LEARNING MATERIALS AND

EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES: MAKING

DISTANCE EDUCATION WORK

Dr Sushmita Mitra
Director (SSS)

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING, INDIA

AGENTS OF CHANGE IN
EDUCATION

Rapid development in learning theories.

Rapid advancement in Information and
Communication Technology (ICT)

PARADIGM SHIFT

PARADIGM SHIFT IN EDUCATION

From Institution-led learning to own-time

self-learning at a distance.
From teaching to self-paced-learning slowly
moving towards flexibilities and openness.

Gave rise to an alternative system of education

often known as Open and Distance Learning (ODL)
System.

LEARNING PARADIGM SHIFT

TEACHER TAUGHT

TRADITIONAL
SYSTEM

SPATIO-TEMPORAL FIXEDNESS
CURRICULUM FIXEDNESS

PARIDGM SHIFT
SELF LEARNING

CORRESPONDENCE
EDUCATION

FREEDOM OF LOCATION
CURRICULUM FIXEDNESS

PARIDGM SHIFT
SELF LEARNING

ODL EDUCATIONAL
SYSTEM

FREEDOM OF LOCATION
FREEDOM TO LEARN

The barriers of space, pace, time and many

of the rigidities of the formal education are
withdrawn in ODL and this gave rise to
Open Schooling system in the country.

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING(NIOS)

14 STATE OPEN SCHOOLS (SOSs) IN
DIFFERENT STATES

PERSPECTIVES AND ORIENTATIONS

TOWARDS LEARNING IN ODL SYSTEM

Everyone can learn (Burns 1967).

Learning is private and occurs at a distance when the
learner and the instructor/ institution are separated in
time and place
Learning is mediated by a provider arranging for
guided didactic conversation, or
non contiguous communication, or
two way interpersonal communication to recreate
learning link, or
educational transaction using technology and
communication theory, or
virtual contiguity by integrating systems that bring
teacher and learner together, optimum dialogue
between them and eliminate consequences of being
separate in space.

PERSPECTIVES AND ORIENTATIONS

TOWARDS LEARNING IN ODL
SYSTEM

Learning involves collaborated experience

between a teacher and a learner, which is totally
dependent on a two way communication
facilitated by technology.
Learning considers requirements of both the
learning task and learner i.e. principles of
pedagogy/andragogy and structure of knowledge
has an apparent influence on learning.
Learner control is based on the inter-relationship
between independence (as in self directed
learner), proficiency (as in the ability to learn
independently) and support (characterized by
the resources available to guide and facilitate
the educational transaction.

Learner Centred Instructional

System in Open Schooling
1.
COUNSELLING
7.
RESOURCE
CENTRE
HELP

2. COURSE
MATERIALS

3.
ASSIGNMENTS
LEARNER
6. FACE TO
FACE
PROGRAMME

5. RADIO
AND TV,

4. TUTOR
GUIDANCE

Instructional Delivery System

Based on following premises:
Availability,
Accessibility and
Appropriateness

For transaction of the curriculum at a distance,

the print medium is most suitable.
Print considered as the prime instructional
medium supported by other media materials like
audio and video materials in Open schooling.

Efficacy of Print Materials

Depends on the Instructional
Design (ID) chosen.
ID is dependent on the
nature of subject matter,
learner characteristics and
previous experiences and
the type of learning expected.

Printed Learning Materials In Open

Schooling
Self-instructional Material (SIM) which is a written
elaboration of a set of learning opportunities,
organised around a well-defined theme/topic in
such a way that, it is
a self contained instruction unit to be used in a
self learning situation.
guarantees self-sufficiency.
structured in such a way that it helps the learner
to find their way into the text and to find their way
through the text.

Structure of
A Lesson

Title
Introduction
Objectives
Section
Intext Questions

NO
Is it the last section
yes
What you have
learnt
Glossary /Key Words
Terminal Exercise
Answers to Intext Question

Educational Resources
Support materials:
Audio CDs
Video CDs
CAL
Radio programmes through Gyan Vani
TV programme through Gyan
Darshan/and DD1 channel

The NIOS WEBSITE

www.nios.ac.in

Information dissemination
24x7 online admission
Course material
Evaluation/assessment papers for
practice
Tutor marked assignments
Student information regarding
admission and examination dates
List of Study centers
Other related matter

There is nothing like a dream

to create the future.
....Victor Hugo

Thank You