional development programmes. This study will contribute to leveraging learners’ experiences for formulating future policy and designing practices for continuing professional development in developing countries for achieving SDG 4 for quality education. // Paper ID 8828
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    Status of Distance Learning in India
    (2022-11) Panda, Santosh
    The report presents a survey of a situation analysis of distance learning in India. It is based on both archival and field data.
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    Study on Development of ICT-Enabled Vocational Education at the Bangladesh Open University
    (2022-09) Rahman, Md Mizanoor; Panigrahi, Manas Ranjan; Panda, Santosh
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Fostering Lifelong Learning // Around the globe, ICT is making major differences in the teaching-learning approaches and assessment. In line with this, Bangladesh implements ICT in education through its Access to Information (a2i) Programme, and puts emphasis on skilling people by using ICT for supporting SDGs by its ministries and associated agencies. In response to this, Bangladesh Open University in association with the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA/ COL) implements the project entitled ‘Impacting Education and Open Schooling through OER- Making a Difference among the Learners’. This research paper forms part of an action research under this project, and focuses on identifying the policy gaps and tutors’ attitudes towards ICT-enabled vocational education and training (VET) for skilling the disadvantaged learners. Desktop approach on open source materials was deployed for identifying the policy gap, and survey approach was used to collect 180 tutors’ attitude to ICT-enabled VET. Analysis of literature and reports indicate that Bangladesh possesses significant advantage due to the availability of ICT infrastructure for implementing ICT-enabled VET. The results also showed that tutors had a positive attitude towards the use of ICT in vocational education, and it’s use to help tutors be more effective in VET tutorials and in improving student learning. The results have been further interpreted in relation to the existing national and institutional policies and practices. // Paper ID 2796
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    Study on Predicting ‘at-risk’ Female Learners in BOU-Open School: Who succeeds and Why?
    (2013-11) Rahman, Mizanoor; Panda, Santosh
    The Open School of Bangladesh Open University (BOU-OS) launched, using self-learning materials, face-to-face tutorials, and ICT (radio-TV broadcasts, SMS technology), its operation in 1995 through enrolling learners in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) programme which is considered at par with the conventional SSC. As of today, it is found that large number of learners do not complete their studies what is called ‘failure’ and some do finish what we call ‘success’. Female learners are found to have higher ‘failure’ rate than their male counterparts. Therefore, there is a need for a comprehensive approach taking into account all the experiences of distance learners as well as the unique aspects of the distance learning environment in Bangladesh where female students face more factors leading to course withdrawal from their programme than male students. The current research explores the predictive capability, ie "predisposing characteristics" in regard to their chances of successfully completing their programme delivered through distance education. Questions related to why some female students succeed and others fail are of both theoretical and practical significance, as distance education moves from a marginal to an integral role in the educational provision in Bangladesh. This research is descriptive in nature and follows a systematic empirical investigation. It explores the predictive capability of female students in regard to the chances of successfully completing their studies. The survey was conducted on 300 SSC newly-enrolled female students by using questionnaire comprising questions on demographic data (e.g., gender, age, and general educational background) and predisposing characteristics. In addition, selected case studies are used. In order for understanding students’ success and persistence in open school’s SSC programme, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire is used. A range of variables are chosen to measure factors predisposing students toward success or withdrawal/failure in their first SSC programme. The current research has implications in both national and BOU policy formation and practice as it identifies girls’ access and opportunities to ICT vis-à-vis open and distance learning. // Paper ID: 94