COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN EDUCATION

(WEEK 01-05 MATERIAL)

Module Details

Subject Coordinator DR. D. Harichandan

Paper Coordinator DR. Sally Enos.

Content Writer Dr. T.A. James

Content Reviewer DR. Latha Venkataraman

Subject Name Adult Education

Paper Name Communication Technology

Module -2 Unit Structure.

2.1 Introduction to Communication.
2.2 Origin of Communication.
2.3 Communication - Definition and Meaning.
2.4 Concept of Communication.
2.5 The scope of Communication.
i. Audience Scope.
ii. Subject Scope.
2.6 Nature of Communication.
2.7 Principles of Communication.
2.8 Importance of Communication
I. Importance of Communication at the work place.
II. Importance of Communication in Leadership
III. Importance Communication in relationship.
2.9 Need for Communication.
i. for transfer of ideas
ii. for interaction with the society
iii. for education.
iv. for entertainment
v. to understand the world
Let us sum up.
2.10 Summary

2:1 Introduction to Communication

Communication is a means by which to understand mutually and to exchange ideas,
information and even feelings of each other verbally. In short communication helps in building
a bridge between people and places. The growth and popularity of any organization today
depends on its ability to communicate effectively with the world.

We can further proceed to define communication from what we have seen above. To
communicate means to share ideas and thoughts and to participate in a conversation or
dialogue. The dictionaries define communication as ‘the transmission of a message or
information by speaking or writing.’ Another dictionary meaning of communication is that of
exchanging information, signals, and messages by talk or gestures or writing. Various other
dictionaries say that communication is a discourse and a social intercourse. The word
communication today has a wider and much more uses. It is indeed difficult to be precise with
the meaning of communication as it has a wider scope.

Therefore communication is giving, receiving or exchanging ideas, information, signals or

messages through proper media, enabling individuals or groups of people to persuade, to seek
information, to give information or to express emotions.

2.2 Origin of Communication

No one exactly knows how many languages there are in the world, as it is difficult distinguish
between a language and a sub-language (or dialects within it). One authoritative source that
has collected data from all over the world, The Ethnologue, listed the total number of languages
as 6809.

The Bible’s explanation of the origin of multiple human languages is provided in the Tower of
Babel incident recorded in Genesis 11:1-9 (see Figure 1). Scripture simply and confidently
asserts: ‘Now the whole earth had one language and one speech’ (11:1). When Noah and his
family stepped off the ark, they spoke a single language that was passed on to their
offspring. As the population increased, it apparently remained localized in a single
geographical region. Consequently, little or no linguistic variation ensued. But when a
generation defiantly rejected God’s instructions to scatter over the planet, God miraculously
intervened and initiated the major language groupings of the human race. This action forced
the population to proceed with God’s original intention to inhabit the Earth (cf. Isaiah 45:18)
by clustering according to shared languages. Duursma correctly noted: ‘The Babel account
suggests that several languages came into existence on that day. It is presented as a miraculous
intervention by God.’
This depiction of the origin of languages
coincides with the present status of these
languages. The linguistic evidence given
does not support the model postulated by
evolutionary sources for the origin of
languages. The present day linguists believe
that all human languages have descended
from a single, primitive language, which
itself evolved from the grunts and noises of
the lower animals. It is said that languages
accidently originated as the pre-historic
people were passing stones to attack the Figure 1. Peter Breugel (1525-1569) oil
animals, it accidently fell on one person and painting (1563) of the Tower of Babel
he produced a peculiar noise and that gave
interest to the other people in the group and they started throwing stones at each other to get
different cries and howls of people. It was from these cries and howls of people that slowly
language evolved gradually. It would be really interesting if we got into a time machine and
travelled back to history to find out how our ancestors learned and managed to communicate
in the pre-historic times.

We have at the moment no clue of what the next 10 years will bring. It is a thought that we've
put out there, with the possibilities unfurling as we go on with our respective lives. Every day,
we hear or read about something new in the market that will make communicating with one
another faster, better, more efficient, and above all, an experience to remember.

We indeed have come a long way and upgraded our systems, changed our technological
preferences. The technological power is a mammoth subject to review, but we've all seen it
evolve and change over the years, making us appreciate the genius that man is. Back in the
days, when man was busy carving and painting walls, he would have never imagined his world
evolving to such levels of complexity in communication. It's amazing and a true marvel to see
how communication methods have changed.

2.3 Communication - Definition and Meaning

Meaning of Communication

Man is a social animal and he communicates with each other through speech and gestures,
whereas animals, birds, insects and even plants communicate through sounds, sense organs and
movements.

The word communication is derived from the Latin word 'Communis' which means to make
common, to transmit to impart or to share between two or more persons or groups.”
Communication is the natural aspect of man's life. Communication is as old as human, human
 being himself starts communicating from birth. When a baby cries, we know that it is
communicating its need for attention or milk, when it gurgles (happy) it is expressing its sense
of satisfaction.

A society cannot survive without communication. Every human person has always tried to
share his thoughts, experiences and feelings with others. We reach our goals according to our
ability to communicate effectively. Thus communication is the basis of all Socio-economic,
Political and Cultural activities.

Definitions of Communication
According to W.H. Newman and C.F. Sumer Jr., the definition of communication is the
following: “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinion or emotions by two or more
persons.”

According to Keith Davis the definition of communication is: “Communication is the process
of passing information and understanding - from one person to another.”

According to Peter Little, the definition of communication is:

1. “A Process
2. Information transmitted between individuals and organizations,
3. Ensures an understanding response from the receiver of the communication”.
Thus: Communication is Transmission of information + Reception + understanding Response.

Koontz and 0' Donnell defines communication as: ‘Communication is a two-way activity.
There is a communicator and the receiver of communication. Exchange implies reception and
response from the receiver to ideas, emotions and opinions of communicator.’

2:4. Concept of Communication:

There cannot be anyone living in a society without communicating with others. A society ex-
communicates a person if he or she does not follow the norms of the society. Whenever we
imprison someone we are separating that person from other social beings in order to punish
him. We in fact do not allow him or prevent him from communicating with other members in
the society.
All of us have started communicating from our birth. We all know that when a baby cries it is
communicating its need for attention or milk, when it gurgles or croons it is expressing its sense
of satisfaction. Communication is not however the monopoly of humans alone. Animals and
sometimes inanimate objects, in a very broad sense, also communicate. A watch dog that
growls at an intruder or the alarm clock that wakes you up in the morning - both convey definite
messages which are understood. Any transmission of a meaningful message, which is
understood, is communication.

We recognize that when a message is sent out it becomes communication only when it is
understood, acknowledged, reacted to or replied to by the receiving party. If a radio message
is beamed to Mars or to the moon it does not become communication unless there is someone
there to receive the message and understand it. Similarly a person talking in Marathi to a person
who only understands Tamil cannot be said to be communicating. When the Marathi speaking
person, however, shakes hands with the Tamil knowing person, he can be said to be
communicating, for shaking hands is the universally recognized gesture of friendship. This
brings us to another aspect of human communication, namely, that communication need not be
by words ( spoken or written) only, but can be by actions, body language, dress, gestures,
secret codes, signals, facial expressions and even by silence.

2:5. The Scope of Communication

The word scope of communication refers to the sphere of operation of communication. It is
essential for the sender to understand the scope, and for the recipient to understand the purpose
of the communication. If these understandings do not exist, then there is little chance of the
communication being effective. Additionally, although the recipient who must understand the
purpose, it is the responsibility of the communicator to ensure that the purpose is clearly
identified.

There are two aspects to this: 'audience scope' and 'subject scope'.

(i) Audience scope

The audience scope refers to the intended group for whom it is communicated. It will clearly
indicate the target audience of communication. This target audience will allow the recipient to
decide "Is this communication intended for me?” It will also help and allow the communicator
to tailor the communication (especially the language used) to the particular needs of the
audience.

Often, it happens that the communication is targeted to a specific audience and it loses its charm
in every aspect. It should be aimed at a particular group of people or the users of a particular
product. The communication should not be in general but it should identify a group or a
specified product.

(ii) Subject scope

The subject scope of communication further ascertain whether a communication contains

information that they need to know, or that they may be looking for, a communication should
always clearly identify the subject scope of the communication. The subject scope is a
specification of the information covered by the communication. For example, if a document
provides instructions for changing a printer cartridge, it would be wise to specify the models
to which the instructions apply.

2.6 Nature of communication

Communication is understood to have an exchange of ideas or passing on information from
one person to the other. It is always found that very often communication is unsuccessful. We
can thus very well see that the communication process is often very complex. The success of
communication depends on such factors as the nature of the message, how an audience
interprets the message, and the environment in which the message is received. The receiver’s
understanding of the source and the medium used to transmit the message may also affect the
ability to communicate, as do many other factors. The factors such as words, pictures, sounds,
and colors may have different meanings to different audiences, and people’s perceptions and
interpretations of them vary depending on their culture, place and language.

As we all know language of course is one of the major barriers to effective communication.
There are many countries in the world with multiple languages and dialects and therefore the
nature of communication is really complex

2.7 Principles of Communication

1. There should be absolute clarity in the communication so that the receiver can fully
comprehend what the communicator intends to covey.

2. There should always be an essential aspect of trust among the senders of communication and
the receivers of communication.

3. In communication it is realized that the Informal communication is usually more effective

than formal communication. Formal communication seems more professional in an industrial
setting; it has a lower compliance factor compared to an informal communication. It is found
for example, a student is likely to pay more attention in a small, informal classroom compared
to a large formal lecture hall.

4. While communicating the receiver is expected to stay very attentive when the message is
being communicated. Good attention is an essential factor in communication. It will lead to
better understanding of the message, hence a better outcome.

5. It should be consistent with the overall plans of an organization. In every sense

communication must flow parallel to the policies, plans, programmes, etc. of the organization.
Inconsistent communication may lead to costly misunderstandings.
6. While communicating the information should be complete and comprehensible. Information
that is not complete may lead to loss of time and money, and may develop misunderstandings.

7. Communication must be given out at the proper time and appropriate place. The
communication that is given late may lead to late reactions from the receiver, causing the entire
process to be set behind in time.

8. Always try to receive feedback from the receiver in order to ensure clear communication.
The feedback will help the sender that the information he/she is trying to send has been received
well by the listener.

9. There should be an effective communication network established within an organization.

This will ensure that information reaches the target in the original form.

2.8. Importance of Communication

Communication is an integral part of our very existence in the society. Speaking, listening and
understanding are various aspects of communication. Those who can communicate effectively
will surely succeed in the society. Even gestures in communication play a crucial role in
conveying and interpreting the message. Similarly, how we communicate or express ourselves
goes a great way towards determining our importance in the very society we live.
To quote Karl Popper, "It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be
misunderstood". Faulty or incomplete communication can completely ruin the purpose of
communicating and may result in damaging consequences. The gift of communicating well is
not every one is endowed with. We really need to make an effort to be a good communicator.
Communicating the essential way is very important in every walk of life. Let us look at certain
areas where right communication matters in life.

(i) Importance of Communication in the Workplace

Communicating the right way in the work place is as important as the work one does. If proper
and suitable communication is not happening in a work place surely that organization or
institution will not grow in the right proposition. It is really difficult part of running an
organization is managing the human resources. We really need to manage human resource with
great dexterity to reach the optimum goal. Communication is the means by which we keep this
resource moving throughout the organizational machinery. The work place communication
helps one to interact with his superior, his sub ordinates, his colleagues and all the other people
with whom that he comes into contact.

(ii)Importance of Communication in Leadership

A leader who does not communicate well will surely see his down fall at the earliest. A leader
is the one who can motivate his followers and encourage them to bring out the best in them.
Only through communication he can achieve this and it is the best equipment a leader can
employ to achieve this goal. A person of exemplary character with good communication skills
will make a good leader. In history we have great examples of many national leaders who have
moved the masses by their life-changing speeches and powerful writings!
Significance of Communication in Relationships
We as social beings need to communicate effectively to have good relationships. The
significance of relationship in communication is an essential ingredient. If there is lack of
communication that will lead to road blocks and obstacles in our relationships and these blocks
can be effortlessly removed only through communication. In the absence of communication in
relationships, there will be frustrations, misunderstandings, unrealistic expectations, guilt and
can create personal differences. It is difficult for people who share their lives with each other
to coexist for long without having regular and smooth communication.

As we all know that the significance of communication cannot and should not be
underestimated. It is only through communication that we can resolve many issues and
frustrations in life. By talking to each other face to face, many impending disasters in life and
relationship can be averted. All we require is some effort on our part to identify and avoid
barriers to effective communication to make our lives and the lives of those around us better.

2.9 Need for Communication

A human baby starts to communicate when it produces the first noise by attracting its parents.
Every expression of like and dislike, anger and happiness etc. are our ways of communicating
to people around us. It is essential to have communication in every society for its growth and
development. Communication will help us to learn, to teach, to make friendship and to maintain
them. The modern world requires more of communicating individuals rather than intellectuals.
The great need for communication has made man to use the best of technology for developing
communication gadgets more than anything else. The communicative technologies in the world
have increased in great number, but also in speed, accuracy and clarity. We will take a closer
look and make an in-depth analysis of need of communication in the modern world.

(i) For Transfer of Ideas

Communication helps in transferring ideas from person to person. Inventions and discoveries
are possible mainly because of this transfer of ideas. These ideas can be implemented in real
life and can turn into major creations too. Communication is the only means of transferring
these ideas and plans.

(ii) For Interacting with Society

Every moment of our lives we need to interact with our friends, relatives and other living things
around us. We use communication to interact and to grow in wisdom and knowledge.
Communication thus helps us to be different than the other living things and makes a great
difference in our lives.

(iii) For Education

In order to educate we need to exchange our ideas and tell them the various study materials
that are available to them. In educating the students we use materials that are in the form of
audios, videos and lectures done through communication.

(iv) To Update Oneself

Communication is used for updating oneself. We can give the present day knowledge though
the written and oral communication given through books, magazines and new papers etc. Only
by means of latest communication channels we come to know of the current affairs in the world.

(v) For Entertainment

The means of communication in the forms of Television, Radio, internet, theatre and cinema
give us entertainment and information.
(vi) To Understand the World
Communication in every way helps us to understand the world with all its complexities. We
really need to communicate to the world in our own way and need to derive what is essential
for us. We come to know of the treasures of knowledge in the world only through means of
communication.

2.10 Let us sum up

Communication is a means of connecting people or places. The exact meaning of the word
communication is to share, or to participate.
Many evolutionary linguists believe that all human languages have descended from a single,
primitive language, which itself evolved from grunts and noises of the lower animals.
The word communication is derived from the Latin word 'Communis' which means to make
common, to transmit to impart or to share between two or more persons or groups.”
Communication is the natural aspect of man's life. Communication is as old as human, human
being himself starts communicating from birth. When a baby cries it is communicating its need
for attention or milk, when it gurgles (happily) it is expressing its sense of satisfaction
The scope of communication refers effectively to the sphere of operation of communication. It
mainly has two scopes such as subject scope and audience scope. The nature of communication
is related to human activity and it needs two parties. Communication can be one-way or two-
way process.
The principle of communication is based on clarity of speech, idea of trust, to be attentive and
consistent with the overall plans. The need for communication is for transfer of ideas,
interacting with the society, for education and mainly to update oneself in understanding the
world.

Reference and Bibliography

2.15 Links
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-communication.html
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/01/27/an-animated-history-of-human-
communication-1965-educational-film-on-the telephone

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuLw0wEhuskhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8Jy
5F4ZoQ8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4M2-BTkqXM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oq7JKasWnZk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5YPji5OlPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=062cNean4gk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DQWDk6lqU2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6xK4euR1kY

http://articles-junction.blogspot.com/2013/07/meaning-of-communication-definition-

http://www.slideshare.net/suchi9/communication-concepts-theories-and-models1-
presentation

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-is-communication-important.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/barriers-to-effective-communication.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ways-to-improve-communication-skills.html
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/types-of-nonverbal-communication.html

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/importance-of-communication.html
http://lifestyle.iloveindia.com/lounge/importance-of-communication-10812.html

http://static.flipora.com/enhancedsearch_v.html?cx=partner-pub-

2.16 Suggested Readings

1. How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

2. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High by Kerry Patterson,
Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
3. Difficult Conversations: How to Have Conversations that Matter the Most by Douglas
Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen, and Roger Fisher

4. Skill with People by Les Giblin

5. The Definitive Book of Body Language by Barbara and Allan Pease

6. Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone by Mark
Goulston

7. Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time by Keith
Ferrazzi

2.17 References

1. Barnlund, D. C. (2008). A transactional model of communication. In. C. D. Mortensen

(Eds.), Communication theory (2nd ed., pp47-57). New Brunswick, New Jersey:
2. Roy M. Berko, et al., Communicating. 11th ed. (Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.,
2010) 9-12
3. Rhoda A., Aspi H. (2009) “Principles and Practice of Business Communication”
Mumbai Sheth Publishing House. 20th Edition, Mumbai,
4. Schramm, W. (1954). How communication works. In W. Schramm (Ed.), The process
and effects of communication (pp. 3–26). Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
5. K.T. Basantani, A.H. Doctor, P.G. Shinde
6. (2011) Human Rights, Communication Skills, Environment Studies, Sheth Publishing
House, Mumbai.
7. Prof. Deshpande, (2010), Communication Skills in English, (Revised Ed.) Chetna
Publications, Mumbai.

==============================

Module 5: MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Module Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Importance
5.3 Various Models of communication
5.3.1 Linear Model
5.3.2 Interactive Model
5.3.3 Transactional Model
5.3.4 Cascading Model
5.3.5 Circular Model
5.4 Let us sum up

5.1 Introduction
 Communication is an integral part of human existence. Communication decides
the very identity of human beings. Modern society is turning into an information society
and communication is the exchange of this information. Communication is a process
basically concerned with sharing or transferring information from a sender to a receiver
with the use of a medium in which the communicated information is understood by
both sender and receiver. It starts with the transmission of message by communicator
and ends with receiver’s feedback.
Models of Communication are conceptual models used to explain the
communication process in humans. They can be graphically represented for easy
comprehension of their process. In communication model, various elements of
communication process are depicted in a sequential and rational manner. It is the logical
setting of the elements of the communication process. There are various models of
communications put forth by different creators.

5.2. Importance of Models of Communication

Communication model helps us to know about various aspects of
communication. The importance of communication model can be described as follows:
 Presents the essential nature of what it describes by highlighting key features
thought important by the model builder.
 Visualizes for us how certain features are related to another and provides a more
orderly understanding that we might have without the model.
 At another level models have heuristic value; that is, they provide new ways to
conceive of hypothetical ideas and relationships.

1. Measuring the Effectiveness of Communication: The sender, message and

the receiver are very important in any communication process. Various
communication models represent the significant elements of communication
process and help in measuring the effectiveness of communication. Such model
helps in our decision making process.
2. Graphical Representation of Methods: The communication models rely on
pictorial / graphical representation of communication process. Here the sender,
receiver, message, media/channel and feedback, which are the essential elements of
communication process, are represented in the form of pictures. This graphical
representation provides us with a complete idea of the communication process.
3. Scope for further research: Communication model involves pictorial
representation of various elements of communication process which can be used as
a sample for further research and investigation
4. Measures of Inflexibility: Communication model can be used as an essential
source of comprehending the nature of inflexibility/variability in communication.
5. Representation of Objective: Each message which is communicated has
certain objectives/goals and these are represented in the communication model;
thereby creating a meaningful communication.
 At concluded point, above discussion presents that how much importance
communication model bears for modern communication.

5.3 Various Models of communication

A. Linear Model
 Introduction
The first model of interpersonal communication (Laswell, 1948) depicted
communication as a linear, or one-way, process in which one person acts on another
person. This was a verbal model that consisted of five questions describing a sequence
of acts that make up communication. It is also known as the Action Model.

The linear communication model was further revised by Mathematicians Shannon

and Weaver and advocated the one-way model to communicate with other. The linear
model consists of the sender encoding a message and channeling it to the receiver in
the presence of noise.

 Process of communication:
The model portrays a source at one end of the field that encodes and sends
information. This encoded message then travels through a neutral medium until it
arrives at the mind of the other participant, who then receives the message. The model
suggests that, at any given time during a conversation or communication between
people, only one party is expressing the information because the other party is
exclusively absorbing the information.

The various elements of the model and their role are as follows:
a. Source: also known as information source, it is a person who encodes a message.
The communication process starts from the source.
b. Message: Piece of information which is sent by the information source and received
by the receiver.
c. Transmitter: The instrument used to transmit information or message from the
source to the destination. In case of Shannon's model, the transmitter is a telephone
that captures audio signals from the source, converts it into an electronic signal, and
amplifies it for transmission through the telephone network
d. Signal: Signal is that which flows through a channel. There may be multiple parallel
signals, as is the case in face-to-face interaction where sound and gesture involve
different signal systems that depend on different channels and modes of
transmission. There may be multiple serial signals, with sound and/or gesture turned
into electronic signals, radio waves, or words and pictures in a book.
e. Carrier or channel: It is represented by the small unlabelled box in the middle of
the model. The most commonly used channels include air, light, electricity, radio
waves, paper, and postal systems. Note that there may be multiple channels
associated with the multiple layers of transmission, as described above.
f. Noise: These are secondary signals that obscure or confuse the signal carried. In
Shannon’s model, noise is restricted to noise that obscures or damages some portion
of the signal within the channel.
g. Receiver: In face to face communication, the person’s set of ears (sound) and eyes
(gestures) are the receiver. In Shannon's notion, the receiving telephone instrument
is the receiver. In television there are various layers of receivers which include an
antenna and a television set.
h. Destination: A person who uses and processes the message.
Information
Transmitter Receiver Destination
source
Signal Received
Message Message
Signal

Noise
Source
Limitations
 The main flaw in Shannon’s linear model is that it is actually not a model of
communication rather it depicts a flow of information through a medium.
 It is incomplete and a biased model; applicable to systems like telephone and
telegraph and no other media.
 Here the communication is a one-way process where speakers only speak and never
listen. It also implies that listeners listen and never speak or send messages.
 The linear model assumes that there is a definite beginning and end to
communication. It does not take into consideration to feedback from the receiver.
For example; the communication process seen in a letter, email, text message or a
lecture.

B Interactive Model
 Introduction
A more interactive model of communication was put forth by Schramm (1955)
and Wood (2009). In this model, there is an exchange of ideas that takes place between
the participants which are involved in communication and they have an effect on each
other. The participants involved in communication can be humans, machine or art
forms. The model given by them is dynamic in nature and has a two-way flow of
information. In this communicaiton model, the speaker or the sender of the message
also gets the feedback given by the receiver or listener. The speaker and the listener
both take turns to speak and listen to each other. Feedback is in the form of verbal or
non-verbal means or in both ways.
 Process of communication
In an interaction model, two linear models are kept one above the other. The
sender encodes a message and sends it to the receiver who in turn decodes it, encodes
it and sends it back to the original sender. In this model there is a two way
communication process that takes place. This model has added feedback, indicating
 that communication is a two way process not one way. It also has “field of experience”
which includes our cultural background, ethnicity geographic location, extend of travel,
and general personal experiences gathered in our lifetime. This model indicates that the
speaker and listener would be able to communicate better if they have common fields
of experience, or fields which overlap.

Limitations:
There are certain drawbacks to this model. They are as follows:
 This model does take feedback into consideration however it is not simultaneous.
For example, in case of instant messaging, the sender sends an instant message to
the receiver, and then has to wait for the instant message from the receiver to react.
Here the sender and the receiver have to wait for their turns, only when one sends
the feedback then the second can receive and send a feedback.
 This model does not indicate that communicators can both send and receive
messages simultaneously.
 The model fails to acknowledge the dynamic (changes over time) nature of
communication process.

C. Transactional Model
 Introduction
The transactional model shows that the elements in communication are
interdependent. Each person in the communication acts as both speaker and a listener,
and can be simultaneously sending and receiving messages.
There are three implications in the transactional model:
i. “Transactional” means that communication is an on-going and dynamic
process. The sender is changing; the receiver is changing as well as the
environment where the communication is taking place is also changing over
time.
ii. In any transactional process, each element exists in relation to all the other
elements. These elements are interdependent on each other wherein there
can be no source without a receiver and no message without a source.
iii. The factors like the person’s background, prior experiences, attitudes,
cultural beliefs and self-esteem affects the communication process.
 Process
The transactional model presupposes that the people involved in the communication
process are connected and they engage in transaction. In this model each person is a
sender-receiver, not merely a sender or receiver. It identifies all elements which are
involved in the communication get affected. Therefore communication is dynamic as
well as simultaneous. The transactional model contains sets that represent the
communication environment. Where the ellipses intersect is the most effective
communication area because both the communicators share the same meaning of the
message. For example while talking/listening to friends. When one friend is talking to
 another, then the one listening will constantly give feedback using facial expression,
verbal feedback without necessarily stopping the sender from conveying the message.

The above figure shows a transactional model of communication that takes into
account “noise” or interference in communication as well as the time factor. The outer
lines of the model indicate that communication happens within systems that both
communicators share (e.g., a common campus, hometown, and culture) or personal
systems (e.g., family, religion, friends, etc). It also takes into account changes that
happen in the communicators’ fields of personal and common experiences. The model
also labels each communicator as both sender as well as receiver simultaneously
Advantages and Limitations
 Due to constant messages and feedback, good communication is established.
 Disadvantage is that this becomes more difficult to do if the receiving side increases
beyond the capabilities of the source.

D. Cascading model
 Introduction
The Cascade Communication Process downloads team deliberations to all
organizational levels. At the same time, it uploads the organization’s reactions,
suggestions, alternatives, and ideas back to the team—and all without elaborate
technology. The benefit of this dynamic two-way communication is that teams truly
become interactive bodies that tap into the creativity of the whole organization.
 Process
Cascade communications work by sending messages down the chain from senior
executives or Executive Board to senior managers. They in turn pass the message to
their junior managers and then through every layer of management through to the
workforce. Research shows that staff likes to receive information via their managers;
this approach utilizes that personal approach.
Let us understand this example:
 Senior managers or Executive Board meet to discuss the messages they want to
see broadcast throughout the organization
 These are then discussed with the internal communications team (or HR) and
the messages developed
  Senior managers then call together all their direct reports and brief them, this
process of reporting down occurs until everyone in the organization has received
the message
 Meetings should last no more than 20 – 30 minutes. If they are longer including
feedback, questions and discussion, then there are too many messages or the
messages given are too complicated.

Advantages and Limitations

• Needs to be done quickly or it can lead to problems in message delivery
• Often senior managers want to give too much information
• Message can become corrupted as it is passed on
• Only as good as the managers delivering the message
• Can suffer from managers refusing to give the message or holding on to information
– the ‘need to know’ or power syndrome
• It will leak, out so if market sensitive be aware that it won’t stay within the
organization
• Can be time consuming
• Can be difficult over a multi-site or international organization
• Only works if senior executives buy in to the system.

E Circular Model

 Introduction
This model was introduced by Osgood and Schramm. This model highlights two way
communications. Here the response of the receiver is given importance. So, sender always
anticipates feedback from receiver. Therefore the receiver of the message reacts in the
context of the message forwarded by the sender. As a result, communication is completed.
 Process
In a Circular Model, the communication is something circular in nature. The various
elements in the process of communication are as follows:
• Encoder– Who encodes the message and sends it. The encoder is also the originator
of the message. He is the starting point in the communication cycle.
• Decoder– Who receives the message and decodes it.
• Interpreter-Who tries to understand, analyse, perceive or interpret the message.
Throughout the communication process, there is an interpretation that goes on and
based on this the message is received. The model breaks the conventional sender and
receiver model and highlights communication in a practical way. Here communication
can take place at intrapersonal level (within yourself) or at the interpersonal level
(between people), in both the cases, each person acts as the sender and the receiver. The
person thereby simultaneously encodes, interprets and decodes the messages.
The concept of semantic noise is introduced in this model which implies to different
meaning applied by the sender and the receiver to the same message. Semantic noises
generally occur due to words and phrases used by the sender and receiver which cause
a deviation or alteration of the actual meaning of the communication.
 Advantages
• It is a dynamic model and shows how a situation can change over time.
• It shows that redundancy is an essential part to combat the noise structure involved.
• It is a very practical and simple model, breaks the notion of conventional model and
states that there is no separate sender and receiver, sender and receiver is the same
person. The communication cycle ends up where it started from.
• Communication is circular in nature and hence the communication process
completes
• Feedback is the central feature. The sender and the receiver decode, interpret and
encode the message.
 Disadvantage
• This model does not talk about semantic noise and it assume the moment of
encoding and decoding.

5.4 Let us summarize:

 Communication takes place all around us. Mankind has communicated in various
ways since the beginning of their existence, by means of drawings, writings, signals,
symbols and language. Shannon's model of communication serves as a basis for
explaining communication, but it has limitations, an example is that it does not explain
the meaning of the message. The various other models of communication help us in
understanding the different ways through which effective communication can be
established. However each model of communication has certain advantages and
limitations.

References
 http://bconsi.blogspot.in/2012/12/importance-of-communication-model.html
 hubpages.com/hub/Types-of-Communication-Model
 www.youtube.com
 www.slideshare.net
 www. wikipedia.org
 http://quizlet.com/28504828/communication-defined-flash-cards/
 http://goodcommunicationwag.blogspot.com/
 http://ibrahimjacob.blogspot.com/2011/05/communication-theory-in-mass.html

Books
Agarwal, J. (2009). Essentials of Educational Trechnology. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House.

Dr. Y.K. Singh, D. T. (2008). edcuational technolgy. New Delhi: APH Publishing house.

J.S.Walia, D. (n.d.). Essentails ofEducational Teachnology. New Delhi: Ahim Publications.

Kumar, D. (2004). Educational technology. New Delhi: New Age International Publisher.

Mangal, S. M. (2009). Essentials of Educational Technolgy. New Delhi: PH Publishing house.

Ram Nath Sharma, S. S. (2003). Advanced Educational Technolgy. New Delhi: Atlantic poublishers
and Distributers.

Taori, S. (2001). Communication in Schools. New Delhi: Regency Publications.

Vanaja, D. (n.d.). Educational Technology. NeelKamal Publishing house.

Please click on the link below for further reading

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etcIX0aC-4E
 http://www.slideshare.net/unnielovesyou/models-of-communication?qid=90a9bd43-
b9f3-43eb-ac3c-f9996767f7e7&v=qf1&b=&from_search=17
  http://comm1101.wikispaces.com/file/view/Schram's+Model.ppt
 Transactional ModelofCommunication- HCC Learning
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8rVXVN9DZk
 Cascading Communications
 http://effectivemanagers.com/dwight-mihalicz/why-cascading-information-is-key-
to-successful-organizational-change/
 https://members.scouts.org.uk/supportresources/4076/communication-
cascade?cat=460,636&moduleID=10
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5M4HBopSzgI
 http://www.slideshare.net/surbhirishi39/models-of-communication-
mmcmm?qid=1bd35ac4-2685-45cc-be3e-
be52dcba5c2d&v=default&b=&from_search=5
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/17878315/Models-of-Communication
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUvEU5CaRdA

Module 6

MEDIA OF COMMUNICATION

Module Structure

6.1 Introduction
6.2 Types of media
6.2.1 Audio media
6.2.2 Visual media
6.2.3 Audio-visual media
6.2.4 Multi-sensory media
6.2.5 Mass media
6.2.6 Multimedia
6.3 Importance of media
6.4 Choice of media
6.5 Let us sum up

6.1 Introduction
The communication media or channel just lies in between the source and the receiver
like a bridge or connecting link. What the source of communication wants to convey to the
receivers can be done only with the help of some or the other verbal or non-verbal
communication channel. The effectiveness and the strength of the communication flow
between the communicator and receiver surely depend on the nature and quality of the media
and/or channels employed in the process of communication. Media of communication is a
means of transmitting information between a speaker or writer (the sender) and an audience
(the receiver). It refers to the channels or ways people communicate information to each other.

The word "media" is directly borrowed from Latin and is the plural form of the word
"medium". Medium simply refers to a channel or means of completing a communication. It
acts as an intervening agency, means or instrument to establish the process of communication
between the sender and the receiver. People communicate with each other through several types
of media.

The effectiveness of a piece of information or knowledge or communication is

dependent on the medium or the choice of media through which it is imparted. Before choosing
any communication channel, one must be sure of its appropriateness for a particular purpose
and the nature of the receiver. Inappropriate choice of media/channels can send out wrong
signals and end up creating confusion.

6.2 Types of media

Audio-Visual Multisensory

Visual Mass media

Audio Media Multimedia

6.2.1 Audio media

In a communication process, both the communicator and receiver may rely on the
audio media only. In any classroom or teaching learning situation communication can be done
through verbalization or lecturing and the students/learners may receive the communicated
knowledge through hearing or listening.
Audio media also includes an electrical or digital representation of sound. It depends
on hearing and speaking as a main way of communication.
Examples: Tape recorders, MP3s, IPods, radio, cassettes, audio CD’s, audio conferencing, etc.
 Advantages:
 It includes one way or two way communications thus enhances the effectiveness of
the communication. Immediate feedback is possible.
 Clarity of voice
 Relevant to the topic
 Clear pitch of the audio
 Appropriate length
 Appropriate language
 Unbiased content

6.2.2 Visual Media

A learner may receive information or message by reading out a written or printed
statement or through the visual interpretation of the graphic material. (chart, diagram, graphs,
pictures etc.) Such communication involves visual media for the required transmission and
receiving of the communication.
Visual communication is communication through the use of visual aids only. It is
described as the transference of ideas and information in forms that can be read or looked upon.
Generally visual communication in part or whole relies on vision. It is primarily presented or
expressed with two dimensional images, which includes: signs, typography, drawing, graphic
design, illustration, etc.
Visual messages accompanying text has a greater power to inform, educate, or
persuade a person or audience. The communication through newspapers, magazines, books etc.
as well as learning through demonstrations is also carried out through visual media.
Examples: Pictures, Puppets, Dramas, street plays and roles plays, Videos. Broadcast media.

Advantages:
Visuals are powerful and can be used effectively to strengthen communication.
Association of the knowledge heard with the pictures seen helps people to remember what they
hear. Visuals play the following key roles in our life.
 Relevance: Visuals can give accurate representation of ideas; visuals help to define
facts and information easily and precisely. The can identify and describe in concrete
terms giving meaning to words.
 Economic: Visuals save a lot of time and help in better comprehension. For
example talking about some common diseases, giving a description about the
digestive system in humans would consume a considerably more time than the use
of pictures. A picture of a digestive system will help to learn and understand about
its different parts and the process of digestion. Using only words to describe what
happens to the food will certainly take much more time than the use of a visual of
the digestive system.
  Visuals help memory: Humans can generally remember 10% of what they read,
20% of what they hear and 30% of what they see. Visuals thereby help people to
remember and recall information much better than reading or hearing it. Most of us
will be able to recall things we had seen in our youth, than a talk we heard just a
day or two before.
 Visuals can stimulate the imagination: Pictures can help us to imagine and gives
shape to our ideas. Pictures can be used as a starting point for any discussions and
debates. Visuals are not only a quick way of acquiring facts but also of using them.
Details presented in a picture can make people think and react.
 Enriched experiences: Visuals provide a shared experience we have seen that
when the communicator and the audience share a common experience,
communication becomes much easier. Visuals get two people thinking on similar
lines about the same subject. It cuts down the possibility of there being ambiguity
about the subject under discussion.

6.2.3 Audio-Visual Media

In most occasions, the communication in the day to day situation is generally carried
out through a combination of audio and visual media. Writing on board, drawing a diagram,
displaying a model or graphic, demonstration, use of the skill of narration, explanation,
lecturing and exposition along with its visual display is the use of both audio and visual media.
The term audio-visual (AV or A/V) may refer to works with both sound and visual component.
The audio visual media proves to be more effective than the use of the only audio or visual
media for communication. Examples: Microphones, tape recorders, audio mixers, still and
video cameras, film projectors, slide projectors, VCRs, CD and DVD players/recorders.

Advantages
 Clarity: One of the main benefits of using audio visual media for communication
is its clarity. When you send an email or write a letter, you know the type of tone
and mood used in the letter, but it could come across differently to the receiver.
Audio visual input enables both parties to observe facial expressions and gesture,
hear tones and inflections in the voice and use both audio and visual cues to clarify
each other's meanings and positions.
 Speed: Ancient man used pigeons, falcons and messengers to communicate
messages to one other. With the development of technology, people started using
better sources of communication like sending letters and telegram. If the letters were
to be sent to the people living in the same country then the messages would probably
reach within a span of 15 days and if overseas then it would take around a month or
two. But today's communication is immediate, with the use of audio-visual
hardware devices such as video phones, webcams and software devices like
WhatsApp, Skype, viber, etc. the speed of sending and receiving messages is
extremely fast.
  Retention: Audio and visual cues, when combined, increase the retention of
messages. Presentation software and video conferencing can be effective tools in
meetings and lectures because the audiences receive and process the information
more effectively in comparison to traditional approaches.
 Media: By adding videos, visual aids and sound clips to presentations, it creates a
multimedia experience for the receivers. Using a variety of media, from mp3s to
video footage to still-image slideshows and online social media helps in bringing
about a more engaging communication with the audience.

6.2.4 Multisensory Media

Our senses are said to be the gateway of knowledge. In accordance with this well-
known maxim of teaching and learning, it is always better to employ as many senses as possible
in the process of instruction for the best possible outcomes. We use different ways to
communicate and learn through the five senses, through body movements and gestures, space,
time, emotions and artefacts.
Thus each of the five senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch) separately or in
combination may work well as an effective media for the communication process. It allows us
to connect and interact to develop relationships. If we are able to make use of the different
types of media and aid material involving as many senses as possible, we will certainly bring
better results in the communication process. Examples: AVI, MPEG, WMV and QuickTime
files, slideshows with audio

Advantages:
 Caters to all kinds of learners: There are different types of learners viz. auditory,
visual and kinaesthetic. Multisensory media can appeal to and caters to the needs of
all the kinds of learners
 Longer Retention: The purpose behind multi-sensory instruction is to apply this
concept of learning to all subject areas. The more experiences a student has with a
piece of information, be it a spelling word, a process in mathematics, a novel, or a
concept in science; the stronger their ability will be to remember it over a longer
period of time.
 Perception through senses: By enabling a student’s strongest input channel
(auditory, visual, or kinaesthetic) to take the lead in his/her learning experience,
weaker pathways are strengthened.
 Better grasping: If we provide a variety of pathways for learning to occur, we are
more likely to reach all students and each is more likely to grasp the concept.
6.2.5 Mass Media
Nelson Henry has very rightly observed in Media and Symbols, “Educational
institutions, left to themselves may not be successful in achieving the educational objectives of
the developing societies without the support of the new media.” New media implies to mass
media as channels of education which has gained relevance from their capacity to disseminate
information to a great number of people and make the present educational programmes more
effective and meaningful.
Mass media are means of impersonal communication via some medium, imported through
mediated situation. They are means or instruments of communication that reach large number
of people or pupils with a common message. The matter/information/message may be printed
like newspapers or it may take form of radio, television and cinema. There are different forms
of mass media
• Print - Newspapers, books, pamphlets
• Electronic - Television, radio
• New Age - Internet, mobile phones

Advantages:
 Helpful in the spread of compulsory education and adult literacy.
 Reaches large number of the population in a short amount of time.
 Helps in supplementing correspondence programmes.
 Facilitates an exchange of thoughts and ideas.
 Helps in developing leisure time interest and appreciation.
 Facilitates disseminate information; increase the speed with which a message travel.
 It is a way to link parts staple of social life.
 Makes the constraints of time and distance manageable.
 Assists in the spread of non-formal education an alternative to formal approach to
education.

Disadvantages
 There may be a misinterpretation of a situation as at times the information reported
may not be authentic from every angle.
 News can be manipulated to influence the minds of the audiences. For example - a
particular political party may manipulate reports in their favour, which would
indicate the political control in the media.
 Media bias can occur due to various issues. A journalist’s subjectivity or personal
opinion may influence the readers.
6.2.6 Multi media
A communication process may be termed as based on the multimedia approach when
it employees a number of media in a planned and organized combination for deriving the
maximum output in a particular communication situation. Multimedia communication is the
presentation of digital information in the form of text, images, sound, motion graphics, web
sites, and video. This contrasts with media that use only rudimentary computer displays such
as text-only or traditional forms of printed or hand-produced material.
 Most of the well-organized programmes of the reputed open education or distance
education institutions like IGNOU are run through the multimedia approach adopted for the
interaction with the learners. In the advanced countries such as USA, UK, Australia and
Canada, it is used in a quite effective way for carrying out a number of on-line courses.
Examples: CD. ROMs, DVDs, Web chatting, teleconferencing, videoconferencing

Advantages:
 Makes the educational process interesting, purposeful and effective.
 Helps in meeting the needs of the learners.
 Makes the learning highly individualized and self-dependent.
 Appeals and spreads education to the masses.
 Easy to use.
 Provides advantages to group and individual learning.
 Tailors information to the individual.
 Relieves teachers from the routine duties.

Disadvantages:
 Not economic in cost.
 Special hardware and software is needed.
 It is not always user friendly.

6.3 Importance of media

 It helps in the facilitation of fast and effective learning
 It helps to motivate the students as the message or the information communicated
to the receiver reaches it with the same clarity of the sender.
 It helps in adding variety in teaching methods. Media and method are
complementary and supplementary to one another. A method can be made effective
by using an appropriate media of communication.
 It helps in provide concrete information, whether it is in verbal, visual or audio
form.
 It helps in facilitating long lasting learning as it appeals the senses, in other words
channels are senses of perception.

6.4 Choice of media:

Romiszowski (1997) says that the main categories of factors that may influence the choice of
media are:
1 Task factors - the type of objectives and the type of learning activities which should
be provided for the learner.
2 Learner factors - some learners may learn better from certain media than from others
 3 Economics/availability factors - this may limit the choice of media in practice.

6.5 Let’s Summarize

There are different media through which communication can be made possible. These media
can be grouped as audio, visual, A/V, Multisensory, mass media and multimedia. Each type of
media has its own advantages and limitation. However the effectiveness of any communication
is dependent on the choice of media. Keeping this in mind the sender must make the selection
of the right media and ensure that the communication takes place in the right manner.

References
 http://www.ehow.com/list_7453669_media-communication.html#ixzz32REhpL7P
 http://smallbusiness.chron.com/audiovisual-media-considered-powerful-tool-means-
communication-33541.html
 http://www.outeractions.com/research/the-nature-of-multi-sensory-communication-
and-its-importance/
 https://www.kansasprojectsuccess.org/system/files/113/original/KTA_Multisensory_t
ext.pdf?1326488984
 www.youtube.com
 www.slideshare.net
 www.powershow.com
 http://www.ehow.com/info_12142877_types-multimedia-communication.html
 Agarwal, J. (2009). Essentials of Educational Trechnology. New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House.
 Dr. Y.K. Singh, D. T. (2008). edcuational technolgy. New Delhi: APH Publishing
house.
 J.S.Walia, D. (n.d.). Essentails ofEducational Teachnology. New Delhi: Ahim
Publications.
 Kumar, D. (2004). Educational technology. New Delhi: New Age International
Publisher.
 Mangal, S. M. (2009). Essentials of Educational Technolgy. New Delhi: PH Publishing
house.
 Ram Nath Sharma, S. S. (2003). Advanced Educational Technolgy. New Delhi: Atlantic
poublishers and Distributers.
 Taori, S. (2001). Communication in Schools. New Delhi: Regency Publications.
Vanaja, D. (n.d.). Educational Technology. NeelKamal Publishing house.
Please click on the link below for further reading
 http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/Weeperzenim-1457235-visual-
communication/
 http://twitter09.wordpress.com/the-book/case-study-visual-design/
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOt5Z-T-DQk
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6U67hHNUpQ
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06LogMzbFPY
 http://www.slideshare.net/allenclouse/multisensory
 Mass Media N Communication PPT Presentation
 http://www.slideshare.net/sanunpk/media-and-mass-media
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_v0TJv9mvo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB-5XSqzAfg
 Multimedia Communication Ppt Presentation - Author Stream
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je3bUf2l6bI
 http://prezi.com/ymgja_zx3nta/multimedia-communication-in-business/
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbfZATUqvR4
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2gh-CGjgJY
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8xZpReC-b8
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aV8bK9E0z0
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpikhEiwmTs
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRxCfWNOfT8

MODULE 4: COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Unit Structure:
4.0 Learning Outcomes
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Principles of communication
4.3 Components of Communication
4.4 Process of communication
4.5 Modes of communication
4.6 Theories of communication
4.7 Let us sum up
 4.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:

 understand the principles of communication
 identify the components of communication
 explain the process of communication
 illustrate with examples the modes of communication
 understand the theories of communication

4.1 Introduction:

When we exchange ideas, feelings, intentions, attitudes, expectations, and perceptions or commands with some
other individual or a group, it is called Communication. It may be through the medium of speech, gestures,
writings, and behaviour through electromagnetic, chemical or physical phenomena. It is the meaningful
exchange of information between two or more participants. In this chapter, let us study more about
communication.

4.2 Principles of communication:

Communication is a two-way process. There are many different channels through which we
give and receive information. There are certain elementary principles which we all need to
follow to be effective communicators. Whether it is an informal talk like speaking to a
colleague, or a formal mode of communication like addressing a conference or meeting, writing
a newsletter article or formal report, the following basic principles apply:

1. Clarity: Every communication must have clarity. A message that leaves the reader
scratching his head is a failed message. Clarity springs from knowledge of the message (what
you want to say), the method (how you want to say it), and the medium (what format you want
to say it in). A lack of mindfulness in any one of these components affects the effectiveness of
the message.

2. Conciseness:

Communication is founded on the principles of conciseness. This applies not just to the length
of your message, but also its contents. Try to use short sentences and short words. Avoid
jargon and words that send the reader to the dictionary.

3. Objectivity:

Any communication must always have a purpose. This purpose must be apparent to anyone
who glances through your message. Before you put a single word to paper, ask yourself:
“What am I trying to achieve with this message?” This will help you stay on course through
the message creation process and effect a remarkable improvement in the message efficacy.

4. Consistency:

All communication must have consistency of tone, voice and content. Imagine that you’re
reading a book that starts out with a humorous satire on one page, a serious explanation on
another, a serious medieval romance half way through and finally finishing as a supernatural
comedy! Such a book will alienate the readers and leave them confused and even angry.
Although you can stray from the set tone from time to time – a few humorous jokes can help
lighten the mood – the overall theme must remain consistent.

5. Completeness:

Each message must have a clear and logical conclusion. The receiver shouldn’t be left
wondering if there is more to come. The message must be self-sufficient, that is, it must hold
good on its own without support from other messages. This is particularly apt for blog posts
which often end abruptly and leave the readers scratching their heads.

6. Relevancy:

Every message sent out must be contextually cohesive with previous/future messages. The
message must also be relevant and related.

7. Audience Knowledge:

Lastly, your message must have a thorough understanding of your primary audience.
Everything else – clarity, completeness, objectivity – results from your knowledge of your
audience. Your message must reflect the age, education level, aims and objective of your
audience. This is possible only if you thoroughly know your receivers and can see things from
their perspective.

4.3 Components of Communication:

The main components of communication are as follows:

1. Context – Any message whether it is oral or written, begins with a context. Context may be a place,
culture or organization. Every organization, culture and country communicates information in its own
way. Context also includes external or internal stimuli. Meetings, letters, memos, telephone calls, fax,
notes, email and even a casual conversation are external stimuli. This external stimulus motivates you
to respond which may be oral or written. Internal Stimuli includes opinions, attitudes, likes, dislikes,
emotions, experience, education and confidence.

2. Sender / Encoder –A Sender / Encoder is a person who sends the message. A sender makes use of
symbols (words or graphic or visual aids) to convey the message and produce the required response.
The sender may be an individual, a group or an organization. The sender’s views, background,
approach, skills, competencies, and knowledge have a great impact on the message. The receiver
interprets a message depending on the verbal and non-verbal symbols chosen by the sender.
 3. Message - Message is the information that is exchanged between sender and receiver. It is the key
idea that the sender wants to communicate. Communication process begins with deciding about the
message to be conveyed. It must be ensured that the main objective of the message is clear. The first
task is to decide what you want to communicate and what would be the content of your message; what
the main points of your message are and what other information to include. While writing the message,
encoder should keep in mind all aspects of context and the receiver (How he will interpret the message).
Messages can be intentional or unintentional.

4. Medium - Medium is a means used to exchange / transmit the message. The sender must choose an
appropriate medium for transmitting the message; else the message might not be conveyed to the
desired recipients. The choice of appropriate medium of communication is essential for making the
message effective and ensuring that it is correctly interpreted by the recipient. For instance - a written
medium would be more appropriate when a message has to be conveyed to a small group of people,
while an oral medium is chosen when immediate feedback is required from the recipient.

5. Recipient / Decoder - Receiver is the person who interprets the message. S/he is a person for whom
the message is intended / aimed / targeted. The degree to which the decoder understands the message
is dependent upon various factors such as knowledge of the recipient, his perception, opinion, attitude
and personality. Receiver is also influenced by the context, internal and external stimuli.

6. Feedback –Feedback is the response or reaction of the receiver to a message. Feedback may be a
written or oral message. It may be an action or simply silence. Feedback helps the sender to know the
efficacy of his/her message. It helps the sender in confirming the correct interpretation of message by
the decoder.

4.4 Process of communication:

The process of communication is a sequence of events in which a sender transmits a message to a

recipient. The message can be verbal or nonverbal. There are several steps in the process: encoding,
medium of transmission, decoding, and feedback.
The necessary components that need to be present for the process of communication to occur include
the sender, the recipient, and the message. In order for effective communication to take place, it is vital
that the message is easily understood.

1. Encoding: The first step in the process of communication is called encoding. This is when the message
is transformed from a thought in someone's mind to a form that can be understood by others. The
message can be written down, spoken, or it can even take a nonverbal, or wordless, form such as
gestures or a picture. Once the message has been encoded, it should be in a form that is ready to be
received and understood.

2. Transmitting: After the message has been prepared for transmission, it needs to be sent. This part of
the process of communication is called the medium of transmission. In this step, the sender selects the
 best method for sending the message and transmits it. For example, a written message may take the
form of e-mail or a business report that is printed out and hand delivered. A verbal message may be
telephone conversation or a speech given before an audience, and a nonverbal message such as a picture
may be transmitted by posting it on the Internet or hanging it in a museum.

3. Decoding: Once the message has been transmitted, the next step in the process of communication
requires decoding. This occurs once the recipient gets the message, examines and interprets it using
prior knowledge and experience. In this manner the recipient develops an understanding of the meaning
of the message which is partially based his or her own background.

4. Feedback: Finally, feedback is the last part of the process where the recipient responds to the message,
thereby indicating understanding.

4.5 Modes of communication:

1. Interpersonal Mode: The Interpersonal Mode is characterized by active negotiation of meaning

among individuals. Participants observe and monitor one another to see how their meaning and
intentions are being communicated. Adjustments and clarifications can be made accordingly. As a
result, there is a higher probability of ultimately achieving the goal of successful communication in this
mode than in the other two modes. The Interpersonal Mode is most obvious in conversation, but both
the interpersonal and negotiated dimensions can be realized through reading and writing, such as the
exchange of personal letters or electronic mail messages. Examples of Interpersonal mode:
 Exchange information via letters, e-mail/video mail, notes, conversations or interviews on familiar
topics (e.g. school events, weekend activities, memorable experiences, family life).
 Express and compare opinions and preferences about information gathered regarding events,
experiences and other school subjects.
 Clarify meaning (e.g. paraphrasing, questioning).
 Give and follow directions, instructions and requests (e.g., installing software, dance steps).
 Demonstrate the ability to acquire goods, services or information (e.g., using public transportation,
making a hotel reservation, buying food).

2. Interpretive Mode: The Interpretive Mode is focused on the appropriate cultural interpretation of
meanings that occur in written and spoken form where there is no recourse to the active negotiation of
meaning with the writer or the speaker. Such instances of “one-way” reading or listening which include
the cultural interpretation of texts, oral or written, must be distinguished from the notion of reading and
listening “comprehension,” where the term could refer to understanding a text with an American mind
set. Put another way, interpretation differs from comprehension in that the former implies the ability to
“read (or listen) between the lines. “Since the Interpretive Mode does not allow for active negotiation
between the reader and the writer or the listener and the speaker, it requires a much more profound
knowledge of culture from the outset. The more one knows about the other language and culture, the
greater the chances of creating the appropriate cultural interpretations of a written or spoken text. It must
 be noted, however, that cultural literacy and the ability to read or listen between the lines are developed
over time and through exposure to the language and culture. Examples of Interpretive mode:
 Follow directions, instructions and requests (e.g., recipes, travel directions, prompts on ATMs).
 Use listening and reading strategies (e.g., skimming and scanning techniques) to determine main
ideas and purpose.

1. Presentational Mode: The Presentational Mode refers to the creation of messages in a manner that
facilities interpretation by members of the other culture where no direct opportunity for active
negotiation of meaning between members of the two cultures exists. Examples of the “one-way”
writing and speaking require a substantial knowledge of language and culture from the outset, since the
goal is to make sure that members of the other culture, the audience, will be successful in reading and
listening between the lines. Examples of Presentational mode:
 Summarize information from authentic language materials and artefacts (e.g., TV programs,
articles from youth magazines, Internet, videos, currency) and give personal reactions.
 Use information acquired from target language sources to solve everyday problems and situations
(e.g., using a newspaper to make plans to see a movie, perusing a catalogue to shop for a birthday
gift, watching a weather forecast to help plan an activity).
 Create and present a narrative (e.g. current events, personal experiences, school happenings).
 Present differences in products and practices (e.g. sports, celebrations, school life) found in the
target culture.
 Prepare and deliver a summary of characters and plot in selected pieces of literature.
 Apply age-appropriate writing process strategies (prewriting, drafting, revising, editing,
publishing).

4.5 Theories of communication:

The study of communication and mass media has led to the formulation of many
theories. Structural and functional theories believe that social structures are real and
function in ways that can be observed objectively; cognitive and behavioural theories
tend to focus on psychology of individuals; interactionist theories view social life as a
process of interaction; interpretive theories uncover the ways people actually
understand their own experience; and critical theories are concerned with the conflict
of interests in society and the way communication perpetuates domination of one group
over another .

A few of them are discussed below:

1. Communication accommodation theory elaborates the human tendency to adjust

their behaviour while interacting. The reason behind this behaviour is explained as to
control the social differences between the people interacting. People accommodate their
communication activities to get approval and to set a positive image with whom they
 interact. The environment in which they are interacting also affects the communication
behaviour.

There are two types of accommodation process explained in this theory. The two
processes usually are dependent on the characteristics of the people interacting.

 Convergence- convergence is a process where people tend to adapt the other person’s
communication characteristics to reduce the social differences.
 Divergence-the process contradicts the method of adaptation and in this context the
individual emphasis is on the social difference and nonverbal differences between the
people interacting.

2. Cross-cultural communication theory refers to the communication between people

who have differences in any one of the following: styles of working, age, nationality,
ethnicity, race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Cross cultural communication can also
refer to the attempts that are made to exchange, negotiate and mediate cultural
differences by means of language, gestures and body language. It is how people
belonging to different cultures communicate with each other.
By accepting people and their differences and acknowledging that we don’t know
everything makes us open up to people and their differences results in the use of
contextual information for better understanding. Seeking feedback and taking risks to
open up channels of communication and being responsible for our feelings and actions
goes a long way in ensuring that miscommunication is mitigated.
Cross cultural communication creates a feeling of trust and enables cooperation. The
focus is on providing the right response rather than providing the right message.

3. The Cultivation theory argues that the media generally presents an image of the world
that does not reflect reality. Television images are an exaggeration or fantasy of what
actually exists. There are a disproportionate number of handsome gentlemen, beautiful
women, crime, wealth and violence. As a result, people end up perceiving the real world
in a distorted manner and viewing actuality through a ‘television perspective.’
Television offers a plethora of ideas and conceptions on a variety of social and cultural
dynamics like race, gender, sexuality, etc. Over a period of time, a fixed image of
various groups of people is formed and viewers start to absorb these ideas which they
then use as a map to navigate through life. This constant exposure to the media content
cultivates specific values, beliefs, attitudes and desires in people.
These newly preconceived notions shape their perception of the world and they
ultimately influence how others perceive them. People therefore end up unconsciously
shaping their thought processes and behaviour based on what they consume. Cultivation
theory research views television as a system of messages and tries to understand its
function and consequences on an audience.

4. Muted group theory is a critical theory concerning certain groups of people who
remain powerless compared to the others.
 The muted group theory explains the cause of muteness especially that of women in the
society. The theory upholds a gender perspective where the male is the dominant class.
When women come to social space, they face the most abusive language because
women are considered to be less powerful than men. Men take more advantage by using
the existing male dominant power in the social space and protect themselves from
abusive language. In our society most of the abusive language is feminine. Women
being stereotyped is also seen in mass media and converted into popular culture.
Women are portrayed as sex symbol in most advertisements even for male products.
The perspective of males towards women has been narrowed down to either sexual or
an emotional symbol. Thus the muted group theory brought to light how
communication is affected due to this narrow perspective of the society.
The muted group theory can be applied to understand the problems of the marginalized
groups.

5. Knowledge Gap theory states that the infusion of mass media information into a social
system increases the acquisition of information by the higher socioeconomic segments
faster than the lower socioeconomic segments. This increases the gap in knowledge
between the two. The higher economic class gains more benefits. A person of the higher
economic class receives more education which in turn increases his communication
skill and hence gathering information becomes easier for him. Along with this reading,
understanding and memory skills also become better and thus he understands the issues
of various spheres better. A person with more education has more social integration.
This helps him to counter various perspectives with better understanding.
If the Information services are not made equal for the entire society, this gap of
information will increase over the years.

4.6 Let us sum up:

 Objectivity, conciseness, clarity, consistency, completeness, relevancy and audience

knowledge are the principles of communication.
 The components of communication are context, sender / encoder, message, medium, recipient /
decoder and feedback.
 The process of communication is a sequence of events in which a sender transmits a message to a
recipient. The message can be verbal or nonverbal as long as the recipient is able to understand it.
 There are three modes of communication- the Interpersonal mode, the Interpretative mode and the
Presentational mode.
 There are various Communication theories. Some of them are communication accommodation
theory, cross-cultural communication theory, cultivation theory, muted group theory
and the knowledge gap theory.

MODULE 4: COMMUNICATION PROCESS

4.3 WATCH:
http://www.slideshare.net/dexpan/7-principles-of-communications

4.4 Communication Process

http://www.slideshare.net/Sweetp999/communication-and-its-process

http://www.slideshare.net/satyakichowdhury1/communicatio-n

READ more on Communication Theories:

 http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/
 http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Communication_theory
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Communication_Theory.pdf
 http://www.jackwhitehead.com/teesonphd/004c3.pdf
Suggested reading:
 https://www4.uwm.edu/cuts/bench/commun.htm
 www.intstudentsup.org/communicating/effective_communication/index.jsp
 www.mindtools.com › Communication Skills
 www.rajprisons.nic.in/.../EFFECTIVE%20COMMUNICATION%20SKIL

References:
 http://managementstudyguide.com/components-of-communication-process.htm
 http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-process-of-communication.htm
 http://www.notesdesk.com/notes/business-communications/components-of-communication/
 National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project (2006). Standards for foreign language
learning in the 21st century. Lawrence, KS: Allen Press, Inc. pp. 36-38.
 http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_fLuVUMJdayk/TTzAG1qnyvI/AAAAAAAAABw/RNw3PZJV-
hw/s1600/komunikasi+lg.jpg
 https://www.udemy.com/blog/principles-of-communication/
 http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/mass/mass2.html
 http://mhhe.com/mayfieldpub/westturner/student_resources/theories.htm
 http://quizlet.com/9009898/communication-skills-true-false-flash-cards/
 http://communicationtheory.org/list-of-theories

Module 7
BARRIERS OF COMMUNICATION
Module Structure
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Effects of barriers on communication
7.3 Types of Barriers
7.3.1 Physical Barrier
7.3.2 Psychological Barrier
 7.3.3 Semantic Barrier
7.3.4 Mechanical Barrier
7.3.5 Cross Cultural barrier
7.3.6 Organizational barrier
7.4 Ways to overcome the Barriers
7.5 Let us sum up

7.1 Introduction
The fundamental principle of communication is that it must be understood in the
same sense as it is meant to be seen by sender. However, the effectiveness of communication
very much depends on the presence or absence of the elements and conditions, facilitating or
obstructing the proper flow of communication. These elements or situations effectively play
the role of the intervening variable in either helping or hindering the process of communication.
These are always in a position to increase or decrease the effectiveness of the communicator,
the strength of the communication media, the power of the receiver, and the quality of the
communicated message.
Unfavourable conditions like noise, indiscipline, improper facilities, non-availability of
appropriate aid material etc. significantly effects communication. Apart from these, lack of
expressing "knowledge-appropriate" communication, which occurs when a person uses
ambiguous or complex legal words, medical jargon, or descriptions of a situation or
environment that is not understood by the recipient disharmonizes the process of
communication. These factors which hinder the conveyance of meanings of a message are
known as barriers to communication.
There are many barriers to communication and may occur at any stage in the communication
process. Barriers may lead to your message becoming distorted and thereby risking waste of
both time and/or money by causing confusion and misunderstanding.
Barriers to effective communication can retard or distort the message and intention of the
message being conveyed which may result in failure of the communication process or an effect
that is undesirable. Effective communication involves overcoming these barriers and
conveying a clear and concise message.

7.2 Effects of barriers on communication

 They are hindrances which are destructive when one or more persons are interacting.
They tend to diminish others self-esteem and trigger our defensiveness, resistance
and resentment.
 They often lead to dependency, withdrawal, feelings of defeat or of inadequacy.
 They act as feeling blockers and reduce the likelihood of finding a solution. They
could ultimately lead to souring of relationships.
  They could lead to increasing the emotional distance between the people
communicating.
7.3 Barriers to communication can be classified into the following categories

Physical
Barrier

Organizational Semantic
barrier Barrier

Barriers of
Communication

Cross Psychological
Cultural Barrier
barrier
Mechanical
Barrier

7.3.1 Physical Barrier

Physical barriers relate to disturbance in the immediate setting which can interfere in
the course of an effective communication. These physical barriers may prove to be tough
obstacles in the process of effective communication. These factors may just cause
distraction leading to inattentiveness or totally alter the message, causing
miscommunication. Physical barriers are as follows:
Time: Time has an important role in a communication process. Do we not often hear
expressions such as “timely caution”, “timely advice?” These expressions indicate the
role of time as a factor in communication. An organization that expects quick results
cannot afford to be relaxed in its channels of communication. The time lag between
countries in Europe / America and Asia has to be overcome by the adoption of modern
and fast communication channels. Quickness of communication is the watchword in
the modern world of communication.
Place: The place or the location where a communication process takes place can
degenerate into a barrier to effective communication. A simple comparison of the
surroundings in a Government / Municipal office and the ambience provided in a
multinational company will show how place and surroundings play an important role
in effective communication. Inconvenient place, shaky furniture, poor lighting,
inadequacy of space are all factors that make people irritable / impatient and annoyed.
Friction and conflict erupt easily in such places which mar the transaction of any
 business, leave alone business communication. Even though it is part of office
management, its impact on the communication process as a barrier is inevitable. Good
ambience and suitably lighted and ventilated places promote effective communication.
Distance: Distance also plays an important part in determining the course of a
conversation.
For example, if the staff in an organization is made to sit in different buildings or
different floors, they might have to substitute face to face communication with phone
calls or emails. This prevents the employees to have effective communication with each
other. For example, if a manager and his subordinate are seated at different buildings
of an organization, then the manager may have to give out instructions over the phone
or over the email, which can sometimes lead to a lack of effective communication
Climate: “The talks were held in a cordial atmosphere and in a proper climate” say the
newspapers. Though the word climate refers to the human relations prevailing there, it
is no exaggeration to say that the actual room temperature helps people to keep their
heads cool! Unfavourable climate can act as a barrier to communication leading to
wrong perceptions or decision.
Noise: Noise is a physical barrier to effective communication. Noise may have its origin
from an external source or may exist even in the communication loop. You do not
achieve effective communication by merely shouting. Effective communication is
almost impossible on the factory floor, the bus stand or railway station. No one should
try to out shout a machine to achieve successful communication. Instead he should
choose a better place with less noise to communicate his message / information. Noise
distorts messages and acts as a barrier to effective communication.
7.3.2 Psychological Barrier
Communication is often blocked by psychological problems. Psychological
factors such as misperception, filtering, distrust, unhappy emotions, and people's state
of mind can jeopardize the process of communication. Similarly, if someone has
personal problems such as worries and stress about a chronic illness, it may impinge
his/her communication with others. Psychological factors like interest, attention,
motivation, concentration of both sender and receivers have an impact. No one can be
forced to perceive what he does not want to. It could lead to a situation wherein a person
would be physically present but mentally absent. Negative attitudes and prejudices mar
one’s participation. Positive emotions of love, compassion and we feeling, help in
smooth flow of messages.
7.3.3 Semantic Barrier:
Language, jargon, slang, etc., are some of the semantic barriers. Language and
linguistic ability may act as a barrier to communication. However, even when
communicating in the same language, the terminology used in a message may act as a
barrier if it is not fully understood by the receiver(s). Different languages across
different regions represent a national barrier to communication, which is particularly
 important for migrating nurses. Use of jargon and slang also act as barrier to
communication.
 Verbosity and verbalism: At times language used by the communicator would be
very high and bookish making it difficult to comprehend. Sometimes inappropriate
speed of talking also makes it difficult to understand the message.
 Language inadequacy: There might be language barrier since both the sender and
the receiver do not comprehend each other’s language. Also the sender may not be
proficient in the language making his message unclear.
 Unclear graphics and symbols: During written communication if the sender uses
some symbols which are not commonly used, then the receiver gets a wrong picture
7.3.4 Mechanical Barrier
Mechanical communication barriers are technical sources of interference in the
communication process. A mechanical barrier stems from a problem in machinery or
instruments used to transmit the message. This is not limited to media forms such as radio and
television; it also includes machines used by those with hearing or speech impairments.
Examples of mechanical communication barriers are noisy communication machines or
instruments, absence of means of communication instruments, transmission interruption and
power failure.
 Noise: Mechanical instruments and machines require constant maintenance. Over
time and with regular use, their ability to properly function breaks down. Noisy
reception interferes with their use as communication tools. Defects in the machinery
may also cause noise that creates a mechanical communication barrier.
 Power Failure: Electrically generated devices used in communication are only
useful tools if there is a steady source of power. Isolated locations and
underdeveloped countries may depend on electricity that is generated by a single
source. Power failures may mean a longer period without communication in areas
such as these. Any power failure may cause a mechanical communication barrier.
 Choice of media: Some messages may require personal communication and yet
other may require use of audio-visual aids. Hence choice of media has a substantial
influence on communication
7.3.5 Cross Cultural barrier
The term "cross-cultural barriers" refers to the way in which these specific
cultural components pose problems or obstacles to cultural exchange and integration.
These aspects of culture are typically longstanding traditions and widely-held beliefs
for a group of people, and they can often present problems for cross-cultural interaction.
Eating etiquette, religion, social practices, body language and marriage conventions are
components that are deeply ingrained in various cultures in different ways.
 Language- Misunderstandings are common among people who speak the same
language, so it is not surprising that people from different cultural and linguistic
 backgrounds face communication barriers. Anything from the mispronunciation of
a word to a lack of specificity can lead to misunderstandings.
For example, if a sales director in New York asks a contractor in Brazil to do
something soon, the two parties may have a different interpretation of the word
'soon.' Language is a reflection of culture, and different cultures have very different
ways of assigning meanings to words.
 Behaviour- Cultural differences in body language and other behaviours can also
cause miscommunications. For example, in the U.S. it is important to make eye
contact with someone who is speaking to you or they may think you are distracted
or uninterested. However, in many Asian countries eye contact can be a sign of
disrespect or a challenge to authority. There are many other cultural differences in
body language that can create barriers to effective communication. These include
differences in facial expressions, the use of nodding to indicate agreement or
understanding, and the amount of space to give someone with whom you are having
a conversation.
 Stereotypes-Stereotypes are assumptions people make about the characteristics of
members of a cultural or social group. Many stereotypes are negative or even hostile
and are a serious barrier to workplace communication.
For e.g.: If you make a joke about expecting your Latin American colleague to
arrive late for a meeting, you may damage your professional relationship. While
some cultures may share a general set of characteristics, it is never okay to assume
that individual members of a group have those same characteristics.
 Ethnocentrism- The tendency to judge other groups according to the standards and
values of one's own group. Ethnocentric views not only act as a communication
barrier, but can hinder employee morale and productivity. If you come from a
culture where it is important to make small talk prior to conducting business, you
may consider someone who gets right to the point to be rude. However, from
another cultural perspective it is both acceptable and efficient to get right down to
business.

7.3.6 Organizational barrier

Unclear planning, structure, information overload, timing, technology, and
status difference are the organizational factors that may act as barriers to
communication.
 Complexity in Organizational Structure: Greater the hierarchy in an organization
(i.e., the more the number of managerial levels), more are the chances of
communication getting destroyed. Only the people at the top level can see the
overall picture while the people at low level just have knowledge about their own
area and a little knowledge about other areas of the organization.
  Rules and regulation: Strict enforcement of rules, discipline may create an
atmosphere wherein communication becomes formal and rigid.
 Group size: The type of communication to be used depends on the group size. A
communicator cannot think of the receivers as s “single mass”.
 Each individual is different from the other and the individual differences have an
impact on communication.

7.4 Ways to overcome the Barriers

Overcoming the communication barriers requires a vigilant observation and thoughts
of potential barriers in a particular instance of communication. State all the anticipated barriers
that may have impact on your day-to-day communication. Strategies to overcome barriers will
be different in different situations depending upon the type of barriers present. Following are
some of the important general strategies that will be commonly useful in all the situations to
overcome the barriers of communication.
Barriers to communication can be overcome by:
 Taking the receiver more seriously.
 Framing crystal clear message.
 Delivering messages skilfully.
 Focusing on the receiver.
 Using multiple channels to communicate instead of relying on one channel.
 Ensuring appropriate feedback.
 Be aware of your own state of mind/emotions/attitude.
 Sender must develop clarity of thought about the message to be conveyed.
 Also these thoughts must be carefully organized so that it is easier formulating a
message that covers the intended thoughts clearly and completely.
 Consult with the intended recipient to develop a mutual understanding of all the
issues involves in the subject covered by the communication.
 A general principle is that it better to "first understand before attempting to be
understood".
 Use appropriate language suitable for the recipient.
 When communicating face to face, develop sensitivity to the body language.
 One should pay attention to the body language of others to understand them better.
 It is also necessary to pay attention to body language of self so that it is supporting
rather than conflicting with verbal message.
 Avoid communication under conditions of mental stress.
  Use appropriate method of communication - for example face to face, letter,
telephone call, and so on.

 Take care to ensure that message has been or is being transmitted correctly.
 Check for correct and complete receipt of message.
 Listen carefully.
7.5 Let us summarize:
Communication is an important part of our world today. The ability to communicate
effectively is considered a prized quality. But people in the world are not alike. These
differences, however, can cause problems in sending/receiving messages. Simply these
are the hurdles in the way of communication and anything which blocks the meaning
of a communication is a barrier to communication.

Barrier Examples

Physical Time, place, distance, noise

Psychological Mind state, emotions, perception, motivation, interest,

Semantic Verbosity and verbalism, Language inadequacy, Unclear

graphics and symbols

Mechanical Noise, Power Failure, Choice of media

Cross Cultural Language, Behaviour, Stereotypes, Ethnocentrism

Organizational Complexity in Organizational Structure, Rules and

regulations

References
 http://www.buzzle.com/articles/
 http://www.ehow.com/list_7816625_physiological-barriers-
communication.html#ixzz32RNbYOxt
 http://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/barriers-communication.html#ixzz32RGt5dZL
 http://www.ehow.com/list_6743011_mechanical-barriers-
communication.html#ixzz32cIG6Twz
 education portal.com
  www.youtube.com
 www.slideshare.net
 www.powershow.com
 Agarwal, J. (2009). Essentials of Educational Technology. New Delhi: Vikas
Publishing House.
 Dr. Y.K. Singh, D. T. (2008). Edcuational technolgy. New Delhi: APH Publishing
house.
 J.S.Walia, D. (n.d.). Essentails ofEducational Teachnology. New Delhi: Ahim
Publications.
 Kumar, D. (2004). Educational technology. New Delhi: New Age International
Publisher.
 Mangal, S. K. & Mangal, Uma (2009). Essentials of Educational Technolgy. New
Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited.
 Ram Nath Sharma, S. S. (2003). Advanced Educational Technolgy. New Delhi: Atlantic
poublishers and Distributers.
 Taori, S. (2001). Communication in Schools. New Delhi: Regency Publications.
 Vanaja, D. (n.d.). Educational Technology. NeelKamal Publishing house.

Suggested Viewing:
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FwIarlgvv50
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjhsRCZUHwg
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5oXygLGMuY
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdqkCfuvdpo
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwjAAgGi-90
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QifqSReYN60
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXGTFep0pC8
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iSeorhtHMM
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrmuV2Y-n6U
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFmMPk-jlRA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m2upjBWRrfU
 http://www.slideshare.net/seisyunda/communication-barriers-l2

Module 8
APPROACHES TO EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
Unit Structure:
8.1 Introduction
8.2 What is Communication?
 8.3 What is Communication Process?
8.4 What is Effective Communication?
8.5 Approaches to develop Effective communication
8.6 Importance of Effective Communication
8.7 Let us sum up

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this module the learner will be able to:

 Understand the meaning of Communication

 Comprehend Communication Process
 Understand the meaning of Effective Communication
 Gain practical experience of using 7 ‘C’s of Communication
 Comprehend the importance of Effective Communication

8.1 INTRODUCTION:
Man is a social animal. No individual can live in isolation. Each person needs to interact with
others. The basic activity of every human being is to engage in communication with another.
With every active interaction or passive transaction, we find ourselves communicating with
other people. Even our silence has some meaning, which others may interpret according to their
own judgment. So to maintain good relationships, we need to communicate well.
With the advancement of technology and new scientific inventions, communication has taken
new shapes and forms. It has become rapid and dynamic. The digitalised way of
communicating brings in more challenges for an individual. We need to keep pace with the fast
digital age era. And this has made effective communication imperative.
Before understanding what is effective communication, let us find out the meaning of
communication.

8.2 WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share”) is the activity of conveying
information through the exchange of messages, thoughts or information, as by signals,
written speech, visuals or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of information between
two or more living people.

Communication can be also defined as ‘any act by which one person gives to or receives from
person information about that person's knowledge, desires, needs, or affective states’.

Communication is a cycle which involves following elements:

Sender
Message
Medium
 Receiver
Feedback

Do you know ????????

55% of the meaning in our words is derived from facial expressions, 38% is in how the words
are said and 7 % in the actual words spoken.

8.3 WHAT IS COMMUNICATION PROCESS?

Communication process involves three primary steps:

o Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be information, concepts,
feelings or ideas.
o Encoding: Next, the message is framed in the form of words, images or symbols and sent to a
receiver.
o Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into information that he or she
can understand.

During the delivering of the message, two elements will be received: content and
context. Content refers to the symbols or actual words of the message that is known
as language — the spoken and written words combined into phrases that make
grammatical sense. There are chances of misinterpretation of words since few words
have different meanings.

Context is the way the message is delivered and is known as paralanguage — it is

the nonverbal elements in speech such as the tone of voice, body language, hand
gestures, the look in the sender's eyes and state of emotions that can be detected.
Although paralanguage often causes messages to be misunderstood as we believe
what we see more than what we hear; they are powerful communicators that help us
to understand each other. Indeed, we often trus t nonverbal behaviours more than
verbal behaviours.

8.4 WHAT IS EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION?

Effective communication occurs when a desired effect is the result of intentional or

unintentional sharing of information, which is interpreted by multiple people and acted on in a
desired way. It should also ensure that messages are not distorted during the communication
process. Effective communication should maintain and should have the potential to increase
the effect of the message and serve the purpose for which it was designed.

In the digital information age, we have to receive, send and process huge numbers of messages
every day. But effective communication is not only exchanging information but also
understanding the emotion behind the information. Effective communication can improve
relationships in social situations by deepening your connections to others and improving
decision-making, teamwork, and problem solving. It enables you to communicate even difficult
messages without destroying trust or creating conflict. Effective communication helps us better
understand a person or situation, create environments where creative ideas, enables us to
resolve differences, build trust and respect, affection and caring can flourish.

8.5 APPROACHES TO DEVELOP EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Don’t we spend maximum of our time in communicating with people during our day!!!

We chat with friends, forward emails, make formal as well as informal calls, participate in
conference calls, create reports, debate with your colleague and this list goes on. We can in fact
spend almost our entire day communicating.

So it has become essential that we communicate in the most effective way possible. This is
why the 7Cs of Communication are helpful. The 7Cs provide a checklist for making sure that
our conference calls, reports, meetings, emails and presentations are well framed and clear.

7 C’s Of Effective Communication

1) Completeness
2) Conciseness
3) Consideration
4) Clarity
5) Concreteness
6) Courtesy
7) Correctness

These are 7 C’s of effective communication which are applicable to both written as well as oral
communication. These are as follows:
1. Completeness- The communication must be complete. It should convey the actual
message with all figures and facts required by the receiver. The sender of the message
must consider the receiver’s mind set and accordingly convey the message. Following
are the features of complete communication :
 Complete communication serves the purpose of the message.
 It develops the personality of the sender.
  They are cost saving as no extra costs is incurred in conveying extra message since
crucial message is sent in one go.
 Overall it is complete.

Bad Example:
Hi everyone,
I just wanted to send you all a reminder about the meeting we’re having tomorrow!

Regards,
Sunita

This message is not complete, for obvious reasons. What is the purpose of the meeting? When
is it scheduled? Where is it? Sunita has left her team without the necessary information.

Good Example

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to remind you about the meeting on the educational project which is scheduled
tomorrow. It will be at 10:00 a.m. in the conference room. Please revert if you can’t attend.

Regards,
Sunita

2. Conciseness - Conciseness means communicating what you want to convey in least possible
words. But doing so one should not forgo the other C’s of communication. Conciseness is
essential for effective communication. The features of Concise communication are as follows:
 Concise message is both cost-saving as well as time-saving.
 It is comprehensible and more appealing to the audience.
 It is non-repetitive in nature.
 It underlines and highlights the main message as it avoids using excessive and needless
words. It avoids verbosity and verbatim.
 It provides essential message in limited words to the sender.

Bad Example

I mean to say that I was not feeling well, basically, I mean, I had a bad throat and cough. Literally I
could not get up and you see that’s the reason I couldn’t attend yesterday’s meeting.

 Are there any "filler words" or adjectives that you can remove? You can often edit words like
"basically," "you see," "definitely," "for instance," "literally," "kind of,” or "I mean."
 Are there any unnecessary or unimportant sentences?
 Have you repeated the same meaning in different ways?
Good Example
I couldn’t attend yesterday’s meeting due to my ill health and bad throat.

3. Consideration - Consideration means “stepping into the shoes of others”. Effective

communication must take the receiver into consideration, i.e., the receiver’s viewpoints,
education level, background, mind-set, etc. Always predict your receiver, emotions as well as
problems and their requirements. Ensure that the dignity of the receiver is maintained and their
emotions are not hurt at any point of time. Modify, reconstruct your words in message to suit
the receiver’s needs while making your message complete. Features of considerate
communication are as follows:
 Emphasize on “you” approach.
 Show optimism towards your receiver. Emphasize on “what is possible” rather than
“what is impossible”. Lay stress on positive words such as thanks, warm, may I, jovial,
committed, healthy, etc.
 Empathize with the audience and exhibit interest in the audience will definitely
stimulate a positive reaction from the receiver.

Bad Example

The task is difficult and cumbersome. Work on it.

Good Example

The task is challenging. I need wholehearted support from my committed colleagues.

4. Clarity - Clarity implies emphasizing on a specific message or goal at a time, rather than trying
to achieve too much at once. The following features need to be highlighted:
 It makes understanding of the concept easy.
 It makes use of exact, concrete and appropriate words.
 The meaning of message is enhanced as there is complete clarity of thoughts and ideas.

Bad Example
Hi Ravi,
I wanted to write you a quick note about David, who's working in your department. He's a great
asset. I would like to talk to you more about him whenever you have time.
Best,
Sunita

What is this email about? Well, we're not sure. First, if there are multiple David’s in Ravi's
department, Ravi won't know who Sunita is talking about.

Next, what is David doing? We don't know that either. It's so vague that Ravi will definitely
have to write back for more information.
Last, what is the purpose of this email? Does Sunita simply want to have an idle chat about
David, or is there some more specific goal here? There's no sense of purpose to this message,
so it's a bit confusing.

Good Example
Hi Ravi,
I wanted to write you a quick note about David Kedar, who's working in your department. In
recent weeks, he's helped the research cell.
We've got a new research project which needs to be planned urgently.
I'd appreciate speaking with you about this. When is it best to call you to discuss this further?
Best wishes,
Sunita

This second message is definitely much clearer, because the reader has clear information.

5. Concreteness - Concrete communication should not be fuzzy and general but implies being clear
and particular. It strengthens the confidence. Concrete message has following features:

 It makes use of words that are clear.

 Concrete messages are not misunderstood and misinterpreted.
 It is supported with clear and specific facts and figures.

Bad Example

Consider this advertising copy:

The Reference booklet will save your time every day.

A statement like this probably won't sell many of these Reference booklet. There's no vivid
detail, no passion, nothing that creates emotion, and nothing that tells people in the audience
why they should buy. This message isn't concrete enough to make any difference.

Good Example
How much time do you spend every day searching for your reference material? No more! Just
take a complete Reference booklet and everything is handy and easy to access. It’s offering
knowledge at your doorsteps.

This copy is better because there are vivid and clear images. The audience can picture how it’s
gone to help them. The details have brought the message come alive.
6. Courtesy - Courtesy in message implies the message should respect the receiver as well as
show the sender’s expression. The sender of the message should be sincerely polite,
enthusiastic, judicious and reflective. Courteous message has the following features:

 Courtesy implies taking into consideration both viewpoints as well as feelings of the
receiver of the message.
 It is not at all partial.
 Courteous message is positive and audience is the focus
 It makes use of words framed in such a manner that it shows respect for the receiver of
message.

Bad Example

Dear Colleague,

I want to bring to your notice that I do not appreciate the way you conduct meetings. There is hardly
scope to others to express their view points.

Well, that is hardly courteous! Messages like this can practically start conflicts and fights. And
this email does nothing but create bad feelings which thereby lead to lowering of productivity
and morale. A little bit of courtesy even in difficult situations can always be beneficial.

Good Example

Dear Colleague,

I would really appreciate the way you conduct meetings bringing up new and vibrant ideas.
But a small request that next time when you conduct meetings please give little extra to others
so that we too can add up to your expertise.

7. Correctness - Correctness in communication implies that there are no grammatical and

semantic errors in communication. Correct communication has following features:

 The message is correct, exact and well-timed.

 It checks for the exactness and precision of figures and facts used in the message.
 It makes use of appropriate and correct language in the message.
 If the communication is correct, it boosts up the confidence level.
 Correct message has better impact on the audience/ readers.

Bad Example

Let’s eat Mummy!

Good Example

Let’s eat, Mummy!

Awareness of these 7 C’s of communication makes you an effective communicator.

8.6 IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

No matter how invaluable and brilliant is your idea, it is worthless unless you can share it with
others. For this reason, effective communication is crucial at every level of an organization.
However, the ability to communicate effectively does not come easily to many people, and it
is a skill that requires practice.

Importance:

Foundation of motivation

Communication is a vital factor in motivating individuals. It helps in motivating in both intrinsic and
extrinsic ways. A highly inspired person’s efficiency is increased multiple times which is then reflected
in his life and work.

Decision making process

Decision-making is regarded as the cognitive process resulting in the selection of a course of

action or a belief among several alternative possibilities. Every decision-making process
produces a final choice that may or may not lead to action. When communication is systematic
and accurate, decisions tend to be more effective and conversant. The more we are confident in
our communication the better we can take decisions.

Building owns attitude

Attitude Building is highly dependent on the way we communicate with others. We create impressions
on the others with our communication styles and personality. Our styles are unique and that defines us.
So our healthy communication will lead to build up a positive attitude.

Helps in socializing.

Man is a social animal. It cannot remain isolated in the society. It needs to interact and socialize.
Communication is the most important tool to keep ourselves connected. We express our views and ideas
with the help of verbal or non-verbal gestures. The more we are transparent in our communication the
more we develop pro social behaviour.

Raise the morale of an individual

Communication is a process with the help of which we can lent out our thinking and views. It is a voice
to our opinion. It is very important to communicate. When an individual is successful in communicating
he feels confident and it raises morale of an individual.

8.7 LET US SUM UP

 Communication (from Latin commūnicāre, meaning "to share”) is the activity of
conveying information through the exchange of messages, thoughts or information,
as by signals, written speech, visuals, or behavior. It is the meaningful exchange of
information between two or more living people.
Communicating with others involves three primary steps:

o This can be an information, concept, idea, or feelings.

o Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.
o Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information
that he or she can understand.

7 C’s Of Effective Communication

1) Completeness
2) Conciseness
3) Consideration
4) Clarity
5) Concreteness
6) Courtesy
7) Correctness

Effective Communication is important for

1) Foundation of motivation
2) Decision making process
3) Building owns attitude
4) Helps in socializing
5) Raise the morale of an individual

REFERENCES/LEARN MORE:
ENRICH YOUR KNOWLEDGE BY WATCHING THE FOLLOWING
SLIDESHARE:
1. http://www.slideshare.net/elizag/slideshare-communication#
2. http://www.slideshare.net/arahimcal/communication-skills

WATCH THESE INTERESTING YOUTUBE VIDEOS:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSyfZUYxyyw
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btj94IHVc6Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=4kyvjEpXuPg
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLQ4v2-R3KM
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwjAAgGi-90
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNo98GjkHZU

READ THESE ARTICLES:

1) http://www.umext.maine.edu/onlinepubs/pdfpubs/6103.pdf
2) http://www.helpguide.org/mental/effective_communication_skills.htm
3) http://www.uscg.mil/auxiliary/training/tct/chap7.pdf
4) http://promeng.eu/downloads/training-materials/ebooks/soft-skills/effective- communication-
skills.pdf
5) http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/more-tips-for-communicating-effectively
6) http://us.reachout.com/facts/factsheet/effective-communication

REFERENCES:
1) http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadcom.html
2) http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCS_85.htm
3) http://www.managementstudyguide.com/seven-cs-of-effective-communication.htm
4) http://www.slideshare.net/effectivecommunication/cs-final-ppt-11938630
5) https://www.co.weld.co.us/assets/AbAA09582c88bC418c86.pdf
6) http://nptel.ac.in/courses/109104031/
7) http://www.wikihow.com/Communicate-Effectively
8) http://www.img.kerala.gov.in/docs/downloads/communication.pdf

Module -3
Unit Structure.
3.0. Learner Outcome.
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The need for development of Communication skills.
3.3 How to develop communication skills
3.4 Developing Communication through Listening
3.5 Some important tips for effective listening
3.6 Developing Communication through Nonverbal Communication
3.7 Reading non-verbal Communication
3.8 How do we deliver nonverbal Communication?
3.9 How do we develop communication skills to manage Stress?
3.10 How do we become an effective communicator by managing Stress?
3.11 Develop Communication skills through Emotional awareness.
3.12 How emotional awareness make you an effective communicator
3.13 Effective communication requires both thinking and feeling.
3.14 Significance of Communication skills.
 3.15 The essential factors for the development of Communication Factors.
 Writing skills
 Reading skills
 Speaking Skills
 Listening Skills
 How to improve listening
 Conversation Skills.

3.16. Let us Sum up

MODULE -3
DEVELOPMENTS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF
COMMUNICATION SKILLS

3.0 Learner Outcomes

 Demonstrate the ability to find out, analyse, and reason out an effective
outcome on the developments of communication skills.
 To show the ability to analyse the need for the development of
communication skills through formal examples.
 To show the ability to elaborate the significance of developing
communication skills.
 To demonstrate the ability how to develop communication skills and the
proper use of them in areas of effective listening.
 To demonstrate the ability of describing various tips for effective
communication.
 To demonstrate the ability how to of develop communication skills in
managing stress and emotions.
 To demonstrate proficiency in formal writing, including correct use of a
designated style, language and diction.
 To construct appropriate means of listening, speaking and writing for
better communication.
 To demonstrate how to develop conversational skills.

3.1 Introduction

Communication skills will help us to understand a person or situation and will help us
to find solutions to differences in opinions, build confidence and respect and create an
atmosphere where creative ideas, problem solving, affection and caring can flourish. If
clarity is lacking, much of what we try to communicate to others and what others try to
communicate to us - communication gets misunderstood. This can cause conflict and
frustration in personal and professional relationships. By acquiring these effective
communication skills, you can better connect with your friends, spouse, kids,
benefactors and co-workers.

3.2 The need for the development of communication skills

In this age of information, we need to send, receive, and process huge numbers of
messages every day. Effective communication is not only just exchanging information;
it is also about understanding the feeling and emotion behind the information. Good
communication can improve relationships at home, at work place, and in social
interactions by strengthening your connections to others and improving teamwork,
decision-making, and problem solving. Good communication helps you to
communicate even negative or difficult messages without creating conflict or
destroying confidence. Effective communication combines a set of skills including non-
verbal communication, attentive listening, the ability to manage stress in the moment
and the capacity to recognize and understand your own emotions and those of the
person you’re communicating with.

Effective communication is a learned skill; it is more effective when it is spontaneous

rather than formal. Always a speech that is read, for example, rarely has the same impact
as a speech that is delivered (or appears to be delivered) spontaneously. In fact, it takes
time and effort to develop these skills and become an effective communicator. As we
put in more effort and practice, the more instinctive and spontaneous your
communication skills will become.

3.3 How to develop communication skills:

There are many ways and means by which we can develop communication skills. Some
of the ways we can develop communication is described as given below;

3.4 Developing communication skill through listening

In order to be effective in communication, listening is one of the most important

aspects. Effective listening means not just understanding the words or the information
being communicated, but also understanding how the speaker feels about what they’re
communicating.

Successful listening:

 Will make the speaker feel heard and understood which can help build a
stronger, deeper connection between you.
 It will create an environment where everyone feels safe to express ideas,
opinions, and feelings, or plan and problem solving in creative ways.
 It will save time by helping to clarify information, avoid conflicts and
misunderstandings.
  It will relieve negative emotions. When emotions are running high, if the
speaker feels that he or she has been truly heard, it can help to calm them down,
relieve negative feelings, and allow for real understanding or problem solving to
begin.

3.5 Some important tips for effective listening

If your intention is to fully understand and connect with the other person, listening
effectively will often come naturally. If it doesn’t, you can remember the
following tips. The more you practice those tips, the more satisfying and
rewarding your interactions with others will become.

 We need to focus fully on the speaker and his or her body language, and other
nonverbal cues. If you’re not focused and doing other things like, checking text
messages, or doodling, you’re almost certain to miss nonverbal clues in the
conversation. If you find it hard to concentrate on some speakers, try repeating
their words over in your head—it’ll reinforce their message and help you stay
focused.
 While communicating we need to avoid interrupting or trying to redirect the
conversation to your concerns. Listening is not the same as waiting for your turn
to talk. You can’t concentrate on what someone’s saying if you’re forming what
you’re going to say next. Often, the speaker can read your facial expressions and
know that your mind’s elsewhere.
 Do not be judgmental. In order to communicate effectively with someone, we
don’t have to agree or disagree with their ideas and opinions. Whereas you do
need to set aside your judgment and withhold blame and criticism in order to fully
understand a person. The most difficult communication, when successfully
executed, can lead to the most unlikely and profound connection with someone.
 We need to be interested in what’s being said. In attentive listening nod
occasionally, smile at the person, and make sure your posture is open and inviting.
As a good listener we need to encourage the speaker with some signs of interest.

3.6 Developing communication skills through Nonverbal communication

In communication we show nonverbal signs to show that we are interested or not

interested in the communication. In nonverbal communication, we use body language
such as facial expressions, body movement and gestures, eye contact, posture, the tone
of your voice, and even your muscle tension and breathing. The way you look, listen,
move, and react to another person, tells them more about what we want to communicate
to them.

The use and development of nonverbal communication skill will help you connect with
others, express what you really mean, navigate challenging situations, and build better
relationships at home and work. It will increase your verbal communication as well.
  We can improve effective nonverbal communication by using open body
language -arms uncrossed, standing with an open stance or sitting on the edge of
your seat, and maintaining eye contact with the person you’re talking to.
 We can also use body language to emphasize or enhance your verbal message -
patting a friend on the back while complimenting him on his success, for example,
or pounding your fists to underline your message; biting your teeth when you are
really upset and angry with someone. .

3.7 How do we improve reading nonverbal communication?

 We need to Practice observing people around us in public places, such as a

function, a shopping mall, a bus stop, railway station, a restaurant, or even on a
television talk show with the sound muted. We need to observe closely how others
use body language can teach you how to better receive and use nonverbal signals
when conversing with others. Take a note on how people act and react to each
other. Keep observing people and try to guess what their relationship is, what
they’re talking about, and how each feels about what is being said.
 We need to be aware of each one’s individual differences. While observing
people we need to keep in mind that that nonverbal communication will mean
differently by people from different countries and cultures. It’s important
therefore to take age, culture, religion, gender, and emotional state into account
when reading body language signals. There will of course be difference in the
way an African boy’s nonverbal communication to an Indian counterpart.
 We need to observe nonverbal communication signals as a group. If you tend
to read too much from a gesture nonverbal signal, then you can be wrong as well.
We need to take all the nonverbal signals into consideration and come into a
consensus.

3.8 How do we deliver nonverbal communication?

 Try to use nonverbal signals to match with your words. Your nonverbal
communication should help to support what you have said in words. It should not
in any way contradict what you have said. Your body language and your words
should agree with each other rather than contradicting. If your words and body
language do not agree with each other, then the person who listens to you may
think that you are dishonest and not trust worthy.
 Try to adjust your nonverbal signals according to the context. The nonverbal
communication need to change according to different situations and places. You
cannot use the same tone of voice when you are addressing a child and when you
are addressing an educated group of elders. We also need take in to account
emotional state of people and the cultural differences while using nonverbal
communication.th.
 We can use body language to convey positive feelings even when you're not
actually experiencing them. Whenever we are nervous in facing an interview or
 during a presentation we can use positive body language to show confidence.
Your body language should bring in positivity and confidence even when we are
not feeling it. It will make one feel better and make one feel confident. This
positivity will spread to the other people in the group and that will help him to
communicate well with confidence and enthusiasm.

3.9 How to we develop communication skills to manage stress

Stress will help one to perform well under pressure but it should be in small doses. If
stress becomes constant and recurring it may become a hindrance to effective
communication and may spoil a person’s capability to think clearly and constructively.
It will lead to constant worry and fear and effective communication becomes non-
existent. Effective communication thus is possible only in the absence of negative
stress. In stress we misread other people and become very ineffective in our
communication skills. Due to stress people have problem in their relationships, in their
work place and everywhere they go and whatever things that they undertake. If the
person can get rid of these stressful feelings and become calm and relaxed he will
slowly bring that positive vive in all his approach and he will become effective in his
communication skills as well.

3.10 How do we become an effective communicator by managing stress?

In order to become an effective communicator we really need to tame our stress. An

untamed stress will lead a person to frustration and unhappiness. One cannot become
an effective communicator if one is stressed all the time. By learning to control or
reduce stress, you can safely face any challenges in life and the emotions you are
experiencing. When one knows how to maintain a stress free life, he will be in an
energized state of mind and will be able communicate normally and effectively.

How to deal with stress during communication:

 Be aware when you’re stressed. Your whole being will let you know if you’re
stressed as you communicate. You will experience that your muscles are tight and
the stomach is sore. You get irritated with everything around and you get angry
and emotional for every small thing that happens to you. Your breathing becomes
shallow and hard.
 You need to take a moment to calm down to get into any conversation or taking
any decision.
 Try to bring your senses to the rescue by taking a few deep breaths, relaxing
muscles, meditating and coming to one’s own self. Try to find something that is
really soothing to your mind. Be with people who are pleasant and friendly. Be
in a place that is devoid of din and noise. Ultimately you need to choose your own
things that can bring you peace.
  A sense of humour in the situation. Humour will help you to relieve stress when
communicating. Try to be on the lighter side of things and share a joke when
things are going too serious.
 Try to compromise on things. Sometimes, it is nice to choose a middle path that
reduces the stress levels of everyone around. It is sometimes better to give in and
compromise on things that will make everyone happy and relives you of stress.
This will improve your relationship with everyone around.
 Try to be relaxed and calm if necessary, and take time away from the situation
so everyone can calm down. Take time and be yourself, be in quite place and
spend some time in meditation or reflecting upon the movements that you have
to make. Go for a walk and be away from the situation and regain your balance.

3:11. Develop communication skills through Emotional awareness

You need to recognize and accept your emotions.

We should be aware of our emotions and how we communicate at home and outside
when we are emotionally upset. Emotions indeed play a major role in communication
at home and at our work place. Always our feelings take upper hand rather than our
thinking and reasoning. These emotions really lead us to communicate and often our
communications are led by our feelings rather than by our thinking. It is the way you
feel, more than the way you think, that motivates you to communicate or to make
decisions.

When we are emotionally driven to act or to decide, we are driven by our impulses and
it will certainly harm our relationships and the reasoning and thinking capacity. We will
be ruled by our feelings and our communication will surely have the tone of our
emotions. This emotional communication will lead to unpleasantness and frustrations
and will lead to conflict.

Thus emotional awareness will help you to find the tools needed for understanding both
yourself and other people, and the real messages they are communicating to you. We
need to be aware of our feelings and emotions. Our very ability to communicate
depends on being connected to these feelings. We really need to accept our emotional
strengths and weaknesses and should be able tackle this source of energy in our
communication and make our communication effective. If we don’t try to understand
our emotional feelings and act upon only on the rational level we will not able to
understand the feelings affection and love of people and that will be lacking in our
communication. Bereft of these our communication is in effective and baseless.

3:12. Emotional awareness will make you an effective communicator

Emotional awareness is one of the means by which you can achieve effective
communication skills. It is the sum total of all your emotional experiences and the
ability to manage all of your feelings appropriately is the basis for effective
communication.

Emotional awareness will help you to:

 It will help you to understand and empathize with what is really troubling other
people
 It will help you to understand yourself, including what’s really troubling you and
what you really look forward to.
 It will help you to stay motivated to understand and empathize with the person
you’re interacting with, even if you don’t like them or their feelings.
 It will help you to communicate clearly and effectively, even when delivering
negative messages.
 It will help you to build strong, trusting, and rewarding relationships.

3:13. Effective communication requires both thinking and feeling

You can develop emotional awareness and you’ll know what you’re feeling without
having to think about it - and you’ll be able to use these emotional cues to understand
what someone is really communicating to you and you can act accordingly. The goal
of effective communication is to find a healthy balance between your intellect and your
emotions, between thinking and feeling.

Emotional awareness is a skill you can learn.

By learning to control your feelings like anger, sadness, fear, surprise and joy, you will
learn to have emotional awareness and this skill of emotional awareness will improve
your communication skills. A person who has the skill of emotional awareness will
always know how to control his behaviour and act and say the right things at the right
time. Emotional awareness is therefore a skill which you can be acquired with constant
practice and patience. Once you master this skill, you will have clarity and
purposefulness in your communication. This skill of emotional awareness will make
you communicate effectively. It’s therefore easy to learn the skill of emotional
awareness through constant practice of patience and control of our emotions.

3.14. Significance of Communication skills

The very purpose of Communication is to convey ones message effectively to the other
person. If the communication is not conveyed clearly, of course there will be ambiguity
and confusion. To make communication clear it involves effort from both the sender of
the message and the receiver of the message. In order to make communication clear it
is essential to have the communication skills. Be it a discussion, a speech, a lecture, an
interview, a video conference, a telephonic conversation, writing a report or an email,
getting across the message effectively is the most important aspect.

The success of an organization or an establishment depends on the ability to

communicate effectively to its clients and employees. In today’s fast changing world
nobody has time to repeat or do a thing second time. In such a scenario effective
communication is the only solution. Effective communication depends on the use of
vocabulary, tone of voice, modulation, intonation of sounds etc.

The use of right word at the right place and appropriate people holds the key for
effective communication and the motivation to work hard. It is always true that
communications works only for those people who work at it. Globalization has brought
in tremendous changes in the Information Technology, multinational companies, I.T
enabled services, management institutes, public and private sector and they all need
staff who can handle the communication pressure, and the search for the right people is
endless. A degree alone will not suffice to fit into these industries and establishments
but the recruiters are in search of people with good communication skills.

If you look, you will see that 80 percent of their daily time is spend on communication
through writing, reading, listening, speaking and interacting with supervisors and
managers in organizations of repute. The success and popularity of any organization is
based on effective communication.

Many qualified people are rejected on account of the lack of communication skills.
Whatever qualifications and training that youngsters have, the most important aspect of
employability today is the communication skills. Your bright future and employability
in any organization is possible only through good communication skills. Lack of
communication skills will make one less confident and lose good job prospects. The
newly appointed person in the firm will have to interact with global clients and should
match with their qualities and talents to compete in the job market today. Fluency in
language and accent neutralization is a must for lucrative jobs in the global scenario.

3.15. The essential factors for the development of Communication Skills:

The essential aspect to be successful, an individual needs to possess an integrated set

of communication skills. It is important to have speaking skills, writing skills, listening
skills, non- verbal skills, emotional skills. A person to become a successful
communicator he needs to be proficient in speaking, writing, listening, interacting,
conversing with people in various aspects of life. Let us examine the major ingredients
to become an effective communicator.

1. Writing Skills

In the present scenario writing is an important component needed to become an efficient

communicator. Through writing we communicate or convey ideas and feelings. Writing
will remain intact even if the writer has disappeared from the scene forever. It is a
powerful means of communication even in your absence. The literature that was written
thousands of years back still gives us inspiration and courage. Good writing is always
considered as good communication.

In order to be a good writer we need to be accurate, appropriate and should always

avoid ambiguity. The writing should be precise and apt for the occasion. The writer
should have clarity, correctness, consistency and concreteness. A good writer does his
writing in the morning hours when the mind is clear and atmosphere is clean and fresh.
A good writer uses shorter sentences to have more power punch and it is easier to read
and understand.

A piece of good writing will consist of brief content, clear language and all the
important points will be covered. While writing we need to keep in mind to have simple
language, legible and readable. We need to practice write and rewrite until we are able
to capture the idea in one sentence.

2. Reading Skills:

To be an efficient reader one should must practice reading regularly. Reading aloud in
front of a mirror helps one to correct the irregularities and get rid of certain flaws. A
student should give ample time every day to practice reading to get a grip of mastering
the skills of reading. They should make it a practice every day so that it becomes a habit
for them. It will not only improve the students reading skills but also refresh their
knowledge and wisdom.

We should always encourage them to read inspirational and motivational books. We

need to provide sufficient reading materials such as newspapers, magazines,
newsletters, periodicals, journals and sports magazines general knowledge books and
novels to update their knowledge. Teach the students underline the important points,
note down the difficult words and train them to improve their vocabulary. Teach them
that through reading they acquire knowledge and they learn to express better in front of
their peers and elders.

Reading will enhance young minds and motivate them to explore further into the
unknown. Reading indeed helps to have mental development among the youth and they
shine well in their academics and general knowledge. The great and wonderful ideas in
the books will definitely help the readers in later life and increase their communication
skills in every way.

3. Speaking Skills:

Good speaker will attract the crowed like honey that attracts the bees. It is a joy to listen
to a good speaker. Whatever career that you undertake today you need to excel in your
speech. It does not matter whether you are a teacher, IT professional, engineer,
carpenter, nurse, doctor, philanthropist, poet, journalist, accountant, and politician you
cannot be successful in your profession without the ability to speak well. Always
remember that the crying child will be given milk, the same way those who speak well
will be recognized better in the society today.

A good speaker is able to listen well as he needs to speak more. In order to be a good
speaker we need be confident, knowledgeable and requires training and practice. A
good and efficient speaker will think before he speaks, will know what he is going to
speak, he will know something about the audience, will speak with examples and
illustrations. One has to develop self-confidence and try to remove fear of psychosis
slowly. The following points to be kept in mind before you speak.

An efficient speaker will stick to the time schedule and respect the audience. A good
speaker will try to speak simple language and appropriate vocabulary. An effective
speaker is the one who modulates the tones and gets the points quickly. A good speaker
will have the facts and he will try to answer the questions.

4. Listening Skills:

To be an effective communicator you have to be good listener. One who does not listen
will not be able to speak and write. An effective listener will be able do wonders with
his speech and writing. These are the three jewels to adorn the effective communicator.
To become a good listener we must have patience and openness. To be a good listener
one must be paying attention to what people say and should be able to concentrate well.
He will be a person who can resist all distractions and encourage the speaker with
clarifications. A good listener will be empathetic, very attentive to details, and show lot
of interest in the speaker. A good listener will not interrupt the speaker and he will be
able to summarize well what the speaker has said. A good listener is an enterprising
person with lot of potentialities. He can interact well with people and will be able to
solve their problems easily. Good listeners can think well.

There are many ways of listening which can be informative, passive, active, evaluative,
appreciative and emphatic ways of listening. There are many factors that hinder
listening. Listening becomes difficult if I dislike the person who speaks. Listening is
hampered when there is lack of interest and when there are lot of distractions around.
If the speaker uses ineffective communication skills and inappropriate inferences,
listening will be hampered.

5. How to improve listening:

Listening can be improved through concentration. Listening becomes better if it aided

by patience, concentration and interest in the subject. We can listen well if we resist all
distractions and maintain eye contact with the speaker. Listening becomes easy if we
are attentive to the body language, modulation voice and the gestures and the
expressions of the speaker. Show interest in the speaker and make the speech interactive
and enjoyable. Do not ignore any point and may note down major points.

A good listener will learn things fast. It is an art and one can master this art of listening
through constant practice. Good listening will improve your communication skills and
you will learn to improve your relationship with people. You will be appreciated well
if you are a good listener. Make it a habit to listen and improve your communication
skills and in turn your team relations.

We learn things well if we listen to others. We can also learn so many new things in a
short span of time. People acquired greatness through listening and listening will surely
propel you to be good speaker and writer. You cannot be real leaner without being a
listener. We learn to acquire knowledge through listening to others, and this very
listening has made us knowledgeable and intelligent.

6. Conversation skills

"Conversation" is defined as 'an informal talk involving a small group of people or only
two on a particular subject or selected topics'. This skill of conversation will help one
become good conservationist and in turn you will become a good communicator. To be
a good conservationist one must be a good listener to the partner. You need to pay
attention to your partner and respect his or her views.

To gain from the conversation focus on your listener and take active part in the
conversation. In conversation the speaker and listener will always need to maintain
friendly relationship.

Conversation should be like a tennis match, each person having his turn to give and
receive. The true art of conversation is talking and listening. Good conversation
requires delicacy and tact, give and take.

3.16. Let us sum up.

The use of effective communications skills help us to .understand a person or situation

and enables us to resolve differences, build trust and respect. The need for effective
skills in communication is very much essential today. Listening is one of the most
important skills for effective communication.

Developing the ability to understand and use nonverbal communication can help you
connect with others, express what you really mean, and build better relationship at home
and work. Another skill of better communication is controlling and effectively
managing stress. Emotional awareness can improve effective communication.
Thus communication is an important facet of life. Communication skills are essential
in all spheres of life. Be it an interview or dealing with the project leader or working
out a solution with a team or writing a report, getting across the point effectively is what
matters.

To be successful, a person requires an integrated set of communication skills. These

skills comprise, writing skills, speech skills, listening skills, non- verbal skills. One
should have communication skills, while reading, writing, listening, speaking,
conversing with various groups of people, government officials, bankers, family
members, etc.

Module -3 BIBLIOGRAPY AND REFERENCES.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kyvjEpXuPg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3OwbBDYvrE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8zNx_IarUw
http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/Body_Language.htm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dD3WFiURuA
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/developing_emotional_awareness_video.htm
http://vimeo.com/19422529
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvrvyBtbhqM
http://www.nicurriculum.org.uk/docs/key_stage_3/areas_of_learning/learning_for_lif
e_and_work/Co
mmunication%20Checklist%20Key%20Stage%203%20LLW.pdf
3.9. Links

1.http://www.publishyourarticles.net/knowledge-hub/articles/communication-
skills.html
1. http://www.slideshare.net/rajibkumarjena/communication-skills-development
2. http://www.communicationskills.co.in/importance-of-communication-skills.htm
3.http://www.cliffsnotes.com/more-subjects/principles-of-
management/communication-andinterpersonal-skills/the-significance-of-
communication
4. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/forms-of-communication.html

3.10 suggested readings

1. Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills: A Self-Teaching Guide,

2nd Edition by Madelyn Burley-Allen

2. Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No: Making Life Right When It Feels All
Wrong
By HERBERT PHD FENSTERHEIM, JEAN BAER
3. Angeles Arrien - The Four-Fold Way: Walking the Paths of the Warrior, Teacher,
Healer, and Visionary
R
3.11. References

1. Elmhorst, J. M. (1999) Communicating at Work: Principles and Practices for

Business and the Professions McGraw Hill, Singapore

2. Spitzberg, B.H. (1994) The Dark Side of Incompetence in Adler, R. B. & Elmhorst,
J. M. (1999) Communicating at Work:

3. Stewart, J. and Logan, C. (1998) Together: Communicating Interpersonally in

Hargie, O., Dickson, D., Tourish, D. (2004)

4. Tourish, D. and Hargie, O. (Eds) (2004) Key Issues in Organisational

Communication.
Routledge. London

5. Rasberry, R.W., &Lemoine, L.F. (1986) Effective Managerial Communication

Boston MA Kent.

6. Nichols, R. G. and Stevens, L.A. (1990) Listening to People Harvard Business

Review 68
Pp95-102 in Adler, R. B. & Elmhorst, J. M. (1999) Communicating at Work: Principles
and
Practices for Business and the Professions McGraw Hill Singapore

7. Rhoda A., Aspi H. (2009) “Principles and Practice of Business Communication”

Mumbai
Sheth Publishing House. 20th Edition, Mumbai,

*******************************

MODULE-9: Reading Skills

Unit Structure:
9.0 Learning Outcome
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Significance of reading
9.3 Techniques of reading
9.4 Check your progress
 9.5 Types of Reading
9.6 Check your progress
9.7 Reading skills
9.8 Strategies to improve reading skill
9.9 Check Your Progress
9.10 Let us sum up

9.0 Learning Outcome:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:

1. have a clear understanding of the nature of reading

2. understand the significance of reading skill
3. specify the different levels of reading comprehension
4. recognize the various skills involved in reading
5. distinguish between skimming and scanning
6. describe the different types of reading
7. identify various strategies to improve reading skill

9.1 Introduction:
Reading is an essential activity in our daily life. It is done with a purpose. Generally we read
either for information or to seek pleasure. The type of reading you do or the way you read a
text varies according to the purpose in reading. Thus reading is a selective activity. Reading
speed varies according to content and purpose.

Reading is an interactive process that goes on between the reader and the text, resulting in
comprehension. The text presents letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs that encode
meaning. The reader uses knowledge, skills, and strategies to determine what that meaning is.

It includes:

 Linguistic competence
 Discourse competence
 Socio-linguistic competence
 Strategic competence
According to Francis Bacon, ‘Reading maketh man’. Reading is an artistic skill and not a
mechanical process. It interprets a written word into a spoken word. Thus reading is both
intelligent and meaningful.

9.2 Significance of reading:

Learning to read is important not only for language learning, as for pronunciation or knowing
grammatical structures, but for a variety of other reasons.
We need to learn reading to be able to:
 Get information for some purpose, or to get to know about some topic, the answer to a
question, or the solution to a problem.
 To learn how to perform a task in our work or our daily life, for eg. To know how an
appliance works or how to cook a new recipe.
 To keep in touch with friends through letters or understand official correspondence.
 To know when or where something will take place or what is available, for e.g.
Consulting timetables, programmes, announcements, notices, menus or advertisements.
 To know what is what is happening or has happened from newspapers, magazines and
reports.
 To gain enjoyment or excitement by reading stories, novels, poems, songs or scripts to
act in a play, etc.
 To be able to perform tasks on our own such as playing a new game, solving a puzzle,
etc.

9.3 Techniques of Reading:

1. Skimming:

It is an activity in which the reader’s eyes run over a text quickly to get a general idea or gist
of it.

Why and How of skimming:

- To note what is included, examine the preface, table of contents and section headings in
chapters.
- To decide if it is easy enough or worth reading, sample various pages in a story book or
novel.
- To get the author’s view, sample the introduction, topic, sentences of paragraphs, and
conclusion of a controversial article.
- To get the framework of the topic, examine introduction, the main points, section
headings, illustrations or maps, conclusion of chapters.
- To decide whether to read, examine headlines, illustration, topic sentences in
introductory paragraph of newspaper articles.

Advantages of skimming:

- Improves average reading speed

- Saves time and labour
- More output in less time
- Gives plenty of reference information and fund of knowledge
- Keeps one abreast of new developments
- Serves as a consolidated technique for revision at the time of examination
 Disadvantages of skimming:

- Does not give the reader a full comprehension of the content as chunks of material are left in
between
- All reading material is not well organized, so meaningful skimming is not possible.

2. SCANNING:
Scanning refers to reading a book or text for specific information.
How to scan:
1. Decide in mind what you want to search for.
2. Glance rapidly down the page or column expecting the information to stand out.
3. Chapter titles, headings of chapter divisions, side headings, italic section headings etc.
will function as signposts.
4. Move the eyes across the pages briskly so that what is sought for, strikes the eyes.
5. Note down or highlight the required specific information, reading the passage keeping in
mind the pre-reading questions and then focus on specific information.

Advantages of scanning:

1. Scanning allows the reader to efficiently gather information, which may be scattered
throughout a long piece of writing.
2. It encourages the reader to research in a purposeful way.
3. It helps to avoid distractions.

Disadvantages of scanning:

1. Scanning can be monotonous.

2. The technique is not suited for long periods of study, as it is easy to lose concentration.
3. Although scanning is a good way to quickly gather facts, it is not always thorough and a
key fact may be overlooked.
4. The context in which a fact appears may affect its meaning. Without reading the
surrounding text, it is easy to misinterpret the true significance of a fact.

9.4 TYPES OF READING:

1. LOUD READING:
Objectives of loud reading:
1. To enable students to read with correct pronunciation of vowel and
consonant sounds, articulation, accentuation, fluency and intonation.
2. To enable students to read with expression.
3. To rest students’ knowledge of speaking words, phrases and sentences.
4. To give practice.
5. To understand the meaning.
6. To prepare pupils for effective silent English.
 Merits of loud reading:
1. Helps to learn proper method of reading
2. Develops the skill of speech and giving lectures.
3. Mistakes related to pronunciation can be corrected.
4. It trains various sensory organs such as eyes, ears, mouth, etc.
5. Students learn by imitation which is a natural method of learning.

Demerits of Loud reading:

1. Not a source of pleasure.
2. Does not help in penetrating the meaning since symbol is translated straight in
sound.
3. If the student becomes habitual he cannot become an extensive reader.
4. All the students do not pay heed to the student reading.
5. Just a few students are benefitted.
6. Not allowed in public places.

STEPS IN LOUD READING:

2. Students are 3. Teacher checks 5. Students read

1. Model reading 4. Drill and
asked to read aloud pronunciation after the with accuracy and
by the teacher one after the other practice speed
students finish

Precautions to be taken in Loud English reading:

1. Should be done only after teacher’s model reading.
2. Passage should be within comprehension power of the students.
3. Should not promote word by word reading.
4. Few questions should be asked to make sure it is understood.
5. Mistakes to be checked by the teacher.
6. Speed should not be emphasized in the beginning.
7. Posture should be checked.
8. Weak students should be given special attention.
9. Pronunciation drill is essential.

2. SILENT READING:
 Silent reading is the main aim of learning English.
 It is more important than loud reading.
 After 5-6 years of language learning, all the years are spent in silent
reading.

Objectives of silent reading:

 1. To enable the students to read without making sounds and moving lips,
so that they may not disturb others.
2. To enable students to read with ease, speed and fluency.
3. To make students read with comprehension.
4. To expand vocabulary of the student.
5. According to Ryburn, “The aim of silent reading is pleasure and profit,
to be able to read for interest and to get information.”

Precautions in silent English reading:

1. Only those passages should be read which can be understood and
appreciated by the students.
2. Paragraph should not be too long.
3. Special attention to be paid to weak students.
4. Teacher must ask comprehension questions after silent reading’
5. Duration of silent reading should differ according to the nature of the matter and
standard of the class.
6. Pupils are not expected to move their fingers under the line of reading.
7. Whispering, murmuring or lip movement should be strictly prohibited.
8. Teacher has to train the pupils in reducing the number of pauses or increasing
the number of words recognized in a single pause.

1. Time
saving
10. trains
2. saves
thinking
energy
ability

9. improves 3. develops
vocabulary interest
MERITS
OF
SILENT
8. reading as a
READING
4. useful in
hobby is
later life
developed

5.initiates self
7. greater education
assimilation of 6. attention
information
concentrated
on meaning
 Demerits of Silent Reading:
 Not advantageous for beginners.
 Does not teach pronunciation.
 Checking whether students are actually reading becomes difficult.
 Mistakes remain unchecked.
 Uninteresting.
 Help of the teacher cannot be sought.

3. INTENSIVE READING:
Meaning:
 Intensive reading means a minute and detailed study of the prescribed prose-text. It
concentrates upon language, information and the grasping of the sense.
 It is also called detailed study.
 It concentrates upon:
- Assimilation of language which consists of study of words, phrases and
sentence structures.
- Study of sentence structure including grammar, word order and syntax.
- Grasping of the sense and
- Getting information

Objectives of Intensive Reading:

i. To enable the students to understand, speak, and write English correctly.
ii. To help them to improve and extend their knowledge and command over
English.
iii. To give them practice in correct pronunciation, intonation, expression, and
modulation of voice.
iv. To give them opportunity to use language without fear and to develop in them
the habit of thinking in English.
v. To create and foster in them a taste for the study of English and to enrich their
vocabulary.
vi. According to Jesperson: “To keep them occupied with the text repeatedly in
such a way that they do not lose sight of the meaning, so that they may thus
become so familiar with it at last that they know it almost or entirely by heart,
without having been directly required to commit it to memory.”
Procedure of Intensive reading:
 • an introductory talk by the teacher to arouse interest
1. Introduction
• teacher tests the previous knowledge of the students

2. Presentation

(a)Reading • model reading

• loud reading

(b) Explanation

• by giving synonyms, by giving antonyms,

(i)Treatment of new words and • by giving direct association, by using in a sentence,
phrases- • by giving words with the same prefix or suffix, by
grouping words under a head

(ii)Treatment of sentences and patterns

(iii) Treatment of grammatical points

(iv)Treatment of special references

3. Questions for Comprehension • of meaning, of vocabulary, of grammar and

language, intelligence

Advantages of Intensive Reading:

 increases active vocabulary
 helps in learning grammar
 explains the meaning
 improves the power of expression

Limitations of Intensive Reading:

 no joy and interest to the pupil
 limited utility in the formation of working vocabulary
 kills the pupil’s appreciation of literature
3. EXTENSIVE READING:
 It is also called rapid reading or Independent silent reading.
 It means :
- To read silently
 - To read quickly
- To understand the subject matter and meaning as efficiently as possible
- To read without the help of the teacher
- To read to pass words into passive vocabulary
 According to Thompson and Wyatt, “Extensive reading is the cultivation of a taste
for reading and it seeks by encouraging the habit of visualizing what is read to make
reading a form of visual instruction.

 Pre-requisite conditions for Extensive reading:

a. The pupil must have acquired a vocabulary of at least 500 words. This means
that rapid reading should be started at the beginning of the middle stage, not
before that.
b. They must have formed the habit of reading and study.
c. They must have developed the ability to recognize words faster than to
pronounce them.

Objectives of Extensive Reading:

Objectives of Extensive reading

Literary
To develop in the students a Linguistic
Intellectual taste for reading book so To enable the pupils to Recreational
To train the pupils to that To inculcate in the pupils
learn more vocabulary
understand the subject they may form cultural the habit of reading for
and usage
matter. contacts with great writers pleasure and profit.
and
people.

Steps in Extensive Reading:

1) Introductory talk by the teacher:
 Give hints as to the points of the story.
 Deal with specific language difficulties.
2) Silent reading by the pupils.
3) Questions by the teacher.
4) Recapitulation.

Advantages of Extensive reading:

 It helps in assimilation of ideas.
 It keeps the whole class busy and active.
  It increases vocabulary.
 It has high ‘transfer of learning’ value, since it prepares students for library reading.
 It paves the path for individual method of study and self-education.

Comparison of Extensive and Intensive Reading

Extensive Reading Intensive Reading

1. It concentrates upon the subject-matter. 1. It concentrates upon the language.

2. The aim is only to grasp the meaning of 2. The aim is to make a careful and minute
what is read. scrutiny of what is read.

3. Words, phrases and expressions are not 3. Words, phrases and expressions are
studied in detail. studied in detail.

4. New words and phrases occurring in the 4. New words and phrases occurring in the
book pass into the pupil’s passive book pass into the pupil’s active
vocabulary. vocabulary.

5. The pupils should only be able to 5. The pupils should only be able to
understand and not use all the common understand and not use all the common
words, phrases and expressions in the words, phrases and expressions in the book.
book.

6. Reading by pupils is silent and 6. Reading by pupils is aloud and controlled

independent. by the teacher.

7. There is minimum help by the teacher. 7. There is maximum help by the teacher.

8. The non-detailed lesson is essentially a 8. The detailed reading lesson is essentially

place for no teaching or the minimum of a place for careful teaching.
teaching.

9.7 Reading Skills:

Good readers operate cognitively at four highly interrelated and overlapping levels of meaning:
They are-
1. Literal: Literal Comprehension involves the reader in understanding the information
stated directly in the text. S/he should be able to state exactly what the passage is saying.
The reader does not have to dig too deeply to get at it.
2. Interpretative: At this level the reader must be able “to read between the lines”, to
recognize ideas and information not directly stated. The reader must make inferences.
3. Critical: Critical reading requires making judgements with regard to a text. It also
includes giving reasons for the judgement, commenting on the views expressed in the
passage and the appropriateness and effectiveness of the treatment of those ideas.
 4. Creative: Creative reading calls for the generation of new ideas, insights, applications
and approaches. It requires invention, prediction, and use of imagination.

The skills and strategies of reading may be stated broadly as follows:

1. Skills involving flexibility of technique: variations in reading rate, skimming,
scanning, study reading, etc.
2. Skills of using non-textual information: that is information that is strictly not part
of the text itself: reference apparatus, graphic conventions, illustrations and
diagrams.
3. Word-attack skills: recognizing the letters of the alphabet and reading groups of
letters as words, understanding the meaning of words by using morphology,
contextual clues or a dictionary.
4. Text attack skills: interpreting the text as a whole using all the clues available
including cohesion and rhetorical structure.

9.8 Strategies to improve reading skill:

Important tips:
1. Read at a time you are awake and alert. Many people read more quickly in the morning
than in the afternoon. Don't put off reading until late at night or when you're drowsy.
2. Select a quiet place for reading, such as in a library. Make sure the lighting is adequate.
Remove any distractions, such as the radio or television.
3. Think about your reading before you begin. For example, if you're reading a textbook
chapter, think about why this chapter was assigned and what you expect to learn. If you're
reading a novel, read the title, author's name and inside or back cover.
4. Pause regularly, such as at every textbook section or chapter of a novel, to remind yourself
what just happened. If you have trouble recalling the basics of the information or plot, stop
to check your comprehension at every page or every few pages.
5. Avoid highlighting. Instead, write questions or comments in the margins. Try to actively
engage with the material, identifying what you agree or disagree with, instead of passively
absorbing the information. Underlining main ideas might improve your comprehension,
but don't underline too much.
6. Push yourself to read faster. This might temporarily decrease your comprehension, but over
time, it will improve your speed and comprehension.
7. Adjust the reading speed to fit your material. For example, you might need to read a contract
at work very carefully and slowly, while you could quickly skim a textbook chapter to
review or read a leisure novel at a fast pace.
8. Read every day for at least 20 minutes. Your reading skills won't improve unless you
practice.
9. Time your reading speed. Set a timer for two minutes, for example, and read until the timer
stops. Write down your time, what you were reading and how many pages you read in two
minutes.
10. Quiet your inner reading voice. Read quickly enough to silence the voice that reads along
with you. Read so quickly you cannot catch every word.
11. Read words in chunks. Break text into two-word chunks to start. Increase the size of the
word chunks as your speed increases.
12. Use your fingertip to follow text. Follow the text as you read it to prevent re-reading content
and to help keep your reading voice silent.

9.10 Let us Sum up:

 Reading is an important activity in our daily life.
 Reading is purposeful, selective and text-based.
 Reading involves complex cognitive skills.
 Skimming is glancing rapidly through a text to find out its general content, main ideas
or gist.
 Scanning is searching for a specific item of information by glossing over irrelevant
information.
 Silent reading is reading for meaning and it is more common activity than reading
aloud.
 Intensive reading is reading a text closely and in detail for a thorough understanding.
 Extensive reading is reading fluently and in large quantity for enjoyment without
external help.
 Reading comprehension occurs at four interrelated levels: literal, interpretative, critical
and creative.
 The overall reading skills comprise: skills involving flexible technique, skills of using
non-text information in understanding a text, word-attack skills, and text attack skills.

MODULE-9: Reading Skills

9.1 Read: http://www.nclrc.org/essentials/reading/reindex.htm

9.3 Read: http://www.palomar.edu/reading/r110hybrid/Module%204/mod4.1scanning.htm

9.9 Watch You tube videos:

1. Speed Reading Strategies for Textbooks by Iris Reading
2. How to be a better faster reader - speed reading improve comprehension -by Miran
Dauta

9.11 Exercise:
 www.readingsoft.com/quiz.html

9.12 Suggested Reading:

 "Speed Reading" by Tony Buzan
  "Triple Your Reading Speed" by Walt E. Cutler

9.13 References:
 http://www.ehow.com/about_6533094_reading-skills_-scanning-vs_-
skimming.html#ixzz34ElhAwsT
 http://www.ehow.com/how_8384978_read-fast-better.html
 Teaching of English, ES-344, Indira Gandhi National Open University School of
Education, New Delhi
 Halbe Malati, (2005): Methodology of English Teaching, Himalaya Publishing house,
Mumbai.
 Bhatia K. K: New Techniques of Teaching English as a Foreign Language

Module-10: SPEAKING SKILLS

Unit Structure:

10.0 Learning Outcomes

10.1 Introduction
10.2 Essentials of Good Speaking
10.3 Difference between features of Speaking and Writing
10.4 Different activities to improve Speaking skills
10.5 Let us sum up

10.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:

 Identify the two major aspects of speaking skill
 Enumerate the significance of speaking skill
 Understand the essentials of good speech
 Differentiate between written and spoken language
 Understand the nature and details of some speaking activities
 Understand the role of the teacher in development of oral skills

10.1 Introduction:

Speaking is "the process of building and sharing meaning through the use of verbal
and non-verbal symbols, in a variety of contexts" (Chaney, 1998, p. 13). Speaking
skills have two major components. First, there are ‘motor perceptive skills’ which are
the means of perceiving, recalling and articulating in the correct order, the sounds and
structure of a language. Second, there are the ‘interaction skills’ which help the learner
to transfer his/her knowledge from a language-learning situation to a language-using
 situation. It involves knowing what to say, how to say and how to establish and
maintain contact with the other person.
Generally ‘motor perceptive skills’ are developed at the primary level where learners
are put through various ‘look and say’ exercises, or ‘pattern practice’. Usually there
is no context provided and learners develop these skills through repetition and choral
drill. But concentration on the development of motor perceptive skills leads to
problems as the learners are not able to communicate well in real life situations. They
are unable to use the language structures learnt. Therefore it is important that more
emphasis is laid on ‘interaction skills’ while learning a new language.
According to Ben Jonson, “Language most shows a man; speak, that I may know thee.”
Good speaking skill is a passport to cultured society. Proper speech helps to attract
others. Faulty speaking makes a person a butt of public ridicule. Spoken language
outweighs the written language. Speaking skill helps one to communicate one’s ideas
clearly to others.

10.2 Essentials of Good Speaking:

 Speaking involves pronunciation, juncture, stress, rhythm and intonation.

- Pronunciation involves the way of producing the sounds of a language.
- Juncture is simply the presence or absence of a pause between utterances, words or
syllables that makes a difference to the meaning of what is spoken.
- Stress is the degree of force with which a sound or syllable is uttered.
- Intonation is the variation in the pitch of the voice in connected speech. It may be
rising intonation or falling intonation.

 Correct Speech involves the ability to use words, phrases and idioms already learnt with
correct pronunciation and knowledge of grammar.
 Effective speaking involves basic courtesy formulas, conventional greetings and other
expressions.
 Speaking involves acquiring fluency and accuracy of speech.
 Public speaking is an art which one needs to develop with practice.

10.3 Difference between features of Speaking and Writing:

Written and spoken language differs in many ways. However some forms of writing are
closer to speech than others, and vice versa. Below are some of the ways in which these
two forms of language differ:
 Writing is usually permanent and written texts cannot usually be changed once they
have been printed / written out.
Speech is usually transient, unless recorded, and speakers can correct themselves and
change their utterances as they go along.
 A written text can communicate across time and space for as long as the particular
language and writing system is still understood.
 Speech is usually used for immediate interactions.
 Written language tends to be more complex and intricate than speech with longer
sentences and many subordinate clauses. The punctuation and layout of written texts
also have no spoken equivalent. However some forms of written language, such as
instant messages and email, are closer to spoken language.
Spoken language tends to be full of repetitions, incomplete sentences, corrections and
interruptions, with the exception of formal speeches and other scripted forms of speech,
such as news reports and scripts for plays and films.
 Writers receive no immediate feedback from their readers, except in computer-based
communication. Therefore they cannot rely on context to clarify things so there is more
need to explain things clearly and unambiguously than in speech, except in written
correspondence between people who know one another well.
Speech is usually a dynamic interaction between two or more people. Context and
shared knowledge play a major role, so it is possible to leave much unsaid or indirectly
implied.
 Writers can make use of punctuation, headings, layout, colours and other graphical
effects in their written texts. Such things are not available in speech.
Speech can use timing, tone, volume, and timbre to add emotional context.
 Written material can be read repeatedly and closely analysed, and notes can be made
on the writing surface. Only recorded speech can be used in this way.
 Some grammatical constructions are only used in writing, as are some kinds of
vocabulary, such as some complex chemical and legal terms.
Some types of vocabulary are used only or mainly in speech. These include slang
expressions, and tags like y'know, like, etc.

10.4 Different activities to improve Speaking skills:

• Role play • Language club

• dramatization • choir group
• situational • recitation of
conversations poems
• dialogues INTONATION/
PROPER
STRESS VOICE
MODULATION

RHYTHM / PRONUN-
PAUSE CIATION

• singing • newsreading
competitions • Imitation of
• story telling recorded
competitions tapes
Activities to Promote Speaking:

Discussions:
The students may discuss on a topic to arrive at a conclusion, share ideas about an
event, or find solutions in their discussion groups. Before the discussion, it is
essential that the purpose of the discussion activity is set so that students do not
spend their time chatting with each other about irrelevant things. For example,
students can become involved in agree/disagree discussions. In this type of
discussion, the teacher can form groups of students, preferably 4 or 5 in each group,
and provide controversial sentences like ‘people learn best when they read vs.
people learn best when they travel’. Then each group works on their topic for a
given time period, and presents their opinions to the class. It is essential that the
speaking should be equally divided among group members. At the end, the class
decides on the winning group who defended the idea in the best way. This activity
fosters critical thinking and quick decision making, and students learn how to
express and justify themselves in polite ways while disagreeing with the others. For
efficient group discussions, it is always better not to form large groups, because
quiet students may avoid contributing in large groups. Groups should be rearranged
in every discussion activity so that students can work with various people and learn
to be open to different ideas. Lastly, in class or group discussions, whatever the aim
is, the students should always be encouraged to ask questions, paraphrase ideas,
express support, check for clarification, and so on.

Role Play
One other way of getting students to speak is role-playing. Students pretend they
are in various social contexts and have a variety of social roles. In role-play
activities, the teacher gives information to the learners such as who they are and
what they think or feel. Thus, the teacher can tell the student that "You are David,
you go to the doctor and tell him what happened last night, and…" (Harmer, 1984)

Simulations
Simulations are very similar to role-plays but what makes simulations different than
role plays is that they are more elaborate. In simulations, students can bring items
to the class to create a realistic environment. For instance, if a student is acting as a
singer, she brings a microphone to sing and so on. Role plays and simulations have
many advantages. First, since they are entertaining, they motivate the students.
Second, as Harmer (1984) suggests, they increase the self-confidence of hesitant
students, because in role play and simulation activities, they will have a different
role and do not have to speak for themselves, which means they do not have to take
the same responsibility.
Information Gap
In this activity, students are supposed to be working in pairs. One student will have
the information that other partner does not have and the partners will share their
information. Information gap activities serve many purposes such as solving a
problem or collecting information. Also, each partner plays an important role
because the task cannot be completed if the partners do not provide the information
the others need. These activities are effective because everybody has the
opportunity to talk extensively in the target language.

Brainstorming
On a given topic, students can produce ideas in a limited time. Depending on the
context, either individual or group brainstorming is effective and learners generate
ideas quickly and freely. The good characteristic of brainstorming is that the
students are not criticized for their ideas, so students will be open to sharing new
ideas.

Storytelling
Students can briefly summarize a tale or story they heard from somebody
beforehand, or they may create their own stories to tell their classmates. Story
telling fosters creative thinking. It also helps students express ideas in the format of
beginning, development, and ending, including the characters and setting a story
has to have. Students also can tell riddles or jokes. For instance, at the very
beginning of each class session, the teacher may call a few students to tell short
riddles or jokes as an opening. In this way, not only will the teacher address
students’ speaking ability, but also get the attention of the class.
Story telling can be done in the following ways also:
 With the help of theme pictures/ several sequential pictures
 With the help of skeleton form/ rubrics of the story
 By giving incomplete stories

Interviews:
Students can conduct interviews on selected topics with various people. It is a good
idea that the teacher provides a rubric to students so that they know what type of
questions they can ask or what path to follow, but students should prepare their own
interview questions. Conducting interviews with people gives students a chance to
practice their speaking ability not only in class but also outside and helps them
become socialized. After interviews, each student can present his or her study to the
class. Moreover, students can interview each other and "introduce" his or her
partner to the class.
Reporting:
Before coming to class, students are asked to read a newspaper or magazine and in
class, they report to their friends what they find as the most interesting news.
Students can also talk about whether they have experienced anything worth telling
their friends in their daily lives before class.
 Playing Cards
In this game, students should form groups of four. Each group will represent a topic.
For instance:
 Diamonds: Earning money
 Hearts: Love and relationships
 Spades: An unforgettable memory
 Clubs: Best teacher
Each student in a group will choose a card. Then, each student will write 4 to 5
questions about that topic to ask the other people in the group. For example,
if the topic ‘Diamonds: Earning Money’ is selected, here are some possible
questions:
 Is money important in your life? Why?
 What is the easiest way of earning money?
 What do you think about lottery? etc.
However, the teacher should state at the very beginning of the activity that students
are not allowed to prepare ‘yes-no’ questions, because by saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’
students get little practice in spoken language production. Rather, students ask
open-ended questions to each other so that they reply in complete sentences.

Picture/ Photograph Describing

Another way to make use of pictures in a speaking activity is to give students just
one picture and having them describe what is in the picture. For this activity students
can form groups and each group is given a different picture. Students discuss the
picture with their groups and then a spokesperson for each group describes the
picture to the whole class. This activity fosters the creativity and imagination of the
learners as well as their public speaking skills.

Find the Difference:

For this activity students can work in pairs and each couple is given two different
pictures. For example, a picture of boys playing football and another picture of girls
playing tennis. Students in pairs discuss the similarities and/or differences in the
pictures.

Suggestions to teach Speaking:

1. Grab all opportunities you get to speak.

2. Work collaboratively on different tasks so that knowledge can be shared.
3. Do not shy away for any speaking activity. Remember you learn if you participate.
4. Practice voice modulation, stress and juncture by loud reading text with dialogues. It
will help you to be a good orator.
 5. Observe the posture and gestures of good orators and develop your own style of
communication.
6. Listen to news or programmes in the language to be learnt.
7. Take help of experts or friends who speak well.
8. Gather vocabulary that you would need in speaking activities beforehand and practice
pronouncing them correctly.
9. Do not hesitate to check word meanings and pronunciation before you use any new
words in your conversation or speech.
10. Mistakes are bound to happen in the beginning. Don’t worry. Take feedback and
criticism if any, positively.
11. Make friends with unknown people from different places, and then converse with
them on a regular basis. You will not be tempted to talk in your own language then.
12. The more you speak, the faster you learn.

10.7 Let us sum up:

This unit has brought to light the components of speaking skill, essentials of speaking,
different kinds of speaking activities and suggestions for language teachers teaching oral
language. Proper rhythm, accent, correct pronunciation and intonation are ornaments of
speech and if used properly, help to attract others. Speaking skill helps one to communicate
one’s ideas clearly to others. Pair work and group work are most useful in developing oral
skills. Tasks to learn speaking have to be simple but interactive.

Module-10: SPEAKING SKILLS

10.2 Read:

 http://www.wiziq.com/tutorial/351034-Essentials-of-Communication-in-English-Module-1-
Speaking-Skills
 http://www.cls.utk.edu/pdf/ls/Week4_Lesson24.pdf

10.3 Watch:
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LECdW1pF31g

2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsgiTIjFgzU

10.7 Suggested Reading:

 www.englishfunzone.com/activities-to-improve-english-speaking
 http://www.englishleap.com/improve-english
 http://esl.about.com/od/speakingadvanced/a/sscripting.htm
 Module-11: Listening Skill
Unit Structure:

11.0 Learning Outcomes

11.1 Introduction
11.2 Different Kinds of Listening Material
11.3 The Listening Activity
11.4 Three Phases of Listening
11.5 Types of Listening
11.6 Sample Listening Activities
11.7 Tips for being a Good Listener
11.8 Let us sum up

11.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:
 Explain the meaning of listening skill
 Understand the listening activity
 Identify the barriers to the listening activity
 Identify the materials used for listening activity
 Comprehend the phases of a listening process
 Understand the different types of listening
 Understand the essentials for being a good listener

11.1 Introduction:
Listening may be defined as an act of receiving oral language. It is the ability to understand
what others speak or say. It is the basic skill in the process of learning a language. It is a
receptive skill but not passive. The learner is actively involved in the process, but is at the
receiving end.

Barriers to the Listening activity:

 Both listening and reading are receptive skills, but listening can be more difficult than
reading because different speakers produce the same sounds in different ways. They may
have different dialects and accents; they may use different stress, rhythm, intonation, and
pronunciation. The speed of the input of spoken material cannot be controlled, besides
spoken material is often heard only once. The listener cannot stop the speaker to work out
the meaning. Background noise and recurrence of matter may also pose a problem in
listening. Therefore in listening, people must do many things to process information they
are receiving. They have to hear what is being said, they have to pay attention to catch as
much information as possible so as to construct a meaningful message in their mind by
relating what they hear to what they already know. While listening, the speakers’ facial
expressions, gestures and other body language provide visual clues which help to
understand and predict what is heard. Most of the listening allows the listener to respond
to the speaker, whether the matter is understood or not.

Significance of listening:
Every good communication starts with good listening. Good listening skill helps to improve
our interaction and relationship with others. It leads to fewer mistakes in any task we are
allotted, increases sharing of information which in turn leads to more creative and
innovative work.

11.2 Different Kinds of Listening Material:

In general, there are two different kinds of materials you can listen to:
 Authentic materials includes anything that is 'unscripted', 'live' lectures and
seminars, the English you hear on the television and radio, and English spoken
outside the classroom, etc. An unscripted text is one that is not written down in
advance, but rather, transcribed afterwards (more natural, but often harder to follow,
because people do not speak in an organized or structured way in real life).
 Course book materials include simulated lectures and seminar presentations and
semi-scripted listening tasks from course books.
 11.3 The Listening Activity
What does it mean to really listen?
Real listening is an active process that has three basic steps.
 Hearing: Hearing just means listening enough to catch what the speaker is saying. For
example, say you were listening to a report on zebras, and the speaker mentioned that
no two are alike. If you can repeat the fact, then you have heard what has been said.
 Understanding: The next part of listening happens when you take what you have heard
and understand it in your own way. Let's go back to that report on zebras. When you
hear that no two are alike, think about what that might mean. You might think, "Maybe
this means that the pattern of stripes is different for each zebra."
 Judging: After you are sure you understand what the speaker has said, think about
whether it makes sense. Do you believe what you have heard? You might think, "How
could the stripes to be different for every zebra? But then again, the fingerprints are
different for every person. I think this seems believable."

11.4 Three Phases of Listening:

The three phases of the listening process are: pre- listening, during listening, and after listening:
1. Pre- listening phase: During the pre- listening phase, teachers need to recognize that
all students bring different backgrounds to the listening experience. Beliefs, attitudes,
and biases of the listeners will affect the understanding of the message. In addition to
being aware of these factors, teachers should show students how their backgrounds
affect the messages they receive. Before listening, students need assistance to activate
what they already know about the ideas they are going to hear. Simply being told the
topic is not enough. Pre- listening activities are required to establish what is already
known about the topic, to build necessary background, and to set purpose(s) for
listening. Students need to understand that the aact of listening requires not just hearing
but also thinking, as well as a good deal of interest and information that both speaker
and listener must have in common.

2. While-listening phase: Students need to understand the implications of rate in the

listening process. Nichols (1948) found that people listen and think at four times the
normal conversation rate. Students have to be encouraged to use the "rate gap" to
actively process the message. In order to use that extra time wisely, there are several
things students can be encouraged to do: They can run a mental commentary on it; they
can doubt it, talk back to it, or extend it. They can rehearse it in order to remember it;
that is, they repeat interesting points back to themselves. They can formulate questions
to ask the speaker and jot down key words or key phrases. They can wonder if what
they are listening to is true, or what motives the speaker has in saying it, or whether the
speaker is revealing personal feelings rather than objective assessments. (Temple and
 Gillet, 1989, p. 55) This kind of mental activity is what effective listeners do during
listening.

3. Post-listening phase: Students need to act upon what they have heard to clarify
meaning and extend their thinking. Well-planned post- listening activities are just as
important as those before and during. Some examples are: To begin with, students can
ask questions of themselves and the speaker to clarify their understanding and confirm
their assumptions. Hook and Evans (1982) suggest that the post-mortem is a very useful
device. Students should talk about what the speaker said, question statements of
opinion, amplify certain remarks, and identify parallel incidents from life and literature.
They can summarize a speaker's presentation orally, in writing, or as an outline. In
addition to the traditional outline format, students could use time lines, flow charts,
ladders, circles, diagrams, webs, or maps. They can review their notes and add
information that they did not have an opportunity to record during the speech. They can
also analyse and evaluate critically what they have heard. Students can be given
opportunities to engage activities in that build on and develop concepts acquired during
an oral presentation. These may include writing (e.g., response journal, learning log, or
composition), reading (e.g., further research on a topic or a contradictory viewpoint),
art or drama (e.g., designing a cover jacket after a book talk or developing a mock trial
concerning the topic through drama in role).

11.5 Types of Listening:

1. Discriminative listening: This develops right from childhood as we grow into
an adult gaining more life experiences. Gradually our ability to distinguish
between different sounds improves. We are able to recognize different voices
and at the same time we develop the ability to identify understated differences
in the way sounds are made and what they mean. Differences include many
intricacies, recognizing foreign languages, distinguishing between regional
accents and clues to the emotions and feelings of the speaker.
2. Comprehensive listening: This involves understanding the message that is
being communicated. For this the listener first needs appropriate vocabulary
and language skills. Overly complicated language or technical jargon can be a
barrier to comprehensive listening. Two different people listening to the same
thing may understand the message in two different ways, depending on their
comprehension skills.
3. Informational Listening: Whenever you listen to learn something, you are
engaged in informational listening. This is done in day-to-day situations, in
education and at work.
4. Critical Listening: When we have to evaluate or scrutinize what is being said
and make judgements, we are involved in critical listening. It involves some sort
of problem solving or decision making. One has to analyse the information
being received with what we already know or believe.
5. Empathic listening: It involves attempting to understand the feelings and
emotions of the speaker – to put yourself into the speaker’s shoes and share their
 thoughts. This type of listening does not involve making judgements or offering
advice but gently encouraging the speaker to explain and elaborate on their
feelings and emotions.
6. Appreciative listening: It is listening for enjoyment. A good example is
listening to music, especially as a way to relax.
7. Rapport Listening: When trying to build rapport with others we can engage in
a type of listening that encourages the other person to trust and like us. A
salesman, for example, may make an effort to listen carefully to what you are
saying as a way to promote trust and potentially make a sale. This type of
listening is common in situations of negotiation.
8. Selective listening: This is a negative type of listening; it implies that the
listener is somehow biased to what they are hearing. Bias can be based on
preconceived ideas or emotionally difficult communications. Selective
listening is a sign of failing communication – you cannot hope to understand if
you have filtered out some of the message and may reinforce or strengthen your
bias for future communications.

11.6 Sample Listening Activities:

1. Word Clap: Gather the children together on the floor and read them a story that repeats
a particular word many times. Instruct the children to clap every time they hear that
word. You can make the game more competitive by paying attention to which children
are clapping only after hearing their classmates clap. These kids can be "out" and the
game can continue until establishing a winner.
2. Circle Message: Ask children to sit in a circle on the floor or outside. Whisper a short
action phrase into the ear of one child, for example, "Touch your nose and jump up and
down." Instruct the children to whisper the message from one person to the next until
reaching the end. The last student to receive the message must perform the action. This
is a great game to play for children to practice attentive listening skills.
3. Draw a Picture: This game works well for people of all ages. Choose more difficult
pictures for older individuals. Explain to the children that they are to draw a picture
according to your verbal instructions. For example, to draw a picture of a cat, you can
begin by telling the students to draw a figure eight with two triangles at the top.
Continue to give verbal instructions on how to draw the cat and award the child whose
drawing closely resembles yours.
4. Actions and Sounds: Prepare an audio track that plays a variety of different sounds
such as a car horn, a whistle and a bell chime. Explain to the students that each sound
is associated with an action. For example, when the children hear the car horn they
should jump. Play the audio track and watch as the children perform the necessary
actions. If a child stops paying attention or incorrectly performs an action, she is "out"
and sits down. Continue playing until a winner is determined.
5. Listening Quizzes: Choose an interesting story, speech or newspaper article. Read the
piece in front of the class. The class is not permitted to take notes. At the end of the
 piece, hand out a series of questions that pertain to the piece. The students must answer
questions based on what they heard. After everyone is finished, students take turns
reading their answers aloud and correcting their quizzes. Whoever answers the most
correctly, wins.

11.7 Tips for being a good listener:

 Give your full attention on the person who is speaking. Don't look out the window or
at what else is going on in the room.
 Make sure your mind is focused, too. It can be easy to let your mind wander if you think
you know what the person is going to say next, but you might be wrong! If you feel
your mind wandering, change the position of your body and try to concentrate on the
speaker's words.
 Let the speaker finish before you begin to talk. Speakers appreciate having the chance
to say everything they would like to say without being interrupted. When you interrupt,
it looks like you aren't listening, even if you really are.
 Let yourself finish listening before you begin to speak! You can't really listen if you are
busy thinking about what you want say next.
 Listen for main ideas. The main ideas are the most important points the speaker wants
to get across. They may be mentioned at the start or end of a talk, and repeated a number
of times. Pay special attention to statements that begin with phrases such as "My point
is..." or "The thing to remember is..."
 Ask questions. If you are not sure you understand what the speaker has said, just ask.
It is a good idea to repeat in your own words what the speaker said so that you can be
sure your understanding is correct. For example, you might say, "When you said that
no two zebras are alike, did you mean that the stripes are different on each one?"
 Give feedback. Sit up straight and look directly at the speaker. Now and then, nod to
show that you understand. At appropriate points you may also smile, frown, laugh, or
be silent. These are all ways to let the speaker know that you are really listening.
Remember, you listen with your face as well as your ears!

Remember: Thoughts move about four times as fast as speech. With practice, while you
are listening you will also be able to think about what you are hearing, really understand
it, and give feedback to the speaker.

11.8 Let us sum up:

In this unit, we have looked at the different aspects of the listening skill. We can use
recorded listening materials or live listening materials in our teaching practice.
Students need to be guided through the listening activity in a phased manner.
First the student has to be prepared for the exercise- this is termed as the pre-listening
phase, the second step is the while-listening phase in which the learner completes the
task set up as part of the listening activity. The final post-listening phase helps
consolidate the learner’s comprehension.

Module-11: Listening Skill

11.1

 http://www.slideshare.net/abammar/teaching-listening-speaking

11.2

Read:
 http:// journal.ibsu.edu.ge/index.php/ibsusj/article/download/17/17

There are many different types of listening also. To get information on this read:
 http://changingminds.org/techniques/listening/all_types_listening.htm

11.3

Read more: Speaking & Listening Skills | Infoplease.com

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/listeningskills1.html#ixzz35QxORC3R

11.4

Read: http://www.ingilish.com/listening-activities.htm

11.9 Suggested reading:

 http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/kline-listen/b10ch3.htm
http://esl.about.com/od/listeninglessonplans/a/youtube.htm

MODULE 1

TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

Module structure
1.0 Learning Outcomes
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Concept of Educational Technology as a Discipline
1.3 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.4 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.5 Information Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.6 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational
Technology
1.7 Let us sum up

Learning Outcomes
By the end of this module, you should be able to:
 Describe the concept of Educational Technology
 Explain the concept of Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology.
  Explain the concept of Communication Technology as part of Educational
Technology.
 Explain the concept of Information Technology as part of Educational Technology.
 Explain the concept of Information and Communication Technology as part of
Educational Technology.
 Justify the concept of Educational Technology as a Discipline

1.1 Introduction

Technology is derived from the Greek word techne, which means "art or skill of hand"
and ‘logy’ is the making, modification, usage and knowledge of tools, machines,
techniques, crafts, systems, and methods of organization, in order to solve a problem or modify
the existing solutions, to attain the set goal, handle or perform such roles so as to ensure the
appropriateness of the required and acquired goals.
The human species' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into
simple tools. The discovery of fire has led to varied available sources of food and the creation
of wheel helped humans access to many areas. Other technological developments like printing
press the telegraph, telephone, computer and the Internet have reduced the gap in
communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale.
Technology has had an impact on the society in a number of ways. Technology influences
the culture, traditions and value system of a society and new technology often promotes ethical
and health related questions.
In many societies, technology has helped develop more advanced economy and has also led
to pollution and depletion of natural resources.
Three factors have led to adoption of technology in education:
• the exploding population
• the knowledge explosion
• the changing science and technology of our current society

1.2 Concept of Educational Technology:

What is Education? Education is derived from Latin words Educare/Educere, Educatum - an
act or a process of acquiring and imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes.
What is technology?
‘It is the application of knowledge and science to the practical aims of human life by
changing and manipulating the human environment. Technology includes the use of
materials, tools, techniques, and sources of power to make life easier or more pleasant
and work more productive. Whereas science is concerned with how and why things
happen, technology focuses on making things happen’.
Technology is a science of techniques and methods of doing things related to science arts or
any profession. Technology is continually developing a system of information processing
aimed at providing better ways of living. Technological infrastructures range from small
chipsets up to the satellites orbiting the planet.
Educational Technology means role of technology in education and technology of education
by which educational goals can be achieved.
Technology of education deals with systematic application of the resources of scientific
knowledge of the processes of learning that each individual has to pass through in order to
acquire and use knowledge. Technology in education refers to the use of technological
hardware in education.
What is hardware (H/w) and software (S/w) aspect of educational technology?
Hardware aspect of educational technology refers to machine aspect of educational technology
which includes tape recorder, computer, OHP etc. Software aspect of educational technology
includes audio/video cassettes, microfilm, slides, power point presentations, word file etc.
while the former is based on engineering principles; the latter is based on psychological and
sociological principles.
ET I- Hardware approach
ET II- Software approach
ET III- Systems Approach
ET III - is the systems approach or system analysis influencing the decision making at
administrative and managerial functions with reference to input aspect, output aspect and
feedback mechanism. It emphasizes the principle of feedback control. The feedback refers to a
kind of reciprocal interaction between two or more events in which one activity generates a
secondary action which, in turn redirects the primary action.

Definition of Educational Technology:

G.O.M Leith (1967): “Educational Technology is application of scientific knowledge about
learning, and conditions of learning to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of teaching and
learning.”

National Council for Educational Technology-UK: “Educational Technology means the

development, application and evaluation of three different things i) techniques ii) systems and
iii) aids to improve the process of human learning.”

Association for Education communication and Tech US – “Educational Technology is an

integrated process involving People, Procedures, Idea, Design and Organisation for Analysing
the problems, Devising, Implementing, Evaluating and Managing solutions to those problems
involved in all aspects of teaching and learning.”

Nature of Educational Technology:

• Systematic application of science and technology in education.
• Practical Discipline rather than theoretical Construct.
• Provides efficiency to the task of teaching learning.
• Technical guidance and solution to the problems of Education
• Effective communication between teacher and taught
 • Encompasses total teaching Learning process.
• Educational Technology is not limited to the use of A-V aids.
• Involves 5 M’s.(Man, Medium, Machine, Message and Materials)
• Designs tools and techniques to evaluate learning outcomes.

Scope of ET: Areas included/ field of operation

• Analysis of the process of teaching and learning.
• Identifying the educational goals and objectives.
• Development of the curriculum
• Development of the teaching learning material
• Teacher preparation/ Teacher training
• Development and Selection of the teaching learning strategies and tactics.
• Development, Selection and Use of appropriate A-V aids
• Effective utilization of hardware and mass media.
• Effective organization and management of the system through systems
approach
• To provide essential feedback and control through Evaluation.
The scope of educational technology is unlimited and works for the overall planning and
organization of the system and its subsystems.
Educational Technology is wise application of the available human and material resources for
providing appropriate solutions to the educational problems and to improve the processes and
products of Education. The term Educational Technology has wide meaning and scope and
involves Information technology, Communication technology, Instructional technology,
Information and communication technology and Behavioural technology.

ET = IT+ CT+ InstT + BT+ ICT

1.3 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology

Instructional Technology is a sub set of Educational Technology if we consider Instruction as

a subset of Education. Education can be defined as a process of living through continuous
reconstruction of experiences and Instruction is a process of providing a controlled
environment consisting of various components with which an individual interacts and gains
experience leading to the attainment of certain pre specified learning outcomes.
Instructional Technology consists of network of techniques or devices to achieve the pre
identified objectives/ goals. Educational Technology is a comprehensive process and imparting
of instruction is one of the sub-processes of achieving the goals and objectives of education.
Instructional technology is often referred to as a part of educational technology, although
instructional technology covers the processes and systems of learning and instruction.
Educational Technology includes other systems used in the process of developing human
capability.
According to S.M McMunin “Instructional Technology is a systematic way of designing,
carrying out and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific
objectives based on research, human learning and communication, employing human and
material resources for effective instruction”

Fundamental Principles of Instructional Technology:

• Content matter can be divided into elements and each element can be represented
independently.
• External learning conditions can be created by arranging elements in a logical
sequence.
• Learn at his/her own pace
• learning is influenced by learners need and motivation
• Instruction can provide necessary reinforcement
• Strategies and tactics of instruction are designed to achieve the well-defined set
of objectives
• Individualized learning possible
Instructional technology involves Teacher controlled instruction; Learner controlled
instructions and individualized instruction; Devices for cues, prompts, motivation, self-pacing;
Models of teaching; devices of self-correction and evaluation.
Since Instructional technology is a combination of hardware, software and systems approach
we can say that instructional technology is part of Educational technology.

1.4 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

As civilization has evolved, so has communication technology. From letters to phone calls to
email, basic communication methods have consistently progressed into the complex systems
we experience today. As humans continue to become more and more dependent on
technological communication, such improvements will continue to be made. The present day
communication technology has essentially made interaction instantaneous, inexpensive and
concise.

The activity of designing, constructing and maintaining communication system such as

telephones, telex, fax, radio, television, video, and computer based technologies has enhanced
the quality of communication between individuals or groups.

• It involves all electronic system

• It is the combination of communication + Machines for quick and easy mode of
transfer of information (communication).

Communication Modes:
Modes of communication are ways (modes) of sending information from one person or device
to another.
 One way communication uses print media, Radio and Television broadcasting,
gramophone, tape recorder.eg Educational Radio, Educational TV, Educational
Films whereas
  Two way communication uses Teleconferencing, videoconferencing, internet chat/
email. E.g. Teleconferencing, A-V conferencing, Chat, SMS, e-mail, Discussion
Board, Language laboratory.
These are the basic forms of communication, but they can be broken down into more specific
styles.

Face-to-face communication is the most common. This includes casual conversation between
two or more people. Face-to-face is a very easy communication style that everyone has
experienced and does not incur extra cost thus making this the cheapest option for
communication. It is also instant, and you get the benefit of visual cues from the person or
people to whom you are communicating.

Video communication is achieved by using Web cameras to connect two or more parties. This
is the next-best communication option after face-to-face, as you get almost the same benefits.

Audio is a voice-only form of communication and it can be related to conversation on a

telephone. It does not permit face to face communication, however it is a good instant
communication tool.

E-text communication includes Internet communication, such as email, instant messaging and
forums, text messaging and printed papers. Text communication does not have the benefits of
audio and video, but it is much easier to distribute information to a large group of people and
save records of the communication.

The Internet, Cell phones, instant messaging, texting, email and video conferencing has
modernized the pattern of interpersonal communication.

The advantages of Communication technologies are:

 Convenience: Modes like e-mail, Skype, Blogs, Social networking sites has made
reaching out a very easy and convenient. Communication technology enables one to
get in contact with whomever, whenever and whatever time is convenient to an
individual. It cuts across time and space.
 Time: Communication technology enables quick and timely execution of task thus
saving time. It shortens distance and hastens speed and can address many at a time.

1.5 Information Technology (IT) as part of Educational Technology

The data processed by employing hardware equipment of computer with the help of software
program for communicating information for specific purpose is called Information technology.
• Information is the collection of facts gathered through various means.
• Technology makes the information gathering fast and easy.
• Information along with technology is information technology.
• Information technology deals with the information system.
• Main task is to improve and modify the information system by changing the
hardware device and software program.
Information technology is a combination of telecommunication and computing to obtain,
process, store and transmit in order to provide information in the form of voice, pictures or text.
This includes:
• Software applications and operating systems,
• Web based information and applications such as distance learning.
• Telephones and means of telecommunications
• Video equipment and multimedia products.
• World wide web
• Electronic devices- e.g. photocopier, scanner, mobile.
Information technology deals with the use of computers and software to store, protect, convert,
process and transmit information securely. Information technology, or IT, is used in education
at all levels from the school site to the district office to the state and even federal levels.
Information technology has allowed for a more accurate tracking, transport and storage of
information and continues to evolve. IT has become an integral and necessary part of education.

Components of Information Technology: Includes Hardware, Software, data, people and set
of methods (tradition and practices of the educational system).
Process of Information technology: Information technology is combination of communication
technology + computer technology. IT involves the processing of information by a computer.
The software applications and the hardware devices are the main components of information
technology. The web browsers, the operating purpose applications are the software used in
information technology.

*Information
Raw data:
*Data obtained as
Numbers/ words
Sound/ Image/ presentation
Audio-Video
chart/table/ text
or
multimedia
FEEDBACK

Role of Information Technology in Education:

 Computer networking system and internet system are the mega trends of
Information Technology which are used for various types of information system
in education and research studies.
 Research in networking, computing, data representation for exploring the
existing methodologies.
  Online learning tech and multimedia electronic libraries to improve the sharing
of knowledge and educational practices.
 To develop problem solving, analytical and research skills.
 Electronic learning: Tools like Web CT, Enspire, WebEx, HP virtual classroom,
IBM lotus virtual classroom etc. help students to understand, learn and interact
effectively.
 CBT delivered through CD ROM/ LAN/ internet provides motivation, feedback
in place teacher.
 WBT delivers educational content through internet/intranet and provides links
to other learning resources such as references, e-mail, bulletin boards, and
discussion groups.
 Virtual classrooms: Students can- search data bases, listen to pre-recorded audio
comments,
 Converse with teacher/ other students through e-mail, discussion board, use apt
resources to seek, access and apply knowledge.
 Online Education from remote places.

Need for Information technology:

 Education is a life-long process therefore anytime anywhere access to it is the

need.
 Information explosion is an ever increasing phenomena therefore there is need
to get access to this information.
 Education should meet the needs of variety of learners and therefore IT is
important in meeting this need.
 It is a need of the society that the individuals should possess technological
literacy.
 Information Technology can increase access and bring down the cost of
education to meet the challenges of illiteracy and poverty.

Importance of Information technology:

 access to variety of learning resources
 immediacy to information
 anytime learning
 anywhere learning
 collaborative learning
 multimedia approach to education
 authentic and up to date information
 access to online libraries
 teaching of different subjects made interesting
 educational data storage
 For open and distance learning.
 access to the source of information
 Multiple communication channels-e-mail, chat, forum, blogs etc.
  access to open courseware
 better accesses to children with disabilities
 reduces time on many routine tasks

1.6 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

The revolution in Information and Communication technology (ICT) has profound
implications in education, economic and social development. It has pervaded every aspect of
human life whether it is health, education, economics, governance, entertainment etc. ICT
refers to a technology employed in the form of tools, equipment and application support which
helps in the collection, storage, retrieval, use, transmission, manipulation and dissemination
(CSRUTMD) of information as accurately and effectively as possible for the purpose of
enriching the knowledge and develop communication, decision making as well as problem
solving ability of the user.

Information and communication technology (ICT) in education is the processing of

information and its communications facilities and features that support teaching, learning and
a range of activities in education. ICT has become ubiquitous in the education system. Its
interactive and multimedia approach has created effective learning. ICT comprises of
hardware, software and media. Information and Communication technology includes various
dimensions such as integration of multimedia, method of transformation of information
flexibility in usage and it has the speciality in linking one another for effective learning.
Information and communication technology consists of Information technology and
communication technology.
The components are:
• Processor, memory and input/out-put channels,
• Micro. Mini and Large scale computers,
• Mass storage technologies,
• Data communication, networking and distributed processing,
• Data entry, display respond, and Software

They involve three major aspects:

• Computer Technology,
• Communication Technology and
• Reprographic, Micrographic and Printing Technologies

Application in Education:
• To broadcast material, online facility in different subject
• To facilitate communication for pupils with special needs
• To use electronic toys to develop spatial awareness and psychomotor control.
• To facilitate video-conferencing to involve students from distant geographic
areas
• For Blended learning by combining conventional classroom learning.
• To process administrative and assessment of data.
• To exchange and share ideas among teachers for the professional growth.
 1.7 Let us sum up
The term "technology", as Ofiesh (1964) observes, implies the application of science
to art. When we apply the science of learning and communication to teaching, we
evolve a technology, i.e., the technology of instruction. In modern education, we can
witness the impact of two forces; one, of physical sciences and electronics and the other,
of behavioural sciences, operating on the process of instruction. Both these forces have
contributed to the evolution and growth of educational technology. The interaction of
physical sciences with education provides us with traditional aids, tools and hardwares
such as paper, ink, books, radios, linguaphones, films, etc. and more sophisticated
modern hardware like electronic computers, space satellites, language laboratories etc.

To describe the use of technology in education means the use of equipment and the
concept of technology of education means improving the effectiveness of learning. It is
the application of IT and CT. in education. It helps the learner to plan, arrange and
evaluate learning experiences.

Communication Technology is the activity of designing, constructing and maintaining

communication systems. It is the electronic system used for communication between
individuals or groups.

Instructional Technology is the application of system approach in the systemic design

of a learning system. It helps to bring about improvement in media, material and
message.
Information and communication Technology is the technology which uses the
information to meet human need or purposes including processing and exchanging. All
the above three exhibit the characteristics of educational technology as ET-1(Soft-
ware), ET-2(Hard ware) and/or ET-3(Systems approach). Hence educational
technology is an umbrella term encompassing Instructional technology,
Communication technology, Information and communication technology interspersed
with behavioural technology. It can neither be confined to the use of audio-visual aids,
software materials and hardware equipment nor the use of psychological principles and
instructional theories. It covers every aspect of planning, execution and evaluation of
teaching learning process.

MODULE 1: TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

Module structure
1.8 Learning Outcomes
1.9 Introduction
1.10 Concept of Educational Technology as a Discipline
1.11 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology
 1.12 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.13 Information Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.14 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.15 Let us sum up
1.16 Suggested reading
1.17 References

1.1 Introduction

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Astronaut-EVA.jpg/220px-
Astronaut-EVA.jpg

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology

Video: History of technology; www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s
Uploaded by SMARTEduEMEA
1.2 Concept of Educational Technology:

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_5032733_effects-technology-

communication.html

Read More: Difference between technology in education & technology of education

http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-technology-of-education-and-
vs-technology-in-education/

Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXyCECMxhOs - Uploaded by Paul Hamilton

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology

1.3 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology

Read more:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology
2. http://lheilman.myweb.uga.edu/artifacts/6100_what_%20is_%20instructional_tech
nology_%20final_%20submission.pdf (What is instructional technology)

1.4 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6196124_changes-communication-
technology.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6766569_communication-technology-

definition.html

Communication Technology Definition

The Different Forms of Communication Technology

Technology & the Tools of Communication

What Are the Benefits of Communication Technology?

New Trends in Information & Communication Technology

What is the Implication of Communication Technology?

 Changes in Communication Technology

The Effects of Technology on Communication

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Communication Technology

By Lauren Nelson, eHow Contributor Communicating in a new age

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6329755_advantages-disadvantages-communication-

technology.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6329755_advantages-disadvantages-communication-

technology.html

1.5 Information Technology (IT) as part of Educational Technology

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_5552402_information-technology-

education.html
Read more: http://wwwbuzzle.com/articles/importance-technology.html

Read more:
http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_Edu
cation

1.6 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

 Read more: http://notes-master.blogspot.in/2011/07/revolution-of-information-
and.html
Read more: Technology for learning
http://jtmadhavan.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/fel-2-1-technology-for-learning.pdf

Read More: ICT Tools for building Digital Learning Environment: Chidnandappa. S
and Dharnendra Prabhu.
http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1849/234/paperZA_chidnandappa.pdf
?sequence=1

a. Suggested reading

2. Emerging Technologies (2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_technologies
3. The use of instructional technology in the classroom: Selection and
effectiveness by Ryan e. Dunmire.
http://www.usma.edu/cfe/literature/dunmire_10.pdf
4. The Historical Development of Instructional Technology Integration in
K-12 Education-
by Gary Shattuck http://www.nowhereroad.com/technology_integration/reading
s/shattuck.pdf
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_in_India
6. What is ICT? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNi1bMcNuuY
7. Program standards for computing:
http://www.utem.edu.my/pjka/download/PROGRAMME%20STANDARD%20
FOR%20COMPUTING.pdf
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communication_technologies_in_
education
9. ICT in Education http://www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/ma%20edu/ICT%20-
%20Edu..pdf

References:
 1. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K, Encyclopedia
of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume I
2. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K, Encyclopedia
of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume II, Educational Technology and
learning theories (Gary Berg) Pg 759
3. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K,
Encyclopaedia of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume III, Information
literacy Pg 1178
4. Schreiner C, handbook of research on Assessment Technologies, Methods and
Applications in Higher Education, Information Science reference, Hershay New
York
5. Tomei l, Adapting information and communication Technologies for effective
education, Information Science reference, Hershay New York
6. Mangal S, K; Mangal U, 2010, Essentials of Educational technology, PHI
learning Private limited, New Delhi
7. Differentiate between technology of education and technology in education by Varsha
Sen. http://www.preservearticles.com/2011121918577/differentiate-between-
technology-of-education-and-technology-in-education.html
8. http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html
9. http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_
Education
10. Forms of Communication: www.mbgh.org, www.communicationtoolbox.com
11. ICT Tools for building Digital Learning Environment: Chidnandappa. S and
Dharnendra Prabhu.
http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1849/234/paperZA_chidnandapp
a.pdf?sequence=1

CONCEPT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION

TECHNOLOGY

Module Structure

19.0 Learning outcomes

19.1 Introduction
19.2 ICT
19.3 ICT in education
19.4 Characteristics of ICT in education
19.5 Significance of ICT
19.6 Scope of ICT
19.7 Let us sum up
19.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 State the meaning of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and ICT in
education in particular.
 Explain the concept of ICT in education.
 Justify the significance of ICT in education.
 Explain the scope of ICT in education, i.e. teaching learning process, administration,
research and evaluation.

19.1 INTRODUCTION

It is difficult and may be almost impossible to envision future education without technology.
As we all live in globalized era, we can see technological changes happening around us. They
have created a new global economy supported by technology, information and knowledge.

The emergence of this new global economy has its influence on educational institutions also.
As the access to information continues to grow rapidly, educational institutions cannot be
contented with the limited knowledge to be transmitted in a fixed period of time. They have to
become compatible with the ever expanding knowledge and also be equipped with the
technology to deal with this knowledge.

In this connection, technologies like radio and television, as well as newer digital technologies
such as computers and the Internet, have been proven as essential tools for educational change
and reform. When used appropriately, different technologies can help expand access to
education, strengthen the relevance of education to the increasingly digital workplace, and raise
educational quality by helping make teaching and learning in an active process connected to
real life.

In this module, we will get an overall idea about the concept of Information and
Communication Technology. We will also discuss about the significance of ICT in education
and its scope.
19.2 ICT

In the era of technology today, we get updated information through internet. We take online
tickets or use smart cards to take tickets. We do shopping on the internet. We communicate
through e-mail, telephone, fax, etc. ATM, internet, computer, mobile FAX etc. are all
technologies. We make use of these technologies to meet our purpose. Mainly it is used to
manage information, i.e. to create, to store, to disseminate, to process information. These are
nothing but Information and Communication Technologies.

Let us see some of the definitions of ICT.

ICT stand for information and communication technologies and is defined, as a "diverse set of
technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and
manage information."
"ICT is that technology which uses the information to meet human need or purposes, including
processing and exchanging."

19.3 ICT IN EDUCATION

First of all, let us do one activity:
 Find out the list of electronic devices which are used in the classroom and at home for
the purpose of education.
We use devices like computer, LCD projectors, smart boards, smart phone, tablet, internet,
Educational satellite (Edusat) etc. We make use of software like word processing software (e.g.
Microsoft word), spreadsheet software (e.g. Microsoft excel), Presentation software (e.g.
Microsoft PowerPoint, Prezi etc.) video conferencing software (e.g. Skype) We do use
technologies like video conferencing, virtual classroom, etc.

We also make use of tools and resources like email, chat room, blogs, wikis etc. The list is
ongoing. It includes all contemporary devices and technologies so the list is not limited to
today’s technology and it is updated with changing technology. All these devices, tools,
technologies all together help in processing, collecting, storing, disseminating, managing
information. Here information is any data which can be processed.

For example: When a teacher makes use PowerPoint presentation, the teacher is making use of
technology for presenting information. During video conferencing, the devices like computer,
facility like internet, software like Skype, etc. is used to share and present information. This is
nothing but Information and Communication Technology. Of course, technology makes our
work easier, accurate, and smoother.

Let us learn the concept of Information and Communication Technology in Education. "ICT
implies the technology, which consists of electronic devices and associated human interactive
materials that enable the user to employ them for a wide range of teaching - learning processes
in addition to personal use."
These technologies include computers, the Internet, broadcasting technologies (radio and
television), and telephony. "Information and communications technology (ICT) in education is
the processing of information and its communications facilities and features that variously
support teaching, learning and a range of activities in education."

All these definitions combine Communication technology and Information technology that
have a thin line between them, but cannot do away without each other. When these technologies
are applied in the field of education, it is termed as ICT in education. The term too can be used
as the connotation to the term Educational technology because it also uses any hardware and
software approaches that can enhance yield better learning outcomes. In the era of Computer
technology the term ICT mainly focuses on the infrastructure, devices and sources of computer
technology and thus it is imperative to discuss about the use of ICT in education by focusing
mainly on Computer based technology.

19.4 CHARACTERISTICS OF ICT IN EDUCATION

 Hardware and software approach: ICT in education is any hardware and software
technology that contribute in the educational information processing. In the context of
the present era, ICT mainly comprises of Computer technology with its hardware, like,
Personal computer machine, infrastructure required for setting up Internet facility and
also software like, CD ROM including various programme packages, E-learning
strategies, etc.

 Click here to watch video to know different software and hardware used in
ICT.
  ICT includes Information technology: ICT in education is any Information
Technology that focuses on the acquisition, storage, manipulation, management,
transmission or reception of data required for the educational purpose. For example, the
information about students' records, their admissions, updates of their curricular and
co-curricular activities.

 ICT includes Communication Technology: ICT in education is any technology that

deals with the exchange of information or in other words communication in the teaching
learning process. Uses of Electronic learning technology like Teleconferencing,
PowerPoint presentations, CD ROM are Communication Technologies which are the
part of ICT.

 ICT includes Educational Technology: ICT in education is any educational

technology that is applied in the educational process. It incorporates a hardware
approach like use of machines and materials, Software approach like use of
methodologies and strategies of teaching learning. Different software packages for the
use in different departments of education; e.g. library software, administration software,
software related to managing the entire teaching learning process.

 ICT can be applied in all types of education: ICT in education can be applied to
education includes online, distance and part time education. There are unlimited
applications of ICT in the real world. Traditional and non-formal education system
process includes activities like admission, Personal Contact Programmes, Exam for any
course in a University or Institution. In this process ICT can play a great role in all the
activities by providing a lot of benefits to students, teachers, parents and Universities
itself. ICT can be used for providing education to the people who are not able to come
to school due to various constraints.

ACTIVITY:

 Select any topic of your choice to teach any class with the help of ICT and discuss your
plan of action.
 Make a list of activities you can organize with your students with the help of ICT.
19.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF ICT ON EDUCATION

1. Cost effective:
ICTs reduce the cost of education from very high to very low. Goal of mass education can be
fulfilled by integrating ICT in education. Even though the initial investment is high, it is
definitely very cost effective option for longer period as it reaches to the masses.

2. Distance and climate insensitive:

It does not matter where you are, or how the weather is, you can still access and learn from
ICTs. With the advancement of ICT, education does not remain restricted within four walls of
the educational institutions. Students from different parts of the world can learn together by
using online, offline resources. This would result in the enriching learning experience. It also
solves the problem of geographical barriers.

3. Individualization of learning:
ICT allows each individual to relate to the medium and its content. ICT enabled to cater to the
individual needs of the students as per their capabilities and interest. Crowded classrooms have
always been a challenge for the teacher to consider the needs of every student in the class. For
e.g. with the help of online tutoring and computer assisted instructions, students can be given
individualized instruction.

4. Uniform quality:
If the content is well produced and is of good quality, the same quality can be delivered to the
rich and the poor, the urban and the rural equally and at the same low cost.

5. Makes teaching learning process interesting:

ICT can be utilized for better teaching learning process and improving quality of education.
Using multimedia in education results in the increasing productivity and retention rates because
people remember 20% of what they see, 40% of what they see and hear, but about 75% of what
they see and hear and do simultaneously.

6. Provides a variety of tools and technologies:

There are various ICT tools available which can be utilized for the knowledge creation and
dissemination in the modern world. Tools include Radio, T.V, Internet, Mobile phone,
Computer, laptop, tablets and many other hardware and software applications. Certain ICT
tools like laptops, PCs, mobile phones, and PDAs have their own implication in education.
These devices can be used in imparting education and training for teachers and students.

7. Quick access to updated information:

Information can be accessed in seconds by connecting to the internet and surfing through Web
pages. This helps the students to learn the updated content. Teachers too can keep themselves
abreast of the latest teaching learning strategies and related technologies.

8. Shift of the focus on learning:

ICT has contributed in shifting the focus on learning than teaching. ICT helps to explore
knowledge to learn the content through self-study. The teacher can help the students by
ensuring the right direction towards effective learning.

9. Wider range of communication media:

With the advent of ICT, different means of communication are being introduced in the teaching
learning process. Offline learning, online learning, blended learning are some of the options
that can be used in educational institutions. Collaborative learning, individualized learning
strategies can enhance the quality of group as well as individual learning.

10. Wider learning opportunities for pupils

Application of the latest ICT in education has provided many options for the learners to opt for
the course of their choices. Many online courses are available for them to select any as per their
aptitude and interest. Students can evaluate their own progress through different quizzes, ready
to use online tests.

19.6 SCOPE OF ICT IN EDUCATION

Areas:
 Teaching Learning Process
 Evaluation
 Research
 Administration

A) Teaching Learning Process

Information and Communication Technology has a significant importance in teaching

 learning process. It facilitates the students and teachers in the communication process. It
has made distance education possible. It provides timely, reliable and relevant information
to the teachers, students and administration which support teaching learning process.

i) Computer assisted learning

“It is an interactive instructional technique whereby the computer is used to present the
instructional material and monitor the learning that takes place.” Through computer assisted
learning, students can learn specific topics from various subjects on the computer. Students can
learn as per their own pace and interest. Learning is more interacting. CAI is in different modes
i.e. Tutorials, simulations, animations, drill and practice, games. With the help of these modes
teaching learning process can be efficient and effective.

You will learn more about CAI in module no.22

ii) Computer based training: CBT is used for training in the workplace i.e. Health and safety
training, how to use a piece of machinery, Flight simulation courses, how to use a piece of
software.

Click here to watch a demonstration of CBT

iii) Video conferencing, chat room: Students can be given the opportunity to talk to experts,
interact with students from different countries with the help of video conferencing.

Click here to watch a demonstration of video conferencing

iv) Online courses: Online courses are offered through which students can learn online either
through online lecture, recorded videos.

Click here to know more about online courses

v) Educational games: Learning becomes interesting with the help of educational games
which are available through offline and online modes.

Click here to watch examples of educational games

vi) Presentation software: PowerPoint presentation software is popular to present the content
using multimedia approach. There are many presentation software which can be used to make
instructions interesting.

vii) E-mail: e-mails are used to support classroom teaching by sharing material and improving
interactions with students.

viii) Discussion forum: Teachers can form discussion forum on various topics and involve
students in learning by way of discussion.
ix) Learning through social networking i.e. Facebook, blog, wiki, etc.: Social media is
helpful for teachers and students to develop networking and learn through collaboration.

x) Websites: Websites provides videos, you tubes, images, content, simulations, notes, e-
books, journals etc. which are useful for students to do self-study.

B) Evaluation
ICT plays major role in the evaluation. It helps in generating test, implementing the test, scoring
and reporting.
i) Test generation:
Once the learning is completed, the test is given which the computer generates as per the
student’s capacity.

ii) A programme to prepare a question bank:

In this programme, as many questions as possible are formulated on the subject matter and
then they are selected and organized into categories as per the difficulty level, topics objectives
etc.

iii) To scrutinize the test items: The selected questions are analysed and then modified as per
the requirement.

iv) To generate the test paper: The computer can prepare the final question paper which
includes all the instructions and provisions for typing the personal data like, name, roll no.
class etc.

v) Implementation of test:

Terminal based test: it is an interactive test that allows the student to respond to the test items
by typing the answers on the keyboard. The computer scores immediately. In this type of test
the computer can give the immediate feedback on each item with the remedial instruction if
required.

Print based test: It is appropriate for class test. Question papers can be in the form of printouts
or displayed on the screen. Test scoring can be done in two ways:
 Machine scoring – Student mark their answers on the special answer sheet which are
read by the computer by an optical scanning device. E.g. Questions having alternative
answers from which the correct one has to be marked by shading one of the blocks
provided. The computer checks if the answer is correct or not with the help of the
scoring key it has.
 Manual scoring – In this system, answers are scored by the teacher and they are fed to
the computer for analysis.

Click here to watch video on online examination

vii) Reporting the results:
In the print based test, list of students is arranged either in the alphabetical order or as per their
achievement along with their corresponding test scores. These scores also represented
graphically for each student in order to get a quick idea about his performance. For the terminal
based test, the feedback of the responses is immediate.

Click here to watch one video on preparing result online

Grades on the test:

A computer based grade book is maintained for each student.

C) Research:
Research is another important area for teachers. ICT helps the teachers in following different
ways:
i. To know about recent developments in different segments through search engines like
Google scholars.
ii. Collect a variety of information on a particular topic through e-books, e-journals, e-
library websites etc.
iii. Using appropriate software like SPSS, Minitab etc. one can easily calculate complex
calculations
iv. Generate a variety of graphs, diagrams, charts etc.
v. Data collection through internet survey
vi. Reporting is done with the help of Microsoft Office.
vii. Research collaboration is possible through social networking sites, discussion forum,
viii. Mail, desktop, video conferencing, etc.
ix. Data processing: Computer helps the researcher to analyse, process huge amount of
data and perform complex computation very fast, accurate and reliable. Data from the
monitoring of the learning achievement of school children which have huge sample
sizes can be processed quickly and accurately only through the use of powerful
computers.

Click here to watch data analysis through computer

Gaining knowledge: Online libraries and online database provide researchers with online
access to the contents of thousands of books from major publishing houses, research report and
peer reviewed articles in electronic journals.

Example: Qustia online library provides access 24/7 to “the world’s largest online collection
of books and journals in the humanities and Social sciences”. EBSCO publishing’s EBSCO
host online Research databases and the Online Books page hosted by the University of
Pennsylvania libraries provides free online access to books and includes an index of thousands
of online books and links to directories and archives of online texts.

Collaborative research:
ICT makes it possible to undertake collaborative research. Social networking, cloud internet
storage facility sites made it possible to do research in team.

D) Administration:
Managing the time table: In the process of teaching learning, the computer can manage the
class timetable. Time table soft wares make this tedious work easier.

Click here to watch how time table software works

i. Managing pupil’s attendance record: The computer can maintain an attendance register
that is helpful for the teacher to know whether the students are regular or not.

Click here to know how computer helps to manage attendance record

ii. Managing cumulative records: All data is managed with the help of database software
(e.g. Microsoft access)
iii. Financial records: Administration of financial matters becomes easy by using software
like tally.
iv. Enhance enrolment through online admissions.

Click here to watch the online admission process

v. Generation of admit cards for examination

vi. Computer based methods of attendance e.g. OMR, smart cards,
vii. Biometric methods: Fingerprint recognition, retina scans

19.7 LET US SUM UP

With the already available positive experience in involving ICT in education, we should utilize
the technological advancement to cope with the knowledge explosion and expansion. The true
challenge is to freeze a model that captures quality and computer technology into an integrated
communication system. Technology is no doubt the stimulating solution for an educational
system, but the ideal situation would be a thoughtful combination that improves the advantages
of both the traditional and technological educational systems.

ACTIVITY:
Suppose you are a class teacher and you have been given responsibility of managing students’
attendance, cumulative records and disciplinary aspect. Prepare a plan to carry out this
responsibility with the help of ICT tools and technologies.

REFERENCES
  Chatterjee, A. (2007). B.Ed. Teacher Training. New Delhi: Crescent Publishing
Corporation.
 Dahiya, S. S. (2004). ICT: It’s Integration in Teacher Education, University News, 42
(22), May 31-June 06. Pp.7-11.
 French, D., Hale, C. Johnson, C. and Farr, G. (eds) (1999). Internet-based Learning: An
introduction framework for higher education and business, London: Kogan page.
 Krushnamurthy, R.C. (2003). Educational Technology: Expanding our vision. . New
Delhi: Authors Press.
 Mangal S.K. &Mangal Uma. Essentials of educational technology. PHI learning pvt.
Ltd. 2010.
 Mitra, S. (1991). Virtual institutions in the Indian subcontinent, (pp.125-134), in Farell,
G. (ed.) The Development of Virtual Education: A Global Perspective, Vancouver: the
Commonwealth of Learning.
 Murhari, B. and Kumar V. (2008). New Technologies for Teaching and Learning in the
Information Age. University News, 46 (40) October 06-12. Pp 3-7.
 Sagar, K. (2006). Digital Technology in Education. New Delhi: Authors Press.
 Vanaja, M &Rajasekhar S. Educational Technology Computer Education. Neelkamal
publication.2006.

SUGGESTED READING

 http://www.elmoglobal.com/en/html/ict/01.aspx
 www.unesco.org/education/aladin/paldin/pdf/course01/unit_13.pdf
 bhs-ict.pbworks.com/f/role%20of%20ict.pdf

GLOSSARY

Starting character Term Definition

B Blog It is a regularly updated

website or web page,
typically one run by an
individual or small group
that is written in an
informal or conversational
style.
C Chatroom It is an area on the Internet
or other computer network
where users can
communicate, typically one
dedicated to a particular
topic.

D Discussion forum A discussion forum is a

general term for any online
"bulletin board" where you
can leave and expect to see
responses to messages you
have left. Or you can just
read the board. It is also
known as discussion group,
discussion board, message
board, and online forum

E Educational games Educational games are

games which are designed
with educational purposes,
or which have incidental or
secondary educational
value.

P Prezi Prezi is a cloud-based

presentation software
which is useful for
presentation on a virtual
canvas.

S Spreadsheet software A computer program that

shows rows of figures and
performs calculations with
them. Spreadsheet software
is often used to work out
sales, taxes, profits, and
other financial
information.

S Skype Skype is a computer

program that can be used to
make free voice calls over
 the Internet to anyone else
who is also using Skype.

S Social networking It is the use of dedicated

websites and applications
to interact with other users,
or to find people with
similar interests to one's
own.

MODULE-12
Participatory Communication Methods

Unit Structure:
12.0 Learning Outcomes
12.1 Introduction
12.2 Meaning of Participatory Communication
12.3 Phases of a Communication Programme
12.4 Key Aspects of Participatory Communication
12.5 Steps involved in Participatory Communication method of development at the
community level
12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods
12.7 Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods
12.8 Let us sum up

12.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:
 understand the meaning of participatory communication
 identify the phases of a communication programme
 explain the aspects of participatory communication
 analyse the steps involved in participatory communication method of development
 comprehend the benefits of participatory communication methods
 evaluate risks and constraints of participatory communication methods

12.1 Introduction:
In the 1950’s, Paulo Freire a Brazilian adult educator conducted an adult literacy campaign
with poor peasants in North-Eastern Brazil. He introduced Participatory Communication which
empowered landless peasants to articulate their own demands for a better life and to release
themselves from repressive conditions. He emphasized on letting the stakeholders get involved
in the development process to determine the outcome rather than imposing on them a pre-
established outcome. It was because of his contribution that participatory communication
became popular in theory and practice. Dialogical communication was significant rather than
linear communication in participatory communication. Most recently participatory approaches
to communication have reinforced the emphasis on structural and social change.

12.2 Meaning of Participatory Communication:

There are certain issues in every community. These issues impact the lives of the people
living in it. Participatory communication is an approach which facilitates the people of the
community to take decisions about such issues.
It enables them to address their own specific needs and priorities. In this process the people
of the community are empowered.

People engage in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of change processes required in
their community. For this, purposefully designed communication platforms and
mechanisms are used and people’s participation is assured. Information and experiences
are shared when people come together and at the same time they explore together and
search new knowledge which in turn helps to improve situations in the community.

12.3 Phases of a Communication Programme:

Participatory communication is considered significant because a wide consensus is sought
from all participants. Many skirmishes and obstacles can be prevented if addressed quickly.
Genuine participation also increases the sense of ownership by local stakeholders thus
enhancing sustainability.

Truly effective communication should occur among all parties affected, ensuring all have
similar opportunities to influence the outcome of the initiative. Ideally, participatory
communication should be part of the whole project process.

 Two-way communication should be adopted from the beginning and be applied

consistently.

 Full participation by all stakeholders in any step of the process is not possible and, in
some cases probably not desirable. Broad consensus may be sufficient.

 Inclusiveness must be balanced with consideration of stakeholders' time, resources,

interests and knowledge. After their input is taken into account, stakeholders may not
need to be involved in detailed decisions beyond the scope of their interests.

The basic phases of a communication programme are:

1. Participatory Communication Assessment (PCA): There are issues in the
community which are identified and the problems are analysed by the NGO's who
undertake the project along with the people of that community. They interact with each
other in openly and assess the situations.
 2. Participatory Communication Strategy Design: The objectives are defined and
various suitable strategies are discussed upon which would help to achieve the set
objectives.

3. Implementation of Communication Activities: Relevant activities are planned and

actual plans of implementation are made. This helps in managing and monitoring the
strategies.

4. Monitoring and Evaluation: Evaluation should be planned from the beginning of an

initiative. Furthermore, if participation means that stakeholders are partners in the
decision-making process, they must also be partners in impact evaluation.

12.4 Key aspects of Participatory Communication:

 A commitment to learning: Local People understand the conditions of the community
best. Therefore their involvement in the development projects becomes beneficial. They
are able to prioritize issues to be addressed; they are also able to analyse skills possessed
by the people of the local community. They can guide the participants with respect to
availability of resources and encourage maximum participation for bringing about
sustainable change. Once the local people are engaged, they are committed to learning
and become accountable for progress.

 Partnership moves beyond a benefactor-recipient relationship to a more equal sharing

of skills, power and ideas.

 Empowerment: By activating institutions and deprived people in the process of

empowerment, local people can gain greater control over their own futures and their
own development agenda.

12.5 Steps involved in Participatory Communication at the community level:

1 Identifying a community:
To begin a participatory communication project, an organization may select a community
with which it has already worked earlier or is familiar with. They prefer to enter a known
community because it is easier to seek participation and achieve the set objectives.
If the community is totally new, it takes a longer period to build rapport with the local
people and make the most of their resources and capacities. If the organization already
possesses a popular name and credibility, the community accepts it faster and develops a
feeling of trust.
2 Preparing to Plan Action:
Once the NGO and the Community know each other, a decision to collaborate or not to
collaborate is taken. The next step is often the planning of the collaboration.
Communication plays an important role at this stage.
 As many people as possible from the community are encouraged and provided with the
opportunity to participate in the planning process. Meetings of the community are good
starting points. The leaders of the enterprise will probably emerge at this stage. The
person facilitating the process should ensure that leaders are eventually elected by a
majority and interferences in the choice of the leaders reduced to a minimum.
After the elections are conducted, there is a possibility that contenders who have lost may
decide to leave the group, taking with them their family, friends and supporters. How the
group responds to their departure is important in setting the tone for future interactions
between the group and the departing members.

3 Planning What to Do: A next step is to reflect upon the current conditions, problems,
aspirations and resources of the community.
Traditional and folk media, techniques of dramatization, videos, photographs and
presentation of research findings are various strategies to highlight the issues present in
the communities without the fear of actually having to confront the real culprits involved
in these issues.

4 Providing Support:
Once the issues have been identified and priorities are set, there is a need of action.
Groups evolve within the community to run the activities of the community.
The groups may comprise of opinion leaders such as a religious leader, traditional birth
attendant, teacher, folk musicians, actors, and others with flair and a love of
communication and interaction with people. These groups may be offered training in
communication methods. Such training should emphasize the principles of participation
and the supportive role of communication in triggering participation.
To be congruent with the goals of participatory communication, all training should focus
on communication as an instrument to empower the people rather than as a vehicle for
moving information.

5 Rehearsing the process: Action should be taken in a series of steps, starting with the
most urgent or most manageable, and then moving on to others after it has been
completed. This way of iterating the process provides the community with the
opportunity to learn and become familiar with the process. Duplication also facilitates
increasing degrees of participation amongst members of the community as they learn to
work with each other, and develop confidence and loyalty for each other.

6 Moving away from the Community: Once the people of the community start their
work in full swing and are confident about taking it to completion, slowly the
organization involved with them, withdraws from it. However the NGO keeps a track of
the activities undertaken and its progress.

12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods:

1. Participatory communication helps to endure the process of getting services of the local
people.
 2. Participatory communication enables the common people to get information of policies
and plans for the upliftment of the community with the help of dialogue, debate and
activities of engagement.
3. Objectives are set to achieve the progress of the community. Participatory
communication becomes a instrument to monitor that progress.
4. Local groups can reflect, learn , assess a project by way of communication as they get
ample opportunities.
5. It gives an opportunity to build rapport with an organisation.
6. Participatory communicaton methods give a voice to a wider range of stakeholders as
the process is even more useful than the outcome.
7. It gives opportunities to gain insights into gender, hierarchy, collaboration and
consensus issues.
8. There is more emphasis on active and experiential learning.

12.7 Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods:

1. Differences of opinion:
The community is divided into smaller groups when there are differences of opinion
among the participants. Dealing with this bickering becomes a great challenge. It
may occur on objectives, the methods of doing things and involvement or exclusion
of certain members of the community. It also depends on who has the leadership and
how they deal with the other members of the group.

2. Difficulty in Replicating:
Every community has people who have some special qualities. Besides, the structure
and attributes of the community itself are important for success. They are specific to
that particular community. Other communities may not possess the same kind of
efficiency. Thus, it is not possible to use the same strategies which were successful in
a particular community. Depending upon the potential of the people in the adopted
community, changes have to be made in the initiatives taken to bring about a change
in the situations prevalent there.

3. Type of Governance in the state: In certain states the control of the government is
very strict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the organization to seek
participation. It is a challenge for the NGOs to get local participation and motivate
them to communicate with others.

4. NGOs' Specialization: In the early days, most NGOs worked on almost all type of
issues in the community. However, now most NGOs have specialized areas of work.
These organizations face difficult problems when working in the participatory mode
because people often identify issues and problems outside the NGOs' areas of
specialization for action. A solution to this problem is collaboration with other
organizations.
 5. Being Concomitant with "Other" Communication: Few communities live in total
isolation from the outside world. In terms of communication they may be reached by
entertainment films in cinemas, television, radio, newspapers and magazines from the
cities, salespeople from companies and others who do not practice participatory forms
of communication. Facilitators need to introduce ways of coexisting so that people
may sharpen their ability to interpret the communication reaching them.

6. Long-term Commitment: Participation takes time. It is a process which cannot be

rushed to meet deadlines. Long-term commitment is required not just of the funding
agency but also of the people. Participation takes up precious time and energy (which
are often the only resources) of members of the community involved. Programmes
should ideally be designed to deliver sufficient short-term benefits to motivate the
people in maintaining their commitment towards attaining long-term goals.

7. Flexible approaches: NGOs and their funding agencies must adopt flexible
management approaches in the implementation of participatory programmes. The
objectives, anticipated outputs, and work plan described in documentation for
participatory projects will probably change as people begin to take an active part in
shaping project activities. Such administrative changes should be welcomed as
indication of success rather than symptoms of poor project design.

12.8 Let us sum up:

In this unit we have learnt the meaning of Participatory Communication, its key aspects
and its phases when used as a method of community development. Participation is not
quick, easy or simple. However, people in the field generally agree that the benefits make
the initial investment well worth the efforts.
Progress of the community may depend upon the participation of the local people, their
commitment and their potential capabilities. It is difficult to replicate strategies used in
one community into the other.

MODULE-12
Participatory Communication Methods

12.1

Read: www.communicationforsocialchange.org

12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfix_OJ_pGY
Open the link above, watch the video, listen carefully to the story and list the benefits of
Participatory Communication Methods
12.13 Suggested reading:
 Participatory Communication: A Practical Guide- By Thomas Tufte, Paolo
Mefalopulos
 Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication - By
Guy Bessette, 2004, International Development Research Centre, Penang, Malaysia.

12.14 References:
 World Bank Working Paper No. 170, Participatory Communication: A Practical
Guide- By Thomas Tufte, Paolo Mefalopulos
 www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD424E/ad424e03.htm
 http://www.southbound.com.my/communication/parcom.htm
 http://community.eldis.org/.59c6ec19/VSO_Facilitator_Guide_to_Participatory_Appr
oaches_Principles.pdf

Participatory Communication Methods

Unit Structure:
12.9 Learning Outcomes
12.10Introduction
12.11Meaning of Participatory Communication
12.12Phases of a Communication Programme
12.13Key Aspects of Participatory Communication
12.14Steps involved in Participatory Communication method of development at the
community level
12.15Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods
12.16Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods
12.17Let us sum up

12.0 Learning Outcomes:

With the help of this unit, you will be able to:
 understand the meaning of participatory communication
 identify the phases of a communication programme
 explain the aspects of participatory communication
 analyse the steps involved in participatory communication method of development
 comprehend the benefits of participatory communication methods
 evaluate risks and constraints of participatory communication methods

12.1 Introduction:
In the 1950’s, Paulo Freire a Brazilian adult educator conducted an adult literacy campaign
with poor peasants in North-Eastern Brazil. He introduced Participatory Communication which
empowered landless peasants to articulate their own demands for a better life and to release
themselves from repressive conditions. He emphasized on letting the stakeholders get involved
in the development process to determine the outcome rather than imposing on them a pre-
established outcome. It was because of his contribution that participatory communication
became popular in theory and practice. Dialogical communication was significant rather than
linear communication in participatory communication. Most recently participatory approaches
to communication have reinforced the emphasis on structural and social change.

12.2 Meaning of Participatory Communication:

There are certain issues in every community. These issues impact the lives of the people
living in it. Participatory communication is an approach which facilitates the people of the
community to take decisions about such issues.
It enables them to address their own specific needs and priorities. In this process the people
of the community are empowered.

People engage in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of change processes required in
their community. For this, purposefully designed communication platforms and
mechanisms are used and people’s participation is assured. Information and experiences
are shared when people come together and at the same time they explore together and
search new knowledge which in turn helps to improve situations in the community.

12.3 Phases of a Communication Programme:

Participatory communication is considered significant because a wide consensus is sought
from all participants. Many skirmishes and obstacles can be prevented if addressed quickly.
Genuine participation also increases the sense of ownership by local stakeholders thus
enhancing sustainability.

Truly effective communication should occur among all parties affected, ensuring all have
similar opportunities to influence the outcome of the initiative. Ideally, participatory
communication should be part of the whole project process.

 Two-way communication should be adopted from the beginning and be applied

consistently.

 Full participation by all stakeholders in any step of the process is not possible and, in
some cases probably not desirable. Broad consensus may be sufficient.

 Inclusiveness must be balanced with consideration of stakeholders' time, resources,

interests and knowledge. After their input is taken into account, stakeholders may not
need to be involved in detailed decisions beyond the scope of their interests.

The basic phases of a communication programme are:

5. Participatory Communication Assessment (PCA): There are issues in the
community which are identified and the problems are analysed by the NGO's who
 undertake the project along with the people of that community. They interact with each
other in openly and assess the situations.

6. Participatory Communication Strategy Design: The objectives are defined and

various suitable strategies are discussed upon which would help to achieve the set
objectives.

7. Implementation of Communication Activities: Relevant activities are planned and

actual plans of implementation are made. This helps in managing and monitoring the
strategies.

8. Monitoring and Evaluation: Evaluation should be planned from the beginning of an

initiative. Furthermore, if participation means that stakeholders are partners in the
decision-making process, they must also be partners in impact evaluation.

12.4 Key aspects of Participatory Communication:

 A commitment to learning: Local People understand the conditions of the community
best. Therefore their involvement in the development projects becomes beneficial. They
are able to prioritize issues to be addressed; they are also able to analyse skills possessed
by the people of the local community. They can guide the participants with respect to
availability of resources and encourage maximum participation for bringing about
sustainable change. Once the local people are engaged, they are committed to learning
and become accountable for progress.

 Partnership moves beyond a benefactor-recipient relationship to a more equal sharing

of skills, power and ideas.

 Empowerment: By activating institutions and deprived people in the process of

empowerment, local people can gain greater control over their own futures and their
own development agenda.

12.5 Steps involved in Participatory Communication at the community level:

7 Identifying a community:
To begin a participatory communication project, an organization may select a community
with which it has already worked earlier or is familiar with. They prefer to enter a known
community because it is easier to seek participation and achieve the set objectives.
If the community is totally new, it takes a longer period to build rapport with the local
people and make the most of their resources and capacities. If the organization already
possesses a popular name and credibility, the community accepts it faster and develops a
feeling of trust.
8 Preparing to Plan Action:
 Once the NGO and the Community know each other, a decision to collaborate or not to
collaborate is taken. The next step is often the planning of the collaboration.
Communication plays an important role at this stage.
As many people as possible from the community are encouraged and provided with the
opportunity to participate in the planning process. Meetings of the community are good
starting points. The leaders of the enterprise will probably emerge at this stage. The
person facilitating the process should ensure that leaders are eventually elected by a
majority and interferences in the choice of the leaders reduced to a minimum.
After the elections are conducted, there is a possibility that contenders who have lost may
decide to leave the group, taking with them their family, friends and supporters. How the
group responds to their departure is important in setting the tone for future interactions
between the group and the departing members.

9 Planning What to Do: A next step is to reflect upon the current conditions, problems,
aspirations and resources of the community.
Traditional and folk media, techniques of dramatization, videos, photographs and
presentation of research findings are various strategies to highlight the issues present in
the communities without the fear of actually having to confront the real culprits involved
in these issues.

10 Providing Support:
Once the issues have been identified and priorities are set, there is a need of action.
Groups evolve within the community to run the activities of the community.
The groups may comprise of opinion leaders such as a religious leader, traditional birth
attendant, teacher, folk musicians, actors, and others with flair and a love of
communication and interaction with people. These groups may be offered training in
communication methods. Such training should emphasize the principles of participation
and the supportive role of communication in triggering participation.
To be congruent with the goals of participatory communication, all training should focus
on communication as an instrument to empower the people rather than as a vehicle for
moving information.

11 Rehearsing the process: Action should be taken in a series of steps, starting with the
most urgent or most manageable, and then moving on to others after it has been
completed. This way of iterating the process provides the community with the
opportunity to learn and become familiar with the process. Duplication also facilitates
increasing degrees of participation amongst members of the community as they learn to
work with each other, and develop confidence and loyalty for each other.

12 Moving away from the Community: Once the people of the community start their
work in full swing and are confident about taking it to completion, slowly the
organization involved with them, withdraws from it. However the NGO keeps a track of
the activities undertaken and its progress.
12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods:
9. Participatory communication helps to endure the process of getting services of the local
people.
10. Participatory communication enables the common people to get information of policies
and plans for the upliftment of the community with the help of dialogue, debate and
activities of engagement.
11. Objectives are set to achieve the progress of the community. Participatory
communication becomes a instrument to monitor that progress.
12. Local groups can reflect, learn , assess a project by way of communication as they get
ample opportunities.
13. It gives an opportunity to build rapport with an organisation.
14. Participatory communicaton methods give a voice to a wider range of stakeholders as
the process is even more useful than the outcome.
15. It gives opportunities to gain insights into gender, hierarchy, collaboration and
consensus issues.
16. There is more emphasis on active and experiential learning.

12.7 Risks and Constraints of Participatory Communication Methods:

8. Differences of opinion:
The community is divided into smaller groups when there are differences of opinion
among the participants. Dealing with this bickering becomes a great challenge. It
may occur on objectives, the methods of doing things and involvement or exclusion
of certain members of the community. It also depends on who has the leadership and
how they deal with the other members of the group.

9. Difficulty in Replicating:
Every community has people who have some special qualities. Besides, the structure
and attributes of the community itself are important for success. They are specific to
that particular community. Other communities may not possess the same kind of
efficiency. Thus, it is not possible to use the same strategies which were successful in
a particular community. Depending upon the potential of the people in the adopted
community, changes have to be made in the initiatives taken to bring about a change
in the situations prevalent there.

10. Type of Governance in the state: In certain states the control of the government is
very strict. In such cases it becomes very difficult for the organization to seek
participation. It is a challenge for the NGOs to get local participation and motivate
them to communicate with others.

11. NGOs' Specialization: In the early days, most NGOs worked on almost all type of
issues in the community. However, now most NGOs have specialized areas of work.
These organizations face difficult problems when working in the participatory mode
because people often identify issues and problems outside the NGOs' areas of
 specialization for action. A solution to this problem is collaboration with other
organizations.

12. Being Concomitant with "Other" Communication: Few communities live in total
isolation from the outside world. In terms of communication they may be reached by
entertainment films in cinemas, television, radio, newspapers and magazines from the
cities, salespeople from companies and others who do not practice participatory forms
of communication. Facilitators need to introduce ways of coexisting so that people
may sharpen their ability to interpret the communication reaching them.

13. Long-term Commitment: Participation takes time. It is a process which cannot be

rushed to meet deadlines. Long-term commitment is required not just of the funding
agency but also of the people. Participation takes up precious time and energy (which
are often the only resources) of members of the community involved. Programmes
should ideally be designed to deliver sufficient short-term benefits to motivate the
people in maintaining their commitment towards attaining long-term goals.

14. Flexible approaches: NGOs and their funding agencies must adopt flexible
management approaches in the implementation of participatory programmes. The
objectives, anticipated outputs, and work plan described in documentation for
participatory projects will probably change as people begin to take an active part in
shaping project activities. Such administrative changes should be welcomed as
indication of success rather than symptoms of poor project design.

12.9 Let us sum up:

In this unit we have learnt the meaning of Participatory Communication, its key aspects
and its phases when used as a method of community development. Participation is not
quick, easy or simple. However, people in the field generally agree that the benefits make
the initial investment well worth the efforts.
Progress of the community may depend upon the participation of the local people, their
commitment and their potential capabilities. It is difficult to replicate strategies used in
one community into the other.

MODULE-12
Participatory Communication Methods
12.1

Read: www.communicationforsocialchange.org

12.6 Benefits of Participatory Communication Methods

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfix_OJ_pGY
Open the link above, watch the video, listen carefully to the story and list the benefits of
Participatory Communication Methods

12.13 Suggested reading:

 Participatory Communication: A Practical Guide- By Thomas Tufte, Paolo
Mefalopulos
 Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication - By
Guy Bessette, 2004, International Development Research Centre, Penang, Malaysia.

12.14 References:
 World Bank Working Paper No. 170, Participatory Communication: A Practical
Guide- By Thomas Tufte, Paolo Mefalopulos
 www.fao.org/docrep/006/AD424E/ad424e03.htm
 http://www.southbound.com.my/communication/parcom.htm
 http://community.eldis.org/.59c6ec19/VSO_Facilitator_Guide_to_Participatory_Appr
oaches_Principles.pdf

TECHNOLOGICAL TRENDS IN COMMUNICATION

Module Structure
13.1 Introduction
13.2 Concept of Communication Technology
13.3 Overview of Technological Trends in Communication
13.4 Let us sum up

13.1 Introduction
Communication is an integral part of human existence. It is the process of communication and
its ever increasing efficiency assumed in the process of evolution of scientific knowledge has
resulted in transformation of the Stone Age of past to the modern globalized era of today which
is fueled by information, powered by technology and driven by knowledge. In the
INFORMATION AGE of this 21st century we clearly see the impact of Computer, Telephone,
Television and Internet radically transforming our lives and opening up new vistas of
knowledge, information, work, employment, business, entertainment and communication. Our
lives are touched everyday by computers and telecommunication based information systems.

Information and Communication have come a long way since its inception which is parallel to
the evolution of human kind itself. The need to communicate or share one’s own viewpoints
and feelings gave birth to adoption of technology in the form of gestures, body movement,
speech and script. As man started his journey towards modernization technology for
communication of information too became enriched with the emerging new technologies
ranging from print media, simple audio, video gadgets to the latest computer and
telecommunication technology.

Information and communication technologies are now widely used by people thanks to the
emergence of social networking sites and the concomitant use of hand held devices like
smartphones, tablets and laptops. The modern technological gadgets like smartphones, tablets,
palmtops and laptops have completely transformed the way people communicate, interact and
do business with one another. Modern communication tools such as Email, Twitter, Facebook,
WhatsApp, Hangouts, Snapchat etc. are the mainstream now and used across all age groups all
over the world.

13.2 Concept of Communication Technology

Before we attempt to know the technological trends in communication, it is necessary to

understand the meaning of certain key terms that are either used separately or in combination
in describing and discussing about various facets of communication technology, its use and
application in various spheres of human endeavors; and, the issues and limitations associated
with the application of technology.

Information simply means a collection of facts or knowledge acquired through study,

experience or instruction from which further conclusions may be drawn. Information refers to
knowledge of specific events or situation that has been gathered or received by communication
or intelligence.

Communication on the other hand communication is the process of conveying information

through exchange of ideas, feelings, intentions, attitudes, as well as by speeches, gestures,
writings, behavior and possibly by variety of ways including the electromagnetic means. In
other words, communication is the meaningful exchange of information between two or
multiple participants either directly or indirectly mediated by other persons, media and
technology viz. printed books, broadcasted talks, telecasted discussions and webhosted
documents, audio, video and even live conferencing.

Technology is defined as the discipline dealing with the art and science of applying scientific
knowledge to practical problems.

Communication Technology may be defined as the knowledge, skills and understanding

needed to exchange information verbally or non-verbally in an efficient manner. While
communication deals with the process of accessing information, decoding information and its
transmission the technology deals with the mechanism of processing of it via a medium or
channel with increasing efficiency e.g. radio, television, computers and many such electronic
and telecommunication tools. The technology facilitates communication between individuals
or groups who are not physically present at the same location.
Trend means the general direction of a phenomena (e.g. fashion, market etc.) often governed by
popularity or large scale acceptability by the masses.

Hence, by “Technological Trends in Communication” we mean the latest development in the

field of information and communication technology that has been immensely popular and
widely accepted by the masses across the globe.
According to Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA, 2008) the
technological trend that we witness today is due to:
 An accelerating pace of change driven by overlapping developments in technology and
connection between people, databases and objects;
 Diversity in the development of physical infrastructure including broadband, digital
broadcasting, smart radio systems, sensor networks, mesh networks, efficient
techniques in multimedia transmission, location sensing and context-aware
technologies, intelligent transport systems and satellite services;
 Continuing spread of distributed connectivity through integration of information
processing beyond the desktop into everyday objects and activities;
 Enhanced content and network management capabilities driven by developments in
deep packet inspection and content filtering technologies, coupled with the need to
improve e-security, identity management, intellectual property protection and energy
efficiency;
 The emerging social web acting both as a platform and database enabling innovation
and creativity by users and service providers; and,
 Continuing scientific and technological innovations, which in combination are driving
advances in computing power, display technologies, artificial intelligence and
nanotechnology.

Communication Technology today is a major branch of study dealing with the topics that we
have seen in the preceding paragraphs. It is beyond the scope of this unit to discuss and
elaborate all the emerging technological trends in communication. Let us therefore, have an
overview of some the major technological trends in communication in the following section.

13.4 Overview of Technological Trends in Communication

We have seen in the previous section how communication has evolved over a period of time.
In the present section we will see which technological changes and innovations in the field of
communication have been found immensely popular and how those have become the mainstay
of the contemporary society.
Technological trends in communication can be viewed from different angles viz.
(1) The technological applications that are transforming and shaping the communication
(2) The technical infrastructure that makes the technological application possible, and
(3) The trends in information communication network management.
  Technological Applications Transforming and Shaping Communication
Let us first see which technological applications are shaping and transforming the way we communicate
today and those make the world around us more and more intelligible.

Internet: The internet is the most powerful and the most popular medium of communication
today and it will continue to remain the main driving force behind future developments in
information and communication technologies.
Internet is a system of networking computers across the globe using TCP (Transmission
Control Protocol) or IP (Internet Protocol) which are a set of standards for transmitting and
receiving digital data. The Internet consists primarily of the collection of billions of
interconnected web pages in host servers that are transferred using Hypertext Transfer Protocol
(HTTP), and is collectively known as the World Wide Web (WWW).
The Internet also uses FTP (File Transfer Protocol) to transfer files, and SMTP (Simple Mail
Transfer Protocol) to transfer e-mail. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of
private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that
are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless, and optical networking technologies.
Accession or to surf a particular site one need to type the web address in the web browser that
is technically called Universal Resource Locator (URL). URL typically begins with
http://www.xyz......... and ends with extensions like .com/org/co/in/uk etc. Alternatively, one
may locate his desired web page with the help of different search engines like, Google
(http://www.google.co.in), Yahoo (http://www.yahoo.co.in), etc. which instantly offer us to
choose our desired page out of thousands of URLs on a given topic.

To access the Internet in homes it is required to have either a dial-up or broadband connection
through telephone or dedicated cable network. Besides, high-speed internet can be accessed
wirelessly through Wi-Fi, satellite and 3G/4G enabled cell phones. Internet access points are
now available almost everywhere such as libraries, banks, educational institutions,
Government departments, private internet cafes, airports, hotels, coffee shops etc. The internet
is widely accessed today for various usages like web browsing, ticket booking, banking, online
payment, online education (e.g. e-pathsala), e-learning, online-tests, e-governance, e-business,
e-trading etc.

One of the important advantage of Internet is it allows greater flexibility in working hours and
location, especially with the aid of high-speed connections. The Internet can be accessed almost
anywhere by numerous means, including wirelessly through mobile phones, tablets, laptops,
gaming consoles and other portable internet devices.

The Internet has been a major outlet for leisure activity since its inception, with entertaining
social experiments. People use the Internet to access and download music, movies and other
works for their enjoyment and relaxation. Free and fee-based services exist for all of these
activities, using centralized servers. You will know more about internet in Module-16.

WWW: The World Wide Web is one of the many services offered on the Internet. The Web is
a global set of documents, images and other resources, logically interlinked by hyperlinks and
supported with Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). URIs symbolically identifies services,
servers, and other databases, and the documents and resources that they can provide. Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the main access protocol of the World Wide Web. Web services
also use HTTP to allow software systems to communicate in order to share and exchange
business design and data.

Compared to printed media, books, encyclopedias and traditional libraries, the World Wide
Web has enabled the decentralization and democratization of information on a large scale. The
WWW has enabled individuals and organizations to publish ideas and information to a
potentially large audience online at significantly reduced expense and time. Publishing a web
page, a blog, or building a website involves little initial cost and for that matter many cost-free
services are available. Advertising on popular web pages is also a lucrative business as the sale
of products and services directly via the Web continues to grow.

People use the WWW to access news, weather and sports reports, to plan and book vacations
and to find out more about their interests. The WWW also provides the much desired platforms
for messaging and mailing services to stay in touch with friends and other relatives and
likeminded people worldwide, sometimes in the same way as we used to have pen friends
previously.

The first generation (year 1990-2000) of the web was characterized as the Information Age that enabled
us to have access to various important information through search functions. The second generation of
Web (2.0) that hypothetically spread between years 2000-2010 has largely been about interaction and
it became known as the social web. Currently in the early stages of development, the semantic web
(Web 3.0) is expected to provide a more custom-made web experience by anticipating and delivering
information of interest to individual users (ACMA,2009) .

Streaming media: Streaming media is the process of delivery of digital media for the
immediate consumption or enjoyment by end-users. This means that an Internet-connected
device, such as a computer or something more specific such as Smartphone, can be used to
access on-line media in much the same way as was previously possible only with a television
or radio receiver. The range of streaming media content is much wider, from specialized
technical webcasts to on-demand popular multimedia services.

Podcasting is another application where audio material is downloaded and played back on a
computer or moved to a portable media player to be listened to on the move or any time as per
preference of the user. These techniques using simple equipment allow anybody, with little
censorship or licensing control, to broadcast audio-visual material worldwide. Now many radio
and television broadcasters provide Internet feeds of their live audio and video programs. They
may also allow time-shift viewing or listening in a customized manner as per the preference of
the users. These providers have been typically joined by a group of pure Internet "broadcasters"
who never had on-air licenses.
YouTube which was launched in 2005 is now the leading website for free streaming videos
with a huge users following. It uses a flash-based web player to stream and show video files.
The compression technique enables more efficient delivery of video content through internet.
Registered users may upload an unlimited amount of video and build their own personal profile.
YouTube claims that its users watch hundreds of millions, and upload hundreds of thousands
of videos daily.

Chat: It is a typically real-time text-based or voice or video communication between two or

more people simultaneously via computer networking. Chat messages are generally short in
order to enable other participants to respond quickly. Thereby, a feeling similar to a spoken
conversation is created. People in online chat sessions type messages to each other using their
keyboards/keypads. The text message instantly appears on the screens of all the participants.

People can also talk to each other through voice chats and video chats. Video chats are possible
if there is a provision of web cameras attached to the interconnected computers or through
smartphones and tablets having front facing cameras and of course the appropriate software.

E-mail: Electronic mail is the exchange of computer mediated messages between the sender
and the recipients through internet. E-mail is instant and if both the recipient and the sender are
online simultaneously then the communication occurs in real-time. Otherwise the sent
messages remained stored in one’s designated virtual mail-box that can be accessed any time
as per the convenience of the receiver. Email servers accept, forward, deliver, and store
messages on behalf of the users. Neither the users nor their computers are required to be online
simultaneously.

Connection to internet is required only briefly, typically to connect to the mail server, for as
long as it takes to send or receive messages. There are many software platforms available to
send and receive e- mail such as: Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, etc. Along with the
messages other files, photos, videos and any other data can be shared as attachments amongst
the users.

E-mails are exchanged between the sender and recipients using the Simple Mail Transfer
Protocol (SMTP) with software programs called mail transfer agents (MTAs); and delivered to
a mail server by programs called mail delivery agents (MDAs, also sometimes called local
delivery agents, LDAs).

Users can retrieve their messages from servers using standard protocols such as POP (Post
Office Protocol) or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol) which are programmed
accordingly. Programs used by users for retrieving, reading, and managing email are called
mail user agents (MUAs).

Email is now being increasingly used on smartphones thanks to the specific mobile apps
designed for that purpose. Earlier users could only access email on computers, it is now
possible for users to check their email out of their home, office or institution and while on the
go. Alerts can also be sent to the phone to notify them immediately of new messages.
This has given email the ability to be used for more frequent communication between users
and allowed them to check their email and write messages throughout the day. With all its
advantages, Emails should be used judiciously and need to be carefully monitored for
spamming, phishing, spoofing and spreading of Worms, Trojans and Viruses via mail
attachments.

Teleconferencing: It is a means by which individuals or group located at different places can

meet and exchange data, speech, visuals (like graphs, diagrams etc.). Through video
conferencing, particularly in two-way video conferencing people located at remote sites can
see themselves in live action using information and communication technology.

Video conferencing creates a social presence that resembles face-to-face meetings and
discussions that enables participants to see the facial expressions and physical demeanor of
each other while actually being present at remote sites.

Alternatively, internet teleconferencing includes internet telephone conferencing,

videoconferencing, web conferencing, and Augmented Reality conferencing. Internet
telephony involves conducting a teleconference over the Internet or a Wide Area Network. One
key technology in this area is Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP). Popular software for
personal use includes Skype, Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger.

The more advanced version of teleconferencing is on the anvil in the form of Telepresence that
aims to provide a video-based immersive system which attempts to imitate a face-to-face
meeting using high-resolution 3D vision and audio. Such tele-immersive systems combine
aspects of virtual reality with videoconferencing and aim to allow people separated by great
distances to interact naturally, as though they were in the same room. It combines the display
and interaction techniques of virtual reality with new vision technologies that transcend the
traditional limitations of a camera.

The result is that all the participants, however distant, can share and explore a life-size space.
Current hurdles for the widespread adoption of Telepresence systems are the high costs of the
systems installation, extensive bandwidth usage, and the lack of interoperability with existing
videoconferencing systems and other business applications.

Social Networking: Social Networking service is a web-based platform primarily aimed at

establishing social relations among people who, share interests, activities, backgrounds or real-
life connections. A social network service typically consists of a user profile, his social links,
and a variety of additional services to share each other’s feeling, interest through instant
messaging, mailing/sharing of files, pictures, videos etc. with friends, friend of friends and
even with others. Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities,
events, interests with people in their network.
There are many social networking services emerged over a period of time that include
Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter etc. These social networking
services make it possible to connect people who share interests and activities across political,
economic, and geographic borders. Social networking provides individuals and organizations
with a low-cost medium for producing and distributing content in ways that were previously
only available through traditional media (TV, radio and print).

With the predominance of social networks and convergence of digital identities enable the users
to have and to maintain one central digital identity that feeds into their multiple social network
profiles. Secure exchanging and distributing of personal data and information (photos, videos,
music etc.) have become easier.

Social networking now is increasingly being used for education, business promotion, creation
of political awareness, sharing of research findings and scientific knowledge, advertising,
philanthropic activities, legal and police investigation, dissemination of social message by the
Government Departments and even NGOs pertaining to general health, hygiene etc. Social
networks will continue to change everything in our everyday life. A recent European survey
found that “the use of social networking tools as part of everyday life has also led to an increase
in efficiency”.

 The Trends in Technical Infrastructure for Communication

The smooth and hassle free application of modern communication tools like internet, www,
social networking etc. depends on the development and installation of supportive infrastructure
for high speed data transfer. High speed data transfer on the other hand requires digitization of
data and their efficient and economical transmission through digital telecommunication
technologies. Some of the technical infrastructure that is indispensable in today’s context is
discussed in the following paragraphs.

Broadband: Broadband refers to a telecommunication signaling method that is capable of

transporting multiple signals and data traffic simultaneously. Broadband has a wider
communication bandwidth of at least 256 kilobytes per second (kbps) or higher in comparison
to narrower bandwidth of only 56 kbps in case of baseband. In other words broadband can
transmit more data with greater speed across multiple channels simultaneously. The maximum
bandwidth currently available in India is 49 megabytes per second (mbps) in case of some 4G
networks and it will increase up to 111 mbps soon. Higher bandwidth is necessary for
transmission of rich data like multimedia, video, HD (high definition) contents in both ways
that is downstream (for download) and upstream (for upload). Thus the broadband is the
backbone of the whole digital communication system worldwide.

Broadband transmission is made through cables (viz. coaxial, optical fibre, twisted pair), DSL
local telephone networks, and wireless including mobile broadband services offered by various
mobile service providers in the form of 2G/3G /4G technologies.
Wireless: Wireless refers to telecommunications systems (e.g. radio transmitters and receivers,
remote controls etc.) which use some form of energy (e.g. radio waves, acoustic energy, etc.)
to transfer information without the use of wires. Information is transferred in this manner over
both short and long distances. Wireless applications may involve point-to-point
communication, point-to-multipoint communication, broadcasting, cellular networks and other
wireless networks, Wi-Fi etc.

The best-known examples of wireless technology include the mobile phone, satellite television,
Wireless networks: Wireless LAN (WLAN/ Wi-Fi), WiMAX, Cellular data service such as
GSM, CDMA and GPRS, to 3G networks such as W-CDMA, EDGE or CDMA2000; Global
Positioning System (GPS) and many other communicational applications. Wireless technology
is the mainstay in today’s communication system.

Communications satellites: A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that has been

stationed in the space for the purpose of providing telecommunications links to the earth based
receiving and transmission stations. Communications satellites are commonly used for mobile
phone signals, weather forecasting, broadcasting television or radio programs, internet access,
communication link to ships, aeroplanes, etc.

Communications satellites are artificial satellites that relay received signals from an earth
station and then retransmit the same signal to other earth stations. They are commonly deployed
in a circular geostationary orbit located 35786 KM above the earth. While viewed from the
earth, a satellite in a geostationary orbit appears motionless, in a fixed position in the sky so
the nomenclature is geostationary. In the process they are capable of covering one-third of the
earth’s surface therefore quite economical in terms of operational cost. India’s INSAT series
belongs to this category.

Cloud: Among the other megatrends in the field of communication one is Cloud computing or
cloud services. Cloud computing refers to the use of web-based computing systems,
applications and services that are accessed independently from the underlying infrastructure.
This enables computing services to be available where and when needed. Cloud is now
increasingly used by millions of users worldwide for the simple reason that, now, people have
more than one computer or computer like or computer based devices like a laptop, a
Smartphone, a table, a desktop PC and cloud services are just ideal for synchronising data
between many such devices.
Cloud computing in other words refers to a computing hardware or group of computing
hardware machines such as a server or servers connected through a communication network
such as the Internet, an intranet, a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN). Any
individual user who has permission to access the server can use the server's processing power
to run an application, store data, or perform any other computing task. Therefore, instead of
using a personal computer every time to run a native application, the individual can now run
the application from anywhere in the world, as the server provides the processing power to the
application and the server is also connected to a network via the Internet or other connection
platforms to be accessed from anywhere.
Some of the well-known cloud vendors are Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle cloud etc. who
offer services in the form of software, platform and infrastructure. Cloud thus provides a secure,
highly available, managed, cheaper and less cumbersome environment for users. Therefore,
there will be less need to maintain applications and data in-house when it is far more cost
effective, accessible and a higher quality of service via the cloud.

Smartphone: A Smartphone is a mobile device with more advanced computing capability and
connectivity than basic cell phones. Smartphone are typically loaded with various features of
a mobile phone along with those of other popular gadgets, such as a personal digital assistant
(PDA), a media player, a digital camera, and/or a GPS navigation unit plus the features of a
touchscreen computer, including web browsing, Wi-Fi, and 3rd-party mobile applications
(apps).

The popularity of Smartphone can be gauged from the fact that only Android and iPhone
(Smartphones with Android/iPhone operating system) owners account for half of the cell phone
user population. At the same time you should also take into account that there are other brands
of Smartphones that run with alternative operating systems viz. Windows Phone, BlackBerry,
Symbian, Bada etc. According to IDC Worldwide shipments of smartphones topped 1 billion
units in 2013 (up 38% from 2012's 725 million) while comprising a 55% share of the mobile
phone market in 2013. (up from 42% in 2012).

More than half of mobile users access internet search on a daily basis and a staggering 99%
use their mobile browser each day. The biggest trend with the greatest immediate impact on
communication is the shift to mobile. Global mobile traffic currently represents 17.4% of all
internet traffic and is rapidly increasing. Mobile internet use is expected to surpass traditional
desktop internet use in 2014. Mobile has now become deeply embedded in our lives by offering
convenience through immediacy, simplicity and context. Smartphone and other such mobile
devices (e.g. tablets) are quickly becoming the platform of choice for computing and
communication in comparison to the gadgets those require sitting behind a stationary desk.

 Trends in Information Communication Network Management

The unprecedented and rapid development in the field of communication technology has also
raised the concern about the safety of personal data and security, ownership and control over
copyright of the material produced by individual or organizations and the loss of direct control
over applications and software. The increasing trend of the use of internet and allied web-based
applications in business and social transaction has given rise to organised cybercrime across
the world in the form of personal data theft, impersonation, hacking of online bank accounts,
hacking of the sites of the government department, spreading of malicious software to steal
data and so on and so forth. This precarious situation of compromised web-security, calls for
more stringent regulatory mechanism to authenticate and validate the internet communication
and transaction.
Protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) of the digital content in the form of documents,
images, audio, video etc. is another major concern that needs attention while ensuring proper
management of information and communication network.

A multipronged approach to e-security is necessary to maintain the integrity of internet

transactions. Among the other things the end-user education, effective cyber law, the
mechanism of enforcement of the cyber law, international cooperation of nations including the
cooperation of the internet service providers and web hosting agencies worldwide is immensely
essential to ensure e-security and to prevent cyber fraud and threat.

The Information Technology Act, 2000 (amended in 2008) of India has provisions to deal with
various types of cyber-crimes including data theft, fraud, mischief, forgery, defamation, IPR
violations, credit card frauds, pornography, unauthorized hacking, email spamming email
spoofing, Trojan attack etc.

The Government of India has also established Data Security Council that is focusing in the area
of Advocacy on Data Protection and Cyber Security, Capacity Building on Security and
Privacy etc. However, a more comprehensive cyber security policy is still in the process of
finalization.

13.5 Let us sum up

In this unit we have discussed about the meaning of “communication”, “technology‟,

“communication technology” and more specifically “technological trends in communication”.
Technological Trends in Communication simply means the latest development in the field of
information and communication technology that has gained popularity and wide acceptability
by the people across the globe.

Technological trends in communication is the outcome of the human beings never ending urge
to communicate or to share their knowledge, skills, feeling etc. supported by the massive
development in the field of tele-communication technology. We have discussed how the
technological applications like internet and internet based tools like www, chat, streaming
media, e-mail, teleconferencing, social networking etc. transformed our day to day life so far
as fulfilling our day to day need of performing basic activities to satisfy our emotion by getting
connected to the likeminded people transcending the socio-political-geographical boundaries.
The world has now turned to a global village thanks to the advancement in the field of
communication technology.

We have also discussed about the role of technical infrastructure such as the broadband (both
fixed and mobile), wireless technology, communication satellites, cloud and smaller hand held
devices for computing and communication like the Smartphone, tablets etc. in revolutionizing
our socio-economic aspect of life the way we experience it today.
Finally we have discussed how the unprecedented development in the field of communication
technology also ushered in certain aberrations in the form of cyber fraud, cybercrime, data
theft, hacking, violation of intellectual property rights etc. However, these undesirable
outgrowths of communication technology can be effectively managed by proper user
education, formulation and implementation of cyber law and development of efficient e-
security software.

MODULE 1: TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION

Module structure
1.18 Learning Outcomes
1.19 Introduction
1.20 Concept of Educational Technology as a Discipline
1.21 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.22 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.23 Information Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.24 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology
1.25 Let us sum up
1.26 Suggested reading
1.27 References

1.7 Introduction

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/Astronaut-EVA.jpg/220px-
Astronaut-EVA.jpg

Read More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technology

Video: History of technology; www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s
Uploaded by SMARTEduEMEA
1.8 Concept of Educational Technology:

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_5032733_effects-technology-

communication.html

Read More: Difference between technology in education & technology of education

http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-technology-of-education-and-
vs-technology-in-education/
Video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXyCECMxhOs - Uploaded by Paul Hamilton
Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology

1.9 Instructional Technology as part of Educational Technology

Read more:
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology
4. http://lheilman.myweb.uga.edu/artifacts/6100_what_%20is_%20instructional_tech
nology_%20final_%20submission.pdf (What is instructional technology)

1.10 Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6196124_changes-communication-

technology.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6766569_communication-technology-

definition.html

Communication Technology Definition

The Different Forms of Communication Technology

Technology & the Tools of Communication

What Are the Benefits of Communication Technology?

 New Trends in Information & Communication Technology

What is the Implication of Communication Technology?

Changes in Communication Technology

The Effects of Technology on Communication

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html

The Advantages & Disadvantages of Communication Technology

By Lauren Nelson, eHow Contributor Communicating in a new age

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6329755_advantages-disadvantages-communication-

technology.html

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_6329755_advantages-disadvantages-communication-

technology.html
1.11 Information Technology (IT) as part of Educational Technology

Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_5552402_information-technology-

education.html
Read more: http://wwwbuzzle.com/articles/importance-technology.html

Read more:
http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_Edu
cation

1.12 Information and Communication Technology as part of Educational Technology

Read more: http://notes-master.blogspot.in/2011/07/revolution-of-information-

and.html
Read more: Technology for learning
http://jtmadhavan.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/fel-2-1-technology-for-learning.pdf

Read More: ICT Tools for building Digital Learning Environment: Chidnandappa. S
and Dharnendra Prabhu.
http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1849/234/paperZA_chidnandappa.pdf
?sequence=1

a. Suggested reading

10. Emerging Technologies (2014)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emerging_technologies
11. The use of instructional technology in the classroom: Selection and
effectiveness by Ryan e. Dunmire.
http://www.usma.edu/cfe/literature/dunmire_10.pdf
12. The Historical Development of Instructional Technology Integration in
K-12 Education-
by Gary Shattuck http://www.nowhereroad.com/technology_integration/reading
s/shattuck.pdf
 13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_in_India
14. What is ICT? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNi1bMcNuuY
15. Program standards for computing:
http://www.utem.edu.my/pjka/download/PROGRAMME%20STANDARD%20
FOR%20COMPUTING.pdf
16. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_and_communication_technologies_in_
education
17. ICT in Education http://www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/ma%20edu/ICT%20-
%20Edu..pdf

References:

12. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K,

Encyclopaedia of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume I
13. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K,
Encyclopaedia of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume II,
Educational Technology and learning theories (Gary Berg) Pg 759
14. Patricia R, berg G, Boethtcher J, Howard C, Justice L, Schenk K,
Encyclopaedia of distance learning, Second Edition, Volume III,
Information literacy Pg 1178
15. Schreiner C, handbook of research on Assessment Technologies, Methods
and Applications in Higher Education, Information Science reference,
Hershay New York
16. Tomei l, Adapting information and communication Technologies for
effective education, Information Science reference, Hershay New York
17. Mangal S, K; Mangal U, 2010, Essentials of Educational technology, PHI
learning Private limited, New Delhi
18. Differentiate between technology of education and technology in education by
Varsha Sen. http://www.preservearticles.com/2011121918577/differentiate-
between-technology-of-education-and-technology-in-education.html
19. http://www.ehow.com/list_6808595_forms-communication-technology_.html
20. http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_
Education
21. Forms of Communication: www.mbgh.org, www.communicationtoolbox.com
22. ICT Tools for building Digital Learning Environment: Chidnandappa. S and
Dharnendra Prabhu.
http://drtc.isibang.ac.in/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1849/234/paperZA_chidnandapp
a.pdf?sequence=1

MODULE 35: SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES (SNS)

Module Structure
 35.0 Learning Outcomes

35.1 Introduction

35.2 History / background of SNS

35.3 What is SNS?

35.4 Applications of SNS

35.5 Merits and Demerits of SNS

35.6 Let us sum up

35.0 Learning outcomes

 To acquire knowledge of Social Networking Sites (SNS).

 To develop an understanding of the different components / features of SNS.
 To develop an understanding of the merits and demerits of SNS.

35. 1 Introduction
Social Networking Sites are internet based communication and deals with interactions between
people using online mode. These types of interactions are made possible if they have similar
interest and information for sharing. SNS permits free flow of communication, leading to new
and varied information. Such interactions enable better input of ideas, discussions and relevant
contributions to the queries asked in the forum. It permeates beyond structural boundaries and
reaches out to build rich data base thus improving networking among the clients. It targets a
wide audience from different fields like education, entertainment, business, governmental
organization, Non-Governmental Organizations, scientific communities and social groups.

35.2 Background / History of SNS

Communication is an essential component of social networking. Human discoveries have
enabled the enhancement of communication systems from cave drawings and paintings to oral,
print and internet communication. This also brought about change in the style of
communication and interactions, social networking led to many forms of communication. As
times changed, the way men interacted also changed. With the advent of the computers and the
internet, the communication was mainly through e mail.
Later newer forms developed like blogs, chats, (instant messenger) and discussion forums. The
history of social networking sites can be summarized as follows:

Year Development of SNS

1997 Instant Messenger Chat

1999 Blogger/ Blog software Blog

 1999 Napster Music

2003 Skype Calls

2003 Linked In Professional network

2004 My Space Social network

2004 Face Book Social network

2005 Twitter Social network

2006 Orkut Social network

Early online services made an effort to support social networks, which included bulletin board
services. Early social networking on the World Wide Web began in the form of generalized
online communities. New social networking methods were developed by the end of the 1990s
and many sites began to develop more advanced features for users to find and manage friends.
Facebook launched in 2004, became the largest social networking site in the world in early
2009.
The idea was to bring people closer together to interact with each other in chat rooms, and at
the same time encourage them to share personal information and ideas. These sites provided
people with easy to use tools and free or cheap web space to create personal webpages. Some
communities took a different approach by simply having people link to each other via email
addresses. In the late 1990s, user profiles became a central feature of social networking sites,
allowing users to compile lists of "friends" and search for other users with similar interests.

35.3 What is SNS?

A social networking service is basically a place where people who have similar interests in
terms of their profession as well as personal life can build an active social life. It helps people
to connect with one another on a web-based platform. Here, people like you and me can make
our own profile and can decide with whom we want to share our information. At the same time,
we will also have access to the others information.
Emails and instant messaging are the most common methods of keeping tabs on one another.
But it is not limited to these. We can also share pictures, videos and audios with one another.
Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, interests
with people in their network.
Put simply, social networking is a way for one person to meet up with other people on the
Internet. People use social networking sites for meeting new friends, finding old friends, or
locating people who have the same problems or interests they have.

Characteristics of social networking sites:

Social networking sites help us make a public profile, make a list of people we want to share
or connect with and at the same view their list. The list we talk about is nothing but our friends
list.
Using answers to questions about our age, location, interest will help create a profile. We can
also upload pictures, audio/video content and are allowed to change our profile or modify it
from time to time. Many sites allow users to post blog entries, search for others with similar
interests and compile and share lists of contacts. These user profiles mostly have a section
dedicated to comments from friends and other users. To protect user privacy, social networks
have controls that allow users to choose who can view their profile, contact them, and add them
to their list of contacts and so on.
These social networks also enable us to be part of a group with similar interests or problems.
In most communities, with the help of mobile phones, users can now create their own profiles,
make friends, create and participate in chat rooms, hold private conversations, share photos
and videos, and share blogs. Wireless services allow people to build their own mobile
community.
Social networking sites allow for broadcast similar to live radio and television broadcast
wherein users can contribute content, and upload it at the same time. Twitter was the first social
networking site to do this, wherein users can broadcast to the world what they are doing, or
what is on their minds with a 140-character limit. Facebook followed suit with their "Live
Feed" where users' activities are streamed as soon as it happens. While Twitter focuses on
words, Clixtr, another real-time service, focuses on group photo sharing wherein users can
update their photo streams with photos while at an event. Facebook, however, remains the
largest photo sharing site. In April, 2012, the image-based social media network Pinterest had
become the third largest social network in the United States.
As we know social networking sites not only help individuals to build interactions or
networking, but also groups or communities. The latest trend in this is where companies are
merging business needs and experiences by building interactive communities online. Many
provide specialized networking tools and applications that can be accessed via their websites.

35.4 Uses of Social Networking Sites

 Uses in Education
One of the biggest uses of SNS in education is how it has made it possible for the shy and
introverted child in the classroom to be more vocal with his ideas and opinions on the internet.
He/she doesn’t feel threatened or bullied like what he /she may be experiencing in the
classroom. It has opened up a huge world for these children who otherwise would feel left out
in the classroom situation. SNS also has helped today’s generation to develop technical and
social skills which can be transferred to their daily life areas. As teachers, when we are able to
create an interest among our students by using the medium of social networking to provide
learning experiences to them, teaching and learning become more meaningful, fun and relevant.
Media, be it print or net-based, is part of our lives, interwoven with the other things in our life.
Even to simply send an email or update a status, a participant needs to develop certain technical
skills. This will help in navigating the social networking sites better. The development of new
media skills is extremely helpful to the youth in navigating the digital world with confidence.
Since social networking allows sharing, mentoring and developing social interaction, it helps
develop a sense of participatory culture where each one is willing to be a contributor in the
various aspects of the interaction. These networks allow students to converse and collaborate
with others in real time.
Curriculum uses of social networking services can also include sharing curriculum-related
resources. Educators tap into user-generated content to find and discuss curriculum-related
content for students. Responding to the popularity of social networking services among many
students, teachers are increasingly using social networks to supplement teaching and learning
in traditional classroom environments as they can provide new opportunities for enriching
existing curriculum through creative, authentic and flexible, non-linear learning experiences.

Social networks focused on supporting relationships between teachers and their students are
now used for learning, educator professional development, and content sharing. There are lots
of SNS for teachers that are being built to foster relationships that include educational blogs,
e-portfolios, formal and informal communities, as well as communication such as chats,
discussion threads, and synchronous forums.

 Uses in the Government:

Social networking in recent times is being used by various government agencies. The
networking tools serve as a quick and easy way for the government to get the opinion of the
public and to keep the public updated on the government activities. News about contagious
diseases, their prevention and treatment are easily sent across to the public. Lot of socially
relevant messages regarding environment, effects of global warming are made available
through these SNS. There are many children’s sites which are used very effectively to
demonstrate the importance of vaccination.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides a virtual experience to people
where they can create a virtual island and can explore underground caves or explore the effects
of global warming. In recent times, the various political uprisings in different parts of the world
had a lot of positive support from the social networking sites. Can you imagine the impact these
networks would have had on the politics of the world if they had existed in the 1800s and
1900s?

 Business uses:
Use of social networking services has a major impact in the way business is conducted. Since
social networks only need internet which is available at low cost, it is useful to the
entrepreneurs and small –time business people to expand their contact and also conduct
business. They can use these networks to advertise and promote their products and services.
These sites also help put up banners and text advertisements for the business communities.
Social networking works on a global scale so you can imagine the impact of these
advertisements on a global scale.
The power of social networks is beginning to permeate into culture of businesses where they
are finding uses for collaboration, file sharing and knowledge transfer.

 Uses in Medical and health sector:

Legitimate medical practitioners, i.e. doctors have started using social networking sites to
collaborate and communicate with their own fraternity regarding the various developments in
the field and also the need to address problems they face in their day to day life as a trained
doctor. They are able to share their knowledge about doctors as well as institutions providing
healthcare facilities.
With the lifestyle that people are leading now, there are numerous kinds of physical and mental
ailments affecting their lives and there are many networks created to deal with such problems.
Here the members can interact with one another about the symptoms and also remedies. People
with terminal diseases can also connect with others in their situation offer hope and
encouragement to one another. For alcoholics and addicts, these social networks give people
in recovery the ability to communicate with one another and strengthen their recovery through
the encouragement of others who can relate to their situation. There are many other websites
which offer support groups for a wide variety of topics.
Some social networks aim to encourage healthy lifestyles in their users. People with weight
loss issues can connect on certain networks like Spark People.

 Political advantages:
The world is changing every day and in every possible way. This change can also be seen in
the politics of the world. There are so many political changes taking place and social
networking sites have a huge role in the way they take place and influence people to be a part
of the change. Revolutions taking place anywhere in the world keep people connected through
these social networks. These sites provide a forum, a medium for the revolutionaries to voice
their opinion and needs and also get the support of the people. In the case of the Egyptian
revolution people around the world knew about the struggle going on in Tahrir Square as it was
happening. Human rights activists can condemn the brutality against the human life happening
anywhere in the world. Also, any event in the world like the natural calamities in any part of
the world connects people through the social networking sites. They help reach out to people
with resources and help deliver these to the ones who need it.

 Scientific Community and SNS

Science and the scientific community are progressing in leaps and bounds on an everyday basis.
These changes can be shared with the communities using the social networking sites. Specific
knowledge which is useful in the scientific community is also exchanged through these social
networking sites. Sharing always leads to exponential leap in information and knowledge.
People from the scientific community can share papers, review each other’s work, offer
insights, help publicize events and have fruitful and healthy discussions.

Without costing much money and time, social networking sites help in maintaining social
interactions. It helps others see us as the person we are and especially in today’s world where
extremely busy schedules have stopped us from having any kind of social interactions.

35.5 Merits and demerits of Social networking Sites

Social networks not only allow people to meet and communicate with strangers, but they also
let users organize and make visible their social networks. In many ways, social media has led
to positive changes in the way people communicate and share information
 Children earlier were not exposed to the events and happenings outside of their immediate
world. But SNS and the use of internet has helped in creating a lot of awareness about the
events and happenings outside of their limited world. They have learnt to see that the
problems they face exist everywhere and also there are problems in the world apart from
their own. It helps them to understand the world and its problems in a better way. SNS help
children to think and resolve issues that can be beneficial to them and others. It helps
develop a sense of collaboration among them where they can see themselves in others and
are able to be a part of the solution rather than the problem.
 Boundaries of the world are shrinking and we talk of global citizens. SNS helps in
improving the world awareness. Earlier children were not keen on knowing about the
political, social, economic, health problems of people around the world. But SNS has
opened up this world to them and they have become aware citizens of the world and they
are keen to know about the happenings in the rest of the world. They can share their views
on world economy, politics and their voices are heard making them more aware of their
rights and duties and responsibilities.
 SNS help create a more engaging learning experience. When learning experiences are
infused into their life through the use of websites, students realize that learning can and
should be a part of everyday life. It does not have to be separate and unattached. Shy and
introvert students who otherwise do not speak in class are able to express themselves
through these networks.
 SNS helps in sharing current practices through a knowledge network. People in the
scientific and medical community are able to share their expertise and interact with one
another for the general benefit of all those involved.
 SNS has also helped bring accountability of people out in the open. People caught doing
bad deeds are projected on these networks and at the same time people have become more
expressive of their expectation from their government.
 Social networking offers many benefits. It is now easier than ever to keep in contact with
old friends and colleagues. The professional networking site LinkedIn even allows users to
request introductions to business people who are known to their contacts. The potential of
this enhanced connectivity is huge; whereas once you would be left sifting through business
 cards after a networking event, trying to remember details about each person, you can now
easily look up a connection’s credentials and business interests on their social media
profile.

Limitations of Social Networking Sites:

 SNS also has a dark side, as well. Social networking can sometimes result in negative
outcomes, some with long-term consequences. While many people use it for wholesome,
ethical, and healthy reasons, there are also many who utilize it to abuse and exploit others,
particularly children and teens.
 SNS opens up the possibility for hackers to commit fraud and launch spam and virus
attacks. Everyone is at risk but children are especially so. SNS increases the risk of people
falling prey to online scams that seem genuine, resulting in data or identity theft. It may
encourage exploitation and abuse which may lead to the very negative effects on the life of
the people. The use of fake identities is one advantage these people have in order to be
more confident in exploiting and abusing children.
 A lot of time is wasted on the SNS in work environment. People get busy in their office
time with these networking sites. It results in loss of productivity when employees are busy
updating their profiles or uploading their pictures, chatting with their acquaintances. The
frustrations and problems of being on these sites also results in employees losing important
and efficient work hours.
 People who use social networking sites for their daily communication are hooked to a point
that they neglect health responsibilities, especially their diet. The addictive nature of social
media leads to eating disorders, obesity, heart problems, sleep disorders, and other
persistent health issues. Additionally, constant exposure to the internet because of social
networking addiction prevents a child or teen from engaging in physical activities and
socialization. They become so dependent on it that they start to think making contact with
other people outside these social networks is not necessary. As such, they become socially
and physically stagnant.
 Attention-deficit hyperactivity Disorder is one of most noticeable condition resulting from
the SNS addiction. The practice of logging on daily to see hundreds of new photos,
comments, and user statuses have begun to take away the ability to keep focus on something
for more than an hour or two, making ADHD a very real and possible effect of SNS
 When interacting with someone through text messages, instant messaging, or email, a large
portion of how humans interact is gone. This leads to severing social ties and leads to
further depression and loneliness.
 Narcissism, the excessive love or admiration of oneself, has become one of the largest
problems, especially in SNS users. This way of self-entitled thinking is very dangerous for
any person. This can negatively affect how they see themselves, as well as how they treat
and perceive others.
These are some of the issues arising out of excessive use of SNS.
35.7 Let us sum up:
Social Networks are Web-based services that allow people to construct a public profile.
Articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection with friends, family, etc.
Social networks not only allow people to meet and communicate with strangers, but they also
let users organize and visible their social networks. There are millions of people on the internet
who are looking to meet other people and to gather and share information and experiences on
a variety of topics. Hundreds of social networking sites have been created, and have attracted
millions of users. In a very short span social networking has become a phenomenon. Most of
the key features of these sites are very similar, yet the cultures that form around the social
networking sites vary in many different ways. Some of the sites target diverse audiences, while
others attract people based on common language, race, sexual preferences, religion, or
nationality. The sites also vary the ways in which the show and incorporate new information
and communication tools, like mobile access, blogging, and photo and video sharing. Easily
the most common use of Social Networking sites, and the main reason for them existing in the
first place, is for personal reasons. It is used for its original purpose – to keep in touch with
friends. Some people will go on simply to update their status or view their friends’ statuses, or
to look at photos from the weekend’s night out. In the past it would have been nigh on
impossible to keep in touch, much less keep up to date with what they are doing. In many ways,
social media has led to positive changes in the way people communicate and share information;
however, it has a dark side, as well. Social networking can sometimes result in negative
outcomes, some with long-term consequences. Just like a coin, social networking, also has two
sides. However useful and creative it may be, but it also has its darker side.

***************************************************************************
***

35.8 Suggested reading:

 http://commoncraft.com Social Network in Plain English
 http://successcoach.chery_schmidt.ws/5 top SNS/Why should you use them
 www.youtube.com: Social Networking and its effect on Modern Society
 Top 15 Most Popular Social Networking Sites | July 2014
 What is Social Networking Site? Webopedia
 Social Media: What are the advantages and disadvantages...?
 Advantages and Disadvantages of Social Networking - Udemy
 Online Social Networking Dangers and Benefits

35.9 References
 www.Google.com
 www.wikipedia.com
  Social Networking: Its Uses and Abuses by PoojaShelke and Ashish Badiye,
Research Journal of Forensic Sciences, Vol. 1(1), 2-7, March (2013) Res. J.
Forensic Sci. International Science Congress Association
 Facebook and Psychology: Use and Misuse of Social Networks, Matthew T.
Kincheloe, David Weed, & Caleb W. Lack, Recent Advances in Clinical
Medicine
 www.facebook.com
 www.twitter.com
 http://danasuaifan.weebly.com/social-networking.html
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_social_networks
 http://www.bing.com/knows/Social%20networking%20service

INTERNET AND INTERNET TOOLS

Unit Structure:

16.1Introduction
16.2What is the Internet?
16.3 Internet and its History
16.4 How does the Internet Work?
16.5Major Internet Tools and Services
16.6Web Browsers
16.7Using the Web Browser
16.8Using the Search Tool
16.9Citing Online Resources
16.10 Let us sum up

16.0 learning Outcomes:

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

 To have an understanding of Internet.

 To be aware of the history of Internet.
 To be able to understand the working of the Internet.
 To be aware of the major Internet Tools and services.
 To have an understanding of Web browsers.
 To be able to comprehend the using of web browsers.
 To be able to comprehend the using of search tools.
 To be aware of the various means of citing online resources.
16.1 Introduction:

Internet has emerged of prime importance in today's drastic shift from print to digital
information and it has become the primary source of information, knowledge sharing, social
networking etc. which requires people to gain and equip themselves with new skills and
knowledge in using the Internet for their easy and wide use. The Internet connects the corners
of the cobwebbed world from the remotest corner to the busiest city.

16.2 What is Internet?

The Internet is a worldwide network of computers making use of a group of protocols

called TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) that supports
interconnection of a number of different computer networks. The Internet can be defined as
the wired or wireless mode of communication through which one can receive, transmit
information that can be used for single or multiple operations.

The Internet in simple terms is a network of the interlinked computer networking worldwide,
which is accessible to the general public. These interconnected computers work by
transmitting data through a special type of packet switching which is known as the IP or the
Internet protocol.

Uses of Internet:

Internet is a very good medium to connect with the outer world. People use it as a medium to
connect with other people sharing files, entertainment and lots of other activities that are
useful and beneficial in many ways. The few dominant reasons why people use the Internet
are given below:

Information: People browse Internet for information. They love to browse various search
engines like Google, Yahoo to know about any necessary news. Also they love to browse
websites like Wikipedia which is a full-fledged encyclopedia on Internet.

Social Networking: Social networking is a good medium to communicate with friends and
family members. There are many social networking sites like Face book, Twitter etc. which
are used by people in connecting with friends.

Communication: Communication is another way to use the Internet. People connect with
others through various IM services like GTalk, Skype and Yahoo messenger. There are lots
of other services through which people send messages.

Transfer of Files: People - school students, college students, office staff, businesspeople,
everyone sends files through the Internet. This is an essential part of their lives. These files
are sent through the Internet. People use various mail services like Gmail, Yahoo mail,
Hotmail etc. to send files.

Current News: It is either latest news, or Sport updates; people love to surf Internet to get
live update of any news. Websites like Rediff, NY times are quick news providing websites.

Entertainment: Internet and Entertainment are closely related. It could be in the form of
watching videos in YouTube, plying live games, or downloading movies, Internet provides
its entertainment dominance everywhere.

Internet transactions: Now Internet can save time and money of the people. The facility is
known as Internet banking facility through which people can deposit any bill, transfer money
through account, and also make Internet reservation on time from their home.

Marketing: Internet marketers make extensive use of Internet to sell products. There are lots
of social media enthusiasts who promote others’ products online via various social media
sites.

Online Education: This has developed very fast in most countries. Various websites offer
online courses to learn various things like designing, programs or subjects. Online education
is very helpful to promote education in places where the courses are not available easily. It
also helps in spaced and paced learning.

16.3 Internet and its History:

In its infancy stage the Internet was originally conceived by the Department of Defense as a
way to protect government communication systems in the event of military strike. The
original network dubbed ARPA Net (for the Advanced Research Projects Agency that
developed it) evolved in to a communication channel among contractors, military personnel
and university researchers who were contributing to ARPA projects.

The network employed a set of standard protocols to create an effective way for these people
to communicate and share data with each other. ARPAnet's popularity continued to spread
among researchers and in 1980 the National Science Foundation linked several high speed
computers and took charge of what came known to be as the Internet. By the late 1980's
thousands of cooperating networks were participating in the Internet. The NREN (National
Research Education Network) took up the initiative to develop and maintain high speed
networks for research and education and to investigate the commercial uses of the Internet.

16.4 How does the Internet work?

The Internet is a global collection of networks that links business, offices, educational
institutions, and people. Data is transferred from computers that have Internet connectivity
that provide centralized storage areas to computers that can access the contents of the storage
areas. The data passes through the various communication lines. Each computer or device on
a communications line has a numeric address called an IP (Internet Protocol) address and the
text version of which is called a domain name. Every time you specify a domain name, a
DNS (domain name system) server translates the domain name into its associated IP address,
so that data is routed to the correct computer.

Internet can be accessed through an Internet service provider which could be an online
service provider, or a wireless service provider. An Internet service provider (ISP) provides
temporary Internet connections to individuals and offices. An online service provider (OSP)
also supplies Internet access. It also provides variety of special content and services. A
wireless service provider (WSP) provides wireless Internet access to users with wireless
modems.

When we want to access a website that is available on a server in some place in the world,
then we can connect using the Internet access provider and type the website, the request will
travel through the different computers in the network till it reaches the server you wish to
access.

The following picture gives a glimpse of the Internet with several home computers connected
to a server:

16.5 Major Internet tools and services

Internet is a worldwide collection of networks. The Internet has different tools and services
that are provided:

 E-mail
 Voice mail
 FTP
 WWW
 E-Commerce
 Chat
 Search Engine
  Electronic mail (email): E-mail is an electronic mail. The messages can be sent
electronically over a network. For sending or receiving an email, the user must have
an email address; email address is given as:

username@location

 Username: It is the recipient’s email name.

 @: It is a character, which is used to separate the email name an location.
 Location: It is a place - the electronic post office, where the recipient’s mail is
delivered and stored.

 Voice mail: Initially only text mails were being sent. If the voice information is to be
sent or received, then the user has to send it as an attachment file. But nowadays, the
new technology allows us to send and receive the voice data directly through the
Internet as a voicemail. The only requirement is that computer should have a
multimedia facility and voice mail software.
 FTP (File Transfer Protocol): It is a fast application level TCP/IP protocol widely
used for transferring both text- based and binary files to and from remote systems
through the Internet. Most of the people use FTP program for downloading the
software on the Internet.
 World Wide Web (WWW): In the Internet, different types of computer are
connected to each other. These computers may have different operating systems.
When the data is to be transformed from one computer to other computer and if the
operating systems of both computers are different, then both operating systems should
understand the data format which is to be transferred. The www provides an
interactive document and the software to access the data on any computer.
 E-Commerce: Web technologies play a very important role in business. Websites are
created to perform the business. Online trading is now a very important feature of the
Internet. It is also called as e-commerce. So the geographical boundaries have become
faint due to Internet and e-commerce.
 Chat: It is an Internet application. Using the program, the user needs to get connected
in a chat. The user has to log in the chat- room, get access in a particular chat room,
find other users connected in a chat room and start chatting with the users connected
in that room.
 Search Engine: It is used to search the required information over the Internet. This is
possible by getting the home pages or websites dedicated to the particular subject.
There are different types of search engines on the type of search criteria for indexing
pages and returning results. Size of the index, review of web pages, links with
priorities, net tags, importance of pages are the categories for getting the different
search approaches of the search engines.

16.6 Web Browsers

A browser is a piece of software that acts as an interface between the user and the inner-
working of the Internet. The browser contacts a web server and sends request for information,
receives the information and then displays it on the user's computer. There are different types
of browsers and all of them perform the same basic function but many have specific features
that are unique, e.g. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla etc.

16.7 Using the Web Browser

Internet surfing or 'net surfing' is the process of visiting different websites on the Internet
hosted by various companies, organizations, educational institutions, magazines, individuals
and others.

Snapshot of using the Browser:

• All web browsers are relatively similar, but the two most popular web browsers are
Microsoft Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Open the web browser by double-
clicking on the icon on your desktop or right-clicking the icon and choosing
1 "Open."

• Once the browser is open, notice the Address Bar, which is the URL (website
address) where you are located. To simplify identify the Address Bar, it will be
located at the top of the browser itself and the URL in the Address Bar will usually
2 begin with "http://www."

• Next, notice the tools that are surrounding the Address Bar. For example, there will
usually be a "Page Back" and "Page Forward" button, usually indicated by a
forward and backward arrow. There may even be a picture or icon that will stand
3 for "Home Page," which is the first web page that is viewed when the web browser
is opened.

• Above the web browser's icons a series of help menus, such as "File," "Edit,"
"View," "History," "Bookmarks" or "Favorites,", as well as "Tools," and "Help." All
of these menus are placed. For example, clicking once on "Bookmarks" or
4 "Favorites" will show you a list of all the websites that you have placed in your
"favorite" list.

• In the Address Bar which is located at the top of the web browser, type in the full
URL of the website you would like to go to. In this example, we'll type in
"http://www.google.com." After you've typed in the full URL, either press "Enter"
on the keyboard or click on the arrow icon or "go" button located at the very right
5 end of the Address Bar. After you have done that the website should appear on your
web browser's screen.

16.8 Using the search tool

The search tool helps in finding the information by contacting the server and sending a copy
of the requested item, closes the connection and waits for the next connection. The use of
search tool can be seen below:

First you will need to open Internet Explorer, then enter www.google.com in the address bar.
Here is what www.google.com looks like:

To conduct the search, point and click your mouse in the search textbox. Type in the textbox
the words or words you would like to search. Then point and click your mouse on the Google
Search button below the search textbox.

As an example, the word ‘flowers’ was entered into the Google textbox and after clicking on
the Google Search button these are the results:

Every phrase in either blue with an underline may be clicked on to visit that particular site.
These are hyperlinks to websites. The websites deemed most fitting for the search are found
at the near the top of the list. There are also paid sponsors found at the top (shaded) and to the
right of the screen that you may visit if you wish. You can see actual web addresses in green
text.

In addition, notice the results area:

These results are found on the top right of the page. 233,000,000 would be impossible to go
through therefore you will need to learn ways to reduce the amount of results. To continue
reviewing the search results pages, scroll to the bottom of the Google webpage until you see:

Click on the number 2 or on the blue arrow to the right to continue through the search results

Go To Google : You can go directly to Google.com by typing in http://google.com into your

web browser. That will take you to the main Google web site.

Preview Your Answer: As you review results, you’ll wonder if some of the listed sites are
the best answer to what you’re looking for. Google provides a way to quickly check on this.
It’s called Google Instant Previews. Next to the web page listings, you’ll see a magnifying
glass symbol appear:

Click on this, and you’ll make a preview of the page for that listing appear:
Refine Your Google Search: Google doesn’t know what exactly you want when you enter a
search, so the results you get are the best guess. There are ways you can help it make better.
For one, Google provides a variety of ways to refine your searches, to narrow them down.
You can get back just video answers, restrict results by date, explore answers by browsing
through a “Wonder Wheel” of suggestions or simple review some of the related searches it
may list among your results, like these examples from a search for DVD players:

There are also special commands that you can use when entering your search words. For
example, if you put quotes around search words like this: “how to search in Google’, then
your results will only show pages that are deemed to have those exact words on them, in that
exact order — or be relevant to those exact words in other ways.

16.9 Citing Online Resources

Citing of resources is very important process in writing a research paper. This enables the
readers of the articles to know the resources that you have checked while preparing the
research article. When one cities the resources, it provides an open platform for others to
check the accuracy of the content that has been mentioned in the article. It also helps other to
read through the article to arrive at the rationale behind writing the research paper.

There are several guidelines and styles for citing works correctly. There is no single uniform
style that can be adopted or is appropriate in every case. The same situation exists for citing
works that appear in print; you may be expected to follow APA or MLA style.
There is difference in citing resources taken from the web, books, articles, journals etc. There
is no common agreement of all the details of a citation for information found on the Internet.
The general form of a citation includes the name of the author, the title of the work, the date
the information was last revised, the date the information was accessed, and the URL. The
date the information was accessed is included because it is relatively easy to modify
information on the Web, and the information available through a URL sometime in the future
may not be the same as when it was accessed for the research.

Internet information resources citation and style manuals:

 APA (American Psychological Association) format -based on APA’s Publication

Manual Fifth Edition: APA Electronic Reference
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html
 MLA Style Guides: Modern Language Association’s style guides.
http://www.mla.org/style Library of Congress: How to Cite Electronic Resources
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/start/cite/in dex.html
 Chicago Manual of Style -based on The Chicago Manual of Style 14thedition -
Citation Style Guides for Internet and Electronic Sources
http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citatio n/index.cfm#Chicago

16.10 Let us sum up

 The Internet is a network of the interlinked computer networking worldwide, which is

accessible to the general public.

 Internet is a good medium to connect with the outer world. People use it as a medium
to connect with other people, sharing files, entertainment and lots of other activities
that are useful and beneficial in many ways.
 Internet was originally conceived by the Department of Defense as a way to protect
government communication systems in the event of military strike.
 The Internet is a global collection of networks that links business, offices, educational
institutions, and people. Data is transferred from computers that have Internet
connectivity that provide centralized storage areas to computers that can access the
contents of the storage areas.
 Internet is a worldwide collection of networks. The Internet has different tools and
services that are provided through the E-mail, Voice mail, FTP, WWW, E-Commerce,
Chat, Search Engine.
 The search tool helps in finding the information by contacting the server and sending
a copy of the requested item, closes the connection and waits for the next connection.
  Citing of resources is very important process in writing a research paper. This enables
the readers of the articles to know the resources that you have checked while
preparing the research article.

Learn More:

A Basic Guide to the Internet http://library.albany.edu/internet/internet.html

Learn the NET. Anatomy of a URL. http://www.learnthenet.com/english/web/110www .html

Microsoft Internet Explorer: Surfing, Browsing, and Finding Your Way On the Web
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/using/article s/findyourway.mspx

Using Internet Explorer 6 http://library.albany.edu/internet/ie.html

An Introduction to Mozilla Firefox, Part 1 http://opensourcearticles.com/introduction_to_fire

fox/articles/firefox_15/english/part_01

Glencoe Norton Online. For your Information features: Getting Started on the World Wide
Web http://www.glencoe.com/norton/norton4e/getstarte d.html

Things to Know before You Begin Searching

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/ThingsToKnow.html

Checklist of Internet Research Tips http://library.albany.edu/internet/checklist.html

Conducting Research on the Internet http://library.albany.edu/internet/research.html

Bare Bones Lesson 1: Search Engines

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson1.html

UC Berkeley. Teaching Library Internet Workshops: The BEST Search Engines

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Se archEngines.html

Danny Sullivan. 2001. Power searching for anyone

http://searchenginewatch.com/facts/article.php/2156031

Chicago Manual of Style -based on The Chicago Manual of Style 14thedition - Citation Style
Guides for Internet and Electronic Sources http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/citatio
n/index.cfm

Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Resources

http://www.bedfordstmartins.com/online/cit ex.html
Power Point Presentations:

Internet : web.itu.edu.tr/~yilmaztur/daley7_ppt_07.ppt

The Internet.ppt : tlc-mn.org/sites/tlc-mn.org/files/curriculum/The%20Internet.ppt

Internet Services I :www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/academic/class/15213-s01/lectures/class28.ppt

Introduction to Web Browsers and Basic Search Strategies.

www.edtechpolicy.org/CourseInfo/MiscFiles/search.ppt

References:

Bare Bones Lesson 2: Metasearch Engines

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson2.html

Metasearch Engines http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Met

aSearch.html

Chris Sherman. 2005. Meta crawlers and Metasearch Engines

http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156241

Danny Sullivan. 2002. Specialty Search Engines

http://searchenginewatch.com/links/article.php/2156351

Bare Bones Lesson 6: Creating a Search Strategy

http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson6.html

Recommended Search Strategy: Analyze your Topic and Search with Peripheral Vision
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Internet/Str ategies.html

Bright Planet: Guide to Effective Searching of the Internet

http://www.brightplanet.com/deepcontent/tutorials/search/in dex.asp

APA (American Psychological Association) format -based on APA’s Publication Manual

Fifth Edition:

APA Electronic Reference http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

MLA Style Guides: Modern Language Association’s style guides. http://www.mla.org/style

Library of Congress: How to Cite Electronic Resources
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/start/cite/in dex.html

NETWORKING SYSTEMS

17.0 Learning Outcomes

17.1 Introduction
17.2 What is networking?
17.3 Benefits of Networking Systems
17.4 Based on network installations
17.5 Based on network size
17.6 Based on management method
17.7 Based on topology
17.8 Let us sum up

17.0 Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the lesson, students should know:

 What is networking
 Benefits of networking systems
 The different types of networking systems

17.1 Introduction:
The use of computers is becoming an essential part of life. A user works at different
places on different computers, then the data to be used may have to be taken have to
saved and used at other places. Sometimes it is not possible to use the data at all
places. To solve such problem, if computers are connected to each other through
some transmission media, then the information can be transferred from one computer
to other. This is called networking.

17.2 What is networking?

Interconnecting a set of computers with each other using transmission media is

called a network. With the help of network, the resources and services can be shared.
The shared resources can be data, printer, floppy drive, CD drive, fax, modem etc.
The shared services can be a database, a file, a software etc. All interconnected
computer must follow a set of communication rules for transmitting and receiving
the data. The rules governing computer communication are called protocols.

Every network includes:

 At least two computers Server or Client workstation.
 Networking Interface Card's (NIC)
  A connection medium, usually a wire or cable, although wireless
communication between networked computers and peripherals is
also possible.
 Network Operating system software, such as Microsoft Windows NT
or 2000, Novell NetWare, Unix and Linux

17.3 Benefits of networking systems

Networks permit the computers to stay connected. They allow for the easy
distribution of information and resources and cooperation linking the devices in
other ways.

• Connectivity and Communication: Networks helps in connection between

computer and the person who uses that computer, thus making it easier, faster,
effective and reasonable

• Data Sharing: To share data among a large group of employees at a same

time easily and at a faster speed is done through networking.

• Hardware Sharing: Networks help in easy sharing of hardware devices i.e.:

printer, floppy drive, CD drive. This can reduce the cost of using separate resources.

• Internet Access: The Internet is itself a vast network, so when at any time
one accesses the Internet, they are using a network. The significance of the Internet
is vital in every aspect of the modern culture.

• Internet Access Sharing: Small computer systems allow many users to

share a single Internet connection. Special hardware devices permit the bandwidth
of the connection to be easily used by various individuals as per their need and let
an organization to obtain one high-speed connection as a replacement for of many
slower connections.

• Data Safety and Management: In a business background, a network

permits the managers to handle the data of the organization in a further methodical
manner. Instead of having the data extend over a lot of small computers in an
unorganized manner, the data can be centralized on shared servers.

• Performance development: In some situation, a network can be made used

to develop the general performance of a few applications by allocating the
calculation tasks to different computers on the network.

• Entertainment: Networks assist numerous types of games and

entertainment. The Internet itself proposes many basis of entertainment.

17.4 Types of networking systems based on network installations

Centralized Network Installation:

These types of networks have a central computer (server) connected to all other
computers. The central computer known as mainframe computer does the entire
work. The other computers are called as nodes and work as only input/output
devices.

Distributed Network Installation:

In a distributed network, the processing is done on each node in an individual way.

This is because the new personal computers are with higher processing capacity and
higher memory. Using the distributed network more amounts of data are processed
in less amount of time increasing the efficiency.

Collaborative Network Installation:

This is also called as co-operative processing. This type of processing enables the
computer in a collaborative manner to share data, resources and services. The
computers work in collaboration with each other depending upon the available
resources to share, the application gets executed in the network in a better way.

17.5 Types of networking systems based on network size

A network is an interrelated system that offers communication linkages among two

or more stations. Each location in a network is called a node. There are diverse
electronic communication networks which can be largely classified based on the
coverage area.

Types of Networks:

LAN (Local Area Networks)

LAN (Local Area Networks): A local area network is a collection of

computers linked to each other in a small area. The LAN's are located in a
building or a campus. LAN has the following characteristics:

 Data transmitted at high rate.

 The physical area covered by network is restricted

 The resources are joined with different method.

A LAN structure consists of many Personal Computer terminals but a universal

control terminal controls this network known as Server.

WANs (Wide Area Networks)

WAN has a larger coverage area. The locations are extremely high in
number, hence named as Wide Area Network. WAN can integrate LAN's.
WAN is able of covering the entire country or state for interactions. The
railway reservation system, airline reservation system are examples of
WAN.
WAN has the following characteristics:

 The area enclosed is very big

 The data transmit is slow in comparison to LAN

 The link media is normally a telephone line to be linked to LAN's

Internet

The Internet is an organization of associated networks that are universal in

scale and assist data communication services such as remote login, file
transfer, email, World Wide Web and newsgroups. With the soaring demand
for connectivity, the Internet has become an interaction highway for
millions of users.

Intranet

With the progress in the Internet, many private groups are executing
intranets. An intranet is a private network make use of Internet-type tools,
but accessible only in that organization. For bigger organizations, an
intranet offers an easy access means to business information for employees.

MANs (Metropolitan area Networks)

The network smaller to WAN and larger to LAN is recognized as MAN

(Medium size network). A model of MAN is a cable network inside a city.
Cable network is getting TV programme from the satellite and it transmits
to numerous user.

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

 : VPN uses a system known as
channelling to transmit the data steadily on the Internet to a distant access
server in your place of work system. Using a VPN assist s you economically
by using the open Internet as a substitute to long–distance phone calls to
join strongly with your private network. There are two ways to create a VPN
connection, by dialling an Internet service provider (ISP), or linking
directly to Internet.

17.6 Based on management method

Network configuration indicates the process of operating /managing a network by

making a decision on the node system. There are two basic design generally found
in many organizations:

Peer- to - Peer: In a Peer- to- Peer network system each personal computer
has the same rights. Each peer directly corresponds to the other Peer
exclusive of any server and hence it is known as Peer to Peer configuration
.The hardware of each peer is nearly standard and equal, E.g.: windows -
95.
Client - Server configurations: Client - Server configurations: In a
Client- Server configuration several clients use the master personal
computer called the server controls to offer services. The client networks
by asking the server to share resources, access data etc. The server has a
high performance PC in the group and has highest operating speed, e.g.
Novell Netware.

17.7 Based on topology

A topology is a depiction of the design of a detailed region or area. A network

topology is a description of the plan of the region or area enclosed by that network.
The layout of inter-connections of different elements or nodes of a computer network
is a network topology that might be logical or physical.

Types of Topology

There are seven basic topologies in the study of network topology:

1. Point-to-point topology,

2. Bus (point-to-multipoint) topology,

3. Star topology,

4. Hybrid topology,

5. Tree topology.

1. Point-to-Point Network Topology: The Point-to-Point Network Topology is the

original form of a typical telephone. It is an everlasting connection linking the two
points. The significance of a point-to-point network is in ratio to the number of
subscriber’s prospective pairs. This network helps to link to a permanent circuit
contained by many switched telecommunication systems.

2. Bus Network Topology: When the LAN’s joins each node to a single cable the
Bus Network Topology is used. A connector links each computer or server to the
bus cable. The starting place passes on a signal that travels in both directions and
moves through all the machines till it arrives at the projected recipient with the IP
address. The data is ignored if the IP address does not match.

3. Star Network Topology: When each network host is joined to a central hub in
LAN it is called Star Network Topology. Each node is linked to the hub with a
point-to-point connection. All the signals move through the hub that serves as a
signal booster.

4. Hybrid Topology: When two or more topologies are combined we call it as

Hybrid Topology. WAN’s makes use of Hybrid topologies at times because they
join to a variety of LAN topologies. The benefit of hybrid topologies is that they link
different topologies but they also have a disadvantage of being likely complex to set
up and manage the network.
5. Tree Network Topology: In a Tree Network Topology the top level of the ladder
and the central root node is linked to the lower level nodes through a point-to-point
link. The second level that is already connected to central root can be connected to
the third level by a point-to-point link.

17.7 Let us sum up

 Interconnecting a set of computers with each other using transmission media

is called a network. With the help of network, the resources and services can
be shared. The shared resources can be data, printer, floppy drive, CD drive,
fax, modem etc.

 Networks allow the computers to remain connected. They allow for the easy
sharing of information and resources, and cooperation between the devices
in other ways. Connectivity and Communication, Data Sharing, Internet
Access, Data Security and Management, Performance Enhancement and
Balancing, Entertainment.

 Types of networking systems based on network installations - Centralized

Network Installation, Distributed Network Installation and Collaborative
Network Installation.
  Types of networking systems based on network size - LAN, MAN,WAN,
Internet, Intranet, VPN

 Types of networking systems based on management methods - Peer to Peer,

Client to Server

 Types of networking systems based on topology - . Point-to-point topology,

Bus (point-to-multipoint) topology, Star topology, Hybrid topology, Tree
topology.

References

http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/basicnetworking/whatsnetworking.html

Basic Networking Tutorial 1

www.mof.gov.bt/publication/files/pub9ew3702mv.pdf

Introduction to Computer Networking

vfu.bg/.../Computer-Networks--Introduction_Computer_Networking.pdf

Computer-Networks:
vfu.bg/en/e-Learning/Computer-Networks--Network.ppt

5 Intro to Networking.ppt
www.eie.polyu.edu.hk/~em/.../5%20Intro%20to%20Networking.ppt

YouTube Links:

Introduction to Computer Networks Part 1 - Easy to understand

http://youtu.be/ClPA3F_ZXds

Networking Lecture Part 1

http://youtu.be/psMhKIWvFjU

Chapter 1 Introduction to Computer Networks Networking Basic

 http://youtu.be/JvXro0dzJY8

Chapter-2 Types of Network Media (Networking Basics)

http://youtu.be/Le0IEwUdqB8

Further References:
Basic Networking Tutorial.

www.mof.gov.bt/publication/files/pub9ew3702mv.

Data Communication and Networks

nitttrc.ac.in/Four%20quadrant/dcn/Quadrant%20-%203/FAQ_PDF.pdf

DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND NETWORKING.

18.1 Introduction
18.2 Meaning of Data communication
18.3 Components of communication
18.4 Communication technologies
18.5 Communication technologies applications
18.6 Communication devices
18.7 Communication channels
18.8 Communication network types
18.9 Let us sum up

Learning Outcomes:

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

 To understand the meaning of Data communication.

 To be aware of the various components of Data Communications.
 To understand the transmission of data on the basis of communication technologies
 To understand the transmission of data on the basis of communication technologies
applications
 To understand the transmission of data on the basis of communication devices
 To understand the transmission of data on the basis of communication channels
 To understand the transmission of data on the basis of communication network types

18.1 Introduction:
 This chapter provides an introduction to Computer networks and covers
fundamental topics like data, information to the definition of communication and
computer networks. The main objective of data communication and networking is
to enable perfect exchange of data between any two points in the world. This
exchange of data takes place over a computer network.

18.2 Meaning of Data Communication

When we communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing can be local or

remote. Between individuals, local communication usually covers face to face, while
remote communication take place over a distance. Data communication is the
exchange of Data between two devices via some form of transmission medium. Data
communication is considered local if the communicating devices are in the same
building or a similarly restricted geographical area and is considered remote if the
devices are farther apart.

For data communication to occur, the communicating devices must be part of a

communication system made up of a combination of hardware and software. The
effectiveness of a data communication system depends on three fundamental
characteristics;

1. Delivery: The system must delivery data to the correct destination. Data must be
received by the intended device or user and only by that device or user.

2. Accuracy: The system must delivery data accurately. Data that have been altered
and left uncorrected are unusable.

3. Timeliness: The system must deliver data in timely manner. Data delivered late
are useless. In the case of audio, video and voice data, timely delivery means
delivering data that are produced in the same order that they are produced and
without significant delay.

18.3 Components of Data communication

A Data Communication system has five components as shown in the diagram below:
 Fig. Components of a Data Communication System

1. Message: The message is the information (data) to be communicated. It consists

of text, numbers, pictures, sound or video or any other combination of these.

2. Sender: The sender is the device that ends the data message. It can be computer,
workstation, telephone, handset, video camera and so on.

3. Receiver: The receiver is a device that receives the message. It can be a computer,
work station, telephone, handset, television and so on.

4. Transmission Medium: The transmission medium is the physical path by which

a message travels from sender to receiver. It can consists of twisted pair wire, coaxial
cable, fibre-optic cable, laser or radio waves.

5. Protocol: A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication. It

represents an agreement between the communications, just as a person speaking
French cannot be understood by a person who speaks Chinese.

 Data Representation

Data is set of raw facts which are developed to turn up at the accurate information.
There may be different structure in which data may be symbolized. Some of the
forms of data used in communications are as follows:

1. Text: Text contains arrangement of alphabets in small case as well as upper case.
It is accumulated as a pattern of bits. The common encoding systems are ASCII,
Unicode

2. Numbers: Numbers contains arrangement of digits from 0 to 9. It is stored as a

pattern of bits. The common encoding systems are ASCII, Unicode

3. Images: An image signifies thousand words. In computers images are digitally

stored up.

4. Pixel: A Pixel is the least part of an image. The pixels signify the form of bits.
Based upon the type of image (black n white or colour) each pixel would require
different number of bits to characterize the value of a pixel.

5. Audio: Data can be in the form of sound which can be recorded and transmitted.
Example: The sound we hear on the radio is a basis of data or information.
6. Video: Video refers to showing of data in form of picture or movie.

18.4 Transmission of Data based on Communication technologies:

We can communicate with other devices by sending and receiving data. The data
passes through the following devices. 1. Simplex 2. Half Duplex 3. Full Duplex

Simplex: In simplex mode of data communication, the data passed is one directional,
like a one way road. The data is communicated and for the communication only one
of the two stations on a link can convey the data at that time the other station can
only receive the data. Keyboards and traditional monitors are both examples of
simple devices.

Half Duplex: In half-duplex mode of data communication, the data can be passed
from each of the station. The data can be received and broadcasted, but not at the
same time. In this type of data communication only one device can send message at
a single time, at that time the other device is only receiving the message. The half-
duplex mode is like a one-lane road with traffic allowed in both directions. In this
type of communication when the cars are going in one direction, the cars coming
from the other direction has to wait. E.g. A walkie-talkie.

Full Duplex: In full-duplex mode of data communication, the data can be

broadcasted and received at the same time. The full-duplex mode is like a two- way
road with traffic running in both directions at the same time. In full-duplex mode,
signals moving in one direction share the link with signals moving in the other
direction and hence the sharing happens in two ways. One common example of full-
duplex communication is the telephone network.
18.5 Transmission of Data based on Communication Technology Applications:

Electronic Mail

E-mail is an electronic mail. The messages are sent electronically through a

network. The basic requirement for sending and receiving an email is that
the user must have an email address. Using e-mail requires creating mailbox
with an e-mail service provider. The mailbox is protected with a username and
password.

Instant Messaging

Instant messaging is more on real time online communication between two users. It
is also possible to send attachments as files. There is instant communication that is
seen in Instant Messaging.

VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol)

The VoIP technology has been developed for voice telephonic services in computer
networks and on the Internet. There are service providers offering to replace regular
telephones and phone lines with VoIP technology.
RSS

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) performs the function of delivering the content of
a website in the form of a short description; the entire content can be accessed by
clicking on the links. RSS content on a website is indicated by a special browser icon
or graphical image on the site.

Blog

When a user or an organization posts information on a particular topic in an Internet

site, that particular internet site is called as a blog. Information can be posted as
views on the topic, by the people who are a part of the blog and also by visitors to
the blog. Access to editing and creation of the blog’s content is protected with a
username and password.

Podcast

Podcasting is the process of downloading the audio files that are prepared specially
and are published on the Internet and listening to them on a portable media player.
Podcasts generally comprises of a series of audio files.

Virtual Communities

A virtual community is a social online network created by using the Internet devices
and technologies. One has to be registered to this particular website to access these
services, e.g. online chat rooms; online multiplayer games; Social networking
 services like the Face Book with many features helping the users to post information,
upload videos and publish photos.

18.6 Transmission of Data on the basis of Communication devices:

Data is transmitted between two digital devices on the network in the form of bits.
Transmission mode refers to the mode used for transmitting the data. The
transmission medium may be capable of sending only a single bit in unit time or
multiple bits in unit time.

When a single bit is transmitted in unit time the transmission mode used is Serial
Transmission and when multiple bits are sent in unit time the transmission mode
used is called Parallel transmission.

Based on Transmission Technology: Computer networks can be broadly

categorized in to two types based on transmission technologies:

Broadcast networks: When a single communication channel is shared by all the

machines, then it called as Broadcast networking. A broadcast network is a
combination of services that provides live or recorded content such as movies,
newscasts, sports, and public affairs programs that can be transmitted over a group
of radio or television stations.

Point-to -point networks: When a communication has an end device and the
networks are based on point-to-point communication such networks are called
stations. The switching devices are called nodes. There are nodes that are connected
to each other and others are attached to some stations. These switching nodes have
no concern with the contents of data. Their function is to provide a switching facility
that will allow data to move from one node to another till they reach the destination.

Based on Communication devices

A hardware device that is able of communicating a digital signal from the telephone,
the communication wire or by a wireless mode. A striking example of a
communication device is a computer Modem, which allows sending and receiving
signals for interacting with other computers through the telephone. Wi- Fi devices,
Network interface card acts as a good communication devices.

The different types of communications devices are:

 Bluetooth: Bluetooth is the capability to connect a computer to a mobile without any

wires or special connectors.
 Modem: Modem is the hardware device that facilitates a computer to
convey information over a telephone by exchanging the digital data to be
 made use by the computer into a signal used on phone lines and then
reconverting it at the receiving end.
 Router: A router is a smart device that can direct subnets jointly; routers are also
used transversely to transfer the data across the world.
 Hub: A hub is a non-clever device; it sends messages from one port to all the ports
at one time even if it’s not requested.
 Switch: A switch is a clever device; it transmits data from one to the other port which
is demanded this is quicker and safer device to use.
 Network Interface Card: This is a device which is linked to a user's computer that
allows them to join their computer to a device.
 Servers: A server is used in a network to provide the users of a network with many
features.

18.7 Transmission of Data on the basis of Communication channels:

Transmission media can be made clear as physical passageway between transmitter

and receiver in a data transmission system.

Guided Media

Transmission ability depends vitally on the medium, the length and if the medium is
point- to-point or multipoint, e.g. co-axial, twisted pair, and optical fibre.

Unguided (Wireless) Transmission Medium

It offers a way for broadcasting electro-magnetic signals but do not direct them, e.g.
wireless transmission. A network comprises of two or more computers that are
connected to share resources (such as printers and CDs), replace files, or permit
electronic communications. The computers on a network may be connected through
cables, telephone lines, radio waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

18.8 Transmission of Data on the basis of Network types:

A network comprises of two or more computers that are connected to share resources
(such as printers and CDs), replace files, or permit electronic communications. The
computers on a network may be connected through cables, telephone lines, radio
waves, satellites, or infrared light beams.

LAN (Local Area Networks): A local area network is a collection of

computers linked to each other in a small area. The LAN's are located in a
building or a campus. LAN has the following characteristics:

 Data transmitted at high rate.

 The physical area covered by network is restricted .
 The resources are joined with different methods.
 A LAN structure consists of many Personal Computer terminals but a
universal control terminal controls this network known as Server.

WANs (Wide Area Networks)

WAN has a larger coverage area,
number hence named as Wide Area
WAN is able of covering the entire
railway reservation system, airline
WAN.
the locations are extremely high in
Network. WAN can integrate LAN's.
country or state for interactions. The
reservation system are examples of

WAN has the following characteristics:

 The area enclosed is very big.

 The data transmitted is slow in comparison to LAN.

 The link media is normally a telephone line to be linked to

LAN.
Internet

The Internet is an organization of associated networks that are universal in

scale and assist data communication services such as remote login, file
transfer, email, World Wide Web and newsgroups. With the soaring demand
for connectivity, the Internet has become an interaction highway for
millions of users.

Intranet

With the progress in the Internet, many private groups are executing intranets.
An intranet is a private network make use of Internet -type tools, but accessible
only in that organization. For bigger organizations, an intranet offers an easy
access means to business information for employees.

MANs (Metropolitan area Networks)

The network smaller to WAN and larger to LAN is recognized as MAN

(Medium size network). A model of MAN is a cable network inside a city.
Cable network is getting TV programme from the satellite and it transmits
to numerous user.

VPN (Virtual Private Network):

 VPN uses a system known as channelling to transmit the data steadily on
the Internet to a distant access server in your place of work system. Using
a VPN assists you economically by using the open Internet as a substitute
to long–distance phone calls to join strongly with your private network.
There are two ways to create a VPN connection, by dialling an Internet
service provider (ISP), or linking directly to Internet.

Comparing LAN, WAN, MAN

MAN
LAN WAN
(Metropolitan Area
(Local Area Network) (Wide Area Network)
Network)

Can integrate multiple Uses data

Comparatively small.
LANs. communication

Enclosed in a single Limited in a single city Networks to integrate

building or campus. or metropolitan area. LANs and MANs.

Usually economical to
Costly to execute and Fundamentally infinite
put into practice and
maintain. geographic area.
sustain.

Cost differ widely

Generally owned Generally owned by
based on its
privately. private providers.
configuration.

18.9 Let us sum up

 Data communication is considered local if the communicating devices are in the

same building or a similarly restricted geographical area and is considered remote if
the devices are farther apart.

 For data communication to occur, the communicating devices must be part of a

communication system made up of a combination of hardware and software.

 A Data Communication system has five components: Message, Sender, Receiver,

Transmission Medium and Protocol.

 Transmission of Data on the basis of Communication technologies- Simplex, Half

Duplex, Full Duplex
  Transmission of Data on the basis of Communication technologies applications -
Email, Instant Messaging, RSS, VoIP, Blog, Podcast etc.

 Transmission of Data on the basis of Devices - Bluetooth, Router, Hub, Switch etc.

 Transmission of Data on the basis of Channels - Guided and Unguided transmission

channels

 Transmission of Data on the basis of network types - LAN, MAN, WAN etc.

Learn More
DATA COMMUNICATION AND NETWORKS
nitttrc.ac.in/Four%20quadrant/dcn/Quadrant%20-%203/FAQ_PDF.pdf

Chapter 1 Data Communications and Networks Overview

erdos.csie.ncnu.edu.tw/~ccyang/CSNetwork/Slides7e/01-Overview.ppt

Introduction to Communications and Networks

www.sonoma.edu/users/f/farahman/sonoma/courses/introduction.ppt

Computer-Networks
vfu.bg/en/e-Learning/Computer-Networks--Network.ppt

Data Communication & Networking

www.personal.psu.edu/mes121/Chapter_7.ppt

References

Basic Networking Tutorial.

www.mof.gov.bt/publication/files/pub9ew3702mv.

Data Communication and Networks

nitttrc.ac.in/Four%20quadrant/dcn/Quadrant%20-%203/FAQ_PDF.pdf

ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY IN EDUCATION

Unit Structure:
14.1 Introduction
14.2 Meaning of Technology in Education
14.3 Technology in Education Vis-à-vis Educational Technology
14.4 Types of Technology in Education
 14.5 Role and Application of Technology in Education
14.6 Merits and Limitations of Application of Technology in Education
14.7 Caution in applying Technology in Education
14.8 Let us sum up

14.1 Introduction
Technologies have revolutionised and continue to revolutionise the way we live, work, play,
relax and for that matter practically every aspect of our life. The system of education has also
not remained untouched by the impact of technology. Impact of technology on education can
be seen in two ways: first, in the form of development of various courses of studies about
technological development and their application leading to both technical and liberal degrees
and diploma in different areas of study and second, the application of technology and its allied
tools in the process of instruction, learning and evaluation that even transcends all activities
and functions of educational institutions/agencies at different levels.

In this unit, we will examine the meaning and concept of technology in education vis-à-vis
technology of education and other related terms. We will also examine the role of technology
in education along with its merits and limitations. This unit will hopefully facilitate your
decisions about the use of technology in classroom and non-formal settings, and to be able to
justify your use of the technology to enrich the quality and outspread of the reach to educational
opportunities for learners including adult learners.

14.2 Meaning of Technology in Education

The term ‘Technology in Education’ comprises of two terms viz. technology, which means the
practical application of scientific knowledge to aid and augment human abilities, senses,
intellect, efforts and productivity and education on the other hand refers to the process of
acquiring socially desirable knowledge, skills and values by learning and instruction.
Technology in education, therefore conclusively refers to the use of variety of technological
tools (viz. audio-visual aids, communication media, computer, internet etc.) and applications
for instruction and learning. According to NCERT(2006), the term ‘Technology in Education’
was coined much earlier in the process of evolution of the term “Educational Technology” or
“Technology of Education” and the then educational writers narrowly viewed its meaning as
aids (audio-visual) that can be primarily used as the transmitter of lesson content.
The meanings of these terms are in a constant flux. The ever changing nature of technology
also changes the configuration, structure and application of technology in education along with
the other aspects of human endeavour. It is not surprising that in the evolutionary process the
term technology in education at some point of time rechristened to be referred as technology
of education and at some other point of time as educational technology.

Therefore, in the present context we can only look for a more acceptable meaning of the term
“technology in education” for the practical purpose of furthering our discussion about the role
of technology in education. In this limited sense we can indisputably conclude the meaning of
“Technology in Education” as the use of every form of technology (viz. software and
hardware, including human speech, writing, printing, curricula, chalk and blackboards and in
the recent past, photography, telephone, cinema, radio, television, video and more recently,
computers, internet and other digital and communication media) relevant to education.

The use of technology has enriched the world in all walks of life including that of education.
One can see and feel the change in air as classrooms are becoming modern and teachers and
students are benefiting with gadgets such as computers, Smartphones, tablets, etc. The advent
of internet has made a sea of change in the way teachers can demonstrate concepts and ideas
to children and make learning almost fun. Information today has been encapsulated in internet
which can be beautifully used to allow learning be a fun rather than being a drudgery.

Research indicates that application of technology in education invariably increases students’

learning, understanding, and achievement besides augmenting their motivation to learn.
Technology facilitates collaborative learning and supports the development of critical thinking
and problem-solving skills. Proper implementation of technology in the classroom gives
students more control of their own learning and tends to move classrooms from teacher-
dominated environments to ones that are more learner-centered.

Thus technology in education refers to, but is not limited to the use of hardware and software,
including internet and other related activities, for the purpose of enhancing human capabilities
in the realm of teaching-learning.

14.3 Technology in Education Vis-à-vis Educational Technology

Technology in Education and Technology of Education are two phrases that are really
confusing to many. Technology of education is often referred to as educational technology that
means a complex integrated system involving people, procedures, ideas, devices and
organisation for analysing problems and devising, implementing, evaluating and managing
solutions to those problems involved in all aspects of teaching-learning.

Technology of education deals with systematic application of the scientific knowledge of the
processes of learning that each individual has to pass through in order to acquire and use
knowledge. However, technology in education is not limited to the use of technology to learn
and to impart knowledge in easier and effective manner but also refers to a field of study in
itself for those who are involved with developing technological tools for educational purposes.

For some educational writers “Technology in Education” is preferable, as an expression, to

“Educational Technology”, since the latter seems to imply that there is something intrinsically
educational in the technologies involved, which does not seem the case. The former expression
allows for the possibility that technology that was invented for purposes totally unfamiliar to
education, as is the case of the computer, may, eventually, become so tied to it as to make one
wonder how education was ever possible without it. Human speech, writing, and the printed
books were also invented probably for purposes less noble than education. Today, however,
education is almost inconceivable without these technologies. In a few years the computer and
internet will almost certainly be in the same category.

Some also view educational technology as synonymous with technology in education as it

involves the use of technology as a “tool” to enhance the teaching and learning process across
all subject areas. In that sense educational technology is concerned about teaching and learning
with technology. Many other such expressions viz. instructional technology, information and
communication technology, communication technology etc. are also used in the broader
context of educational technology and technology in education that leads to further confusion.
To have a clearer understanding of these terms let us have a cursory view of the following:
Instructional Technology: Instructional Technology is the process of employing a
combination of techniques or devices (e.g. audio, video, telephone, computer, satellites,
cameras, system approach, teleconferencing etc.) to accomplish a set of instructional
objectives. According to AECT (Association for Educational Communications and
Technology) Instructional Technology is "the theory and practice of design, development,
utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning. “Therefore,
instructional technology is often referred to as a part of educational technology.

Communication Technology: In contemporary times communication technology refers to the

electronic and telecommunication systems (e.g. telephone, fax, internet, e-mail, radio,
television etc.) that facilitate communication between individual and groups who are separated
by distance. Education by and large is the epitome of communicative process hence
communication technology naturally become associated with it.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT): Information and communications

technology in general refers to a diverse set of technological tools and resources used to
communicate, create, store and manage information.
ICT in education similarly refers both to an array of tools, and also to the principles for their
effective application, that advance learning and support a range of activities in educational
settings. When we talk of ICTs, we refer not only to the latest computer and telecommunication
based technologies, but also to simple audio visual aids such as the transparency, slides, tape
recorders, radio, video, television, films etc.

Though these terms are justifiably used in the field of education in some specific sense in
certain context with their semantically defined contour and expression but their purpose and
significance often directly or indirectly link those to that of educational technology and/or
technology in education. Besides, with the increased convergence of the technological designs
and with the coming together of the media, satellite and the computer, the dividing lines
between these different terms are becoming blurred and consequently, the way people define
and refer to these terminologies is also correspondingly getting more and more assorted and
inclusive.

Technology in education as an expression may have been preceded the relatively more
contemporary educational technology or technology of education in terms of preference or
periodic context but so far as the basic purport is concerned these terms individually or
collectively concerned with the improvement of the quality of education with reference to
access, equity and , efficiency. Thus, technology in education like other similar and parallel
terminologies viz. instructional technology, information and communication technology,
communication technology and educational technology aims at augmenting the teaching-
learning process and the reach of education to the needy by integration of advancements of the
knowledge, skills and expertise in the different branches of science and technology.

14.4 Types of Technology in Education

With rapid development of technology, educators, students and parents now have a variety of
teaching-learning tools at their disposal. The technologies that are commonly used in education
for aiding instruction and enhance learning can be classified as synchronous and asynchronous
media based on their basic characteristics.

Synchronous media require all participants in the instructional process to be present together
at the same time even though in different locations but connected by any computer and
telecommunication based system.

Asynchronous media on the other hand allow for participants to study at their preferred time
and place without directly remain connected with the instructor but certainly connecting with
the content of instructional module to which they may have been provided with access off-line.

Table 14.1 Types of Technologies/Media used in Education

Synchronous Asynchronous
Educational Radio Audio Recordings, Podcast
Educational Television Video recordings
Telephone Off-line Multimedia packages
Teleconferencing Downloaded computer files/web content
Audio Conferencing Downloaded video and audio content
Live chats Virtual conferences
Instant messaging E-mail
On-line tutoring system CAI, CMI, CAL, CML etc.
Streaming video and audio

Application of technology in education also includes use of other tools like Cameras (both still
and video), overhead projectors, LCD projectors, computer, smartphones, internet, various
software (like Power Point) to make presentations, sound recorder and acoustic system etc. to
augment classroom instruction. Overhead projectors and PowerPoint software enhance lectures
by emphasizing key points and incorporating photos, graphs, and cartoons into presentations
that would otherwise lack visual interest. Slides and transparencies are of great help for
instructors as those can be prepared in advance to save time.

14.5 Role and Application of Technology in Education

Technology can improve education to a great extent and it has now become a need for
revolutionizing education for the better. Role of technology in education or teaching-learning
can be viewed in so many ways.

To Enhance Presentation
 By involving projective technology and specially designed software laced with
animation, video and interactive components. For example, PowerPoint software can
enhance lectures by emphasizing key points and incorporating photos, graphs, and
cartoons into presentations that would otherwise lack visual interest.
 Optimizing the pace of content delivery
 Illustrating procedures, equipment, or situations that students may not have the chance to
experience first-hand
 Helping students visualize problems they will encounter in real life situation including in
the world of work

To Stimulate Learner Participation

 By reaching to students with different learning styles, including visual, auditory, and
experiential learners
 Providing challenging and engaging learning experiences
 Providing instant feedback
 Providing variety of teaching and learning preferences
 Helping students gain experience with a process or skill
 Encouraging students to interact with teachers and students through, email, chatrooms
etc.
 Building community
 Facilitating effective teamwork

To Enable Self-Instruction
 Allowing students more control of their own learning in terms of pace and preference
 Allowing students to access course material at home and engage with the numerous
online resources available to them
 Adding depth to points covered in lecture or demonstration
 Relieving the students from the monotony of taking notes

To Extend Information Access

 Improving access to educational resources
 Increasing communication among teachers and students
 Emphasizing key points in laboratory or lecture
 Clarifying lecture, laboratory, or textbook explanations

To Help in Administrative Tasks

 Managing learning and other resources of the system. Software like learning management
system tracks attendance, time on task, and student progress.
 Ensuring Comprehensive and objective assessment
 Maintaining students development data
 Timely reporting of students developmental data to their parents
 Allowing teachers' to effectively organize and present lessons
 Reducing the time on routine tasks
 Giving better access to learners with special needs

14.6 Merits and Limitations of Application of Technology in Education

Application of technology has revolutionised the system of education today. Now there is a
trend of increasing use of technology by both teachers and learners. Though the use of
technology has become inevitable at the same time we must make ourselves aware about the
benefits and limitations of the use of technology in education. A meta-analysis of various
researches and the scholarly literature has identified the following benefits of technology in
education.
 Using technology in the classroom allow teachers to effectively organize and present
lessons. Multimedia presentations can make the material more meaningful and
engaging for the students.
 The Internet itself has unlocked a world of opportunity for students. Information and
ideas that were previously out of reach are a click away. Students of all ages can
connect, share, and learn on a global scale.
 Technology, especially the computer and Internet based technology is quite efficient in
providing learning experiences in the form of drill and practice; help diagnose and solve
problems, for accessing information and knowledge about various related topics.
 Technology makes the task of the students easy so far as their access to various
educational materials is concerned. Instructors can post their course material or
important information on a course website, which means students can study at a time
and location they prefer and can obtain the study material very quickly.
 Students usually learn more in less time when receiving computer-based instruction and
they like classes more and develop more positive attitudes toward computers in
computer-based classes (Kulik and Kulik, 1991). Students are more motivated to learn
when they are interested in the subject matter, which can be enhanced by using
technologies in the classroom and targeting the need for screens and digital material
that they have been stimulated by outside of the classroom (Gu, Zhu, & Guo, 2013).
 Technology helps in providing truly individualized learning experience in which
students learn as individuals and not as a homogenous group. Individualized learning
experience can make the students relate to the content, go forward and backward in the
content, start at any point depending upon prior knowledge instead of always in a pre-
determined fixed sequence or as per the group instruction.
 Technology promotes higher order thinking which induces the following:
- Adaptability and managing complexity
- Curiosity, creativity and risk taking
 - Innovative thinking and sound reasoning
- Collaboration and interpersonal skills
 While using multimedia components students tend to individually progress from using
low ordered skills gained from drill and practice activities to higher level thinking
through applying concepts creatively and creating simulations.
 Technology creates more opportunities for extended learning. Now a day a sizable
number of schools and homes have access to computer and the internet. This allows
students to access numerous online resources available to them without moving out of
the comfort of their home and school. Students can use their home computers and
internet to conduct research, participate in social media, email, and play educational
games and to watch and learn from stream videos.
 Using computers or other forms of technology give students practice on core content
and skills while the teacher can work with others, conduct assessments, or perform other
tasks
 Technology ensures high speed delivery of content with wide reach.
 Technology ensures uniformity in delivery of the content of good quality that is
centrally produced by best of the experts in a field of education without discriminating
students of different locality and socio-economic status.
 Technology democratizes education in the sense education is no longer limited to the
privileged few and even those who are downtrodden and poor can learn all the ideas
and concepts which were like a dream to them in earlier times. Internet today has
become very common and it has become a popular mode of dissemination of knowledge
without any discrimination.
 Technology provides alternative modes of education (e.g. distance education, on-line
education, virtual education etc.) by making education more accessible beyond the
traditional time and space paradigm.
 Use of technology reduces the unit cost of education in the long run.
 Extensive integration of technology in the form of e-content, e-textbook, and other
educational software reduces the use of paper and other allied stationaries in the process
of education and thereby promote green education.

Limitations:
Although technology in education has many benefits, there are many limitations as well.
High infrastructure and establishment costs: It requires high initial expenditure to install
technological hardware and software (e.g. to install computers, video equipment, projectors
etc.) systems.

High Maintenance Cost: Heavy expenditure is also involved in maintaining and up keeping
of the equipment. Without proper maintenance and upgrading the costly technological
equipment lose their applicability as the technologies are in a constant flux.

Problems of Reach and Access Remain: Economic condition and financial problems often
come in the ways of equal access to advanced technology in the classroom or access to
educational technological tools like computer, internet, ETV etc. at home. Everyone does not
equally benefit from the use of technology in education. In country like India not only many
students but a large number of educational institutions remained deprived of technology due to
financial issues.

Availability of Suitable Multimedia: Multimedia content those are suitable for local learners
in terms of prescribed curricula and preferred language especially in Indian context is so far
not sufficiently available. Language is an important issue in the teaching-learning process in
India. In many part of the country medium of instruction is the local language. Therefore the
multimedia packages usually available in English or any language other than the medium of
instruction in a local context is of no use.

Digital Divide: It is still a significant barrier to integrate technology into education because
the socio-economic status of a school, and its students, will impact whether resources can be
purchased and implemented in the schools. Technology in education tends to create new classes
of knowledge rich and knowledge poor.
Knowledge rich are those who are privileged to have access to technology integrated education
and the knowledge poor are those who are deprived from the same. Thus, a divide is
inadvertently occurred between haves and have-nots of digital knowledge.
The concept of the digital divide thus defined as a gap between those who have access to digital
technologies and those who do not. This access is with reference to the age, gender, education,
income, ethnicity, and geography or location of the learner.
Standardization of Learning: Technological application in the form of development of e-
content, on-line testing, educational software often leads to standardisation of the learning
experiences ignoring individual and social differences from psychological, social and cultural
point of view.
Ignoring of Affective Traits: Technology is mostly used as a tool of delivery of the content.
Often being enthusiastic only about the effective delivery of content and transmission of
knowledge and information as the sole purpose of education we forget the more social and
humane aspect of education to bring about desirable behavioural and attitudinal changes in
learners. Technology mediated education devoid of humanistic touch may result only in
mechanical learning of certain quantum of information on the part of the learner rather than the
essential affective traits.
Problem of Reorientation and Retraining of Teachers and Students: For effective use of
technology in teaching-learning process the teachers and students require to undergo frequent
reorientation and retraining. However many educators do resent the idea of reorientation and
training. Lack of proper knowledge of the purpose and use of educational software often results
in underuse, misuse and even abuse of technology.
Misuse of Technology: It is observed that students tend to misuse technology like computer
and internet for playing games and browsing undesirable content other than the suggested
learning content.
Technical Failure: Technological failure or malfunction either due to poor maintenance of
hardware or updating of software usually disrupts the instructional process. In India lack of
uninterrupted power supply in most part of the country is the main cause of such technological
failures.
Loss of Time: The poor functioning of the technological tools often in the form of lack of
internet connectivity, poor speed of download and upload accidental data loss due to sudden
system failure etc. results in tremendous wastage of valuable time of learners as well as the
others in the teaching-learning process.
Attention Deficit Syndrome: Electronic devices such as cell phones and computers facilitate
rapid access to a constant stream of sources, each of which may receive cursory attention.
According to Rich brains of the students of digital generation are rewarded not for staying on
task, but for jumping to the next thing. However, the worry is we are raising a generation of
kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.
Threat to Ethics of Education: It has been observed that, increasing use of technology in
education especially the use of computer and computer based technologies resulted in rampant
violation of intellectual property rights (IPR). Now students have been found indiscriminately
engaged in the unethical act of copy-paste exercise in the name of doing assignments and
projects. This trend of over dependency on internet and other digital sources deprive the
students to tap their own innovative and creative abilities. Some educators also do not mind in
compromising with IPR while preparing courseware and other works of professional
development.
Before we use technology in education it is more important that we recognize both its strength
and limitations. Otherwise we may either end up in misusing technology in education or
rendering the technology useless.

14.7 Caution in Applying Technology in Education

Technology can be used meaningfully for the benefit of learners, teachers and others in the
system of education. At the same time technology can be misused and abused. We must try to
make the most of technology in education and to check the misuse and the abuse of it by taking
certain precautions.
Establish Guidelines: Students do better when they know what is expected of them. They
must be explained in advance how any technology works and the goals for using a particular
technology of education. If the purpose is to incorporate Web discussions or online chats into
a class, for example, it should be ensured that students know what kind of responses are
expected from them and how their responses will be evaluated.
Encourage Student Interaction: Use of technology can lead to passive learning, as when
students watch a video or read Web content with no follow-up. Therefore, to ensure that the
students stay engaged with the material they may be involved in discussing video presentations
in groups or by searching for and summarizing their own Web research.
Vary Technology: Students frequently divert from their learning task and therefore
maintaining of their motivation to complete the learning task is very important. By adopting
different technology students can be helped to stay focussed and active in their learning task
without getting bored. Media presentations can also enhance lessons by capturing students’
attention and providing visual or auditory examples of subjects discussed in class. Make sure
that you preview any resources you plan to use in class, and cue them to the appropriate spot
before class begins. Providing a viewing guide or asking students to pay attention to certain
issues will help focus their experience and prevent them from tuning out. Stop the video lessons
at regular interval for discussion, questions, and to reinforce important points.
Facilitate Access: Copies of video, audio or other material used in class should be kept
reserved in the library for students who missed class or otherwise would like to review the
materials. Students must be provided with complete reference for finding the basic course
material and supplementary web resources so that they can easily access those without wasting
time unnecessarily for searching for the same.
Practice: Technology can take some time to master. Class time is precious so teachers should
refrain from spending time in an unproductive manner like fumbling with Internet connections
or troubleshooting software etc. Instructors should get themselves adequately familiarized with
the technology outside of class regarding where to plug equipment in, how to open a program,
when to break for discussion, when to ask questions, what to do in the event of any unforeseen
technical failure etc.
Backup Plan: It is a good idea to always have backup plan or material on hand. Carry a hard
copy of lecture notes rather than relying on PowerPoint slides. Prepare a written summary of
video you planned to show, or bring students to the library rather than conducting research
online. In some cases, one may be required to have an entirely different lesson plan on hand.
Ensure equal Opportunity for All: Make sure that media-based experiences can be enjoyed
by all the students, including the differently abled learners. All students must get equal chance
to actively participate in technology laced or technology mediated lesson without any fear or
favour on any grounds.
Select Appropriate Technology: Evidence suggests that educational technologies can
improve student achievement, so long as such tools are integrated thoughtfully into teaching
and learning. When digital capabilities like, online environments are incorporated
meaningfully into instruction, students have new opportunities to learn and achieve. Matching
learning outcomes to appropriate technologies is an important step for effectively integrating
technology into classroom teaching and learning. Technology will benefit the learning if it
enhances the presentation of a concept, motivates the learner, and provides an authentic
learning experience.
Avoid Overuse: Technology is a tool with which course content is learned. Overuse of
technology where it is not needed can unnecessarily distract the students focus from learning
task and even obscure a point.
Set Ethical Principles: For the meaningful and honest use of the content that is available in
the media or internet students should be provided with clear cut guidelines based on ethical use
of others intellectual property be it write-ups, photographs, video or audio clips, charts,
diagrams, presentations, books, articles etc. Students should be encouraged to refer but at the
same time be cautioned not to plagiarize others work or even to use others work in their own
project without due acknowledgement or without permission.

14.8 Let’s Sum-up

Technology is changing the face of teaching-learning and education. Teachers have more
resources available to present the content and learning experiences, and students have more
opportunities to engage themselves in learning. The teaching and learning are increasingly
becoming more and more effective with the intervention of technology.
In this module we have seen that technology in education like other similar and parallel
terminologies viz. instructional technology, information and communication technology,
communication technology and educational technology aims at augmenting the teaching-
learning process and the access of educational opportunities to all by systematic integration of
the knowledge, skills and expertise advanced in the different branches of science and
technology.
We have discussed how technology can be effectively used to improve the classroom
presentation, motivate students, stimulate active participation of learners, give enriched
learning experiences to the students, objective assessment of students’ progress, reporting of
learners progress to their parents and others otherwise significant, relieve teachers from the
mundane administrative and allied workload and so on and so forth. The application of
technology in education is also apparent from the fact that how efficiently and effectively
educational services are delivered today.
With emerging technologies such as computers, tablets, netbooks, interactive whiteboards and
wireless solutions gaining ground in the education system, the reliance on technology by the
education is touching new heights.
The application of technology in education has its own sets of benefits and limitations.
Therefore while thinking about integrating technology in education it is required to:
- check the prearrangements as necessary for the use of particular technology;
- select relevant technologies that are suitable for the goals and outcomes of the course;
- choose a range of technologies that are motivating and intellectually challenging for the
learners;
- assess the pros and cons of the particular technology to be used;
- ensure equal access to students without discrimination;
- ensure the preparedness of the learners to benefit from the technology; and,
- Formulate a set of guidelines regarding dos and don’ts of using technology ethically.
Thus, we have seen how technology can be a great addition to the system of education.
Technology is playing a significant role in the system of education by improving student
learning and helping students reach their goals. The range of technologies is vast with
tremendous potential and it increases every day. Ultimately it will be up to us to evaluate the
potential effectiveness of a particular technology for our course and our students.

References
Chen, Irene and Jane Thielemann (2008). Technology Application Competencies for K-
12 Teachers. Information Science Pub.: Hershey, New York.

Dunn, Dana (2011). Best Practices for Technology-enhanced Teaching and

Learning: Connecting to Psychology and the Social Sciences. Oxford University
Press: New York.

Gu, X., Zhu, Y. & Guo, X (2013). Meeting the “Digital Natives”: Understanding the
Acceptance of Technology in Classrooms. Educational Technology & Society, 16
(1), 392–402
Kulik, Chen-Lin C., Kulik, James A. (1991)."Effectiveness of computer-based
instruction: An updated analysis." Computers in Human Behavior (1-2): 75-94.

NCERT (2006).Position Paper on National Focus Group on Educational Technology.

NCERT: New Delhi.
Ritchel, Matt (2010). Growing up Digital, Wired for Distraction. The New York Times.
21 Nov. 2010
http://www.ehow.com/about_4815039_advantages-disadvantages-technology-
education.html
http://www.mu.ac.in/myweb_test/ma%20edu/ICT%20-%20Edu..pdf. ICT in Education

http://www.unesco.org/education/aladin/paldin/pdf/course01/unit_13.pdf

https://ict3year.wikispaces.com/Difference+between+Educational+Technology,+Instruct
ional+Technology+and+Information+%26+Communication+Technology
https://wiki.uiowa.edu/display/edtech/Advantages+and+Disadvantages+of+Technology

Web Resources for further Reading/Research

http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-technology-of-education-and-vs-
technology-in-education/#ixzz37W5o1BZ1
http://wikieducator.org/Need_and_Importance_of_Information_Technology_in_Education
https://wiki.uiowa.edu/display/edtech/Advantages+and+Disadvantages+of+Technology
http://www.ehow.com/about_4815039_advantages-disadvantages-technology-
education.html
https://marcplamondon.nipissingu.ca/wiki/2011_Education.Advantages-and-
Disadvantages-of-Digital-Technology-in-Education.ashx
http://tools4clil.wordpress.com/2012/08/08/advantages-and-disadvantages-in-using-
information-technologies/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educational_technology

http://lheilman.myweb.uga.edu/artifacts/6100_what_%20is_%20instructional_tech
nology_%20final_%20submission.pdf(What is instructional technology?)
E-Learning in the 21st Century: A Framework for Research and Practice. Routledge.
"Technology's Impact". Electronic-school.com
http://technoedu.weebly.com/advantages-and-disadvantages.html Technology as a
Communication Tool within the Education System

Video Links:
 www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXyCECMxhOs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbVKPhVCRFI (Technology in the Classroom-
Digital Media)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfN5SSiRoPs (The Future Starts Now)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSKZ718qTYo Advantages and Disadvantages of using

Technology in Education
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHIgHkVswWkApplication of Communication Technology in
Distance Education Uploaded by Commonwealth of Learning

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbxbNKsZ9gQ (The Role of ICT in Education)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFwWWsz_X9s History of Technology

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP_6gbDKNTsConcept of Educational Technology, Need
& Significance … Uploaded by idol mu

LEGAL AND ETHICAL ISSUES OF USING ICT

Module structure
21.0 Learning Outcomes
21.1 Introduction
21.2 Copyright
21.3 Steps to protect copyright
21.4 Copyright infringement/violation
21.5 Plagiarism
21.6 Prevention from plagiarism
21.7 Hacking
21.8 Prevention from hacking
21.9 Let us sum up

21.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Tell the meaning of copyright, hacking and plagiarism.
 Explain how to avoid copyright violation and how to protect copyright.
 Explain how to prevent from being hacked.
 Explain how to prevent from indulging in plagiarism.

21.1 INTRODUCTION

With so many people using computers today and many of them being connected to the internet,
gives rise to many problems. Information is easily accessible, and so it has become easy to
download or copy information. This leads to problems like plagiarism and copyright violation.
Many users worry that others will misuse their computers and might steal their data to commit
fraud. These are some of the legal and ethical issues related to using ICT and teachers need to
have a reasonable amount of information about these issues.

21.2 COPYRIGHT

 Copyright means that the owner has complete control of what can be done and to what
extent with his/her original intellectual work. The original work is protected under
copyright and thus it cannot be stolen or copied without the permission of the owner. .
 "Copyright is a legal device that provides the creator of a work of art or literature,
or any work that conveys information or ideas, the right to control how the work
is used" (Fishman, 2008).
 The intent of copyright is to advance the progress of knowledge by giving the author of
a work an economic incentive to create new works (Loren, 2000).
 Copyright provides the owner an exclusive right to reproduce the original work or
prepare derivative works from the original work, and distribute it publicly. For e.g. if
somebody wants to develop a play on your short story, you have the right to license
your work and permit others to use it and get paid for it.
 A Copyright protects the expression in some tangible form e.g.: a literary work like
novels, stories, dramatic work such as plays, music etc. but it does not protect an idea
or the titles of works.
 The original work is often displayed with the © symbol to display that it is copyrighted.
Example: © T. Genne 2007.

Obtaining Copyright:

You have copyright protection as soon as you make the expression in a tangible format.
Copyright is automatic and requires no paperwork.

Works that can be copyrighted:

Tangible, original expressions can be copyrighted whereas a verbal presentation that is not
recorded or written down cannot be copyrighted. According to the United States Copyright
Office (2008), there are three fundamental requirements for something to be copyrighted:

 Fixation: The item must be fixed in some way. It can be done by writing something
on a piece of paper, posting online, or storing on a computer or phone, or on an audio
or video device.
 Originality: The work must be original. Originality can be a novel or a student's email
message to a professor. Both are considered examples of original expression.
  Minimal Creativity: The work must include something that is above and beyond the
original. A reference to the original work that is used to discuss a new concept would be
considered original.

Protection provided by the copyright:

Copyright provides the authors a fairly substantial control over their work and protects it from
being misused. The four basic protections that the copyright provides are the right:
 To create copies of the original work.
 To sell or distribute copies of the work.
 To prepare new works based on the protected work.
 To publish the protected work in public.

Limitations of Copyright:
Following types of work cannot be copyrighted:
 Works in the public domain which includes:
 Ideas and facts, as they are intangible.
 Words, names, slogans, or other short phrases also cannot be copyrighted
 Government works, which include:

 Judicial opinions.
 Public ordinances.
 Administrative rulings cannot be copyrighted.

 Works created by federal government employees as part of their official responsibility.

Despite providing maximum protection to the original work, copyright also has some
limitations, of which Fair Use is the most significant on the copyright holder’s rights as
there are no set guidelines for it. However there are exceptions and limitations also to the
copyright law that people are allowed to use copyrighted material for the purpose of criticism,
comment, and research, news reporting and teaching.

21.3 STEPS TO PROTECT COPYRIGHT

1. Ensure your work is properly marked:
Although a copyright notice is not required, you must display a notice which shows that
you have an awareness of copyright and take violations of your work seriously.
2. Register your work:
You should register your work as it helps you to provide a verifiable proof in case of
copyright violation.
3. Keep or register supporting evidence.
Supporting evidences may help to prove that you are original creator of material. It falls
into two categories:

 Evolution of ideas: This is an evidence of the progression of the work which

can be in the form of early drafts, synopsis, rough recordings, sketches, etc.
  Footprints or watermarking: This is normally an evidence inserted into
finished documents.

21.4 COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT/VIOLATION

Copyright infringement occurs when someone copies a copyrighted work without permission
and either passes it off as his or her own, or uses substantial portions of the work without
permission and without fair use. To prove copyright violation, you need to prove that you are
the owner of the work and that the work is entitled to copyright protection. This means that
your work has the requisite level of originality. If you register and obtain your certificate of
copyright within five years of creating the work, then that is evidence of the validity of the
copyright. The second thing you need to prove is that there has been copying of your work.
When a work becomes available for use without permission from a copyright owner, it is said
to be “in the public domain” and this happens because their copyrights have expired.

To know how you will face the copyright issues in the classroom, click on following link.
 http://www.knowyourcopyrights.org/bm~doc/kycrfaq.pdf
 http://www.slideshare.net/WCU_Becca/copyright-infringement-8018424

21.7 PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is when a project is submitted as if it is his own creation, whereas the project was
prepared by copying somebody else’s work. . Let us discuss the meaning of plagiarism.

CONCEPT OF PLAGIARISM

According to the Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, to “plagiarize” means

 To steal one’s original work and pass it off as their own
 To use someone else’s production without crediting the source
 To commit literary theft i.e. using the contents of the original work and not citing the
original source.
To present your work as new and original idea

In simpler terms, plagiarism involves both stealing someone else’s work and also lying about
it afterward. It is the use of another’s original words and ideas as though they were your own.

All of the following are considered as plagiarism:

 Copying someone else’s work as your own.
 Failing to put a quotation mark in quotations.
 Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation.
 Changing the words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving
credit.
 Copying so many words and ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your
work, whether you give credit or not.
Consequences of plagiarism:

Following are the consequences of plagiarism.

• Failing in the assignment or getting poor or lower grades
• Failing in the class or detention
• Expulsion or rustication from school
• Termination from workplace
• Court appearance and fines or may be both, in some cases
• Embarrassment and humiliation faced due to the above mentioned charges.

Detecting plagiarism:
 Identify distinctive phrases (2-3 words) in student’s papers. Search for them using a
search engine such as Google to detect any kind of theft from the original work.
 Search for a relevant subject using a Web search tool, well-known ‘page mill’ sites
under various topics, online databases (EBSCO, ProQuest) and CD-ROM reference
tools. Once you find a suspect source, use your browser’s ‘find’ tool to locate
distinctive phrases from student papers.

21.8 PREVENTING PLAGIARISM:

 Plan your paper: If you know you are going to use other sources of information, you
need to plan how you are going to use them. You should balance your own ideas and
other sources to support it.
 Take notes: Take notes from all your sources for a research paper so that you have
much of the information organized before you begin writing. Prepare for a research
paper by taking thorough notes using different coloured fonts, pens, or pencils for each
one, and making sure that you clearly distinguish your own ideas from those you found
elsewhere. Also, get in the habit of marking page numbers, and make sure that you
record bibliographic information or web addresses for every source.
 Make it clear who said what: Even if you cite sources, make sure that when you mix
your own ideas with those of your sources, you always clearly distinguish them.
  Know how to paraphrase: A paraphrase is a restatement in your own words. Changing
a few words of the original sentences does NOT make your writing a legitimate
paraphrase. You must change both the words and the sentence structure of the original,
without changing the content. Paraphrased passages still require citation because the
ideas have come from another source, even if you are putting them in your own words.
 Cite references and use footnote: A “citation” is the way you tell your readers that
certain material in your work has come from another source. It also gives your readers
the information necessary to find that source again. Giving credit to the original author
by citing sources is the only way to use other people’s work without plagiarizing.

21.5 HACKING
Internet security is one of the major fears of computer users. They mainly fear the exposure of
their secure documents and information and also of the hackers who break into their security
system to get information via unethical act. Hacking is illegally accessing someone else’s
computer without permission, regardless of the activity or intent.
What hackers can do?
 Invade your privacy
 Delete information
 Damage files
 Impersonate you on your computer
 Decreases owner’s right to income

21.6 PREVENTION FROM HACKING

 Tough passwords: You need to have a separate password for each account, so that
even if one account gets hacked, all of your important information is not accessed by
hackers. The problem is that it is tough to remember dozens of passwords. To help you
with this, there are a variety of third-party software programs that will create and store
passwords for you.
 Authentication: Many email providers offer a “two-factor” authentication option in
your settings. When you sign on with your password, a message is sent to your phone
that prompts you to enter an additional access code which you can use.
 Change Your Behavior: Oversharing may cause harm. Things like birth dates and
graduation years can be used to access your information and so avoid sharing too many
details about your life.
 Keep back up: Use an external hard drive or an online service. Being hacked can be
the gateway to identify theft or worse.
 Keep your email secure: Your email is the centre of your online life. You should keep
it most secure. If your email is hacked, hackers can access your bank accounts as well.
 Change password frequently and use lengthy password: Your password should be
changed every month or every two months and made difficult to guess. The length of
your password is more important than complexity. Longer passwords means more work
for hacking software and hackers generally want quick results.
  Update your system: Programs like Acrobat PDF reader, Microsoft and Java are
heavily abused by hackers. So keep these programs up to date and uninstall software
you no longer use.
 Use antivirus: Use antivirus programmes as many of them provide protection from
spyware, malware and viruses.
 Stick to secured sites: Web addresses that begin with “http” use the basic Hypertext
Transfer Protocol. But with “https,” the “s” on the end stands for “secure”: It
authenticates the website and the Web server you are communicating with.
 Be email cautious: Many a times, we all receive emails and do not really know who
the source is. So never open an email especially an attachment from an unknown source.
Infections can come from already-hacked friends, too. Example: A hacker sends an
infected message to everyone in the victim’s online address book. Open its attachment
and you unwillingly become an infection spreader too. Be suspicious if a friend appears
to have sent you an email with no subject line, a subject line that only says “RE” or
“FW” or is uncharacteristically vague or brief, especially if the email text contains an
Internet link.
 Be careful what you click. Avoid clicking links that promise free prizes or gifts. Be
cautious of third-party security alerts. If you are browsing the Internet and a website’s
pop-up tells you have viruses, it could be a trap to get you to download harmful files.
Some hackers hire call centres overseas. They claim to be from Microsoft or whatever,
they may say “we have detected a virus on your machine; go to this website, download
and run this program so we can fix it for you.” This gets them inside your machine.
 Be cautious of software downloads: If you are getting software at a discount or for
free online, there are lots of pirated software out there, and there is the possibility of
some sort of malware in it. When you are ordering any kind of software for any device,
buy it conventionally like from a manufacturer’s website and not through links.
 Be cautious about USB flash drives: You may get this as a gift from someone, but it
could have some other software stowed away. Once on your computer, it may get access
to all your files or infect your information. Any peripheral connected to a computer can
infect it.
 Be alert about apps: Be careful what you put on your phone. If you go to a website
you do not know, what you are buying for 99 cents could be designed by a hacker
anywhere in the world. Always use reputable apps, and select them cautiously.
The number of platforms (like Windows, Apple, and Android) with app stores is
increasing; but there are some bad alternative app stores also for Android out there.
Users should stick with the official one for their platform.

21.9 LET US SUM UP

Copyright is one of the important legal issues in this technology era. Copyright protects the
right of the creator of work which is fixed anyway, creative and original.
Copyright gives the right to make copies of work, to sell or distribute the work, to prepare new
work and to perform the work in public.
Copyright can be protected by proper fixation of your work, by marking about copyright on
your work, by registering your work and keeping supporting proof of your work.
Plagiarism is an important ethical issue. Plagiarism is stealing somebody’s work and fail to
give credit of it to the original creator. Right from straightaway copying entire material to
paraphrasing somebody’s work both include in plagiarism. It is essential to plan the writing
work, writing in own language, and giving references wherever necessary could be some of the
ways to prevent plagiarism.
Hacking is both ethical and legal threatening issue. Hacking is illegally accessing someone
else’s computer without permission. For preventing hacking, one should keep difficult and
lengthy password, authenticate email, keep back up, keep email safe, be cautious about apps,
unsecure website, email, USB drive and should update the system.

"It seemed that when people entered the computer centre they left their ethics at the door"
Donn Parker," Rules of Ethics in Information Processing" in Communications of the
ACM, 1968
It is very essential to inculcate ethics and make people aware about issues like copyright and
hacking.

REFERENCES:

 Lathrop, Ann & Kathleen Foss. Student Cheating and Plagiarism in the Internet Era.
Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2000.
 Bowman, Vibiana. The Plagiarism Plague. New York, Neal Schuman, 2004
 http://www.iage.com/PAplagshort.ppt
 http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/03/02/3660568/10-easy-ways-to-protect-
yourself.html#storylink=cpy
 Radcliff, Deborah, Jan, 1999. Internet Security News: [ISN] Hackers for Hire.[Online]
Available at: http://www.landfield.com/isn/mail- archive/1999/Jan/0053.html
 Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia, March, 2004. [Online] Available at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacker
 Riley, James, 2001. Industry looks to get hacked to bits. [Online] Available at:
http://www.consensus.com.au/ITWritersAwards/ITWarchive/ITWentries01/itw 01f-
jr-ih36.htm
 Kapica, Jack, March, 2004. Globetechnology: The syntax of Viruses. [Online]
Availableat:http://www.globetechnology.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040304.gtkapi
camar 4/BNStory/Technology/
 Internet and Network Security, 2004. Introduction to Intrusion Detection Systems
(IDS) [Online] Available at:
http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/hackertools/a/aa030504_2.htm
  Internet and Network Security, 2004. Hacker tools – Utilities used by hackers, crackers
& phreaks. [Online] Available at: http://netsecurity.about.com/cs/hackertools/
 Panda Software, 2004. Panda Software – About. [Online] Available at:
http://us.pandasoftware.com/about/press/viewNews.aspx?noticia=4842
 Platform Logic, 2004. SoBigF: Intrusion Prevention. [Online] Available at:
http://www.platformlogic.com/solutions/mydoom.asp
 http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/copyright.cfm

SUGGESTED READING

 http://www.slideshare.net/Group_5/working-with-ict-ethical-social-and-legal-issues
 https://www.indiana.edu/~istd/
 http://www.rbs2.com/plag.pdf
 Click here to get guide on plagiarism

PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF USING ICT IN EDUCATION

Module Structure:
20.0 Learning outcomes
20.1 Introduction
20.1.1 Psychological principles of using ICT in education
20.1.2 Multimedia principle
20.1.3 Coherence principle
20.1.4 Redundancy principle
20.1.5 Personalization principle
20.1.6 Contiguity principle
20.1.7 Spatial contiguity principle
20.1.8 Temporal contiguity principle
20.1.9 Split attention principle
20.1.10 Individual difference principle
20.2 Let us sum up

20.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 State various principles of using ICT in education.

 Explain Multimedia principle, Coherence principle, Redundancy principle,
personalization principle, Principle of split-attention effect, Principle of spatial
contiguity, Principle of Temporal contiguity, Principle of individual difference
 Apply the above mentioned principles while using ICT in education.
20.1 INTRODUCTION

While designing Power Point presentations, developing an online course, you may need to
reconsider how you will get the students to engage with the material without much traditional
face-to-face interaction. When we watch images, presentations, videos or animations, we find
some of them are more effective than that of others. Some of the material helps in better
retention. You must be curious to know what makes this difference and how to make use of
ICT to get better results, to help the students to learn in an effective way and help them to retain
the learned material.

Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning consists of three main assumptions:

1. There are two separate channels for processing information: auditory and visual.

2. There is a limited channel capacity.

3. Learning is an active process of filtering, selecting, organizing, and integrating information.

Based on these assumptions, there are different psychological principles of creating any e-
content or multimedia which is important aspect of ICT.

20.2 PSYCHOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF USING ICT IN EDUCATION

• Multimedia principle
• Coherence principle
• Redundancy principle
• Personalization principle
• Principle of split-attention effect
• Principle of spatial contiguity
• Principle of Temporal contiguity
• Principle of individual difference

Let us discuss about these principles works while using ICT.

20.3 MULTIMEDIA PRINCIPLE

If you want your students to understand the use of hard disk, the following picture
would be very helpful to make students understand.
 Words help us to express the message we wish to convey. Verbal messages are efficient
and easy to create. Pictures help to make concrete and clear, the message we wish to
convey. The multimedia principle suggests including both words and graphics. Students
learn better from words and pictures than words alone. Graphics help active learning.
Students make mental connection between pictures and text. Words alone may cause
slow learning process. When words and pictures are both presented, learners have an
opportunity to construct verbal and visual mental images and to build connections
between the two.

Learning occurs by the encoding of new information in permanent memory called long-
term memory. According to a theory called Dual Encoding, content communicated with
text and graphics sends two codes i.e. a verbal code and a visual code. They have two
opportunities for encoding into long-term memory resulting in higher retention and
learning.

The application

Undoubtedly graphics can boost learning. However, it will be important to select the
appropriate graphics. It should support to the text and the learning goal.

ACTIVITY

Check the following websites.

http://www.learnabout-electronics.org/bipolar_junction_transistors_04.php

http://amasci.com/amateur/trshort.html

 Which of these two examples do you think gives you the information you need?
 Which is better for learning?
 Are they doing the same job?
 What is the target audience for each?
20.4 COHERENCE PRINCIPLE

In the above two slides, slide B is better to learn as it does not include extra
information which may create confusion in the mind of the learners.

“People learn better when extraneous material is excluded rather than included.”

Extra information of any kind may prove as a distraction. The coherence principle states
that all non-essential information in multimedia messages should be avoided to
minimize demands on cognitive resources. When the purpose of a text, or text and a
graphic, is to instruct someone, the only thing that should be on that page or slide is
what is absolutely necessary. This will give the viewer a better understanding of what
is being taught. Anything extra would be meaningless and may distract the viewer.

This distraction is called “seductive details”. These can be the words, audio, or graphics.
They provide interest, give the additional fact about the topic or make the page more
appealing.

When we present an explanation with multimedia, it is better to use fewer words and
pictures. Studies have found that students are better able to retain information if it is
presented as a short summary. They are able to focus on relevant words and pictures.
Shorter presentations allow learners to select relevant information and organize it
efficiently.

‘A seductive detail from a quality lesson’ - From Clark and Mayer, 2002

The application
The understandable idea of coherence principle is ‘less is more’. It suggests that images
or text that is not essential to the instructional explanation be avoided.

While making use of ICT, extraneous words, pictures, and sounds should be excluded
from the presentations. Presentations should be clear and concise. Text bullet points
should be used. Only keywords should be used in PPT slides instead of paragraphs or
sentences.

20.5 REDUNDANCY PRINCIPLE

Some e-Lessons provide words in text and even in audio that reads the text. This seems
like a good way to present information. Research however, points out that learning is
actually depressed when a graphic is explained by a combination of text and narration
that reads the text. Working memory is burdened if an on-screen graphic is explained
by both text and narration.

Animation Visual
Eyes
component
Printed
Ears Auditory
words
component
Narration

Presenting words in text and audio can overload working memory in presence of
graphics.

The application
It is advisable to avoid narration of text when there is a demanding visual illustration
on the screen. This is especially important when working memory is subject to
overload. For e.g. during an animation in which learners has limited control over the
pacing or during the presentation of complex new information. In contrast, when there
is no graphical information on the screen, then research to date would suggest that
presenting words in the text and auditory format would help in learning.
Click here to see the example of redundancy principle

20.6 PERSONALIZATION PRINCIPLE:

Use of conversational tone and pedagogical agents to increase learning:

While in a conversation with someone you are expected to listen and respond in a
meaningful way. This requires you to concentrate your attention on what the person is
saying. Then you process it and generate a meaningful response.
The application
While you write the script for your e-Lessons, use first and second person
constructions. For example, dialogue such as, “Hello friends! Are you ready to learn
about legal and ethical issues in using ICT?”
One example is shown in the Figure below. In this program designed to teach reading
comprehension at fourth to sixth grade level, the agent Jim is introduced and appears
throughout the program to show readers comprehension strategies that have worked for
him.

Jim serves as a pedagogical agent (With permission from Plato Learning Systems)
Source of all information: http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/384/six-
principles-of-effective-e-learning-what-works-and-why/page2
Click here to see the example of principle of personalization

20.7 CONTIGUITY PRINCIPLE

Principle of Contiguity refers to the alignment of graphics and text on the screen. In e-
Learning when a scrolling screen is used, the words are placed at the top and the
illustration is placed under the words so that when you see the text you can’t see the
graphic and vice versa. This is a common violation of the contiguity principle that states
that graphics and text related to the graphics should be always placed close to each other
on the screen for better retention.
Learning occurs in humans by way of working memory which is an active part of our
memory system. Working memory is not very efficient. It can only hold seven facts or
items at a time.
Working memory capacity is needed for learning to occur. When working memory
becomes overloaded, learning is low. If words and the visuals they describe are separate
from each other, the learner needs to expend extra cognitive resources to integrate them.
As against in materials in which the words and graphics are placed continuously, the
integration is done for the learner.

20.8 SPATIAL CONTIGUITY PRINCIPLE

From the above slides, it is better to learn as the corresponding words are presented
near corresponding graphics.

Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented near
rather than far from each other on the page or screen.

 Text should be close to or embedded within the images in the presentation.

 Try to make text and graphics as integrated as possible for effective learning.
 Placing text under an image is sufficient, but placing the text within the image
is more effective way of presentation.

Descriptive words should be positioned inside graphic element. The contiguity

principle is followed when the labels for the parts of the brain are placed physically
near the parts of the brain to which they correspond.

Principle of spatial contiguity is violated in the following examples.

 Captions are placed at the bottom of full screen.

 While learning programming, the learner had to use both a manual and a
computer.
 Students view a screen with a diagram and text. Students read one or two
sentences of text, and then inspected the portion of the diagram that was
described, and then inspected a new portion of the diagram that was described,
on so on.
 Separating visuals and text may lead to lack of coordination.
 Obscuring connection with scrolling text.
 Feedback on a separate screen from practice question.
 A second browser window covers related information on the main screen.
 Directions for exercise on separate screen from exercise itself.

Psychology of contiguity
 When words and images are separate, people must use scarce cognitive resources
just to match them up. They might lead to overloading of working memory.
 Fewer resources are available to organize and integrate material in memory.
 Contiguity reduces load on working memory and thus increases learning. Learning
process than become effective.

20.9 TEMPORAL CONTIGUITY PRINCIPLE

It would be difficult for the students to understand the concept of pitcher plant with the
help of these two slides as pictures and related information is it is presented on two
different slides.

Students learn better when corresponding words and pictures are presented
simultaneously rather than successively.

Simultaneous presentation increases the chances that a learner will be able to hold
corresponding visual and verbal representations of the same event in working memory
at the same time.

 Keep the text and visual material together in the slide.

 Keep the presentation of words and pictures in a synchronized manner.
 Not to have a slide of text and then a slide of a graphic illustrating the text on
the previous slide as it might lead to confirm.
 Think of each PowerPoint slide as an entity in itself. It should have an integrated
image and text.

Principle of temporal contiguity is violated in the following examples:

 If students process the entire narration before they see an animation, they will
not learn much as compare to when they hear the narration while they watch the
animation.
 A separation of text and graphics because of the need to scroll from one to the
other on a computer screen.
 Separation of quiz questions from feedback.
 Separation of a main lesson page and linked windows that pop up.
 The presentation of exercise directions.
 Using a graphic legend to show the parts of the graphics.
 A temporal separation of graphics and narration.

Advantages of using temporal contiguity principle:

The dual-channel capabilities of humans’ channels narration to the ears and animation
to the eyes. The capacity of each channel is not limited and does not require that learners
hold a lot of material in either channel. The need for active cognitive processing
encourages learners to make connections between corresponding visual and verbal
representations.

20.10 SPLIT ATTENTION PRINCIPLE:

This principle states that students learn better when the instructional material does not
require them to split their attention between multiple sources of mutually referring
information.

Instructional split-attention occurs when learners are required to split their attention.
Attention is divided and they mentally integrate several scattered sources where each
source of information is essential for understanding the material. Cognitive load is thus
increased by the need to mentally integrate multiple sources of information. This
increase in extraneous cognitive load will result in having a negative impact on
learning.

The application:

 When use a Multimedia in an explanation, present words as auditory narration,

rather than visually as on-screen text.
 Information presented orally with animation can be split between the visual and
verbal systems and processed with greater ease.

E.g. Students who viewed an animation depicting the formation of lightning while also
listening to a corresponding narration learn better than students who viewed the same
animation with corresponding on-screen text consisting of the same words as the
narration.

20.11 INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE PRINCIPLE:

Every human is unique in nature; each person experiences a different response to an
exercise program. Some of these differences may be related to body size and shape,
genetics, past experience, chronic conditions, injuries and gender.

Multimedia effects, contiguity effects, and split-attention effects depend on individual

differences in the learner. Each learner is likely to have different learning experiences.

The aforementioned three principles are more important for low-knowledge learners
than high-knowledge learners and for high-spatial, rather than low-spatial learners.
Students who lack prior knowledge had stronger multimedia and contiguity effects than
learners with higher prior knowledge.

The Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning states that learners with high spatial
ability can more easily hold visual images in working memory. They can benefit from
the simultaneous presentation of words and pictures.

20.12 LET US SUM UP

While designing any type of e-content it is very essential to consider various principles.
Even while selecting online material for students, one should do the selection based on
the principles. The main principles of using ICT are Multimedia principle, Coherence
principle, Redundancy principle, Personalization principle, Principle of split-
attention effect, Principle of spatial contiguity, Principle of Temporal contiguity,
Principle of individual difference.

These principles should give you the basics since all e-Learning programs must rely on
some combination of graphics, text, and audio to deliver their content in an effective
manner. The research that has been done, the psychological foundations of why the
principles work and some examples of how the principles are applied, should make one
feel more confident in using them and give learners a better learning experience.

REFERENCES

 Clark, R.C. (1999). Developing Technical Training: A Structured Approach for

Developing Classroom and Computer-Based Instructional Materials. Silver
Spring, MD: International Society for Performance Improvement.
 Clark, R.C. and Mayer, R.E. (2002). E-Learning and the Science of Instruction:
Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer.
 Clark, Ruth and Chopeta Lyons (2004). Graphics for Learning: Proven
Guidelines for Planning, Designing and Evaluating Visuals in Training
Materials. Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer
  Harp, S.F. and Mayer, R.E. (1998). How seductive details do their damage: A
theory of cognitive interest in science learning. Journal of Educational
Psychology, 90 (3), 414-434.
 Kalyuga, S., Chandler, P., and Sweller, J. (2000). Journal of Educational
Psychology, 92 (1), 126- 136.
 Moreno, R. & Mayer, R.E. (2002). Verbal redundancy in multimedia learning:
When reading helps listening. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94 (1), 156-
163.
 Reeves, B., &Nass, C. (1996). The Media Equation. New York: Cambridge
University Press.
 Richard Mayer (2001). Multi-Media Learning. Cambridge University Press
 http://www.cognitivedesignsolutions.com/Media/MediaPrinciples.htm

SUGGESTED READING

• http://ericsnewblog.blogspot.in/

• http://www.learningsolutionsmag.com/articles/222/designing-for-mobile-
learning-clark-and-mayers-principles-applied/page2

• Mayer and Moreno, A Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning:

Implications for Design Principles at http://www.unm.edu/~moreno/PDFS/chi.pdf

• http://blogs.adobe.com/captivate/2010/12/eseminar-resources-making-
effective-elearning-modules-appying-the-contiguity-principle.html

 http://www.slideshare.net/murrypryor/multimediaprinciple?next_slideshow=1

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH TO ICT IN EDUCATION

Module Structure:

23.0 Learning outcomes

23.1 Introduction
23.2 Definitions of Constructivism
23.3 Types of Constructivism
23.4 Principles of Constructivism
23.5 Es of Constructivism
23.6 Constructivism and ICT
23.7 Let us sum up
23.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of constructivism

 Explain cognitive constructivism and social constructivism
 State the principles of constructivism.
 Explain 5 Es of constructivism.
 Apply constructivism in ICT in education.
 Explain the use of ICT while applying constructivism in education.

Constructivism is basically a theory -- based on observation and scientific study -

- about how people learn.

23.1 INTRODUCTION
Constructivism is basically a theory based on observation and scientific study about
how people learn. Constructivism says that people construct their own meaning from
experiences that cause them to re-evaluate and change or adjust their prior knowledge.
There is not a fixed body of knowledge for students to learn. Students are not vessels
that a teacher fills with a set knowledge. The knowledge is ever changing and relevant
to the learner. Constructivists believe that children are learning the material through
making their own connections with prior knowledge. The students are constructing this
knowledge as well.
Constructivists allow their students to be involved in questions and activities that allow
for this repeated disagreement in knowledge. Through this repeated disagreement
students will construct new knowledge. One strategy that helps students transfer
knowledge in a constructivist classroom is to organize information around relevant
clusters of problems, questions, and situations.
Constructivism is active learning. Through constructivism students are guiding and
assessing their own learning. They are not just taking in information but are making
their own interpretation of an experience and then elaborating and testing those
interpretations. The teacher acts as a coach, guiding the students along their path of
learning. Teachers must also support student’s understandings rather than providing the
students with the answers. The teacher encourages all students to express their ideas as
they learn. Constructivist approaches emphasize both the process of the learning as well
the product.
Constructivism is a philosophy about learning that proposes learners need to build their
own understanding of new ideas.
Where does the theory come from?
Two of the most prominent constructivist researchers are:
 Jean Piaget (stages of cognitive development)
 Howard Gardner (multiple intelligences)

23.2 DEFINITIONS OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

 According to Brooks and Brooks “Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded
on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own
understanding of the world we live in.”
 According to Cashman, “Constructivism is based on a type of learning in which
the learner forms, or constructs much of what one learns or comprehends:”
Constructivists believe that “learners construct their own reality or at least interpret it
based upon their perceptions of experiences, so an individual’s knowledge is a function
of one’s prior experiences, mental structures and beliefs that are used to interpret
objects and events.”
Studies show that students remember 90% of what they say and do, but only 20% of
what teachers say. This illustrates the need for creating classrooms that fit the way
students learn, the essence of constructivism. Constructivism focuses on the students as
shapers of meaning and knowledge. It is based on improving the students' critical
thinking skills, not just focusing on the content to be learned. It trains them "how to
learn." Once students understand the ways they learn, they can carry this process with
them into the future, as they encounter new and different situations.

23.3 TYPES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM

 Cognitive constructivism
Cognitive constructivism is proposed by Bruner. Learning is an active process. Learner
construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current and past knowledge. Bruner
stressed on understanding of the structure of the subject being learned. Active learning
and reasoning is required for true understanding. The learner should engage in
discovery learning obtaining knowledge by themselves. They select and transform
information, construct hypotheses, and make decisions. To make these things happen,
learner should be provided the environment, experiences which are possible through
ICTs. Computer simulation immerses the student in learning environment that model
real world situations. Computer based simulations of real environments in which
learners construct knowledge as they explore and design new worlds.

 Social constructivism
Vygotsky is the main proponent of social constructivism. Social constructivists believe
that knowledge is constructed and mutually built in the social context. Social interaction
leads to social learning which further leads to cognitive development. A student can
perform a task under adult guidance or peer collaboration. ICTs are helpful in providing
opportunities for students to learn with the teacher and peers in constructing knowledge
and understanding. ICT boosts collaborative learning and social learning. Social
networking like Facebook, WhatsApp etc. make social learning a reality. Use of email
and computer mediated communication provides the opportunities for collaborative
learning based on a social constructivist approach.
23.4 PRINCIPLES OF CONSTRUCTIVISM
 Learning should be viewed as an active process:
Learning is an active process in which the learner uses sensory input and constructs
meaning out of it. The learner needs to do something; that learning is not the passive
acceptance of knowledge which exists "out there" but that learning involves the learner
is engaging with the world.

 It should be understood that people learn to learn as they learn:

Learning consists both of constructing meaning and constructing systems of meaning.
For example, if we learn the chronology of dates of a series of historical events, we are
simultaneously learning the meaning of a chronology. Each meaning we construct
makes us better able to give meaning to other sensations which can fit a similar pattern.

 Learning involves language:

The language we use influences learning. Researchers have noted that people talk to
themselves as they learn. On a more general level there is a collection of arguments,
that language and learning are inextricably intertwined. The native language is found
to be more effective in learning.

 Learning is a social activity:

Our learning is intimately associated with our connection with other human beings, our
teachers, our peers, our family etc., including the people before us or next to us at the
exhibit. Much of traditional education is directed towards isolating the learner from all
social interaction and towards seeing education as a one-on-one relationship between
the learner and the objective material to be learned. In contrast, progressive education
recognizes the social aspect of learning and uses conversation, interaction with others,
and the application of knowledge as an integral aspect of learning.

 Learning is contextual:
We do not learn isolated facts and theories separate from the rest of our lives. We learn
in relationship to what else we know, what we believe, our prejudices and our fear.
Learning is active and social. We cannot divorce our learning from our lives.

 One needs knowledge to learn:

It is not possible to assimilate new knowledge without having some structure developed
from previous knowledge to build on. The more we know, the more we can learn.
Therefore any effort to teach must be connected to the state of the learner and must
provide a path into the subject for the learner based on that learner's previous
knowledge.

 Learning needs time:

Learning is not instantaneous. For significant learning we need to revisit ideas, ponder
them try them out, play with them and use them. If you reflect on anything you have
learned, you soon realize that it is the product of repeated exposure and thought. Even,
 or especially, moments of profound insight, can be traced back to long periods of
preparation.

 The crucial action of constructing meaning is mental:

Learning happens in the mind. Physical actions, hands-on experience may be necessary
for learning, especially for children, but it is not sufficient; we need to provide activities
which engage the mind as well as the hands.

 Motivation is a key component in learning:

Motivation helps learning as well as it is essential for learning. Unless we know "the
reasons why", we may not be very involved in using the knowledge that may be instilled
in us even by the most severe and direct teaching.
Click here to watch the constructivism in the classroom
23.4 5E’s of Constructivism
The Biological Science Curriculum Study (BSCS), a team whose Principal Investigator
is Roger Bybee developed an instructional model for constructivism, called the "Five
Es”
The 5E’s of Constructivism model has following steps:
I.Engage:
Excite the learner and engage the learner to develop interest in the topic.
 In the stage Engage, the students first encounter and identify the instructional task.
 They make connections between past and present learning experiences; stimulate their
involvement in the anticipation of these activities.
 Asking a question, defining a problem, showing a surprising event and acting out a
problematic situation are all ways to engage the students and focus them on the
instructional tasks.
 Students are motivated.
 Demonstration, reading, graphic organizers, brainstorming are used to engage
students.
For e.g. showing videos or images of light travelling in a straight line.

II.Explore:
Students have the opportunity to get directly involved with the phenomena and materials.
 In the Exploration stage, the students think, investigate/ test/ make decisions/ problem
solve/collect information. They may perform investigations. Read resource material,
construct models etc.
 They develop a basis of experience with the phenomenon.
 As they work together in teams, involved in sharing and communicating.
 The teacher acts as a facilitator, providing materials and guiding the students' focus.
 The students' inquiry process helps in their own learning during an exploration.
For e.g. Students experiment with material

III.Explain
Learners explain what has been understood through an activity.
 Students are involved in analysing their exploration. Their understanding is clarified and
modified through reflective activity.
 The learner begins to put the abstract experience in concrete language form.
 With the help of language, the learner sequences events into a logical format.
 Communication occurs between peers, the facilitator, or within the learner himself.
 Working in groups, learners support each other's understanding as they articulate their
observations, ideas, questions and hypotheses.
 The teacher (the facilitator) introduces labels, after the child has had a direct experience.
For example a child, may state they have noticed that a magnet has a tendency to "stick"
to a certain metallic object. The teacher, in her discussion with the child, might
introduce terminology i.e. "an attracting force".
 Common language enhances the sharing and communication between facilitator and
students. The facilitator can determine levels of understanding and possible
misconceptions.
 Students may explain in the form of created works such as writing, drawing, video, or
tape recordings. They provide recorded evidence of the learner's development, progress
and growth.
 In all, students may analyse and explain, support ideas with evidence, question in a
structured manner, read and discuss, compare, classify, analyse error.
For e.g., use of cooperative learning strategy for students to explain what they explore.

IV. Elaborate
The students expand on the concepts they have learned.
 They may involve in problem solving, decision making, experimental inquiry and
thinking skill activities such as compare, classify and apply.
 They make connections to other related concepts.
 They apply their understanding to the world around them.
For example, while exploring light phenomena, a learner constructs an understanding
of the path light travels through space. Examining a lamp post, she may notice that the
shadow of the post changes its location as the day grows later. This observation can
lead to further inquiry as to possible connections between the shadow's changing
location and the changes in direction of the light source, the Sun.
Applications to real world events, such as where to plant flowers so that they receive
sunlight most of the day - this is extensions and applications of the concept that light
travels in a straight path.
 These connections often lead to further inquiry and new understandings.

V. Evaluate
 Ongoing diagnostic process
 It helps teachers to understand the learner’s understanding
 Helpful for teachers, students, parents
 Helpful for improving lesson planning
 Evaluation and assessment can occur at all points along the continuum of the
instructional process. Some of the tools that assist in this diagnostic process are:
  Determined hand-in-hand with the lesson design,
 Teacher observation structured by checklists,
 Student interviews,
 Portfolios,
 Project and problem-based learning products,
 Embedded assessments.
 Concrete evidence of the learning proceed is most valuable in communications between
students, teachers, parents and administrators.
 Displays of attainment and progress enhance understanding for all parties involved in
the educational process. These evidences of learning serve to guide the teacher in
further lesson planning and may signal the need for modification and change of
direction.
For example, if a teacher perceives clear evidence of misconception, then he/she can
revisit the concept to enhance clearer understanding.

Teacher should reflect on the following questions to have constructivist learning:

1. Do I give freedom to students?
2. Do I encourage students to take initiative during this lesson?
3. Do I provide extra information to engage them in learning?
3. Do I encourage critical thinking?
4. Do I create an environment where students get the opportunity to build
knowledge?
5 Do I give an assignment as per student’s interests and thereby motivate students
to learn through their interest?
5. Do I give opportunity to students to explain their understanding before giving
my own answers?
6. Do I provide opportunities for dialogue about the concept?
7. Do I ask open-ended questions?
8. Do I seek elaboration on the students' initial responses?
9. Do students get opportunities to realize whether or not their present conceptions
are correct?
10. Do I allow sufficient wait time after asking questions?
11. Do I allow enough time for students to work with the concept(s)?
12. Do I provide chances for students to use their natural curiosity?

23.6 CONSTRUCTIVISM AND ICT

Constructivism has a complementary relationship with technology, both benefit each
other. Technology aids constructivist learning. Students spend more time in active
construction of knowledge when technology is involved in the learning. Students
actually learn more and in less time with computer-based instruction. This makes
constructivism and technology a useful tool in education. Constructivism has the
framework that is supportive of technological learning. Technology does not only
benefit from constructivism but constructivism also benefits from technology. New
technology makes content construction more accessible. Students are more engaged
and motivated to learn when technology is involved. Technology can be used to find
and process information. It can also be used to help students to reflect on their learning.
This type of learning encourages higher level thinking.
Constructivism promotes open ended learning experiences where the methods and
results of learning are not easily measured and may not the same for each learner.
Purposeful knowledge construction may be facilitated by an environment which is
created by using ICTs appropriately. Constructivism demands learners’ active
participation which is possible in the form of in class participation, group submission,
interactions which becomes possible and smoothen with the help of ICTs.
The use of ICTs within the classroom helps to engage learners and enhance
constructivist based learning opportunities. The integration of ICTs can create
knowledge using interactive activities at a pace that is determined by the learner. It can
create an opportunity for instructors to break away from conventional scheduled class
limit. ICTs provide varied learning experiences for diverse learning styles.
Structures and goal oriented online discussion can increase a student’s ability to
articulate ideas, collaboratively construct shared knowledge which results in
constructivist learning experiences.
Blogs can enrich constructivist learning in an interactive structure that encourage public
reflection and dialogue between students.
e-portfolios can promote constructivist learning as it is a tool to provide students with
the ability to share knowledge and self-reflection with other students.
Constructivist learning stresses the need of openly sharing knowledge. Various social
networking sites like Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp allows students to speak with peers
within virtual learning communities. It also allows students to present their views and
critically analyse the views of others.
Computer aided learning offers students the ability to verbally compose and share
knowledge within an online social context to gain multiple perspectives.
Different ICT tools that support constructivist learning increases students’ ability to
participate in peer interactions, group reflection and discussion.
Technology and constructivism can support cognitive and metacognitive skills. There
are many problems that are preventing teachers from using constructivism in today’s
standards-based environment. These teachers feel the pressure of all the content that
students need to learn. They do not feel that they are able to or have the freedom to use
constructivism theory in their classrooms. Another problem is that their past
experiences affect how they teach. Teachers may think they are using constructivism
when their teaching still has roots in traditionalism. With the needs of the 21st century
many education professionals are seeing the need for a constructivist environment.
Constructivism provides students with the higher thinking skills which are necessary in
the 21st century. Even though many teachers see the need to use constructivism in their
classroom, they do not have enough understanding, or are unsure on how to apply it to
enhance their students learning. Teachers need training not only on how to incorporate
technology in the classroom but how to enhance the learning through a constructivist
approach.
23.7 LET US SUM UP
Constructivism is a theory about how people lean. Constructivism says that people
construct their knowledge on their own experiences and build their understanding of
new ideas. Jean Piaget and Howard Gardener are two prominent constructivists. There
are two main types of constructivism i.e. cognitive constructivism and Social
constructivism.
The underlying principles of constructivism are learning is active process, people learn
as they learn, learning involves language, learning is a social activity, learning is
contextual, one needs knowledge to learn, learning needs time, learning happens in
mind, learning needs motivation.
Roger Bybee developed instructional model for constructivism- “Five Es” / 5 Es are
Engage, Explore, Explain, Elaborate and Evaluation.
Constructivism has a complementary relationship with technology, both benefit each
other. Technology aids constructivist learning. Constructivism also benefits from
technology.

REFERENCES

 http://edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Constructivist_learning
 http://www.miamisci.org/ph/lpintro5e.html
 http://www.funderstanding.com/piaget.cfm
 http://web.psych.ualberta.ca/~mike/Pearl_Street/Dictionary/contents/P/piaget’s_stage
s.html
 http://pdts.uh.edu/~srmehall/theory/social.html
 http://www.artsined.com/teachingarts/Pedag/Constructivist.html

SUGGESTED READING
Fosnot, catherine twoomey. Constructivism: theory, perspectives, and practice. New
York: teachers college press, 1989.

WEB LINKS
http://www.phschool.com/eteach/social_studies/2002_12/essay.html
http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/
Click here to watch ppt on 5 E's of Constructivism
Click here to watch PowerPoint presentation on constructivist approach in the classroom
Click here to watch constructivist based lesson plan of social science
 CONCEPT OF E-LEARNING
Module Structure:

26.0 Learning outcomes

26.1 Introduction
26.2 Concept of e-learning
26.3 Characteristics of e-learning
26.4 Need of e-learning
26.5 Advantages of e-learning
26.6 Limitations of e-learning
26.7 Let us sum up

26.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of e-learning

 Describe the history of e-learning
 State the characteristics of e-learning
 Explain the advantages of e-learning
 Explain the limitations of e-learning

26.1 INTRODUCTION

In today’s techno era, we have new challenges and expectations in the classrooms
where students expect a higher level of classroom interaction with the inclusion of
multimedia in it. This can be made possible through e-learning.

26.2 CONCEPT OF E-LEARNING

Definitions of e-learning:

“E-learning refers to the delivery of learning, training or education program by

electronic means.”

“E-learning refers to electronic applications and processes to learn”.

“E-learning is a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer
technology.”

E–learning is also called as ‘Distributed learning’ ‘Distance learning’, ‘technology

enabled learning’.

E-learning can be defined as an instructional content or learning experiences

delivered or enabled by electronic technology; it is a structured, interactive approach
to educating and informing the students, employees, etc.

E-learning is also called as ‘Distributed learning’ ‘Distance learning’, ‘technology

enabled learning’ and it refers to the use of Internet, Intranets or Extranets to deliver
a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance.

E-learning refers to ‘technology driven learning’ enabled by Internet. Click here to

watch video on concept of e-learning

26.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF E-LEARNING

 Delivery of digital content: Computer technology has minimized the load of

books and note books as the learning material is well stored in the form of
digital content which can be used at anytime, anywhere.
 E-learning: It makes use of wide range of electronic devices and instructional
materials like CD-ROM, DVD, Internet, intranet and other web based
facilities.
 Distance learning: Modern day cutting edge information and communication
technologies provide opportunities for anytime-anywhere learning, where
learners as well as instructors can interact beyond any geographic boundaries
and collaborate to get the maximum benefit of the global network called
internet and other computer and information technologies. E-learning is
especially meant for distance learning and it goes beyond traditional learning
system.
 Faster response time: There can be real time interactions between the learner
and instructor which is beneficial to the learner as both the learner as well as
the instructor can respond at their convenience and the learning can take place
easily.
 Quick and easy updating of course content: The instructor can easily
update the information with the latest version of the material which is
immediately available to the learners.
 Interaction with an expert: The students can incorporate threaded
discussion to discuss their coursework not only with their peers but also
develop a messaging system for asking questions to the subject expert.
 Customized course content: In e-learning instructional material can be
tailored to meet the particular needs of syllabus and students.
26.4NEED OF E-LEARNING

Academic and professional organizations agree that using e-learning environments

can offer sound pedagogical benefits.
 To enhance communication: Web-based education tools provide many
ways to increase and improvise the quality of communication between class
members and faculty, including discussion boards, chats, and e –mails
thereby enhancing student-to-student and faculty-to-student communication.
Researchers have found that adding these elements to a course increases a
student’s motivation and participation in class discussions and projects.
Students are more willing to participate which serves as a motivator. Learner
feel empowered people feel more empowered.
 To maintain equal opportunities: E-learning enabled to give students equal
opportunities. Due to e-learning, it is possible to provide Quality learning
material to all over the world. Student can get opportunities to interact with
experts from any corner of the world. Each individual has the same
opportunity to share their knowledge, opinion. They can do this by posting
messages without any typical distractions such as seating arrangements,
volume of student voices, and gender biases. Therefore even shy and anxious
students feel more comfortable expressing ideas and backing up facts when
posting online instead of speaking in a class room. Research prove that online
discussions provoke more confrontational and direct communication
amongst students.
 To learn with different learning styles: An instructor can present these
materials in a variety of formats to accommodate different types of learners.
For example: if an instructor puts both lecture notes and slides online, both
visual and auditory learners will benefit. Students who prefers to learn by
watching and listening. They need not to worry about missing lectures. On
the other hand they can focus on understanding the material and concepts as
they are presented. Students with attention difficulties benefit, as materials
provided not only show how the instructor has grouped and prepared
materials in the handouts, but also indicate what items are most important.
 Provides additional learning and reflective experiences: When students
participate in online discussions, they are exposed to an extra time of
information rehearsal. Typically, students rehearse information when they
study for exams or complete assignments as well as when formulating
thoughts into sentences and typing those thoughts on the computer. When
instructors post discussion questions or short essay assignments in the online
portion of a course, students must attend to and reflect on the subject matter
before responding. This results in reflection and articulation of content, as
the very process of reporting and writing about what they have learned and
engages the students in an active learning experience. It also reduces reliance
on physical attendance.
 In traditional education, students working on group projects must co–
ordinate with their schedules. In distance learning environments, this may
not even be possible, forcing participants to work independently. When e-
learning collaborative tools are available, co-ordination is no longer an issue.
Providing a project team with asynchronous discussions and file uploads,
students can work in groups without any problem.
 Continuous evaluation: Learner assessments are essential in education.
Tests and surveys inform the instructor whether teaching methods and course
structures are successful providing just-in-time methods to assess and
evaluate student’s progress. These assessments also determine if student’s
progress is satisfactory. Online assessment tools provide the instructors with
many ways to build, distribute, and compile information quickly and easily.
 To provide continuous reinforcement: Frequent assessment provides
concept reinforcement and increases motivation. Instructors can post practice
exams and end-of-chapter reviews without worrying about finding the time
and resources to analyse the results. Students can access these assessments
at any time, privately in the comfort of their homes. Since grading is
computerized, students receive immediate feedback. This may also help
students who suffer from test anxiety relax and minimize embarrassment for
those who perform poorly.

26.5 ADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING

 Less expensive: Initial investment is high in case of e-learning as E-learning
makes use of authoring software to produce asynchronous learning content.
Once the complete learning content is ready, costs virtually reduce to zero.
Synchronous programs have continued costs associated, with instructor
managing the class, but these costs are still lower than the traditional courses.
As we aren’t using a trainer’s time or any infrastructure or equipment, e-
learning is much cheaper. Classroom training involves a lot of expenses;
those from teaching to traveling, learning materials and others. Tele-
education would, in comparison, cut cost on an average of 30-50% as it does
not require the learner to travel. In addition, you don’t need to budget neither
for an instructor to deliver each session, nor for a venue, or other
miscellaneous costs such as refreshments and renting special equipment like
overhead projectors.
 Self-paced learning: E-learning provides the benefit of self -paced learning.
Different kinds of learners learn at varying speeds, and an in-person, group
session is a good solution. But E-learning gives the learner complete control
over their rate of learning, and lets them spend time according to their need.
E-learning is both more efficient and effective, and it also prevents gifted
learners from becoming bored simultaneously supporting the slow learners.
 The course material is available online anywhere in the world. So learners
can control their time to access their course content and study. It also
provides the opportunity for learners to flexibly choose individual course
modules that suit their own time availability and learning pace.
 Faster Learning: e-learning courses progress faster than traditional courses.
This is partly because the individualized approach allows learners to skip
material they already know and understand and move onto the issues they
need to learn.
 Reliability and consistency of study material: In regular class-room
teaching environment, there is hardly any consistency in study material being
distributed to learners. This is because of the fact that each instructor has its
own individualized way of imparting knowledge to learners, which leads to
inconsistencies between the lectures and content being delivered by different
instructors at different times.
Each time an instructor conducts an in-person learning, it’s going to be
slightly different. Whether the instructor misses out some information,
spends extra time on a certain subject, or is simply more enthusiastic and
motivated on a particular day, no instructor can guarantee a completely
consistent experience whereas e-learning is always consistent. Since you can
revise your content to the fullest, you can be confident that you're delivering
the best possible version of your course, every time. Hence it is more reliable
to deliver content in e-learning environment
 Anywhere-Anytime Learning: E-learners can attend learning sessions from
anywhere and anytime. It make learning possible for people who would
never have been able to work it into their schedules because of their busy
schedule. As E-learning does not force students to rely on school
hours/college hours and has the ability to submit enquiries through e-mail at
any time, they hey can watch archive sessions at their convenience.
For e.g. A student who is doing any online course can assess session at any
time, post his/her queries at any time and even appear for the examination
as per his convenient time.
• Course content can be easily updated: Online e-learning provide easy
and up -to-date learning material because the updated materials are uploaded
to a server, from where that can be accessed by learners. Eg. According to
the most recent data published by CertifyMe.net on the state of eLearning in
corporate education, 72% of the organizations interviewed believe that
eLearning is providing them with the competitive advantage by continuing
to keep them on top of changes in their particular market.
 Time saving: E-learning reduces institutional expense for both the cost and
time associated with copying, assembling, and distributing these materials.
Instructors can also use E -mail to send messages directly to students or the
Announcements feature to communicate with the entire class. Not only does
 this ensure that students receive the materials, but it is also environmentally
appealing, as it reduces paper waste.
 Utilizes time efficiently: The time saving elements introduced by web -
based education tools apply to both the instructor and the student. Students
benefit because they have immediate access to course materials at any
location and they do not have to spend time walking across campus to the
instructor’s office or searching for a reading in the library. Instructors can
minimize time spent in office hours, and address student concerns online
instead.
Eg. IBM, after rolling out an eLearning program for managers, found that
participants learned nearly five times more material without increasing time
spent training. (Article: eLearning Success- measuring the ROI impact and
benefits, May 2013).
 Reduced learning times- Brandon-Hall Study, reported that eLearning
typically requires from 40% to 60% less employee time than the same
material delivered in a traditional classroom setting.

 Makes students techno savvy: E-learning can have the added bonus of
developing the learner’s computer skills, particularly for learners who don't
regularly use computers, or have beginner-level computer skills. As E-
learning is through web browser, which relies on computers with hardware
and software, learners will become familiar with technology, thus making
them receptive to new technology.
 Better retention: E-learning facilitates the inclusion of various audio-visual
effects within learning material that can be integrated with the course
modules which provides better immersive and involving experience to the
learners. Also other tools like quizzes, discussion forums and user groups
can be used in an e-learning environment which ultimately will help in better
retention for the students. Furthermore, it allows the learners to revisit or
replay sections of the learning that might not have been clear the first time.
Thus e-learning offers better opportunities to the learners for more effective
and fruitful learning experience.
E.g. The Research Institute of America found that the eLearning experience
increases the retention rate by 25-60%. The reason behind this increase is
control of students over the learning process. Students were also provided an
opportunity to revisit the training as needed.

 Flexible: What e-learning offers over in-person learning, is that it can be

completed at a pace, time and location determined by the learner. This makes
e-learning easy to fit around the learner’s schedule, especially since it can be
tackled in smaller chunks, and doesn’t force the learner to set aside time for
travelling to and from the learning location. This also makes e-learning a
 very accessible solution for learners who would otherwise struggle to attend
in-person learning.

e-learning’s flexibility means that it can fit easily around the learner's work
activities, so the learning is less likely to interfere with their actual job. This
flexibility saves you money, either indirectly by ensuring the learner remains
productive and consistent throughout the learning, or more directly by
helping you avoid overtime costs, or having to arrange cover for the learner's
work activities.
 Mobile: As e-learning can be done on laptops, tablets and phones – it is very
mobile and learning can be done anywhere anytime thereby saving a lot of
time and energy.
 No Travel: As e-learning can be done wherever you have a device capable
of doing so, you can fit it in to your schedule and also save money on the
costs of travel. As mentioned before on the public scheduled blog, external
courses can sometimes only be sourced in locations far away from your
company and you then have to pay the costs of travel as well as
accommodation. E-learning takes these costs away completely.
 Technological Possibilities: e-learning is fast becoming a more and more
popular method and with it, the investment into how to improve it further.
Learning is made easier with the new technological advancements in the field
of computers and different apps are helping to further reinforce the learning
whilst forums can be used to greatly increase the amount of interaction
amongst learners. This is only going to improve as time passes by.
Click here to watch video on advantages of e-learning

26.6 LIMITATIONS OF E-LEARNING

Despite everything that e-learning has to offer, there are some disadvantages. Being
aware of these disadvantages is essential when you’re deciding whether e-learning
is right for you, and also when you're designing your e-learning, to help you avoid
those potential pitfalls.
 Lack of Motivation: Making the learner responsible for their own learning
has its advantages, but there are some disadvantages, too. Firstly, e-learning
is more reliant on the learner’s motivation and time management than in-
person learning, so those who struggle in these areas can fall behind. There
are also more distractions and opportunities for procrastination, than in the
classroom environment.
 Lack of face-to-face interaction: An important part of traditional
classroom, is the opportunity participants have to learn from one another
through discussion and debate. When there’s a lack of interaction in e-
learning can result in the loss of information transfer, loss of interest in the
learner due to isolation and finally loss of his/her motivation to learn. Access
to technology: E-learning relies on the learner having access to certain
 technology, whether it’s a reliable internet connection, a particular mobile
device, or Flash. You need to make sure all of your learners have the
technology required to access and complete your course. It’s also important
to take your audience’s level of computer skills into consideration.
 Lack of Control: Learners with low motivation may fall behind when using
e-learning as there are no set times to be doing it and they are responsible for
the organization themselves. A lack of routine or fixed schedule can mean e-
learning becomes complicated with various deadlines often given to different
people at different stages of their learning.
 Learning Approach: It doesn’t appeal to all learning styles as some may
prefer images, some prefer just reading words and some prefer to talk about
or actually do a task in order to learn. It is still a challenge to make e-learning
appeal fully to these groups as different people learn better or worse using
different styles.
 Isolation: A lot of questions are easily answered when face to face with
someone when you can guarantee an immediate answer. e-learning often
doesn’t allow that with learners. This leaves them isolated and can often
demotivate individuals as they feel they don’t have the support and
reassurance that the physical presence of a trainer provides.
 Technology Issues: With heavy reliance on computers in e-learning, comes
the potential risks accompanying it. First, you need to ensure that all learners
have a device that is able to support the learning modules. Also some e-
learning tools require software such as Flash that devices like iPads don’t
support. So all requirements need to be set out at the beginning. Poor internet
connection and unavoidable general random faults also can interrupt learning
and therefore needs to be planned beforehand. This is especially true if it is
a global roll out as Internet connections and power reliability changes
dramatically between countries.
 Computer Competency: Some learners might not be very comfortable
using computers, especially if their jobs don’t require them to. Therefore
even if the software is user friendly, the very idea of using the software can
be daunting and demotivating for some. Therefore these learners are likely
to learn a lot less than they would from a physical course.

To know about future trends and technologies in the e-learning industry

Click http://elearningindustry.com/future-elearning-trends-and-technologies-in-
the-global-elearning-industry

LET US SUM UP
E-learning is the delivery of learning, training or education program through
electronic devices. It is mainly useful for distance learning.
E-learning includes delivery of digital content through various electronic devices
like CD-ROM, DVD or even through internet. Through e-learning, it is possible to
update the content quickly and easily. It is possible to have interaction with expert.
e-learning is needed to enhance communication, to provide equal opportunities, to
provide additional learning and reflective experiences, continuous evaluation and
continuous reinforcement.
e-learning is less expensive, self-paced learning, fast learning, anytime-anywhere
learning, time saving, flexible and mobile learning. It make students techno savy and
helps them to improve retaintion.
e-learning has some limitations also. This type of learning lack motivation, lack face
to face interaction, and lack human touch. Teachers and students require proper
training, knowledge, skill and appropriate attitude related to computer
but the reality is e-learning is already ensconced in our education system. From e-
mail to learning management system, education is going electronic. The e-learning
is a treasure trove of rich benefits and exciting advances just waiting to be
discovered. But there are also major pitfalls that must be carefully avoided.

REFERENCES
 Thompson J., Bakken J., Fulk B., Karlan G. (2004) ‘Using Technology to
improve the Literacy skills of students with disabilities’ retrieved from
http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/disability.pdf
 Mangal S.K. &Mangal Uma. Essentials of educational technology. PHI
learning Pvt. Ltd. 2010.
 Rajsekar, S. Computer education. Neelkamal publication.2008.
 Singh P.P. & Sharma S. e-learning new trends and innovations. Deep & deep
publication Pvt. Ltd. 2005.
 Vanaja, M &Rajasekhar S. Educational Technology Computer Education.
Neelkamal publication.2006.

SUGGESTED READING

Bryn Holmes and John Gardener, “e-learning-Concepts and practices”

Weblinks:

1. http://www.e-learningconsulting.com/
2. www.talentlms.com/elearning/
3. www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_e-learning_guidebook.pdf
4. http://exclusiveejournal.sk/1-2014/bednarova-vavrek.pdf
5. http://www.nfstc.org/pdi/Subject00/pdi_s00_m03_02_a.htm
6. http://www.webanywhere.org/blog/top-5-advantages-of-using-e-
learning-for-schools/
 Online learning
27.0 Learning outcomes
27.1 Introduction
27.2 Online learning: Concept
27.3 Advantages of online learning
27.4 Synchronous online learning
27.5 Resources of synchronous online learning
27.6 Importance of synchronous online learning
27.7 Asynchronous online learning
27.8 Resources of asynchronous online learning
27.9 Importance of asynchronous online learning
27.10 Let us sum up

27.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of online learning

 Explain the concept of synchronous and asynchronous online learning
 Distinguish between synchronous and asynchronous online learning
 Explain the advantages and limitations of synchronous and asynchronous online
learning
 State uses of modern resources of online learning

27.1 INTRODUCTION

Since the Internet was developed as a means of communication by educational

institutions in the 1970s. Academics have become increasingly aware about the
possibilities of online learning to deliver cost effective, easily accessible and ever-
current education to all ages and social backgrounds, regardless of time and geography.
 E-learning is of two types:

A) Online learning B) Offline learning

27.2 ONLINE LEARNING: CONCEPT

Online learning means the learning process that takes place by using a computer that is
connected to the internet. Theinternet is an electronic communication network that
connects computer network and organizational computer facilities around the world.
The internet consists of the collection of billions of interconnected web pages that are
transferred using HTTP and is collectively known as World Wide Web. If you want to
surf the Web using browser, i.e. move from one page or one website to another, then
you have to be online.

Online education includes 3 things:

 A form of distance education

 A computer based learning
 A ‘many to many’ communication through an internet.

Online learning:
Click here to watch infographic on online learning

27.3 ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE LEARNING

 Choose only subjects of interest: General learning courses can’t normally subdivide
into minor courses giving more choice to learners. Because of the rather high cost of
organizing each learning program, it is not worthwhile often organize learning. In
addition, Tele - education could reduce problem of different basic knowledge among
learners because they could specifically choose the subject of their own interest.
 Receive correct and interesting instruction: Tele - education gives each learner
substance of lessons identical in all respects, with the original undistorted through
transfer. Every time each learner calls up the substance of the same lesson, the system
will demonstrate the same information to all learners. Thus learners could feel confident
about the maximum reliability of the substance of lessons received. Furthermore,
presentation involving a variety of forms - because computers that could support
learning and teaching with lettering Imaging, video and sound could be more
interesting.
 Encouraging interaction with other e-learners and an e-instructor: Chat rooms,
discussion boards, instant messaging and e-mail all offer effective interaction for e -
learners, and do a good job of taking the place of classroom discussion. Building an
online community significantly influences the success of online programs.
 Easily Managed: As the number of student enrolled increases, managing all of their
activities using online mode of education is easier. The learners can be distributed
course material online, also the process of conducting examinations, managing the
profile of the candidates, including their fee details and result declaration becomes
easier in an eLearning environment.
 Integrating Media and Interactivity: eLearning software provides the benefit of
integrating media with interactivity. Various kinds of audio, video, graphics,
multimedia and animation effects can be included within course material that enrich the
content and make it more appealing to the learners. Benefit of integrating media with
interactivity provides a very useful edge to eLearning domain as far as the field of
imparting education and training is concerned.

 Reduce faculty workload: Instructors and TAs can also save time using products like
online examination management system. When the Assessment Designer is used to
design quizzes or tests; feedback, grading and analysis can be automated. Time
previously spent correcting, formulating statistical deviations, and analysing specific
 questions can be used for other things. Even student records can be exported directly
into spreadsheets for turnover to the registrar.
 Updated information: Students as well as teachers can access the information and
other support material. Information through online learning can be updated easily, so
they are beneficial in terms of updates and latest information. They can face challenges
of the explosion of knowledge.
 Concrete knowledge: Online learning provide opportunities to gain concrete
experiences through simulation, videos etc. multisensory instructions made through
online learning helps the learner to gain concrete understanding of the topic.
 Active learning: Online learning ensures the participation of learners in the learning
process. Due to the availability of various resources in synchronous and asynchronous
mode, online learning provide ample opportunity for learners to be actively involved in
learning.
 Providing immediate feedback: eLearning courses can assist to provide immediate
feedback to correct misunderstood material. The more immediate the feedback the
better, because each step of learning builds upon the previous step. If no feedback is
given, then the next step may be built upon an incorrect interpretation.
 Global environment: Online learning give opportunity to students all over the world
to be connected through the internet. Students are connected through social networking,
email etc. This widens the perspectives of students which is essential for inculcating
global citizenship. The teachers as well as student share their knowledge, experiences
and learn with students and teachers across the globe.
 Inculcation of social values: Students from different race, creed and community come
together in an online learning environment. It broadens their viewpoints, opinion. They
develop social values tolerance, patience and cooperation as they become the part of
global virtual world.
 Automatic marking and reporting: eLearning courses provide you with detailed and
up-to-date insight into each learner’s progress, which can include the results of every
quiz and assessment, modules completed, or even their progress in terms of fulfilling
the different learning objectives. Objectives are specific criteria a user can meet or fail,
as they work their way through your course (e.g. 'basic math’ and 'geometry' in a math
quiz), which gives you greater insight into each learner’s strengths and weaknesses.

The on-line learning can be synchronous or asynchronous in nature

 27.4.1 SYNCHRONOUS ON LINE LEARNING:

Synchronous means “occurring same time”. In synchronous learning, the instructor and
the learner interact with each other and the course content simultaneously in real time
even if both are at a distance. In synchronous online learning, communication occurs at
the same time between the individuals and information is assessed instantly.
Synchronous learning environments support learning and teaching and offer students
and teachers with multiple ways of interacting, sharing, and the ability to collaborate
and ask questions in real-time through synchronous learning technologies.
Synchronous online learning includes learning from the sources of:
 Virtual Classroom
 Audio and Video Conferencing
 Chat
 Webinars
 Application Sharing
 Messaging instantly
27.5 RESOURCES OF SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:
Chat : Synchronous chat rooms allow multiple users to log in and interact. This is a
great way to ask questions and to share resources and insights.
Click here to watch a YouTube on how to use chatroom
Video conferencing: A video conference can involve a live feed from a classroom
or elsewhere. Alternatively, the conference might transmit a presentation of slides
and graphics, with a question and answer session at the end.
Click here to watch YouTube on the use of video conferencing in the classroom
Web conferencing: Web conferences tend to be more interactive, and you'll
probably be asked to respond to questions (survey, poll, questionnaire), which will
give you a chance to interact. Web conferences usually incorporate chat and they
often have a question and answer session at the end.
Click here to watch an example of synchronous online learning through web
conferencing.
Click here to watch a YouTube on the comparison of video conferencing and web
conferencing.
Internet radio/podcasts: When there is not sufficient bandwidth to broadcast live
video of an event, instructors might stream the audio over the Internet. Good
opportunities for audio streaming include concerts or political speeches. Ideally, the
audio file would be archived for students to access and review later as well.
Click here to watch a YouTube of learning through podcasting
Virtual worlds: Educational "islands" in virtual worlds like Second Life are
wonderful places for students to meet "live" and to interact. They're ideal for
learning languages because it's possible to speak with each other through headsets
and VoIP. It's a wonderful way to practice conversation while being immersed in a
virtual place that has the look and feel of another country or culture. While virtual
worlds can be very engaging and productive as learning environments There's quite
a learning curve as you learn to navigate the worlds, and to clothe and operate your
avatar.
Click here to watch a YouTube on education in second life

Examples from real classroom scenario:

Learning through chat:
Kulm High School in North Dakota allowed teachers to interact with every student
in the room at the same time by creating a “chat room” like environment within the
actual classroom. Teachers and students interacted through chat room throughout
the school day. Teachers were able to push out assignments and collect assignments
 electronically. The administration reported that discipline was better; grades were
higher. Even students were retained what was taught.
http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-
engagement/technologytools#Chats.
Example of video conferencing in classroom teaching:
The LIVE-C - Learning through Interactive Video Experiences at ThreeRivers
School District in Oregon (Grades 1-12) was designed to bring the world to
thegeographically isolated, culturally limited and high poverty students through the
use ofmobile interactive video conferencing equipment. Teachers were able to
invite inexperts from around the world to enter their classrooms as co-teachers, as
well as connecttheir students to students around the globe.

27.6 Importance of synchronous online learning

 Student Engagement: Synchronous technology like Videoconferencing, webcasts,

and telephone conferences include virtual worlds and chat rooms. In order to
successfully participate in these environment, students must be engaged in student-
learning. This is the most important learner characteristic of a student for effective
learning.
 Synchronous Collaboration: In both the traditional and online classroom
environments, interaction and collaboration are very important for effective learning
outcomes. In an online learning environment the teacher’s role becomes more about
facilitating, guiding, and motivating the learner and can be successfully achieved
through feedback and collaboration.
 Instructional Pacing: Online learning environments provide flexibility and offer
students personalized learning opportunities. Students those who are learning online
have the opportunity to express their thoughts without judgment or interruptions.
Online learning experiences can be developed to provide advanced educational
opportunities for the learning needs of individual students.
 Real time communication: Synchronous learning allows students to obtain real time
feedback on their ideas, clarification of their facts, doubts, collaboration with their
classmates using small group discussion room or chat room. It allows guest speakers
to address the class remotely on their own computers through virtual classroom, video
conferencing.
 High motivation and high completion rate: Students who learn using synchronous
technologies have higher motivation and completion rate. It has fixed schedule.
 Interactive: This online method gives students the chance to interact with their virtual
classmates as well as their mentor.
 Live: Synchronous e-learning activities take place live, that is, they are not previously
recorded, but recorded or pre-produced material may be used during the activity.

27.7 ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:

As synchronous means “not occurring at the same time”. It is a type of two ways online
communication that occurs with a time delay. It allows both individual of
communication to respond at their own convenience. It is the learning in distance in
time lag. Asynchronous learning utilizes ‘time lag’ communication to deliver material.
It is a type of formal learning in which students and teachers have regular interaction
but the interactions are not real time. Interactions occur with a time delay. This delay
can be of hours, days, or sometimes weeks.

Asynchronous online learning includes learning through Email, Discussion forum,

News group, Blog, Self-paced online courses, Discussion forums & groups, Messages
boards.

27.8 RESOURCES OF ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:

Virtual Libraries/Repositories of Documents, Presentations, Graphics, Audio

Files, and Video: There is a treasure of articles on web which you can download or
read online. Sometimes you need to subscribe the e-journal or even website for this
purpose. There are many ready presentations, (e.g. www.slideshare.net ) illustrative
graphics like infographics and lesson plans (e.g. www.lessonplanet.com ) available on
web. Plenty of videos are available on youtube.com, schooltube.com.

 E-mail: E-mail is a basic resource in all online learning. It's a great tool for asking
questions, keeping in touch, and receiving materials, updates, reminders, and even
assessments. Some online courses use e-mail as the main way to interact with your
instructor and peers.

Click here to watch an example of how to use e-mail in the classroom

 Discussion Boards: The discussion board is another important aspect in the online
learning structure. It is a great way to discuss in an ansynchronous manner, respond to
questions and to share documents and links. It's also a good media to ask questions and
to clear up queries.

Click here to watch an example of asynchronous online learning through discussion

board.

 Social Networking: Many online courses now incorporate social networking in order
to enhance collaboration and learner interaction. In many learning management
systems, social networking is built into the units. Social networking programs that are
often incorporated include blogs, wikis, Facebook, Orkut, Bebo, Twitter, Flickr,
Youtube, Youstream etc.

Click here to watch a YouTube on social networking for education

 Wikis and Collaborative Documents: Collaborative documents allow students to edit

each other’s work and to collaborate. One can see how people edit and contribute, and
can add their thoughts and ideas. A "wiki" is a place that allows to build a definition
or a series of explanations . one can create own wiki and learn through collaboration.
or can learn through others’ wikis. e.g. Wikipedia

Click here to watch an example of synchronous online learning through wikis.

 e-Portfolios: E-Portfolios demonstrate your skills and your knowledge of a special

topic. Students combine text, images, presentations, video, audio, links, and a
discussion space.
 Click here to watch a YouTube on e-portfolios

 DVD/CD-ROM: Some courses provide textbooks that come bundled with DVDs for
video and media content. Students can read the materials offline.There are many
educational CDs and DVDs on various subjects and topics.

Example of blog in classroom: In Tennessee high school, ninth grade journalism

students used a blog to publish high school news daily.

Example of wiki in classroom: In Perth Amboy High School, students collected and
conducted tests on water samples for the “Raritan Watershed” project. They compiled
data electronically and exchanged information with other schools online. The results
were discussed on wikis, and multimedia presentations were prepared to illustrate
results and conclusions. After implementation, 30-40% of the students received higher
score.

http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-engagement/technologytools#Wiki

In an asynchronous learning environment, students are able to actively participate in

their own learning, get the opportunity to interact with their peers, get peer feedback,
and reflect on the status of their personal learning goals and outcomes. In many learning
environments there are learning activities and expectations that require students to
create, synthesize, explain, and apply the content or skills being taught Asynchronous
technologies support learning and allow more time for student reflection, collaboration,
and student-to-student interactions.

Asynchronous communication and learning is a more popular learning type because

many of the learning tools are free, require minimal hardware, and are used at the
student’s pace.

27.9 IMPORTANCE OF ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING

 Asynchronous Collaboration:

A sense of community is necessary to sustain the educational experience over time

and this can be achieved through collaborative learning communities. This facilitation
 can be successfully achieved through asynchronous collaboration, allowing students
to thoughtfully consider learning objectives because they have the time to critically
synthesize their learning.

 Individualized Pacing:

With these tools, the teacher can assess what students understand and adapt future
course assignments to facilitate a higher level and more in-depth understanding of the
content. With the help of asynchronous tools, students learn at their own pace.

 Sharing of information:

In asynchronous learning participants may engage in the exchange of ideas or

information without the dependence of other participants, involvement at the same time.
Students can have an access to prepackaged training based on requirement and
convenience.

 Flexibility:

Asynchronous learning allows participants to post whenever they want to and saves the
posting so that the individual participants can view them later at his or her convenience.
It fit into every one’s schedule. e-learning. In fact, many people take online courses
because of their asynchronous nature, combining education with work, family, and
other commitments.

 Overcome geographical barriers:

It is an ideal delivery mode for individuals in different geographical locations and time
zone and when their work schedule is busy.

 Effective:

It is a more leveler because all participants have an equal opportunity to contribute and
those who have trouble in speaking up due to language differences.

 Thoughtful contribution:
 Asynchronous E-Learning makes it possible for learners to log on to an E-Learning
environment at any time and download documents or send messages to teachers or
peers. Students may spend more time refining their contributions, which are generally
considered more thoughtful compared to synchronous communication.

 Anytime:
It is the most commonly used e-Learning, wherein the content is available 24/7, and the
teachers, students, end users can access it through an intranet or internet.

 Useful for distance learning: For distance learning, with a multitude of learners in
geographically distant locations, it can be very cost beneficial. An asynchronous
learning module is consistent and easily updated and maintained. That means it can
have a long shelf-life, which can result in a low cost per student.

 Self-paced: Asynchronous learning is very beneficial for learning purposes as it gives

an individual the liberty to read and study at one’s own speed and pace.

Limitations:

 Lengthy discussion:
 No timely feedback
 No strict deadlines
 Lack of continuity

27.6 LET US SUM UP

The technologies associated with synchronous and asynchronous learning can improve
the quality of student-teacher interactions, foster increased student engagement, and
improve learning outcomes. There are strengths and weaknesses to both designs. Some
students like a synchronous online learning environment because they need face-to-face
instruction. For other students, an asynchronous online learning environment provides
more time to consider all sides of an issue before offering their own educated input.
Both learning types have very unique benefits and limitations of online learning.
REFERENCES

http://www.rau.ro/websites/e-society/lucrari/adrian%20lado.pdf

http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees-and-
programs/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/#sthash.1mC29qnT.WBlFF6c1.dpuf

http://www.timelesslearntech.com/asynchronous-learning.php

SUGGESTED READING

http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-engagement/technologytools#Blogs

http://www.soesd.k12.or.us/News.asp?NewsID=278

http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees-and-
programs/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/#sthash.1mC29qnT.dpuf

INTERESTING FACTS

1. Hotmail , Yahoo Mail and Gmail together account for well over 1 billion users.

2. More than 294 billion emails are sent and received daily.

3. Well over 100 trillion emails are sent per year.

4. 3.5 million emails are sent per second.

5. 90% of the trillions of email messages are spam or viruses.

6. 36% of all emails are opened on a mobile device

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-

statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/#pGtzLgKYXDbmCA0Y.99

Click here to watch an infographic about social media

 Read about myths and facts about online learning

http://gettingsmart.com/2013/07/7-myths-and-facts-about-online-learning/

GLOSSARY
Starting Term
character
C Computer –based training
C Courseware
E Electronic mailing list
I Interactive multimedia
L Learning management
system
M Multimedia
Definition
COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING refers to
any type of course that runs on a computer,
either on a CD, on a person’s hard drive or
on the Internet.
Courseware refers to any instructional
software that is delivered on a computer.
Member send email to the list, which the
list service then mails to all members
individually. Members can then read and
respond (called a post), or email the
member directly. An example is
http://groups.google.com
Interactive multimedia allows learners to
provide input to an online course and
receive feedback as a result of the input.
The input might consist of a mouse click or
drag, gestures, voice commands, touching
an input screen, text entry and live
interactions with connected participants.
Learning Management System is a system
for management and tracking of the
involvement of participants with specific
content, usually with the assistance of a
database. Typically the system tracks who
is scheduled to participate in specific
training programs, who has begun the
program, who has completed the trainings,
and what were the participants’ test scores.
Multimedia refers to the presentation of
information and instruction through a
combination of graphics, audio, text, or
video. Multimedia instruction is often
interactive.
O Online community A meeting place for people on the Internet.
Designed to facilitate interaction and
collaboration among people who share
common interests and needs. Online
communities can be open to all or by
membership only and may or may not offer
moderator tools.

S Social media learning Social media learning refers to the

acquisition of information and skills
through social technologies that allow
people to collaborate, converse, provide
input, create content and share it.

V Video conferencing Video conferencing refers to the use of

video technology (both hardware and
software) to create a virtual meeting
between two or more people in different
physical locations. Participants can see and
hear each other through this technology.

V Virtual classroom The virtual classroom refers to a digital

classroom learning environment that takes
place over the Internet rather than in a
physical classroom.

W Webinar A webinar is a seminar or workshop in

which the facilitator and participants view
the same screen at the same time. Usually
the webinar has an audio component that
the facilitator controls and functionality that
allows participants to chat by entering text,
answering polls, raising their hands and
asking questions.

Web based training WBT refers to all types of digital

(WBT) instruction in which the learning material is
W presented via the Internet.
 OFFLINE LEARNING AND BLENDED LEARNING
28.0 Learning outcomes
29.0 Introduction
30.0 Offline learning
31.0 Advantages of using offline learning
32.0 Blended learning
33.0 Models of blended learning
34.0 Advantages of blended learning
35.0 Disadvantages of blended learning
36.0 Let us sum up

28.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this module students will be able to ..

 To explain the concept of offline learning

 To explain the advantages and limitations of offline learning
 To explain the concept of blended learning
 To explain the advantages and limitations of blended learning

28.1 INTRODUCTION
To initiate an organization, students and teachers into e-learning, it is very essential to move
them gradually from traditional classrooms to e-learning in small steps making changes
easier to accept. Offline learning and blended learning provides solution to it by benefitting
their bottom line. It enables instructors and instructional designers to develop skills needed
for e-learning in small increments. It provides solution to the problem of heavy cost and
resources required for e-learning.
 28.2 OFFLINE LEARNING

The term online and offline have specific meaning with respect to computer technology. In
general, “online” indicates a state of connectivity of the computer to the internet, while
“offline” indicates a disconnected state. Offline learning is learning done through computer
when it is not connected to internet.
Offline learning is a convenient way of learning without the need of an internet connection.

Ways in which offline learning can be used:

Offline browsing:
Offline browsing also known as “Offline favourites” is one of the special features of internet
explorer. It allows saving single web pages, though not an entire site. In the off-line state,
users can perform offline browsing, where pages that have previously been downloaded in
the on-line state can be browsed. This can be useful when the connection to the internet is
impossible or undesirable. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to
download pages for offline browsing is

Internet Explorer:
When pages are added to the Favourite list, they can be marked as “available for offline
browsing” which will be available for the learner to read/refer even in the state when the
computer is not connected to the internet.

Offline navigator:
Offline navigator is a computer software that helps a learner to download e-mail, newsgroup
posts or web pages, making them available for reference when the computer is not connected
to the internet. Offline navigators are often useful for portable computers. Offline mail
readers are computer programs that allows the users to read their mails with a minimum of
connection time of the computer to the internet by saving the messages for offline reading.

Offline storage
Offline storage device is any storage medium which has to be inserted into a storage drive
before it can be accessed by the computer system.. Offline storage is also called as
removable/detachable storage. The learning material/mail is recorded usually in the
secondary or tertiary storage device and then it is physically disconnected. The device must
be inserted or connected before a computer can access it again.
Some offline storage devices are

Floppy drive: Floppy drives are portable and are a universal file storage solutions. The
standard size of a floppy is 1.44 MB.

Hard drive: The hard drive is the main area of storage on your computer which helps
storing a large amount of data on your computer. Generally the hard drive is fixed within
the computer. It is usually removable, but not easily portable. Storage capacity can range
into the gigabytes.

Super disk: Though Super disks are similar to the floppy drive, they support very high
density diskettes. The super disk allows for a 120 MB capacity on one disk.

CD-ROM and CD rewritable: Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory, i.e. CD-ROM is an

optical disk capable of storing large amount of data. CD rewritable drives allows the users
to record information to a CD thereby providing an easy way to archive data or share files.

DVD-ROM and DVD re-writable: A DVD is type of optical disk technology similar to
the CD-ROM. A DVD holds a minimum of 4.7 GB of data and are commonly used as
medium for digital representation of movies and other multimedia presentations that
involves graphics.

USB flash drives: A USB drive is a very small, portable flash memory card that plugs into
computer’s USB port and functions as a portable hard drive.

28.3 ADVANTAGES OF USING OFFLINE RESOURCES

Portable: In modern computers, most secondary and tertiary storage media are also used
for off-line storage. Off-line storage is used to transfer information, since the detached
medium can be conveniently transported physically from one place to another.
Secure: In case a disaster destroys the original data, a medium in a remote location will be
probably unaffected, thereby enabling data recovery. Off-line storage increases a general
information security, since it is physically inaccessible from a computer, and therefore data
confidentiality or integrity cannot be affected by computer based attack techniques.
Economical: If you connect to the internet via a dial up modem and a standard telephone
line it can save money on your phone bill as well.
Teacher friendly: Using the sites in an offline state helps the students focus on specific
materials, thereby giving control over the material to the teachers. Thus, students have to
focus on the material in front of them which prevents them straying onto other sites. Also
material that uses language which is slightly complex or which teachers would like to adapt
or select from, can be changed offline to tailor them to the students’ needs.

28.4 BLENDED LEARNING

In modern times, with the invention of computer and internet, the idea of using
technology in education got importance. E-learning has emerged as the most popular version
of education in Western countries. But, serious errors and limitations can be seen regarding
e-learning. In a country like India, the economic support is the biggest problem. Lack of
social contact, lack of feeling of responsibility, promotion to materialism and lack of human
touch are a few objections taken on e-learning. Therefore, purely classroom teaching or
purely online learning cannot bring constructive transformation in Indian Teacher
Education. Hence, proper co-ordination and meaningful integration of both these
approaches is essential to bring revolutionary changes in our system. Blended learning can
become the pathway of success towards that direction.
The first generation of e-learning or web-based learning programmes focused on
presenting physical classroom based instructional content over the internet. In the second
wave of e-learning, increasing numbers of learning models that combine various delivery
modes are used. Blended learning offers more choices with effective way.

Blended Learning: Definition

Actually, it is not a new concept. But it has not been thought about or applied clearly
and appropriately till yet. This term was initially used in 1997 in UK. According to Graham
Spanier,"It is the largest unknown trend in higher education."
“Blended learning is a mixture of online learning and classroom that contain some of the
facilities of online courses with the presence of face-to-face communication.”
Rovai and Jordan (2004)
Bonk (2004, p.5) cited the three most common definitions of blended learning:
1. A combination of instructional modalities (or delivery media)
2. A combination of instructional methods
3. A combination of online and face-to-face instruction

"A learning programme where more than one more delivery mode is used."
T.Barker (2005)
“There are two significant elements in defining blended learning and those are online and
face-to-face instructions.
 Picciano (2006): “The Blended learning approach combines the best elements of
online and face to face learning. It is likely to emerge as the predominant model of the future
and become far more common than either one alone”

CONCEPT OF BLENDED LEARNING:

Blended learning referred to the following four different concepts:-

 To combine mix modes of web-based technology : To accomplish an educational goals,
live virtual classroom, self-paced instruction, collaborative learning, streaming video,
audio and text can be blend together with different combinations.
 To combine various pedagogical approaches: To produce optimal learning outcomes
various pedagogical approaches like constructivism, behaviourism and cognitivism can be
blend together with or without instructional technology.
 To combine any form of instructional technology: Instructional technologies, devices
like CD-ROM , web-based training, film are used with face-to-face instructor led training.
 To combine instructional technology with actual job task: Working experiences are
blended together with learning experiences to create maximum and effective learning
outcomes.

Overall, the best mix of resources is used to provide an optimum learning experience for
all the students. Blended learning can be described as a learning program where more than
one delivery mode is being used with the objective of optimizing the learning outcome and
cost of program delivery.
Click here to watch you tube on basic of blended learning
Click here to watch you tube on blended learning

Examples of blended learning:

1. Make reference material available: Teacher can provide reference material i.e. notes,
reference books, videos etc. online through blogs, email etc.
2. Put the assessment online.
3. Deliver pre-work online
4. Provide online remedial teaching
5. Provide guidance/mentoring online
6. Arrange expert’s lectures online
Source: https://time2learn.wikispaces.com/Blended+Learning+Environment+(BLE)

28.5 MODELS OF BLENDED LEARNING

Following are the four models that are most used in schools today:
• Flipped classroom
Flipped classroom / flipped learning is a modern approach to learning. It is opposite to that
of traditional classroom. In traditional classroom, the classroom time is spent on lecturing
to students. Whereas in flipped model, this time is utilized for discussion to encourage
individualized learning and provide one-on-one help to students, and also to improve
student-teacher interaction. The instructional or teachable content is given beforehand to
students and still available in class.

• Station Rotation Model

In a station rotation model, within a given course or subject, students are divided into
different groups. Teacher fixed some learning stations i.e. online learning, individual
tutoring, project work, assignment etc. students rotate at fixed points in time between these
different learning stations. In the Station Rotation model, students rotate through all of the
stations.

• Lab Rotation Model

In a lab Rotation model, students rotate at fixed points in time between a classroom and
computer lab. Students learn online in computer lab. Whereas they are involved in various
activities in classroom. In station rotation model students are rotating within a given
classroom whereas in the lab model they are actually rotating out to a learning lab where
they are doing their online learning.

• Flex Model
Online learning is at the centre of students’ learning in the Flex model. Students have
flexible schedule of their learning based on their need and fixed goals. Students get online
learning experiences as well as offline face to face learning experiences. Face to face
learning experiences are given through discussion, projects, mentoring, tutoring etc.; most
of the learning take place online.

28.6 ADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING

1. Blended learning allows and schools alike to make maximum use of the technologies
and other resources that they have available to them. This means that it allows schools
to take a look at all the technologies and tools that they have and see how it can best be
used to bring the greatest benefit to students and the organization even as they spend as
little as they possibly can and still maintain effectiveness.
2. Issues concerning distance are eliminated.
3. The speed with which you can reach thousands of people is unmatched by traditional
methods as they can all be reach simultaneously without the restrictions of time and
space.
4. Not all content can be properly delivered online. The challenges of using a purely online
modality are eliminated when a blended approach is used.
5. By making use of traditional approaches where they work best and applying the
technology related methods only where they are most appropriate for the achievement
of the instructional goals, teachers can avoid the exponential increase in costs that can
accompany a complete switch to online methods only. It also allows students to avoid
costs that are incurred through travel, accommodations and other expenses that are tied
to ‘time and place studies’.
6. Blended learning allows learners the flexibility with their time to do their lessons
anytime and anyplace as they have continuous access to the course material until a
meeting with the lecturer becomes compulsory.
7. It makes it easier to deal with educational administration and enables communication
with all students. Virtual office hours make tutors far more accessible than in a strictly
face-to-face scenario.
8. Students get their learning needs and styles catered to whether they prefer online or face-
to-face because it offers both in a single course. This leads to more interaction and active
participation in discussion.
9. For sessions held online, the communication between teacher and student is open and
everyone can benefit from it because everyone can view the responses sent by the
teacher. These are frequent feedbacks from the teacher resulting in effective learning.
10. Some lecturers experience an improvement in the quality of students’ writing and
discussion. According to a 2009 study from the Department of Education: “Students
who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking
the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.” Students who mix online
learning with traditional coursework (i.e. blended learning) do even better (Internet
Time Group Report)
11. Online resources are updated and upgraded time to time. Thus, students have access to
unlimited up-to-date resources.
 12. It helps to develop time management skills and critical thinking skill. Blended learning
is flexible as it gives freedom to the students to choose time as per their convenience.

28.7 DISADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING

1. Time consuming: Before a blended learning scenario can be considered ready for use, the
lecturer has to do long, detailed and extensive work. Preparation for start-up is very time
consuming.
2. Limited interactions: There can be limited contact between lecturer and students and so
some of the dynamism that comes with face-to-face interaction can be lost. All students are
not self-motivated. They need to be motivated to participate actively in the learning process.
Here blended learning can be a hindrance.
3. Students’ tendencies: Based on what students are used to, they often prefer the paper
versions of the materials than to see them online so the face-to-face sessions in the blended
programmes usually have a comparatively more successful “feel” for the students.
4. Extra efforts from teachers: The materials developed by the lecturers cannot simply be
the same set that they had developed for handouts. They have to be reformatted so that they
guide the students through a process of independent study when they are not in a face-to-
face session. This additional task required of the lecturers is yet to be appreciated for what
it is worth. Teachers always need to be ready with plan for the students who need additional
help.
5. Students sometimes feel that they are given more work to do when distance modalities are
used.
6. Blended learning is literally dependent on the technical resource and online information.
These tools need to be reliable, easy to use and updated in order to give a meaningful
learning experience.
7. Blended learning needs stable and adequate internet connection. The school or the
institution should have adequate infrastructure and all facilities required for computer
based instruction.
8. Information literacy is a must for blended learning or it can lead to a significant barrier for
students who wish to get access to the course material.
9. Students generally wait and watch all videos in one sitting, rather than on regular basis.
The use of lecture recording technology might result in students falling behind on the
resource material.

28.4 LET US SUM UP

In computer technology, “online” indicates a state of connectivity and “offline” indicates a
disconnected state. Offline learning is plays an important role where internet connectivity is
a major problem. Offline learning supplements classroom teaching learning process.
Blended learning is inventing or adopting new learning environments that work better for
students and teachers. Blended learning implies a shift to an online environment and giving
students more control over the pace, path, time and place of learning. The goal of blended
learning to personalize learning using modern technology and expand learning
opportunities.
REFERENCES

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-topic-of-blended-learning-education-
essay.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offline_reader

http://classroom-aid.com/2013/02/06/blended-learning-implementation-guide-dlday/

SUGGESTED READING

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning

http://www.teachthought.com/blended-learning-2/the-definition-of-blended-learning/

http://www.mindflash.com/elearning/what-is-blended-learning

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-online-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron

CONCEPT OF E-LEARNING
Module Structure:

27.0 Learning outcomes

27.1 Introduction
27.2 Concept of e-learning
27.3 Characteristics of e-learning
27.4 Need of e-learning
27.5 Advantages of e-learning
27.6 Limitations of e-learning
27.7 Let us sum up

26.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of e-learning

 Describe the history of e-learning
 State the characteristics of e-learning
 Explain the advantages of e-learning
 Explain the limitations of e-learning

26.1 INTRODUCTION
In today’s techno era, we have new challenges and expectations in the classrooms
where students expect a higher level of classroom interaction with the inclusion of
multimedia in it. This can be made possible through e-learning.

26.2 CONCEPT OF E-LEARNING

Definitions of e-learning:

“E-learning refers to the delivery of learning, training or education program by

electronic means.”

“E-learning refers to electronic applications and processes to learn”.

“E-learning is a type of education where the medium of instruction is computer

technology.”

E–learning is also called as ‘Distributed learning’ ‘Distance learning’, ‘technology

enabled learning’.

E-learning can be defined as an instructional content or learning experiences

delivered or enabled by electronic technology; it is a structured, interactive approach
to educating and informing the students, employees, etc.

E-learning is also called as ‘Distributed learning’ ‘Distance learning’, ‘technology

enabled learning’ and it refers to the use of Internet, Intranets or Extranets to deliver
a broad array of solutions that enhance knowledge and performance.

E-learning refers to ‘technology driven learning’ enabled by Internet. Click here to

watch video on concept of e-learning

26.3 CHARACTERISTICS OF E-LEARNING

 Delivery of digital content: Computer technology has minimized the load of

books and note books as the learning material is well stored in the form of
digital content which can be used at anytime, anywhere.
 E-learning: It makes use of wide range of electronic devices and instructional
materials like CD-ROM, DVD, Internet, intranet and other web based
facilities.
 Distance learning: Modern day cutting edge information and communication
technologies provide opportunities for anytime-anywhere learning, where
learners as well as instructors can interact beyond any geographic boundaries
and collaborate to get the maximum benefit of the global network called
internet and other computer and information technologies. E-learning is
especially meant for distance learning and it goes beyond traditional learning
system.
  Faster response time: There can be real time interactions between the learner
and instructor which is beneficial to the learner as both the learner as well as
the instructor can respond at their convenience and the learning can take place
easily.
 Quick and easy updating of course content: The instructor can easily
update the information with the latest version of the material which is
immediately available to the learners.
 Interaction with an expert: The students can incorporate threaded
discussion to discuss their coursework not only with their peers but also
develop a messaging system for asking questions to the subject expert.
 Customized course content: In e-learning instructional material can be
tailored to meet the particular needs of syllabus and students.

26.4NEED OF E-LEARNING

Academic and professional organizations agree that using e-learning environments

can offer sound pedagogical benefits.
 To enhance communication: Web-based education tools provide many
ways to increase and improvise the quality of communication between class
members and faculty, including discussion boards, chats, and e –mails
thereby enhancing student-to-student and faculty-to-student communication.
Researchers have found that adding these elements to a course increases a
student’s motivation and participation in class discussions and projects.
Students are more willing to participate which serves as a motivator. Learner
feel empowered people feel more empowered.
 To maintain equal opportunities: E-learning enabled to give students equal
opportunities. Due to e-learning, it is possible to provide Quality learning
material to all over the world. Student can get opportunities to interact with
experts from any corner of the world. Each individual has the same
opportunity to share their knowledge, opinion. They can do this by posting
messages without any typical distractions such as seating arrangements,
volume of student voices, and gender biases. Therefore even shy and anxious
students feel more comfortable expressing ideas and backing up facts when
posting online instead of speaking in a class room. Research prove that online
discussions provoke more confrontational and direct communication
amongst students.
 To learn with different learning styles: An instructor can present these
materials in a variety of formats to accommodate different types of learners.
For example: if an instructor puts both lecture notes and slides online, both
visual and auditory learners will benefit. Students who prefers to learn by
watching and listening. They need not to worry about missing lectures. On
the other hand they can focus on understanding the material and concepts as
they are presented. Students with attention difficulties benefit, as materials
 provided not only show how the instructor has grouped and prepared
materials in the handouts, but also indicate what items are most important.
 Provides additional learning and reflective experiences: When students
participate in online discussions, they are exposed to an extra time of
information rehearsal. Typically, students rehearse information when they
study for exams or complete assignments as well as when formulating
thoughts into sentences and typing those thoughts on the computer. When
instructors post discussion questions or short essay assignments in the online
portion of a course, students must attend to and reflect on the subject matter
before responding. This results in reflection and articulation of content, as
the very process of reporting and writing about what they have learned and
engages the students in an active learning experience. It also reduces reliance
on physical attendance.
In traditional education, students working on group projects must co–
ordinate with their schedules. In distance learning environments, this may
not even be possible, forcing participants to work independently. When e-
learning collaborative tools are available, co-ordination is no longer an issue.
Providing a project team with asynchronous discussions and file uploads,
students can work in groups without any problem.
 Continuous evaluation: Learner assessments are essential in education.
Tests and surveys inform the instructor whether teaching methods and course
structures are successful providing just-in-time methods to assess and
evaluate student’s progress. These assessments also determine if student’s
progress is satisfactory. Online assessment tools provide the instructors with
many ways to build, distribute, and compile information quickly and easily.
 To provide continuous reinforcement: Frequent assessment provides
concept reinforcement and increases motivation. Instructors can post practice
exams and end-of-chapter reviews without worrying about finding the time
and resources to analyse the results. Students can access these assessments
at any time, privately in the comfort of their homes. Since grading is
computerized, students receive immediate feedback. This may also help
students who suffer from test anxiety relax and minimize embarrassment for
those who perform poorly.

26.5 ADVANTAGES OF E-LEARNING

 Less expensive: Initial investment is high in case of e-learning as E-learning
makes use of authoring software to produce asynchronous learning content.
Once the complete learning content is ready, costs virtually reduce to zero.
Synchronous programs have continued costs associated, with instructor
managing the class, but these costs are still lower than the traditional courses.
As we aren’t using a trainer’s time or any infrastructure or equipment, e-
learning is much cheaper. Classroom training involves a lot of expenses;
 those from teaching to traveling, learning materials and others. Tele-
education would, in comparison, cut cost on an average of 30-50% as it does
not require the learner to travel. In addition, you don’t need to budget neither
for an instructor to deliver each session, nor for a venue, or other
miscellaneous costs such as refreshments and renting special equipment like
overhead projectors.
 Self-paced learning: E-learning provides the benefit of self -paced learning.
Different kinds of learners learn at varying speeds, and an in-person, group
session is a good solution. But E-learning gives the learner complete control
over their rate of learning, and lets them spend time according to their need.
E-learning is both more efficient and effective, and it also prevents gifted
learners from becoming bored simultaneously supporting the slow learners.
The course material is available online anywhere in the world. So learners
can control their time to access their course content and study. It also
provides the opportunity for learners to flexibly choose individual course
modules that suit their own time availability and learning pace.
 Faster Learning: e-learning courses progress faster than traditional courses.
This is partly because the individualized approach allows learners to skip
material they already know and understand and move onto the issues they
need to learn.
 Reliability and consistency of study material: In regular class-room
teaching environment, there is hardly any consistency in study material being
distributed to learners. This is because of the fact that each instructor has its
own individualized way of imparting knowledge to learners, which leads to
inconsistencies between the lectures and content being delivered by different
instructors at different times.
Each time an instructor conducts an in-person learning, it’s going to be
slightly different. Whether the instructor misses out some information,
spends extra time on a certain subject, or is simply more enthusiastic and
motivated on a particular day, no instructor can guarantee a completely
consistent experience whereas e-learning is always consistent. Since you can
revise your content to the fullest, you can be confident that you're delivering
the best possible version of your course, every time. Hence it is more reliable
to deliver content in e-learning environment
 Anywhere-Anytime Learning: E-learners can attend learning sessions from
anywhere and anytime. It make learning possible for people who would
never have been able to work it into their schedules because of their busy
schedule. As E-learning does not force students to rely on school
hours/college hours and has the ability to submit enquiries through e-mail at
any time, they hey can watch archive sessions at their convenience.
For e.g. A student who is doing any online course can assess session at any
time, post his/her queries at any time and even appear for the examination
as per his convenient time.
 • Course content can be easily updated: Online e-learning provide easy
and up -to-date learning material because the updated materials are uploaded
to a server, from where that can be accessed by learners. E.g. According to
the most recent data published by CertifyMe.net on the state of eLearning in
corporate education, 72% of the organizations interviewed believe that
eLearning is providing them with the competitive advantage by continuing
to keep them on top of changes in their particular market.
 Time saving: E-learning reduces institutional expense for both the cost and
time associated with copying, assembling, and distributing these materials.
Instructors can also use E -mail to send messages directly to students or the
Announcements feature to communicate with the entire class. Not only does
this ensure that students receive the materials, but it is also environmentally
appealing, as it reduces paper waste.
 Utilizes time efficiently: The time saving elements introduced by web -
based education tools apply to both the instructor and the student. Students
benefit because they have immediate access to course materials at any
location and they do not have to spend time walking across campus to the
instructor’s office or searching for a reading in the library. Instructors can
minimize time spent in office hours, and address student concerns online
instead.
e.g. IBM, after rolling out an eLearning program for managers, found that
participants learned nearly five times more material without increasing time
spent training. (Article: eLearning Success- measuring the ROI impact and
benefits, May 2013).
 Reduced learning times- Brandon-Hall Study, reported that eLearning
typically requires from 40% to 60% less employee time than the same
material delivered in a traditional classroom setting.

 Makes students techno savvy: E-learning can have the added bonus of
developing the learner’s computer skills, particularly for learners who don't
regularly use computers, or have beginner-level computer skills. As E-
learning is through web browser, which relies on computers with hardware
and software, learners will become familiar with technology, thus making
them receptive to new technology.
 Better retention: E-learning facilitates the inclusion of various audio-visual
effects within learning material that can be integrated with the course
modules which provides better immersive and involving experience to the
learners. Also other tools like quizzes, discussion forums and user groups
can be used in an e-learning environment which ultimately will help in better
retention for the students. Furthermore, it allows the learners to revisit or
replay sections of the learning that might not have been clear the first time.
 Thus e-learning offers better opportunities to the learners for more effective
and fruitful learning experience.
E.g. The Research Institute of America found that the eLearning experience
increases the retention rate by 25-60%. The reason behind this increase is
control of students over the learning process. Students were also provided an
opportunity to revisit the training as needed.

 Flexible: What e-learning offers over in-person learning, is that it can be

completed at a pace, time and location determined by the learner. This makes
e-learning easy to fit around the learner’s schedule, especially since it can be
tackled in smaller chunks, and doesn’t force the learner to set aside time for
travelling to and from the learning location. This also makes e-learning a
very accessible solution for learners who would otherwise struggle to attend
in-person learning.

E-learning’s flexibility means that it can fit easily around the learner's work
activities, so the learning is less likely to interfere with their actual job. This
flexibility saves you money, either indirectly by ensuring the learner remains
productive and consistent throughout the learning, or more directly by
helping you avoid overtime costs, or having to arrange cover for the learner's
work activities.
 Mobile: As e-learning can be done on laptops, tablets and phones – it is very
mobile and learning can be done anywhere anytime thereby saving a lot of
time and energy.
 No Travel: As e-learning can be done wherever you have a device capable
of doing so, you can fit it in to your schedule and also save money on the
costs of travel. As mentioned before on the public scheduled blog, external
courses can sometimes only be sourced in locations far away from your
company and you then have to pay the costs of travel as well as
accommodation. E-learning takes these costs away completely.
 Technological Possibilities: e-learning is fast becoming a more and more
popular method and with it, the investment into how to improve it further.
Learning is made easier with the new technological advancements in the field
of computers and different apps are helping to further reinforce the learning
whilst forums can be used to greatly increase the amount of interaction
amongst learners. This is only going to improve as time passes by.

Click here to watch video on advantages of e-learning

26.6 LIMITATIONS OF E-LEARNING

Despite everything that e-learning has to offer, there are some disadvantages. Being
aware of these disadvantages is essential when you’re deciding whether e-learning
is right for you, and also when you're designing your e-learning, to help you avoid
those potential pitfalls.
 Lack of Motivation: Making the learner responsible for their own learning
has its advantages, but there are some disadvantages, too. Firstly, e-learning
is more reliant on the learner’s motivation and time management than in-
person learning, so those who struggle in these areas can fall behind. There
are also more distractions and opportunities for procrastination, than in the
classroom environment.
 Lack of face-to-face interaction: An important part of traditional
classroom, is the opportunity participants have to learn from one another
through discussion and debate. When there’s a lack of interaction in e-
learning can result in the loss of information transfer, loss of interest in the
learner due to isolation and finally loss of his/her motivation to learn.
 Access to technology: E-learning relies on the learner having access to
certain technology, whether it’s a reliable internet connection, a particular
mobile device, or Flash. You need to make sure all of your learners have the
technology required to access and complete your course. It’s also important
to take your audience’s level of computer skills into consideration.
 Lack of Control: Learners with low motivation may fall behind when using
e-learning as there are no set times to be doing it and they are responsible for
the organization themselves. A lack of routine or fixed schedule can mean e-
learning becomes complicated with various deadlines often given to different
people at different stages of their learning.
 Learning Approach: It doesn’t appeal to all learning styles as some may
prefer images, some prefer just reading words and some prefer to talk about
or actually do a task in order to learn. It is still a challenge to make e-learning
appeal fully to these groups as different people learn better or worse using
different styles..
 Isolation: A lot of questions are easily answered when face to face with
someone when you can guarantee an immediate answer. e-learning often
doesn’t allow that with learners. This leaves them isolated and can often
demotivate individuals as they feel they don’t have the support and
reassurance that the physical presence of a trainer provides.
 Technology Issues: With heavy reliance on computers in e-learning, comes
the potential risks accompanying it. First, you need to ensure that all learners
have a device that is able to support the learning modules. Also some e-
learning tools require software such as Flash that devices like iPads don’t
support. So all requirements need to be set out at the beginning. Poor internet
connection and unavoidable general random faults also can interrupt learning
and therefore needs to be planned beforehand.. This is especially true if it is
a global roll out as Internet connections and power reliability changes
dramatically between countries.
  Computer Competency: Some learners might not be very comfortable
using computers, especially if their jobs don’t require them to. Therefore
even if the software is user friendly, the very idea of using the software can
be daunting and demotivating for some. Therefore these learners are likely
to learn a lot less than they would from a physical course.

To know about future trends and technologies in the e-learning industry

Click http://elearningindustry.com/future-elearning-trends-and-technologies-in-
the-global-elearning-industry

LET US SUM UP
E-learning is the delivery of learning, training or education program through
electronic devices. It is mainly useful for distance learning.
E-learning includes delivery of digital content through various electronic devices
like CD-ROM, DVD or even through internet. Through e-learning, it is possible to
update the content quickly and easily. It is possible to have interaction with expert.
E-learning is needed to enhance communication, to provide equal opportunities, to
provide additional learning and reflective experiences, continuous evaluation and
continuous reinforcement.
e-learning is less expensive, self-paced learning, fast learning, anytime-anywhere
learning, time saving, flexible and mobile learning . It make students techno savvy
and helps them to improve retention.
e-learning has some limitations also. This type of learning lack motivation, lack face
to face interaction, and lack human touch. Teachers and students require proper
training, knowledge, skill and appropriate attitude related to computer but the reality
is e-learning is already ensconced in our education system. From e-mail to learning
management system, education is going electronic. The e-learning is a treasure trove
of rich benefits and exciting advances just waiting to be discovered. But there are
also major pitfalls that must be carefully avoided.

REFERENCES
 Thompson J., Bakken J., Fulk B., Karlan G. (2004) ‘Using Technology to
improve the Literacy skills of students with disabilities’ retrieved from
http://www.learningpt.org/pdfs/literacy/disability.pdf
 Mangal S.K. &Mangal Uma. Essentials of educational technology. PHI
learning Pvt. Ltd. 2010.
 Rajsekar, S. Computer education. Neelkamal publication.2008.
 Singh P.P. & Sharma S. e-learning new trends and innovations. Deep & deep
publication Pvt. Ltd. 2005.
 Vanaja, M &Rajasekhar S. Educational Technology Computer Education.
Neelkamal publication.2006.
 SUGGESTED READING

Bryn Holmes and John Gardener, “e-learning-Concepts and practices”

Weblinks:

7. http://www.e-learningconsulting.com/
8. www.talentlms.com/elearning/
9. www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/pub_e-learning_guidebook.pdf
10. http://exclusiveejournal.sk/1-2014/bednarova-vavrek.pdf
11. http://www.nfstc.org/pdi/Subject00/pdi_s00_m03_02_a.htm
12. http://www.webanywhere.org/blog/top-5-advantages-of-using-e-
learning-for-schools/

Online learning
27.11 Learning outcomes
27.12 Introduction
27.13 Online learning: Concept
27.14 Advantages of online learning
27.15 Synchronous online learning
27.16 Resources of synchronous online learning
27.17 Importance of synchronous online learning
27.18 Asynchronous online learning
27.19 Resources of asynchronous online learning
27.20 Importance of asynchronous online learning
27.21 Let us sum up

27.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of online learning

 Explain the concept of synchronous and asynchronous online learning
 Distinguish between synchronous and asynchronous online learning
 Explain the advantages and limitations of synchronous and asynchronous online
learning
 State uses of modern resources of online learning
 27.1 INTRODUCTION

Since the Internet was developed as a means of communication by educational

institutions in the 1970s. Academics have become increasingly aware about the
possibilities of online learning to deliver cost effective, easily accessible and ever-
current education to all ages and social backgrounds, regardless of time and geography.

E-learning is of two types:

B) Online learning B) Offline learning

27.2 ONLINE LEARNING: CONCEPT

Online learning means the learning process that takes place by using a computer that is
connected to the internet. The internet is an electronic communication network that
connects computer network and organizational computer facilities around the world.
The internet consists of the collection of billions of interconnected web pages that are
transferred using HTTP and is collectively known as World Wide Web. If you want to
surf the Web using browser, i.e. move from one page or one website to another, then
you have to be online.

Online education includes 3 things:

 A form of distance education

 A computer based learning
 A ‘many to many’ communication through an internet.

Online learning:
 Click here to watch infographic on online learning

27.3 ADVANTAGES OF ONLINE LEARNING

 Choose only subjects of interest: General learning courses can’t normally subdivide
into minor courses giving more choice to learners. Because of the rather high cost of
organizing each learning program, it is not worthwhile often organize learning. In
addition, Tele - education could reduce problem of different basic knowledge among
learners because they could specifically choose the subject of their own interest.
 Receive correct and interesting instruction: Tele - education gives each learner
substance of lessons identical in all respects, with the original undistorted through
transfer. Every time each learner calls up the substance of the same lesson, the system
will demonstrate the same information to all learners. Thus learners could feel confident
about the maximum reliability of the substance of lessons received. Furthermore,
presentation involving a variety of forms - because computers that could support
learning and teaching with lettering Imaging, video and sound could be more
interesting.
 Encouraging interaction with other e-learners and an e-instructor: Chat rooms,
discussion boards, instant messaging and e-mail all offer effective interaction for e -
learners, and do a good job of taking the place of classroom discussion. Building an
online community significantly influences the success of online programs.
 Easily Managed: As the number of student enrolled increases, managing all of their
activities using online mode of education is easier. The learners can be distributed
course material online, also the process of conducting examinations, managing the
profile of the candidates, including their fee details and result declaration becomes
easier in an eLearning environment.
 Integrating Media and Interactivity: eLearning software provides the benefit of
integrating media with interactivity. Various kinds of audio, video, graphics,
multimedia and animation effects can be included within course material that enrich the
content and make it more appealing to the learners. Benefit of integrating media with
interactivity provides a very useful edge to eLearning domain as far as the field of
imparting education and training is concerned.
 Reduce faculty workload: Instructors and TAs can also save time using products like
online examination management system. When the Assessment Designer is used to
design quizzes or tests; feedback, grading and analysis can be automated. Time
previously spent correcting, formulating statistical deviations, and analysing specific
questions can be used for other things. Even student records can be exported directly
into spreadsheets for turnover to the registrar.
 Updated information: Students as well as teachers can access the information and
other support material. Information through online learning can be updated easily, so
they are beneficial in terms of updates and latest information. They can face challenges
of the explosion of knowledge.
 Concrete knowledge: Online learning provide opportunities to gain concrete
experiences through simulation, videos etc. multisensory instructions made through
online learning helps the learner to gain concrete understanding of the topic.
 Active learning: Online learning ensures the participation of learners in the learning
process. Due to the availability of various resources in synchronous and asynchronous
mode, online learning provide ample opportunity for learners to be actively involved in
learning.
 Providing immediate feedback: eLearning courses can assist to provide immediate
feedback to correct misunderstood material. The more immediate the feedback the
better, because each step of learning builds upon the previous step. If no feedback is
given, then the next step may be built upon an incorrect interpretation.
 Global environment: Online learning give opportunity to students all over the world
to be connected through the internet. Students are connected through social networking,
email etc. This widens the perspectives of students which is essential for inculcating
global citizenship. The teachers as well as student share their knowledge, experiences
and learn with students and teachers across the globe.
 Inculcation of social values: Students from different race, creed and community come
together in an online learning environment. It broadens their viewpoints, opinion. They
develop social values tolerance, patience and cooperation as they become the part of
global virtual world.
 Automatic marking and reporting: eLearning courses provide you with detailed and
up-to-date insight into each learner’s progress, which can include the results of every
quiz and assessment, modules completed, or even their progress in terms of fulfilling
 the different learning objectives. Objectives are specific criteria a user can meet or fail,
as they work their way through your course (e.g. 'basic math’ and 'geometry' in a math
quiz), which gives you greater insight into each learner’s strengths and weaknesses.

The on-line learning can be synchronous or asynchronous in nature

27.5.1 SYNCHRONOUS ON LINE LEARNING:

Synchronous means “occurring same time”. In synchronous learning, the instructor and
the learner interact with each other and the course content simultaneously in real time
even if both are at a distance. In synchronous online learning, communication occurs at
the same time between the individuals and information is assessed instantly.
Synchronous learning environments support learning and teaching and offer students
and teachers with multiple ways of interacting, sharing, and the ability to collaborate
and ask questions in real-time through synchronous learning technologies.
Synchronous online learning includes learning from the sources of:
 Virtual Classroom
 Audio and Video Conferencing
 Chat
 Webinars
 Application Sharing
 Messaging instantly
27.6 RESOURCES OF SYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:
Chat : Synchronous chat rooms allow multiple users to log in and interact. This is
a great way to ask questions and to share resources and insights.
Click here to watch a YouTube on how to use chatroom

Video conferencing: A video conference can involve a live feed from a classroom
or elsewhere. Alternatively, the conference might transmit a presentation of slides
and graphics, with a question and answer session at the end.
Click here to watch YouTube on the use of video conferencing in the classroom
Web conferencing: Web conferences tend to be more interactive, and you'll
probably be asked to respond to questions (survey, poll, questionnaire), which will
give you a chance to interact. Web conferences usually incorporate chat and they
often have a question and answer session at the end.
Click here to watch an example of synchronous online learning through web
conferencing.
Click here to watch a YouTube on the comparison of video conferencing and web
conferencing.
Internet radio/podcasts: When there is not sufficient bandwidth to broadcast live
video of an event, instructors might stream the audio over the Internet. Good
opportunities for audio streaming include concerts or political speeches. Ideally, the
audio file would be archived for students to access and review later as well.
Click here to watch a YouTube of learning through podcasting
Virtual worlds: Educational "islands" in virtual worlds like Second Life are
wonderful places for students to meet "live" and to interact. They're ideal for
learning languages because it's possible to speak with each other through headsets
and VoIP. It's a wonderful way to practice conversation while being immersed in a
virtual place that has the look and feel of another country or culture. While virtual
worlds can be very engaging and productive as learning environments There's quite
 a learning curve as you learn to navigate the worlds, and to clothe and operate your
avatar.
Click here to watch a YouTube on education in second life

Examples from real classroom scenario:

Learning through chat:
Kulm High School in North Dakota allowed teachers to interact with every student
in the room at the same time by creating a “chat room” like environment within the
actual classroom. Teachers and students interacted through chat room throughout
the school day. Teachers were able to push out assignments and collect assignments
electronically. The administration reported that discipline was better; grades were
higher. Even students were retained what was taught.
http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-
engagement/technologytools#Chats.
Example of video conferencing in classroom teaching:
The LIVE-C - Learning through Interactive Video Experiences at Three Rivers
School District in Oregon (Grades 1-12) was designed to bring the world to the
geographically isolated, culturally limited and high poverty students through the
use of mobile interactive video conferencing equipment. Teachers were able to
invite inexpert from around the world to enter their classrooms as co-teachers, as
well as connect their students to students around the globe.

27.6 Importance of synchronous online learning

 Student Engagement: Synchronous technology like Videoconferencing, webcasts,

and telephone conferences include virtual worlds and chat rooms. In order to
successfully participate in these environment, students must be engaged in student-
learning. This is the most important learner characteristic of a student for effective
learning.
 Synchronous Collaboration: In both the traditional and online classroom
environments, interaction and collaboration are very important for effective learning
outcomes. In an online learning environment the teacher’s role becomes more about
facilitating, guiding, and motivating the learner and can be successfully achieved
through feedback and collaboration.
 Instructional Pacing: Online learning environments provide flexibility and offer
students personalized learning opportunities. Students those who are learning online
have the opportunity to express their thoughts without judgment or interruptions.
Online learning experiences can be developed to provide advanced educational
opportunities for the learning needs of individual students.
 Real time communication: Synchronous learning allows students to obtain real time
feedback on their ideas, clarification of their facts, doubts, collaboration with their
classmates using small group discussion room or chat room. It allows guest speakers
to address the class remotely on their own computers through virtual classroom, video
conferencing.
 High motivation and high completion rate: Students who learn using synchronous
technologies have higher motivation and completion rate. It has fixed schedule.
 Interactive: This online method gives students the chance to interact with their virtual
classmates as well as their mentor.
 Live: Synchronous e-learning activities take place live, that is, they are not previously
recorded, but recorded or pre-produced material may be used during the activity.

27.7 ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:

As synchronous means “not occurring at the same time”. It is a type of two ways online
communication that occurs with a time delay. It allows both individual of
communication to respond at their own convenience. It is the learning in distance in
time lag. Asynchronous learning utilizes ‘time lag’ communication to deliver material.
It is a type of formal learning in which students and teachers have regular interaction
but the interactions are not real time. Interactions occur with a time delay. This delay
can be of hours, days, or sometimes weeks.

Asynchronous online learning includes learning through Email, Discussion forum,

News group, Blog, Self-paced online courses, Discussion forums & groups, Messages
boards.

27.8 RESOURCES OF ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING:

Virtual Libraries/Repositories of Documents, Presentations, Graphics, Audio

Files, and Video: There is a treasure of articles on web which you can download or
 read online. Sometimes you need to subscribe the e-journal or even website for this
purpose. There are many ready presentations, (e.g. www.slideshare.net ) illustrative
graphics like infographics and lesson plans (e.g. www.lessonplanet.com ) available on
web. Plenty of videos are available on youtube.com, schooltube.com.

 E-mail: E-mail is a basic resource in all online learning. It's a great tool for asking
questions, keeping in touch, and receiving materials, updates, reminders, and even
assessments. Some online courses use e-mail as the main way to interact with your
instructor and peers.

Click here to watch an example of how to use e-mail in the classroom

 Discussion Boards: The discussion board is another important aspect in the online
learning structure. It is a great way to discuss in an ansynchronous manner, respond to
questions and to share documents and links. It's also a good media to ask questions and
to clear up queries.

Click here to watch an example of asynchronous online learning through discussion

board.

 Social Networking: Many online courses now incorporate social networking in order
to enhance collaboration and learner interaction. In many learning management
systems, social networking is built into the units. Social networking programs that are
often incorporated include blogs, wikis, Facebook, Orkut, Bebo, Twitter, Flickr,
Youtube, Youstream etc.

Click here to watch a YouTube on social networking for education

 Wikis and Collaborative Documents: Collaborative documents allow students to edit
each other’s work and to collaborate. One can see how people edit and contribute, and
can add their thoughts and ideas. A "wiki" is a place that allows to build a definition or
a series of explanations. One can create own wiki and learn through collaboration. Or
can learn through others’ wikis. e.g. Wikipedia

Click here to watch an example of synchronous online learning through wikis.

 e-Portfolios: E-Portfolios demonstrate your skills and your knowledge of a special

topic. Students combine text, images, presentations, video, audio, links, and a
discussion space.

Click here to watch a YouTube on e-portfolios

 DVD/CD-ROM: Some courses provide textbooks that come bundled with DVDs for
video and media content. Students can read the materials offline.There are many
educational CDs and DVDs on various subjects and topics.

Example of blog in classroom: In Tennessee high school, ninth grade journalism

students used a blog to publish high school news daily.

Example of wiki in classroom: In Perth Amboy High School, students collected and
conducted tests on water samples for the “Raritan Watershed” project. They compiled
data electronically and exchanged information with other schools online. The results
were discussed on wikis, and multimedia presentations were prepared to illustrate
results and conclusions. After implementation, 30-40% of the students received higher
score.

http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-engagement/technologytools#Wiki

In an asynchronous learning environment, students are able to actively participate in

their own learning, get the opportunity to interact with their peers, get peer feedback,
and reflect on the status of their personal learning goals and outcomes. In many learning
environments there are learning activities and expectations that require students to
create, synthesize, explain, and apply the content or skills being taught Asynchronous
 technologies support learning and allow more time for student reflection, collaboration,
and student-to-student interactions.

Asynchronous communication and learning is a more popular learning type because

many of the learning tools are free, require minimal hardware, and are used at the
student’s pace.

27.9 IMPORTANCE OF ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING

 Asynchronous Collaboration:

A sense of community is necessary to sustain the educational experience over time

and this can be achieved through collaborative learning communities. This facilitation
can be successfully achieved through asynchronous collaboration, allowing students
to thoughtfully consider learning objectives because they have the time to critically
synthesize their learning.

 Individualized Pacing:

With these tools, the teacher can assess what students understand and adapt future
course assignments to facilitate a higher level and more in-depth understanding of the
content. With the help of asynchronous tools, students learn at their own pace.

 Sharing of information:

In asynchronous learning participants may engage in the exchange of ideas or

information without the dependence of other participants, involvement at the same time.
Students can have an access to pre-packaged training based on requirement and
convenience.

 Flexibility:

Asynchronous learning allows participants to post whenever they want to and saves the
posting so that the individual participants can view them later at his or her convenience.
It fit into every one’s schedule. e-learning. In fact, many people take online courses
because of their asynchronous nature, combining education with work, family, and
other commitments.
 Overcome geographical barriers:

It is an ideal delivery mode for individuals in different geographical locations and time
zone and when their work schedule is busy.

 Effective:

It is a more leveler because all participants have an equal opportunity to contribute and
those who have trouble in speaking up due to language differences.

 Thoughtful contribution:

Asynchronous E-Learning makes it possible for learners to log on to an E-Learning

environment at any time and download documents or send messages to teachers or
peers. Students may spend more time refining their contributions, which are generally
considered more thoughtful compared to synchronous communication.

 Anytime:
It is the most commonly used e-Learning, wherein the content is available 24/7, and the
teachers, students, end users can access it through an intranet or internet.

 Useful for distance learning: For distance learning, with a multitude of learners in
geographically distant locations, it can be very cost beneficial. An asynchronous
learning module is consistent and easily updated and maintained. That means it can
have a long shelf-life, which can result in a low cost per student.

 Self-paced: Asynchronous learning is very beneficial for learning purposes as it gives

an individual the liberty to read and study at one’s own speed and pace.

Limitations:

 Lengthy discussion:
 No timely feedback
 No strict deadlines
 Lack of continuity
27.6 LET US SUM UP

The technologies associated with synchronous and asynchronous learning can improve
the quality of student-teacher interactions, foster increased student engagement, and
improve learning outcomes. There are strengths and weaknesses to both designs. Some
students like a synchronous online learning environment because they need face-to-face
instruction. For other students, an asynchronous online learning environment provides
more time to consider all sides of an issue before offering their own educated input.
Both learning types have very unique benefits and limitations of online learning.

REFERENCES

http://www.rau.ro/websites/e-society/lucrari/adrian%20lado.pdf

http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees-and-
programs/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/#sthash.1mC29qnT.WBlFF6c1.dpuf

http://www.timelesslearntech.com/asynchronous-learning.php

SUGGESTED READING

http://www.setda.org/web/toolkit2008/student-engagement/technologytools#Blogs

http://www.soesd.k12.or.us/News.asp?NewsID=278

http://www.elearners.com/online-education-resources/degrees-and-
programs/synchronous-vs-asynchronous-classes/#sthash.1mC29qnT.dpuf

INTERESTING FACTS

1. Hotmail , Yahoo Mail and Gmail together account for well over 1 billion users.

2. More than 294 billion emails are sent and received daily.

3. Well over 100 trillion emails are sent per year.

4. 3.5 million emails are sent per second.

5. 90% of the trillions of email messages are spam or viruses.

6. 36% of all emails are opened on a mobile device

Read more at http://www.jeffbullas.com/2014/01/17/20-social-media-facts-and-

statistics-you-should-know-in-2014/#pGtzLgKYXDbmCA0Y.99
 Click here to watch an infographic about social media

 Read about myths and facts about online learning

http://gettingsmart.com/2013/07/7-myths-and-facts-about-online-learning/

GLOSSARY

Starting Term Definition

character

C Computer –based training COMPUTER-BASED TRAINING refers to

any type of course that runs on a computer,
either on a CD, on a person’s hard drive or
on the Internet.

C Courseware Courseware refers to any instructional

software that is delivered on a computer.

E Electronic mailing list
Member send email to the list, which the list
service then mails to all members
individually. Members can then read and
respond (called a post), or email the member
directly. An example is
http://groups.google.com

I Interactive multimedia Interactive multimedia allows learners to

provide input to an online course and
receive feedback as a result of the input. The
input might consist of a mouse click or drag,
gestures, voice commands, touching an
input screen, text entry and live interactions
with connected participants.

L Learning management Learning Management System is a system

system for management and tracking of the
involvement of participants with specific
content, usually with the assistance of a
database. Typically the system tracks who is
scheduled to participate in specific training
programs, who has begun the program, who
 has completed the trainings, and what were
the participants’ test scores.

M Multimedia Multimedia refers to the presentation of

information and instruction through a
combination of graphics, audio, text, or
video. Multimedia instruction is often
interactive.

O Online community A meeting place for people on the Internet.

Designed to facilitate interaction and
collaboration among people who share
common interests and needs. Online
communities can be open to all or by
membership only and may or may not offer
moderator tools.

S Social media learning Social media learning refers to the

acquisition of information and skills through
social technologies that allow people to
collaborate, converse, provide input, create
content and share it.

V Video conferencing Video conferencing refers to the use of

video technology (both hardware and
software) to create a virtual meeting
between two or more people in different
physical locations. Participants can see and
hear each other through this technology.

V Virtual classroom The virtual classroom refers to a digital

classroom learning environment that takes
place over the Internet rather than in a
physical classroom.

W Webinar A webinar is a seminar or workshop in

which the facilitator and participants view
the same screen at the same time. Usually
the webinar has an audio component that the
facilitator controls and functionality that
 allows participants to chat by entering text,
answering polls, raising their hands and
asking questions.

Web based training WBT refers to all types of digital instruction

(WBT) in which the learning material is presented
W via the Internet.

OFFLINE LEARNING AND BLENDED LEARNING

37.0 Learning outcomes
38.0 Introduction
39.0 Offline learning
40.0 Advantages of using offline learning
41.0 Blended learning
42.0 Models of blended learning
43.0 Advantages of blended learning
44.0 Disadvantages of blended learning
45.0 Let us sum up

28.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After completing this module students will be able to ..

 To explain the concept of offline learning

 To explain the advantages and limitations of offline learning
 To explain the concept of blended learning
 To explain the advantages and limitations of blended learning

28.1 INTRODUCTION
To initiate an organization, students and teachers into e-learning, it is very essential to move
them gradually from traditional classrooms to e-learning in small steps making changes
easier to accept. Offline learning and blended learning provides solution to it by benefitting
their bottom line. It enables instructors and instructional designers to develop skills needed
for e-learning in small increments. It provides solution to the problem of heavy cost and
resources required for e-learning.

28.2 OFFLINE LEARNING

The term online and offline have specific meaning with respect to computer technology. In
general, “online” indicates a state of connectivity of the computer to the internet, while
“offline” indicates a disconnected state. Offline learning is learning done through computer
when it is not connected to internet.
Offline learning is a convenient way of learning without the need of an internet connection.

Ways in which offline learning can be used:

Offline browsing:
Offline browsing also known as “Offline favourites” is one of the special features of internet
explorer. It allows saving single web pages, though not an entire site. In the off-line state,
users can perform offline browsing, where pages that have previously been downloaded in
the on-line state can be browsed. This can be useful when the connection to the internet is
impossible or undesirable. One such web browser capable of being explicitly configured to
download pages for offline browsing is

Internet Explorer:
When pages are added to the Favourite list, they can be marked as “available for offline
browsing” which will be available for the learner to read/refer even in the state when the
computer is not connected to the internet.

Offline navigator:
Offline navigator is a computer software that helps a learner to download e-mail, newsgroup
posts or web pages, making them available for reference when the computer is not connected
to the internet. Offline navigators are often useful for portable computers. Offline mail
readers are computer programs that allows the users to read their mails with a minimum of
connection time of the computer to the internet by saving the messages for offline reading.

Offline storage
Offline storage device is any storage medium which has to be inserted into a storage drive
before it can be accessed by the computer system.. Offline storage is also called as
removable/detachable storage. The learning material/mail is recorded usually in the
secondary or tertiary storage device and then it is physically disconnected. The device must
be inserted or connected before a computer can access it again.
Some offline storage devices are

Floppy drive: Floppy drives are portable and are a universal file storage solutions. The
standard size of a floppy is 1.44 MB.

Hard drive: The hard drive is the main area of storage on your computer which helps
storing a large amount of data on your computer. Generally the hard drive is fixed within
the computer. It is usually removable, but not easily portable. Storage capacity can range
into the gigabytes.

Super disk: Though Super disks are similar to the floppy drive, they support very high
density diskettes. The super disk allows for a 120 MB capacity on one disk.

CD-ROM and CD rewritable: Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory, i.e. CD-ROM is an

optical disk capable of storing large amount of data. CD rewritable drives allows the users
to record information to a CD thereby providing an easy way to archive data or share files.

DVD-ROM and DVD re-writable: A DVD is type of optical disk technology similar to
the CD-ROM. A DVD holds a minimum of 4.7 GB of data and are commonly used as
medium for digital representation of movies and other multimedia presentations that
involves graphics.

USB flash drives: A USB drive is a very small, portable flash memory card that plugs into
computer’s USB port and functions as a portable hard drive.

28.3 ADVANTAGES OF USING OFFLINE RESOURCES

Portable: In modern computers, most secondary and tertiary storage media are also used
for off-line storage. Off-line storage is used to transfer information, since the detached
medium can be conveniently transported physically from one place to another.
Secure: In case a disaster destroys the original data, a medium in a remote location will be
probably unaffected, thereby enabling data recovery. Off-line storage increases a general
information security, since it is physically inaccessible from a computer, and therefore data
confidentiality or integrity cannot be affected by computer based attack techniques.
Economical: If you connect to the internet via a dial up modem and a standard telephone
line it can save money on your phone bill as well.
Teacher friendly: Using the sites in an offline state helps the students focus on specific
materials, thereby giving control over the material to the teachers. Thus, students have to
focus on the material in front of them which prevents them straying onto other sites. Also
material that uses language which is slightly complex or which teachers would like to adapt
or select from, can be changed offline to tailor them to the students’ needs.
28.4 BLENDED LEARNING
In modern times, with the invention of computer and internet, the idea of using
technology in education got importance. E-learning has emerged as the most popular version
of education in Western countries. But, serious errors and limitations can be seen regarding
e-learning. In a country like India, the economic support is the biggest problem. Lack of
social contact, lack of feeling of responsibility, promotion to materialism and lack of human
touch are a few objections taken on e-learning. Therefore, purely classroom teaching or
purely online learning cannot bring constructive transformation in Indian Teacher
Education. Hence, proper co-ordination and meaningful integration of both these
approaches is essential to bring revolutionary changes in our system. Blended learning can
become the pathway of success towards that direction.
The first generation of e-learning or web-based learning programmes focused on
presenting physical classroom based instructional content over the internet. In the second
wave of e-learning, increasing numbers of learning models that combine various delivery
modes are used. Blended learning offers more choices with effective way.

Blended Learning: Definition

Actually, it is not a new concept. But it has not been thought about or applied clearly
and appropriately till yet. This term was initially used in 1997 in UK. According to Graham
Spanier,"It is the largest unknown trend in higher education."
“Blended learning is a mixture of online learning and classroom that contain some of the
facilities of online courses with the presence of face-to-face communication.”
Rovai and Jordan (2004)
Bonk (2004, p.5) cited the three most common definitions of blended learning:
1. A combination of instructional modalities (or delivery media)
2. A combination of instructional methods
3. A combination of online and face-to-face instruction

"A learning programme where more than one more delivery mode is used."
T.Barker (2005)
“There are two significant elements in defining blended learning and those are online and
face-to-face instructions.
Picciano (2006): “The Blended learning approach combines the best elements of
online and face to face learning. It is likely to emerge as the predominant model of the future
and become far more common than either one alone”

CONCEPT OF BLENDED LEARNING:

 Blended learning referred to the following four different concepts:-
 To combine mix modes of web-based technology : To accomplish an educational goals,
live virtual classroom, self-paced instruction, collaborative learning, streaming video,
audio and text can be blend together with different combinations.
 To combine various pedagogical approaches: To produce optimal learning outcomes
various pedagogical approaches like constructivism, behaviourism and cognitivism can be
blend together with or without instructional technology.
 To combine any form of instructional technology: Instructional technologies, devices
like CD-ROM , web-based training, film are used with face-to-face instructor led training.
 To combine instructional technology with actual job task: Working experiences are
blended together with learning experiences to create maximum and effective learning
outcomes.

Overall, the best mix of resources is used to provide an optimum learning experience for
all the students. Blended learning can be described as a learning program where more than
one delivery mode is being used with the objective of optimizing the learning outcome and
cost of program delivery.
Click here to watch you tube on basic of blended learning
Click here to watch you tube on blended learning

Examples of blended learning:

7. Make reference material available: Teacher can provide reference material i.e. notes,
reference books, videos etc. online through blogs, email etc.
8. Put the assessment online.
9. Deliver pre-work online
10. Provide online remedial teaching
11. Provide guidance/mentoring online
12. Arrange expert’s lectures online
Source: https://time2learn.wikispaces.com/Blended+Learning+Environment+(BLE)

28.5 MODELS OF BLENDED LEARNING

Following are the four models that are most used in schools today:
• Flipped classroom
Flipped classroom / flipped learning is a modern approach to learning. It is opposite to that
of traditional classroom. In traditional classroom, the classroom time is spent on lecturing
to students. Whereas in flipped model, this time is utilized for discussion to encourage
individualized learning and provide one-on-one help to students, and also to improve
student-teacher interaction. The instructional or teachable content is given beforehand to
students and still available in class.

• Station Rotation Model

In a station rotation model, within a given course or subject, students are divided into
different groups. Teacher fixed some learning stations i.e. online learning, individual
tutoring, project work, assignment etc. students rotate at fixed points in time between these
different learning stations. In the Station Rotation model, students rotate through all of the
stations.

• Lab Rotation Model

In a lab Rotation model, students rotate at fixed points in time between a classroom and
computer lab. Students learn online in computer lab. Whereas they are involved in various
activities in classroom. In station rotation model students are rotating within a given
classroom whereas in the lab model they are actually rotating out to a learning lab where
they are doing their online learning.

• Flex Model
Online learning is at the centre of students’ learning in the Flex model. Students have
flexible schedule of their learning based on their need and fixed goals. Students get online
learning experiences as well as offline face to face learning experiences. Face to face
learning experiences are given through discussion, projects, mentoring, tutoring etc.; most
of the learning take place online.
28.6 ADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING
13. Blended learning allows and schools alike to make maximum use of the technologies
and other resources that they have available to them. This means that it allows schools
to take a look at all the technologies and tools that they have and see how it can best be
used to bring the greatest benefit to students and the organization even as they spend as
little as they possibly can and still maintain effectiveness.
14. Issues concerning distance are eliminated.
15. The speed with which you can reach thousands of people is unmatched by traditional
methods as they can all be reach simultaneously without the restrictions of time and
space.
16. Not all content can be properly delivered online. The challenges of using a purely online
modality are eliminated when a blended approach is used.
17. By making use of traditional approaches where they work best and applying the
technology related methods only where they are most appropriate for the achievement
of the instructional goals, teachers can avoid the exponential increase in costs that can
accompany a complete switch to online methods only. It also allows students to avoid
costs that are incurred through travel, accommodations and other expenses that are tied
to ‘time and place studies’.
18. Blended learning allows learners the flexibility with their time to do their lessons
anytime and anyplace as they have continuous access to the course material until a
meeting with the lecturer becomes compulsory.
19. It makes it easier to deal with educational administration and enables communication
with all students. Virtual office hours make tutors far more accessible than in a strictly
face-to-face scenario.
20. Students get their learning needs and styles catered to whether they prefer online or face-
to-face because it offers both in a single course. This leads to more interaction and active
participation in discussion.
21. For sessions held online, the communication between teacher and student is open and
everyone can benefit from it because everyone can view the responses sent by the
teacher. These are frequent feedbacks from the teacher resulting in effective learning.
22. Some lecturers experience an improvement in the quality of students’ writing and
discussion. According to a 2009 study from the Department of Education: “Students
who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking
the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction.” Students who mix online
learning with traditional coursework (i.e. blended learning) do even better (Internet
Time Group Report)
23. Online resources are updated and upgraded time to time. Thus, students have access to
unlimited up-to-date resources.
24. It helps to develop time management skills and critical thinking skill. Blended learning
is flexible as it gives freedom to the students to choose time as per their convenience.

28.7 DISADVANTAGES OF BLENDED LEARNING

10. Time consuming: Before a blended learning scenario can be considered ready for use, the
lecturer has to do long, detailed and extensive work. Preparation for start-up is very time
consuming.
11. Limited interactions: There can be limited contact between lecturer and students and so
some of the dynamism that comes with face-to-face interaction can be lost. All students are
not self-motivated. They need to be motivated to participate actively in the learning process.
Here blended learning can be a hindrance.
12. Students’ tendencies: Based on what students are used to, they often prefer the paper
versions of the materials than to see them online so the face-to-face sessions in the blended
programmes usually have a comparatively more successful “feel” for the students.
13. Extra efforts from teachers: The materials developed by the lecturers cannot simply be
the same set that they had developed for handouts. They have to be reformatted so that they
guide the students through a process of independent study when they are not in a face-to-
face session. This additional task required of the lecturers is yet to be appreciated for what
it is worth. Teachers always need to be ready with plan for the students who need additional
help.
14. Students sometimes feel that they are given more work to do when distance modalities are
used.
15. Blended learning is literally dependent on the technical resource and online information.
These tools need to be reliable, easy to use and updated in order to give a meaningful
learning experience.
16. Blended learning needs stable and adequate internet connection. The school or the
institution should have adequate infrastructure and all facilities required for computer
based instruction.
17. Information literacy is a must for blended learning or it can lead to a significant barrier for
students who wish to get access to the course material.
18. Students generally wait and watch all videos in one sitting, rather than on regular basis.
The use of lecture recording technology might result in students falling behind on the
resource material.

28.4 LET US SUM UP

In computer technology, “online” indicates a state of connectivity and “offline” indicates a
disconnected state. Offline learning is plays an important role where internet connectivity is
a major problem. Offline learning supplements classroom teaching learning process.
Blended learning is inventing or adopting new learning environments that work better for
students and teachers. Blended learning implies a shift to an online environment and giving
students more control over the pace, path, time and place of learning. The goal of blended
learning to personalize learning using modern technology and expand learning
opportunities.
 REFERENCES

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/education/the-topic-of-blended-learning-education-
essay.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offline_reader

http://classroom-aid.com/2013/02/06/blended-learning-implementation-guide-dlday/

SUGGESTED READING

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blended_learning

http://www.teachthought.com/blended-learning-2/the-definition-of-blended-learning/

http://www.mindflash.com/elearning/what-is-blended-learning

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/blended-online-learning-heather-wolpert-gawron

MODULE 31: LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (LMS)

Module Structure

31.0 Learning Outcomes

31.1 Introduction to LMS

31.2 Background / History of LMS

31.3 Concept of LMS

31.4 Components of LMS

31.5 LMS Providers

31.6 Characteristics of LMS

31.7 Advantages and Limitations, if any

31.8 Application of LMSs

31.9 Let us sum up

31.0 Learning Outcomes

After going through this module, the learner will be able to:

 Acquire knowledge about the concept of learning management systems.

  Develop an understanding of the various components of the learning management
systems in detail.
 Develop an understanding of the various advantages of the learning management
systems.
 Develop an understanding of the few limitations of the learning management systems.
 Be aware of the applications of the learning management systems in the current
scenario.

31.1. Introduction
A LMS is a web-based software solution to simplify the administration of learning
programme. It can track learner progress through a learning programme, provide a
forum for collaborating, centralize programme information and scheduling, provide a
platform for synchronous and asynchronous courseware and enable the assessment of
learning effectiveness (Sun Microsystems, Inc. 2001).

31. 2 Background

Earlier learning took place in a chalk and talk method with the teacher-centric
education. Then with the infusion of technology in education, there was a paradigm
shift in the way learning experiences were provided to the students.

The most recent trend in patterns on learning is e-learning, i.e. technology-enhanced

education. Learning programme and materials are hosted and available online, allowing
students to learn, interact and even earn or obtain degrees sitting in the comfort of their
own homes.

Even though the internet allows for hosting the learning material, the challenges of
maintaining and administering the instructions over the internet is also to be difficult.
Hence, Learning Management Systems (LMS) or the software designed to aid
organizations/institutions in managing their e-learning initiatives have mushroomed
and there is a huge market for the same.

31.3 Concept of LMS

LMS embraces any use of web technology to plan, organize, implement and control
aspects of the learning process. The most comprehensive description has been given by
Greenberg (2002): a high level, strategic solution for planning, delivering and managing
all learning events within an organization, including online, virtual classroom, and
instructor-led courses.

So, basically an LMS is a software application for the administration, documentation,

tracking, reporting and delivery of e-learning education courses or training programs.

LMSs range from systems for managing training and educational records to software
for distributing online or blended/hybrid college courses over the Internet with features
for online collaboration. Colleges and universities use LMSs to deliver online courses
 and compliment on-campus courses. Corporate training departments use LMSs to
deliver online training, as well as automate record-keeping and employee registration.

In educational setting, adoption of LMS has a wide scope. Universities are seeing
distance education as the means to the future. It is also seen as a way to decrease costs,
decrease the need for classrooms, increase access to education and increase their student
population. Instructors also find the use of LMS actually improves their teaching.
(Ehrman & Gilbert, 2003)

LMS not only delivers content but also handles registering for courses, course
administration, skills gap analysis, tracking, and reporting.

31.4 Components / features of LMS

Since most organizations tend to customize the LMS according to their needs, the
typical features are difficult to list out, but the most common features of LMS are:

 Registration co-ordination
 Scheduling co-ordination
 Programme tracking
 Student tracking
 Learning assessment
 Testing of learners
 Material distribution
 Reporting

It may also include,

 Online conferencing mechanism,

 Budget tracking
 Resource management
 Learner profiling
 Online help
 Blended learning support
 Administration tools

An effective LMS performs the functions of creating class rosters, controlling

registration and creating waiting lists, uploading and managing documents containing
curriculum content, delivering course content over a Web-based interface, allowing for
an entirely remote educational experience for the instructor and student, creating and
publishing course calendars, interacting between students via functionalities like instant
messaging, email, and forums, to establishing methods for assessment and testing, such
as multiple choice quizzes.
 It also helps if LMS has additional features like automatic enrolment and reminders for
mandatory courses, manager access for approving materials and participation, HR
integration for tracking performance goals, course completions and employment
eligibility.

31.5 LMS Providers

In choosing an LMS, it’s important for an organization to consider how it plans to deliver
training materials to students. Then match the organization’s needs to an LMS that offers the
corresponding features. There are different types of LMSs:

Free vs. Commercial

Free, open-source software is free. It can also be modified to meet the demands of the
organization. But since it a free software, there is no support system and so it becomes difficult
to make even small changes. Any organization using the free open source software has to take
the help of a separate, paid system. It has been found that most free LMS products tend to be
more complicated than commercial products - typically they are utilized by more sophisticated
users.

Commercial software, on the other hand, offers users a support staff, and tends to be much
easier to deploy, and use. But it is not free, it costs money. Among commercial LMS products,
there are typically two main forms: Installed, or the service-based cloud option.
Installed vs SaaS:

One of the most important elements of an LMS is the ability to scale up or down quickly and
easily. Commercial LMS products are typically sold as either a locally hosted enterprise
product, which is hosted on an organization’s own servers, or as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
offering, which is hosted on the vendor’s servers and is accessible from anywhere (the data is
stored in “the cloud”).

A locally installed LMS offers users the ability to individualize and customize their LMS. So
if an organization already has an IT staff in place that can administer the system, handle support
and customization and scalability concerns, a locally hosted LMS can be powerful.

Generally, cloud-based SaaS products offer trainers more flexibility when it comes to scaling
up or down. Because the product is sold as a “service” (usually monthly), the burden of making
systems upgrades, freeing up bandwidth, and providing IT support falls on the vendor, rather
than the customer. Because data does not have to be stored on local servers, scalability isn’t a
concern; most SaaS LMSs can ramp up or down by thousands of users with ease.

Course-creating, or not:
Another important aspect to look for in an LMS is whether it comes with the ability to create
training content. In some cases, an LMS is simply a tool to distribute course content, which
must be created elsewhere.

Some LMS systems come with some authoring tools that allow trainers and designers to
develop their own unique content. Other LMS vendors offer separate course-creation tools for
purchase, while some offer no authoring tools whatsoever, and instead rely on third-party
course materials.

Integrated:
Learning Management Systems have come a long way from the earliest days of e-learning. As
LMS systems become more sophisticated, one of the most exciting developments is the ability
for the system to integrate with other applications the organization already uses - whether that’s
internal calendars, email, or social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Other LMS products
may also integrate closely with systems, which tend to focus on providing support to Human
Resource staff functions like recruiting, performance management, and payroll.

31.6 Characteristics of LMS

A learning management should have the following characteristics:

 Structure – It should have a proper structure with centralization and organization of
all learning-related functions into one system which would enable navigation easy and
effective.

 Security – The learning management system should be able to protect from

unauthorized access to courses, student records, and administrative functions.

 Registration – It should help in finding and selecting or assigning courses, curricula,

etc. by learners and their supervisors, which would also include instructor-led training
classes.

 Delivery – It should be able to provide smooth delivery of content, on-demand delivery

of learning content and experiences to learners.

 Interaction – It should facilitate learner interaction not only with the content and
communication between learners, instructors, course administrators, but also between
communicative content and the LMS.

 Assessment – It should enable administering assessments and the collection, tracking,

and storing of assessment data, with further actions taken based on the results of
assessment. Many LMSs include the ability to create assessments as well.

 Tracking – It should be able to tracklearner data including progress on a predefined set

of training goals and requirements, and tracking of courses for usage, especially in
relation to required deployment of mandated training.

 Reporting – It should enable extraction and presentation of information by

administrators and stakeholders about learners and courses, including the information
that is tracked as described above.

 Record keeping – It should also have provision for storage and maintenance of data
about learners. This includes both demographical information profiling learners and
their training progress and accomplishments. This is especially critical when an LMS
is deployed as the official system of record for an organization.

 Facilitating Reuse – It should be able to search and recombine courses and possibly
parts of courses for delivery in different curricula and learning tracks.

 Personalization – It should enable configuration of LMS functions, interfaces, and

features by learners and administrators to match personal preferences, organizational
needs, etc.
 Integration – Exchange of data with external systems to facilitate enterprise-wide
tracking of learner performance and transfer of user data and to exploit external content
and learning resources should be a characteristic of a LMS.
  Administration – Above all, it should be able to centrally manage all of the functions
which are listed above.

31.7 Advantages of LMS

Learning management systems are important for mid-sized organizations and above who are
looking to systematically manage the learning and development of their staff. Learning
Management Systems save companies and instructors valuable time and money by enabling
them to easily manage the training of large groups of learners through a web-based
environment with anytime, anywhere accessibility. It can be beneficial for different types of
learners and different types of learning.

Initial Learning – acquiring skills and knowledge for the first time.
Continued Learning – extending skills and knowledge in a particular domain.
Remedial learning – refreshing skills and knowledge for learners whose knowledge has
decayed.
Upgrade learning – moving to a higher level of competence in skills and knowledge
already acquired.
Transfer learning – transfer of skills and knowledge learned in one particular domain or
context and transferring them to a different one.

Some of the most important benefits Learning are as follows:

 Anywhere, Anytime Learning

LMS allows companies and trainers to manage training programs by uploading all their
training material to a central location. This allows employees and learners to access the
learning materials at any time and from anywhere with Internet access.

 Intelligent Insights With Reports and Statistics

With advanced reporting and tracking features, LMS systems are the perfect tool to gauge the
learning progress of employees and students. Detailed reports such as course reports, user
reports, group reports and compliance reports, as well as learner statistics, allows trainers to
easily identify the progress of a large group of employees or individual students.

 Easily create and conduct online tests

Many LMS come bundled with advanced quiz & test making tools, enabling instructors to
easily gauge learning levels, automate grading, set up a certification processes, and much
more. They can easily add tests, quizzes & surveys to their courses and utilize a number of
security controls to prevent cheating in online tests and quizzes.
 Save Time

By using the LMS to create and conduct training programs, companies and instructors save
hours of time from the traditional method of delivery. Unlike training events conducted in
regular classrooms, the LMS training programs can be easily organized and scheduled
according to the convenience of employees and students. They can be backed up, imported into
empty course shells, shared with other instructors, and reused numerous times.

 Save Money

Companies and instructors save money by using virtual classrooms. They reduce transportation
and lodging costs and the time spent away from work traveling. For a relatively low price, LMS
environments allow companies and educational institutions alike to save on administrative and
paperwork costs by creating online courses, which they can reuse multiple times to train
geographically distant team of employees or learners.

 Easily Customize and Update Content

With all the training materials hosted in a central location, companies and trainers can easily
update the existing content or add new content in a very short period of time. LMS allow instant
access for adding new material to keep the training program relevant. Learners will be able to
see the updated material immediately, giving the course a fresh new look.

 Easy Schedule Training For A Mobile Workforce

LMS allow companies to easily schedule training for their staff on multiple shift and lower
their operating costs. Telecommuting employees can take the training from anywhere at times
that best meets their needs. This flexibility also helps companies to attract more employees and
increases the productivity of their existing employees. Another benefit is being able to use
content that learners are most receptive to, such as interactive videos that are hard to share in
an offline classroom. Additionally, the LMS-hosted communication tools help a mobile
workforce communicate and collaborate effectively with each other.

 Personalized and Interactive Learning

LMS allow instructors to create interactive e-courses by using videos, images, audio and text,
which serve as excellent learning aids. Learners can also communicate with their trainers and
peers through online discussion forums, making learning much more interactive, engaging and
personalized for learners.

 Make Money Online

Few LMS allow instructors to make money online by selling their courses with an automated
payment process. Learners can easily register and pay online for courses they want to take. As
their business grows, instructors also have the option to design their own billing system and
use the LMS only for delivery of those courses – inside their website and under their brand.

 Manage and track staff training with an LMS

Training administration can be time-consuming and difficult, particularly in medium to large

organizations with many staff working in different roles across a variety of physical locations.
The right learning management system (LMS) can streamline this administrative effort, making
it easy to ensure each staff member receives the appropriate training as well as helping manage
the classrooms, instructors, equipment and other resources needed to deliver the courses.

 Consolidate all training information into one system

There are significant benefits to having all the training information in a single, consolidated
system. At a glance the status of company-wide training programs can be reviewed and
recorded, staff who have completed certain qualifications can be identified, and much more.
Rather than having to search through several different systems and paper files to find what you
need, the right LMS puts all the training information in one place.

Limitations of LMS

 Cost – Expensive to create. Depending on the needs of the company, it can be modified or
customized but the initial cost is more.
 The amount of time required to install necessary hardware, software, course and database
is huge.
 It is a technology based application and hence will need an expert to handle the everyday
working. It will need for a LMS Administrator.

31. 8 Applications of LMSs

Since we have seen the different advantages of LMS in the current world of technology and e-
technology, it can be clearly understood that LMS can be applied in all fields of business,
healthcare, education, government, finance, etc.

Some of the important applications are:

As an Administrative tool -The LMS enables administrators to manage user registrations and
profiles, define roles, set curricula, chart certification paths, assign tutors, author courses,
manage content, and administer internal budgets, user payments, and chargebacks.
Administrators can have complete access to the training database, enabling them to create
standard and customized reports on individual and group performance.
For Integration with HR – as is clear from the different features of LMS, it can become an
integrated HR system wherein a human resources employee can enter a new hire's information
into the HR system, and the employee is automatically signed up for training tailored to his or
her role within the company.

For Content access – Since it involves the different media in which content can be delivered
like CD-Rom, online, etc., and different methods of delivering content, like instructor-paced
or self-paced or blended, it can be applied in any industry or in the field of education. It can be
used in different languages and hence knows no boundary in its application.

For Content development – LMS enables content development, so depending on the kind of
industry it is being used in, it helps in authoring, maintaining, and storing the learning content.

For Skills management - Skill assessment and management capabilities revolve around
learners assessing their competency gaps. Since LMSs allow skills assessments from multiple
sources, including peer reviews and 360-feedback tools, managers are able to determine
whether results are weighted, averaged, or compared to determine a skill gap. Businesses can
also use this feature to search their employee base for specialized skills.

For Assessment capabilities – LMSs are equipped with assessment features which will enable
the user to evaluate, test and assign and build a programme that becomes more useful to the
company using it.

31.10 Let us sum up

As we have seen from the above discussion, e-learning has become the most recent trend in
technology-enhanced education. Learning programme and materials are hosted and available
online, allowing students to learn, interact and even earn or obtain degrees in the comfort of
their own homes. These have given rise to Learning Management Systems. A LMS is a
software application for the administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of
e-learning education courses or training programs.

A learning management system (LMS) is an online system that manages the delivery of self-
paced, e-learning courses. These courses can be taken entirely online using components such
as journals, discussion boards, chats, choices, assignment, and quizzes. The LMS provides
online reports for each course for the student and teacher. It can also be used as a supplement
for face-to-face trainings.

LMS provides many features or components which helps in maximum utilization of the system.
It should be robust enough to serve the needs of thousands of learners, administrators, content
builders, and instructors simultaneously. The infrastructure should be able to expand to meet
future growth. The access, delivery and presentation of material must be easy-to-use. The LMS
must be able to selectively limit and control access to online content and resources. It also
requires a place to connect with other learners with discussion boards or chats and at the same
time ensure dialogue with the instructor.

The implementation of a learning management system is an important tool for online learning.
Along with online courses, many schools use their LMS to enrol students in classroom-based
events, manage face-to-face training, and generate reports on student’s progress.

With its various uses advantages, LMSs can be applied in any field of life, be it finance, health
industry, education or the government.

31.12 Suggested readings

 University Tenaga Nasional College Of Information Technology, Learning

Management System (LMS), PPT Presented By : MashitahHaris
 Learning Management System Presentation By Sammantha Stockley& Jenny Olsson
 www.authorstream.com/.../jennyolsson-378811-learning-management-sy...
 khadijahrashid.files.wordpress.com/.../learning-management-system-lms....
 edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Learning_management_system
 www.youtube.com: What is Learning Management System
 www.youtube.com : Teaching with Learning Management System
 www.youtube.com: Learning Management for e-learning
 www.youtube.com/http://www.proprofs.com/c/category/lms/Understand what is a
learning management system with this ...
 www.youtube.com/channel/UCJdOKn7AcL1q8pk_L2Lr_AA
Learning management system.... Using Moodle 2.3 / eLearning: A video tutorial of
most aspects of the LMS.
 The 20 Best Learning Management Systems - eLearning ...
 Learning Management System (LMS) for eLearning - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYUeWiyznh4http://tools.coggno.com/documents/open2
/695. Watch this video demo on a learning management system
 PLE and Learning Management System - YouTube
www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9zSd5Gs6Mw
A chat about some ideas between Learning Management System and Personal
Learning Environment...

For further information, click on the link below:

What is an LMS - Mindflash

What is learning management system (LMS)? - Definition ...

Learning Management Systems Comparison Checklist of ...

Learning Management Systems 101 - SlideShare

Benefits of a Learning Management System

The Advantages and Drawbacks of Learning Management

31.13 References

 www.google.com

 www.wikepedia.com
 Encyclopaedia of Distance Learning,Rogers P, Berg, G, Boettcher J, Howard, C,
Justice L, Schenk, K. 2nd Edition, Volume III, Information Science Reference.
 Choosing a Learning Management System ADL Instructional Design Team
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
 A field Guide to Learning Management Systems, By Ryann K. Ellis, Editor,
Learning Circuit, 2009
 Learning Management System, Student Guide, June 30, 2006, JICS 6.4

MOODLE
Unit Structure

33.1 Introduction to Moodle

33.2 What is Moodle?
 Software
 Company
 Community
 Financial Arm
33.3 Moodle as an Open Source Learning Platform
33.4 Moodle as a software programme
 33.5 The Pedagogical Philosophy of Moodle
33.6 How Moodle works
33.7 Using the Moodle Tutor
33.8 Guide to using Moodle
33.9 Creating a Moodle
33.10 Evaluating Moodle as a Learning Management System
33.11 Summary

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module, the student will be able to:

 State the concept of a Moodle

 Appreciate Moodle as an open resource for learning
 Moodle as a tool for learning
 State the pedagogical philosophy of Moodle
 Use the Moodle Tutorials
 Create own Moodle
 Evaluate Moodle as a Learning Resource Management tool

33.1 Introduction to Moodle

Moodle (acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a free

software e-learning platform.

Martin Dougiamas developed Moodle in order to help teachers create collaborative

&interactive e- courses focussing on the construction and evolution content on the net. The
first version of Moodle was released in August 2002.

Today Moodle is a well-known LMS being used by teachers the world over to create and
deliver online content and training. As of June 2013 it had a user base of 83,009 registered and
verified sites, serving more than 7 million users and hosting more than 7 million courses with
more than 1.2 million teachers.1

33.2 What is Moodle?

Although used interchangeably, the term Moodle has four distinct elements. Broadly, it can be
thought of as an education-centred project which has:

 Company: The Australian company, based in Pert, Moodle Pty Ltd (also known as
Moodle.com and Moodle Headquarters based in Perth, Western Australia), performs
the majority of the development of the core Moodle platform.
 Software: This is the Moodle software that is available from the site and can be
downloaded for free and then used as per one’s needs.

1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moodle
  Community: The Moodle Community is an open network of more than one million
registered users who interact through the Moodle community website to share and
exchange ideas, information, and community support for free.
 Commercial Arm: The Moodle Partner network forms the commercial arm of the
Moodle environment and provides the bulk of the funding to Moodle Pty Ltd through
the payment of royalties.

Thus we see that Moodle is a broad term and a user has to use all these arms for maximum
benefit.

33.3 Moodle as an Open Source Learning Platform

Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide administrators, teachers/ educators, and

learners with a single integrated and secure system to create truly personalised learning
scenarios.

Since it is an open source, its main features are as follows:

 Easy to use: Moodle has an easy to learn and use interface with a lot of simple and
easy to follow features.

 Free: Moodle is freely available as Open Source software, under the GNU General
Public License. Anyone can adapt the software, extend it or modify the downloaded
Moodle for both commercial and non-commercial projects by just registering as a user.
 Up-to-date: Being community driven ensures that the Moodle features are reviewed
and improved to suit the current and constantly evolving needs of its users.
 Multilingual: The Moodle community has translated Moodle into more than 95
languages so users can easily localise their Moodle site. It also provides resources,
support and community discussions in these various languages.

 All-in-one learning platform:

Because of its flexibility, Moodle can support cent percent online courses as well as
can be used for blended learning. Its core features can be both enabled or disabled and
thus the software integrate everything needed for a course using its complete range of
built-in features. External tools for collaboration such as forums, chats, wikis, and blogs
can also be used.

 Highly flexible and fully customisable:

Moodle can be customised in any way and tailored to every individual need. Its modular
set up allows developers to create highly customized applications. The permutations
and combinations are endless.

 Scalable:
 A Moodle can handle from a few students to millions of users and thus can be scaled to
support the needs of both small classes and large institutions.

 Secure and private:

Moodle is committed to safeguarding data and user privacy and so security controls are
constantly updated and implemented in Moodle. Processes are developed and new
software is created to protect against unauthorised access, misuse and data loss.

 Can be used on any device:

Moodle is web-based and so can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Since the
interface is mobile-compatible and can run across many browsers, all the resources
available on the Moodle platform is easily accessible and consistent across different
internet browsers and devices.

33.4 Moodle as a software programme

The Moodle advantage can be used via a variety of platforms. In order to access it users can go
to www. Moodle.org and download the software. This is mostly done by the educator/
instructor who will create the course using Moodle. Once created, the instructor can give access
to the students who will have to log on the site using their username and password.

A Moodle can be modified as per one’s own imagination and creativity and hence no two
courses are alike.

Thus, we see that the Moodle is a very dynamic tool in the hands of a tech-savvy teacher to
teach and interact with her students.

33.5 The Pedagogical Philosophy of Moodle

The design and development of Moodle is based on a "social constructionist pedagogy". The
main philosophical background of Moodle can be understood through the following four
related concepts:2

 Constructivism
 Constructionism
 Social constructivism and
 Connected and separate.

Constructivism: The Constructivist viewpoint states that people actively construct new
knowledge as they interact with their environments.

2
http://docs.Moodle.org/24/en/Philosophy
Everything one reads, sees, hears, feels, and touches is tested against one’s prior knowledge
and if it is viable within the mental world, goes on to form new knowledge that one caries
within him. Knowledge is strengthened if it can be used successfully in the wider environment.

Constructionism: In constructivism one learns and constructs knowledge for oneself whereas
constructionism speaks of that situation where one learns in order that another person will
experience the learning. As teachers, this is a highly developed and important pedagogical
philosophy.

For example, you might read this about any topic several times and still forget it by the next
day - but if you were to try and explain these ideas to someone else using only your own words,
or were asked to make a slideshow presentation that explained these concepts, then it's very
likely you'd have a better understanding that is more integrated into your own ideas.

Social constructivism: Social constructivism extends constructivism into social settings, where
groups construct knowledge for one another, collaboratively creating a small pool or culture of
shared knowledge with shared meanings. It can operate at many levels.

A very simple example is an object like a bucket. The object can be used for many things, but
its shape does suggest some "construct" about holding or carrying a liquid.

Connected and separate:

This idea looks in depth into an individual’s the motivations within a discussion:

Separate behaviour is when a person remains or at least tries to remain 'objective' and 'factual.’
Such a person will tend to defend their own ideas and use logic to find holes in their opponent's
ideas. Connected behaviour occurs when one uses a more empathic approach that accepts
subjectivity, and tries to listen and ask questions in an effort to understand the other point of
view.

Generally, a healthy amount of connected behaviour within a learning community is a very

good and compelling force for learning as it not only bringing people closer but also promotes
deeper reflection and re-examination of their existing beliefs.

Moodle doesn't FORCE this style of behaviour, but this is what most web and content designers
believe is best. In the future, as the technical infrastructure of Moodle becomes more stable,
improvements in pedagogical support will be a major direction for Moodle development.

33.6 How Moodle works

Moodle can be broadly categorised into two interfaces –
 The front page and the
 Inside structure.
When a teacher or an institution creates a Moodle course, they start with the default settings
but these are highly customisable and each instructor can customise as per their needs.

The Front Page

The Front page of a Moodle site is the page you reach when you open the site and usually
includes information about the course/ school/ institution. This can be highly customised. This
page has the option of being locked so that that all a user sees when they click on the Moodle
URL is a login screen.

How users join a Moodle site depends on the establishment where they work. For example, if
the Moodle is hosted on the institutional server, then the teachers can be given individual logins
or they might be allowed to make accounts themselves. They may even sign in automatically
from another system.

Inside Moodle
Moodle's main structure is organised around courses. This is where teachers present their
learning resources and activities which a student has to attempt. The course can follow different
layouts but any course usually includes a number of main sections, where materials are
displayed and ‘side blocks’ offering extra features or information.

A teacher can put up an entire year’s study or a single session or any other variation depending
on the teacher or establishment. The courses can be from a single teacher or can be shared by
a group of teachers.

How students enrol on courses depends on the establishment; for example they can self -enrol,
be enrolled manually by their teacher or automatically by the administration.

Courses are organised into categories. Physics, Chemistry and Biology courses might come
under the Science category for instance.

You can know more about how Moodle works by visiting the link given below:

http://www.slideshare.net/mark.drechsler/Moodle-structural-overview#btnNext

33.7 Using the Moodle Tutor

Although the interface is easy, most teachers hesitate to use any online learning platform as it
is new. Help is just a click away! For individuals and institutions who are not averse to paying,
joining the course at www.Moodletutor.com is one of the simplest ways.

Alternately, one can browse a number of free Moodle tutorial sites in order to get started. Some
of the sites where one can learn for free are:
http://thinktutorial.com/category/education/Moodle/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQyqpVobDR4
http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/05/Moodle-tutorial-videos.html

33.8 Guide to using Moodle

The best way to figure out how Moodle works (for the teachers) is to join the Moodle
programme. To do this, one needs to go to the Moodle website, www.Moodle.org and
download and install the Moodle software on one’s computer.
If an institution which wishes to take up Moodle so that all the teachers can use it, then it has
to be installed on the institutional server and one has to take help of the institutions computer
department.

The site www.Moodle.net offers many freely downloadable Moodles and also offers some
great free tutorials. The teacher is left to his/ her own imagination and creativity to create the
best course and customise it to his/ her needs.

33.9 Creating a Moodle

As educators, it is essential that we know how to design and present a particular course and the
Moodle platform allows us to do just the same.

However small the content may be and how few students you may enrol, it is essential to create
a Moodle in order to know the powerful tool that this is.

Here is what you must do:

Pre-Moodle
Identify a particular topic that you would like to teach.
Gather information. (Text, videos, question papers, tutorials, etc.)

Creating the Moodle Course

There are a number of tutorials available online which helps one to create one’s own Moodle
course. One starts with downloading the Moodle software on the computer. Thereafter, the
Moodle software takes you through a guided tour of the basic default course structure. The
interface is very easy to navigate and customise.

The following links can also add as a guide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWOp1oq-TvI
http://www.oit.umass.edu/support/Moodle/a-guide-building-a-new-course-Moodle
http://www.lynda.com/Moodle-tutorials/Moodle-25-Essential-Training/136466-2.html

All the best with creating your own Moodle course!

33.10 Evaluating Moodle as a Learning Management System
Here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using the Moodle. At the end of it, each
course is personal and its success or failure depends on the enthusiasm and will of the class. At
a glance, the advantages and disadvantages are as follows:

Advantages
 Great flexibility: A Moodle can be used for all types of classes (small to large), all types
of subjects, all categories of users (single to institutional) and all types of media, thus
making Moodle a very flexible programme.
 Low cost of ownership: Due to its free-licensing options, the cost of installing and
running a Moodle is negligible.
 High level of security: The data with respect to the class, the content and the evaluation
process is highly secure, thanks to the inputs from the Moodle community and this leads
to the Moodle being a very resourceful software to be used.
 Ability for customization: Though the basic Moodle package is available to all, the
interface is highly customizable in terms of its looks and design and this adds to the
course appeal.
 Community support: The ongoing 24 hour open Moodle Community is the place where
Moodle users go to for answers to any query as well as updates on the latest Moodle
offerings. Through blogs and Q&A sessions, updates and plugins, a Moodle user is only
a click away from help
 Available in multiple languages: One reason Moodle is becoming popular is because
it is available in more than 86 language packages with the option of translation
available. This makes Moodle highly competitive internationally.

Disadvantages
 Needs institutional permission for using Moodle across the institution: In case one
wishes to initiate Moodle across the entire institution, then the teacher needs to attain
permission to install the Moodle on the institutional server.
 Does not allow visitors (guest teachers): Unlike certain other social LMSs like Edmodo,
one cannot have guests onto the virtual class. This reduces the social interaction and
collaboration between various Moodle learners.
 It is a closed platform: Moodles are not open to all the public to take part in and the
teacher has to invite the student into the class. Thus they do not provide an open source
of learning.

33.11 Summary
 Moodle (acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is a
free software e-learning platform.
 Moodle was originally developed by Martin Dougiamas first version of Moodle was
released in August 2002.
 Moodle has four distinct elements:
 o Software
o Company
o Community support
o Commercial arm

 The main feature of a Moodle is that it is:

o Easy to use
o Free open licensing
o Multilanguage
o Customisable
o Community support is available
 The pedagogical philosophies behind Moodle are:
o Constructivism
o Constructionism
o Social constructivism and
o Connected and separate.

CURRENT TRENDS IN E LEARNING

Unit Structure.

29.1Introduction
29.2What is E Learning?
29.3Current Trends in E Learning
29.4.1 Mobile Learning
29.4.2 MOOCs
29.4.3 Social media
29.4.4 HTML5
29.4.5 Cloud – based learning
29.4.6 Gamification
29.4.7 Benefits of Current Trends in E Learning
29.5 Let us sum up

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After going through this module the learner will be able to:

1) To understand the meaning of E Learning

2) To comprehend the Current Trends in E Learning
3) To understand the meaning, application and advantages of Mobile Learning
4) To understand the meaning, characteristics and advantages of MOOCs
5) To comprehend the meaning, application and benefits of Social media
 6) To understand the meaning, rules established and benefits of HTML5
7) To comprehend the meaning application and benefits of Cloud-based learning
8) To understand the meaning and benefits of Gamification
9) To be aware of the benefits of Current Trends in E Learning

29.1 INTRODUCTION

This digitalized global era has marked a renaissance in teaching learning process. There is a
paradigm shift from the traditional method to modern methods of learning and newer
pedagogies growing in leaps and bounds. The opportunities for online learning have grown
tremendously in recent years. Interestingly, there seems to be more ways to participate in active
learning. The focus is learner oriented and user friendly. Collaborative and co-operative
learning environments and learning building blocks are the buzz words. There is a high demand
of adaptable, flexible and open learning. To cater to all these Multimedia has been harnessed.
E learning has thus become part of holistic, ongoing and continuous learning solutions. It is
being blended skilfully with traditional methods to deliver cost-effective, personalized learning
solutions that integrate effortlessly into our lives.

Do you know??

Education Sector Fact book 2012, eLearning is expected to grow at an average of 23% in
the years 2013-2017.

29.2WHAT IS E LEARNING?
E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media and information and communication
technologies (ICT) in education. E-learning is broadly inclusive of all forms of educational
technology in and teaching and learning. E-learning is broadly synonymous with multimedia
learning, internet-based training (IBT), technology-enhanced learning (TEL), computer-based
instruction (CBI), computer managed instruction, computer-based training (CBT), computer-
assisted instruction or computer-aided instruction (CAI), online education, virtual education,
virtual learning environments (VLE) (which are also called learning platforms), web-based
training (WBT), m-learning, and digital educational collaboration.

E-learning continues to grow within the educational and corporate sectors. Computers and
other mobile devices are becoming gradually essential as educational tools. Technologies are
becoming more user-friendly and cost-effective. One size doesn’t fit all. So it has become
imperative in recent years to look critically at the diverse learning capabilities and accordingly
adapt and adopt those training. The emphasis is now on individual skill development which
overall leads to effective outcomes.
Change is the essence of the society. So it is with e Learning. It never allows itself to remain
obsolete. There are rapid changes and development in the field of e learning leading to many
current trends.

29.3CURRENT TRENDS IN E LEARNING

According to Comscore, in 2014 "the number of mobile users will exceed the number of desktop
users for the first time." This means that the access points will be mobile phones, laptops, and
tablets, which are bound to become more powerful and smarter than ever. Our vocabulary has
been enriched with words, phrases and acronyms, such as Mobile Learning, Tin Can API,
HTML5, Gamification, and MOOC, and every day there is a new eLearning trend and a new
eLearning technology designed around it.
Were you mistaken thinking Tin Can is to store something!!!!
The Tin Can API, now officially known as "Experience API" (xAPI), is an e-learning
software specification that allows learning content and learning systems to speak to each
other in a manner that records and tracks all types of learning experiences.

29.4.1 MOBILE LEARNING

Mobile Learning refers to digital learning resources which include any form of content or
media made available on a personal device. Today's technology allows users to carry the large
numbers of resources in their pockets and to access them wherever they find it suitable in ways
of using portable devices. Mobile learning or m-learning is the design and delivery of
eLearning course through mobile devices, such as handheld and tablet computers, MP3 players,
smartphones and mobile phones.

Mobile learning offers modern ways to support teaching learning process. It presents unique
features compared to conventional e-learning: collaborative, interactive, personal, portable,
contextual and situated, it emphasizes "just-in-time-learning" as instruction can be delivered
anywhere and at any time through it. Moreover, it is a form of resource to formal, non – formal
and informal learning and thus holds huge potential to accelerate the delivery of education and
training.

Applications of Mobile Learning

1) Miniature but portable e-learning – Mobile, wireless, and handheld technologies are
used as a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE). It is flexible and is good alternative for
static desktop technologies. Its distinctive miniature feature makes it very convenient
for the user to travel with it at any time and any place.

2) Informal, personalized, situated mobile learning – Technologies are further

enhanced with additional features, for example location identification through GPS (the
Global Positioning System uses satellites to help users to navigate with accuracy) or
 video-capture, and organized to deliver educational experiences that would otherwise
be difficult or impossible. This makes it more informal, personalized and enhances
situated learning.

3) Connected classroom learning –Mobile learning connects classroom technologies

such as interactive whiteboards. There are facilities of interactive textbooks to make
learning interesting and permanent. Mobile devices allow students to gather, access,
and process information outside the classroom also thus encourage learning in a real-
world context.
4) Cater to remote and rural areas – The technologies are used to overcome
environmental and infrastructural challenges. It delivers and supports teaching learning
process where conventional e-learning technologies would otherwise fail. It caters to
remote rural distant places which otherwise would have been difficult to access.

5) Just-in-time training –Mobile learning has transcended time and space. Learning has
become quick and immediate. There is no time lag and that is why it is possible in
training personnel’s with updated information and expertise. It provides with real time
communication updates also.

Advantages of Mobile Learning

1) Encourage ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning

A major benefit of using wireless mobile technology is to reach people who live in remote
locations where there are no school infrastructure, teachers, laboratories and libraries. The
synergy between mobile learning and distance learning holds enormous potential.

2) Just-in-time learning

Just-in-time learning encourages high level as well as quick learning since learner’s access and
applies the information right away rather than learns the information and then applies the
information at a later time. Educators and trainers are empowered since they can use the mobile
technology to communicate with learners immediately. It allows for more rapid and dynamic
update of course content.

3) Reach economically backward children

It is affordable and user friendly. So even economically backward children can benefit a lot
from it.

4) Reach differently able children

Students with learning difficulties and differently able students benefit greatly from mobile
learning. It gives them opportunities to feel more like their peers, and foster a sense of
normalcy. This is very important for social development when we are trying to mainstream all
categories of children.

5) Improve twenty-first century social interactions

Mobile technologies have the ability to promote and foster collaboration and communication,
which are essential for twenty-first century success. Mobile technologies provide prospects for
more personalized and self-directed learning. This shift in pedagogy is a vital step in
maximizing the potential benefits of mobile learning.

6) Fit with learning environments

Mobile devices can help overcome many of the challenges associated with larger technologies,
as they fit more naturally within various learning environments. For instance, one can use the
dictionary and thesaurus on Dictionary.com, explore the world with Google Earth, or plot
equations with Quick Graph, create your own stories with Story Kit, and find out about the
latest space missions with the NASA app. These, and many others, are free downloads that are
ideal for educators to use with their students in school.

7) Caters to individual difference

Each child has a unique learning style. There cannot be a rigid tailor made course for all.
Instruction should be catering and adaptable to individual and diverse learners. Mobile learning
has significant opportunities for supporting differentiated, autonomous, and individualized
learning through mobile devices.

29.4.2 MOOCs

A recent advancement in the field of distance education is the arrival of Massive Open Online
Courses or MOOCs which aim at providing vast participation via open resources available on
the internet. Provided by prominent Universities and other institutes of higher learning, it
focuses at providing quality education and certified courses to students, teachers and professors
using videos, animations, web-tutorials and any other resources which can be availed on the
net.

The defining characteristic of the MOOC is that it is a course. And therefore follows all the
basic characteristics of being a course. It has an instructor, is affiliated to a college or a
University, it has course work to be completed, assignments to be submitted and an evaluation
process. And ultimately, one gets a certificate. MOOCs enhance user-friendliness, student
engagement, and experiences for lifelong learning.

Characteristics
MOOCs are built on the characteristics of massiveness, openness, and a connectivist
philosophy.

Massiveness: MOOCs is open online course for all. It can easily accommodate large numbers
of students. It is accessible at any place and at any time. This makes its dimensions even larger.

Openness: MOOC is open to following aspects: the software used is open-source, registration
is open to anyone, the curriculum is open, the sources of information are open, the assessment
processes and the learners are open to a range of different learning environments.

Connectivism: In MOOCs an instructor assume the role of facilitator and stage setter with
learners actively interacting with other students. Active engagement and interaction are the key
elements which keep the students connected.

Advantages:

Virtual accessibility to the best Universities:

One can take up a course from Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton without having to step
out of one’s home. The potential participants can log in from anywhere and can take the benefit
of online courses.

Student Engagement:
Student engagement is essential for better participation and motivation. It facilitates conducive
environment for the learner to learn wholeheartedly. They have the flexibility of attending
course modules at their own space and time.

Lifelong Learning Experiences:

Educational opportunities are created for all. There is no age bar. People from all walks of life
can enrol for the courses.
 29.4.3 SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media has become an indispensable part of human life today. It offers a variety of
prospects to learn and interact. Teaching-Learning calls for continuous advancement. This
paves the way to newer practices to be engaged by blending conventional methods with new
technologies. Social media based teaching and learning is one of the ways of doing it.

Applications:

 using Facebook to provide advanced materials, conduct intersession activities, and

build learning communities
 creating blogs for additional learning information
 creating wikis for learning resources
 creating discussion groups around specific topics
 using Twitter for introductions, pre-training preparation and instruction, conversations,
debates, reflecting, brainstorming, and polls
 using YouTube for learning through videos

Benefits of Social Learning

1) Enhanced learning experience

Social media is very popular among the youngsters. It has become a part of their daily life. So
when learning is infused through social media it effortlessly seeps into them without an added
load. It gives a platform to provide an enhanced learning experience for the students.

2) Continuous Learning
Social media based learning is available at any time and any place. Learners can access
through technological devices like PC and if they are travelling they can make use of mobile
devices. It improves the scope of discussion and doubt clarification since it is free from time
and physical barriers.

3) Reinforcement and motivational learning

The theories of learning emphasizes on reinforcement and motivation for permanent learning.
Social media can be used as a tool for learning reinforcement and motivating them by
constant feedback on their progress

4) Improved participation
Social media gives a virtual platform to all the participants to share their views and ideas. It is
specially a boon for the introvert learners who otherwise would not come out of their
comfortable zone in public. It encourages all to voice their opinion. In the bargain there is
increased participation among the learners. These all further develops collaboration and co-
operation skills.

5) Blending provides value-added experience

Blending social media tools like Facebook, Blogs, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter with in-
house learning management systems or e-learning tools like MOODLE adds to the overall
teaching-learning quotient. Blending by catering to the needs of the learner will be optimally
enriched and provide value added experiences to the learners.

6) Facelift
Social media provides the needed facelift to the conventional teaching-learning domain by
bringing in more interaction, better understanding and bigger learning takeaways for the
lecturer as well as the learner.

29.4.4 HTML5

HTML5 is the latest standard for HTML. HTML5 is designed to replace HTML 4, XHTML,
and the HTML DOM Level 2. HTML5 supports scalable vector graphics, which means that e-
learning content can be responsive to the learner.

It is specially designed to deliver rich content without the need for additional plug-in. The
current version delivers everything from animation to graphics, music to movies, and can also
be used to build complicated web applications. All major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Internet
Explorer, Safari, and Opera) support the new HTML5 elements and APIs, and continue to add
new HTML5 features to their latest versions.

Some rules for HTML5 were established:

 New features should be based on HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript

 The need for external plug ins (like Flash) should be reduced
 Error handling should be easier than in previous versions
 Scripting has to be replaced by more mark up
 HTML5 should be device-independent
 The development process should be visible to the public

Benefits:

1. Highly interactive
HTML5 makes websites and other social network sites like Facebook and Twitter highly
interactive through fluid animations, stream video, and play music into the websites. Before
this, Flash or JavaScript like tools were used which used to consume much time to develop and
even the complexities of web application were increased. But now with the help of HTML5 it
is possible to embed video and audio, high quality drawings, charts and animation and many
other rich content without using any plug in and third party programmes as the functionality is
built into the browser.

2. Cleaner mark-up / Improved Code

HTML5 enable web designers to use cleaner, neater code, we can remove most div tags and
replace them with semantic HTML5 elements.

3. Improved Semantics

Now it is easy to see which parts of the page are headers, footers, aside, etc. as the tags are
specific for these all and most importantly know what their meaning and purpose is in whole
the format. By using HTML5 elements we can increase the semantic value of the web page as
the codes are very standardized.

4. Consistency

HTML5 elements are greater consistent in terms of the HTML used to code a web page on
one site compared to another. This makes it easier for designers and developers to immediately
understand how a web page is structured.

5. Easier Application

Many new features and standards have emerged as part of HTML5. Main focus of HTML5 is
to make easier application with easy front-ends, drag and drop tools, discussion boards, wikis
and other useful elements.

6. Offline Application cache

While building the site, the developer can specify the files that the browser should cache. So,
even when we refresh the page and are offline, the page will still load correctly. This sort of
caching has several advantages like offline browsing; files load much faster and reduced load
on server.

29.4.5 CLOUD – BASED LEARNING

The cloud based learning technology offers a new way to deliver education as an online service
accessed from a web browser. The trend is quickly evolving into a premium learning platform
for data storage and exchange in educational institutions by using “cloud -based” applications.
It provides delivery of services, software and processing capacity over internet, reducing cost,
increasing automating systems and providing flexibility and mobility of information.

Cloud-based learning management systems are hosted on the Internet and can be accessed by
logging into a service provider's site. Rather than having to install course design and
management software, instructional designers can simply use their Internet browsers to upload
course content, create new courses, and communicate with learners directly.

This is all done through a secure LMS, which also gives designers the ability to store
information on the cloud, which can be remotely accessed by other, approved users.

Applications:

1) Group Projects

Multiple users to work on the same projects can log in simultaneously, each from the comfort
of their own homes and work together. The entire project can be completed in a digital format
at a faster pace. The chances of errors also get minimized because it’s always under the
surveillance of each participant.

2) Connected Classrooms

Cloud based technology clubbed with the help of webcams and microphones have brought the
world connected and closer.

3) Interactive Lectures

Cloud-based classroom tools have the added bonus of mobile access, keeping people connected
wherever they may go. Teachers can create assignments and projects, and students can access
and work on them from a smart phone or other compatible mobile device. People are constantly
connected thanks to the popularity of mobile devices.

4) Learner Management

Cloud based programs like Live School allow the information for all the currently enrolled
students to be kept in a single digital cloud. Instead of digging through a dusty overfilled filing
cabinet for information on a student, a teacher or administrator merely needs to search his or
her last name in the data base, and all of that information is available at their fingertips. This
makes things like assigning classes, managing problem students, and keeping track of
attendance and other variables much easier.

Cloud-based Learning Benefits

1) Improved accessibility

Cloud-based LMSs offer better accessibility for both learners and course designers. Learners
are able to learn anywhere and anytime. Rather than relying solely upon software-based
courses, they can simply log in to their account and begin learning new skill sets and expanding
their knowledge base, without limitations.

2) More storage space

One of the most significant advantages to using a cloud-based LMS is that one does need to
store information on their computer or device. All of the data, including images and content,
will be uploaded directly to the cloud storage space, which frees up space on our devices. Other
users, such as collaborators and content creators, will also be able to share information with
ease, given that it's being stored on a remote (and secure) server. We need not worry about
information being lost due to corrupted hard drives or permanently deleted computer file since
eLearning data will be stored on the cloud.

3) Real-time collaborative editing

Speaking of collaboration, the cloud–with products including Adobe Buzzword, Adobe

Creative Cloud, and Google Docs–makes sharing, viewing, and real-time collaborative
editing of media not only possible, but engaging and, at times, spectacular. It is fully
customizable and scalable.

4) Lower start-up costs

There is no software to purchase so cloud-based LMSs have lower initial costs.

29.4.6 GAMIFICATION

Visit the site for free online educational games!!!

http://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/en/

Visit the site and play a game (though it is meant for kids) and share your experiences by
answering the following questions!!
1) Was it fun?
2) Did you learn?
3) Were you evaluated?
4) Did you experience the ‘wow’ factor every time you gave the correct answer?
5) Do you want to learn more through this methodology?
Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game dynamics in order to engage
audiences and think analytically. It is not a new trend, but rather one that will certainly evolve.
It’s a powerful tool that enables technological innovation, develops student/learner skills, crafts
behaviours and enhances problem solving. It has proven to be an invaluable tool to improve
employee performance, upgrade education, customer engagement, as well as personal
development.

Game tools and mechanics can be used to make learning more interesting and engaging. It has
the potential of delivering significant experiences to students and offering them challenges and
goals to work toward. Students are then rewarded for their hard work and effort as though they
would while playing a computer or video game. Through incorporating learning into gaming,
students can learn much of the same content as they would through traditional teaching
methods with better zeal.

In addition to being fun, gamification offers other key benefits.

It can engage learners of all ages.

The fun aspect creates less resistance to learning.
It can be used to teach a variety of subjects.
It’s suited to different domains of learning, including knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
beliefs.
It encourages experimentation, which often leads to innovative thinking.
It’s less stressful than traditional learning with lectures and formal tests.
It can be used to encourage a competitive spirit and teamwork.

Whether your gamification strategy includes video games, games of chance, role play and
adventure, simulations, building and construction, or puzzles, you can be sure that it offers a
strong engagement element to your training approach.

Crunch more!!

Download more educational games from http://smart-educational-games.en.softonic.com/

29.4BENEFITS OF CURRENT TRENDS IN E LEARNING

1) Continuous learning

E Learning is developing into a key component in providing scope to continuous learning. It

has transcended time and space. Learners have added flexibility in choosing up their own
course based on their own aptitude and skills. They can access anytime and anywhere. These
have opened wider avenues to all kinds of people from all walks of life. The pervasive and
holistic nature of e learning has brought about a paradigm shift in teaching learning process.
2) Chunks will become ‘byte size’

Forget the good old days when learners had to always carry loads of heavy books with them.
They had to bear the burden of the weight and size. Moreover they used to spend hours together
in library in search of references and study material.

With the advancement and development in e learning, learners can access to all kinds of
valuable resources in seconds click. Moreover they need not worry about size of content since
it chunks can be stored in byte size.

This is a boon to the 21st century generation since it helps in conservation of resources. Save
paper, safe generation!!

3) Content creation will get faster, more leveraged and cheaper

Today e learning with the use of rich media has made it possible to develop engaging cost-
effective content by using rapid authoring tools (that provide strong, template-driven outputs).
It is worth noting that video has experienced a renaissance in learning, particularly through the
growing usage of YouTube and initiatives such as TED Talks.

Strategically integrating short video and motion graphics into e learning solutions can create
greater engagement, provide best practice examples and quickly explain concepts in a
memorable, entertaining way.

4) Caters to Individual differences

Each individual is gifted by its unique learning styles. E learning excites learners from all age
groups and caters to their individual differences. The rich multimedia helps to cater to all the
senses of the learners resulting in efficient learning. Collaborative Learning, continuous
feedback and adaptive design add further to connect them to the outside world.
29.5 LET US SUM UP
E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media and information and communication
technologies (ICT) in education. E-learning is broadly inclusive of all forms of educational
technology in and teaching and learning. Mobile Learning, Tin Can API, HTML5,
Gamification, and MOOC, are some of the new eLearning providing new eLearning
technology.

Mobile learning:
Mobile learning or m-learning is the design and delivery of eLearning course through mobile
devices, such as handheld and tablet computers, MP3 players, Smartphone and mobile phones.
Applications of Mobile Learning:
  Miniature but portable e-learning
 Connected classroom learning
 Informal, personalized, situated mobile learning Cater to remote and rural areas
 Just-in-time training

Advantages of Mobile Learning:

 Encourage ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning

 Just-in-time learning
 Reach economically backward children
 Reach differently able children
 Improve twenty-first century social interactions
 Fit with learning environments
 Caters to individual difference

MOOCs
Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs aim at providing unlimited participation via open
resources available on the internet.

Characteristics of MOOCs:
1) Massiveness
2) Openness
3) Connectivist philosophy

Advantages of MOOCs:
1) Virtual accessibility to the best Universities:
2) Student Engagement
3) Lifelong Learning Experiences

Social media

Social media has become an inseparable part of human life today. It offers a variety of
opportunities to learn and interact.

Applications:

 using Facebook
 using Twitter
 using YouTube
 creating blogs
 creating wikis
 creating discussion
 creating more immersive learning environments
Benefits of Social Learning:

1) Enhanced learning experience

2) Continuous learning
3) Reinforcement and motivational learning
4) Improved participation
5) Blending provides value-added experience
6) Facelift

HTML5

HTML5 is the latest standard for HTML. HTML5 is designed to replace HTML 4, XHTML,
and the HTML DOM Level 2. HTML5 supports scalable vector graphics, which means that e-
learning content can be responsive to the learner.

Some rules for HTML5 were established:

 New features should be based on HTML, CSS, DOM, and JavaScript

 The need for external plug ins (like Flash) should be reduced
 Error handling should be easier than in previous versions
 Scripting has to be replaced by more mark up
 HTML5 should be device-independent
 The development process should be visible to the public

Benefits of HTML5:

1. Highly interactive
2. Cleaner mark-up / Improved Code
3. Improved Semantics
4. Consistency
5. Easier Application
6. Offline Application cache

Cloud based learning

The cloud based learning technology offers a new way to deliver education as an online service
accessed from a web browser. The trend is quickly evolving into a premium learning platform
for data storage and exchange in educational institutions by using “cloud -based” applications.

Applications of Cloud based learning:

1) Group Projects
2) Connected Classrooms
3) Interactive Lectures
4) Learner Management

Cloud-based Learning Benefits:

1) Improved accessibility
2) More storage space
3) Real-time collaborative editing
4) Lower start-up costs

Gamification:

Gamification is the process of using game thinking and game dynamics in order to engage
audiences and think analytically. It’s a powerful tool that enables technological innovation,
develops student/learner skills, crafts behaviours and enhances problem solving.

In addition to being fun, Gamification offers other key benefits.

It can engage learners of all ages.

The fun aspect creates less resistance to learning.
It can be used to teach a variety of subjects.
It is suited to different domains of learning, including knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
beliefs.
It encourages experimentation, which often leads to innovative thinking.
It’s less stressful than traditional learning with lectures and formal tests.
It can be used to encourage a competitive spirit and teamwork.

REFERENCES/LEARN MORE:
ENRICH YOUR KNOWLEDGE BY WATCHING THE FOLLOWING
SLIDESHARE:
WATCH THIS INTERESTING YOU TUBE VIDEOS
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egRVc3R1u1U
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECs3SRh8Xo
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6mdB5zSyqs
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqQNvmQH_YM
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOXPBYx5AOU
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzPxo7Y6JyA
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRqGr_jR_m0
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9FQmAvGVpw
10. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9FQmAvGVpw
11. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9FQmAvGVpw
12. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5AVUn3-sBo
13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ElWFcnYD3U
14. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ElWFcnYD3U

SLIDE SHARE LINKS:

1. http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-futures-innovations-in-mobile-learning
2. http://www.slideshare.net/ignatia/2014-learning-solutions-con-mobile-socmed-mooc-
def-black-32488307
3. http://www.slideshare.net/janehart/wcet-trends2
4. http://www.slideshare.net/msquareg/mobile-learning-about-mobile-
learning?qid=858c5767-3183-493c-b5b4-8f66f8f26888&v=qf1&b=&from_search=2
5. http://madebymany.com/blog/slideshare-presentations-of-the-week-html-5

READ THESE ARTICLES:

1. http://elearningindustry.com/top-10-e-learning-statistics-for-2014-you-need-to-know
2. http://www.html5arena.com/blog/html5/10-major-advantages-of-
html5/#sthash.2jAqFEDl.dpuf
3. file:///C:/Users/Bhavna/Downloads/published%20version.pdf
a. http://www.lindenwood.edu/r2p/docs/ChenBarnettStephens.pdf
4. http://www.ijisme.org/attachments/File/v1i2/B0111011213.pdf
5. http://www.qou.edu/arabic/researchProgram/distanceLearning/mobileLearning.pdf
6. http://elearningindustry.com/new-report-on-e-learning-market-trends-and-forecast-
2014-2016-just-released
7. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/game-on-gamification-business-
change-behavior

Visit this site to develop and deliver online courses; A Tutor an Open Source Web-
based Learning Management System (LMS):
1. http://idrc.ocad.ca/index.php/researchanddevelopment/477?gclid=CjkKEQjwiPWcBR
CTj_Vz8fE3cMBEiQAZIMSUmCiNnePZkaUMlx-vK8YtmN-
fh5rI72JRGaipQtpJGrw_wcB
VIDEO

1. http://cloud-basedlms-etec522.weebly.com/why-cloud.html

REFERENCE
 1) http://www.docebo.com/landing/contactform/elearning-market-trends-and-forecast-
2014-2016-docebo-report.pdf
2) http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/ANowDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=135909
3) http://deakinprime.com/news-and-publications/news/elearning,-future-trends/

4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Can_API

5) http://www.w3schools.com/html/html5_intro.asp

6) http://www.timesofoman.com/News/35172/Article-Social-media-based-teaching-and-
learning

7) http://elearningindustry.com/8-top-benefits-of-using-a-cloud-based-lms

8) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification

9) http://elearninginfographics.com/10-mind-blowing-mobile-learning-statistics-
infographic/
10) http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742

MOBILE LEARNING
Unit Structure

30.1 Introduction
30.2 Meaning of Mobile Learning
30.3 Difference between E- Learning and Mobile Learning
30.4 Applications of Mobile Learning
30.5 Essentials for Mobile Learning
30.6 Advantages of Mobile Learning
30.7 Challenges of Mobile Learning
30.8 Let us sum up

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to understand:

1) To understand the meaning of Mobile Learning

2) To comprehend the difference between E- Learning and Mobile Learning
3) To understand the Applications of Mobile Learning
4) To find out the Essentials for Mobile Learning
5) To be aware of Advantages of Mobile Learning
6) To understand the Challenges of Mobile Learning

30.1INTRODUCTION
With the recent developments in science and technology the standard of quality education has
also raised multiple times. There is a demand to increase access to educational opportunities
and resources, provide direct instruction in formal, non-formal and informal educational
settings, enhance teachers’ competency and professional development, and enrich educational
quality for all students. To cater to all these needs e learning has widespread its wings. Its
multifaceted role in all sectors in the society has made it omnipresent. The current generation
has taken one more leap by harnessing mobile devices for mobile learning. There is an
extension of e-learning into wireless/handheld (W/H) computing devices with the help of a
mobile learning (m-learning) framework. Rather than acquiring another technology to receive
learning materials, the world want to access learning materials on their existing mobile
devices, through the use of mobile technology. Wireless data communications in form of Short
Message Service (SMS) and Wireless Access Protocols (WAP) browsers have gained global
popularity.

MEANING OF MOBILE LEARNING

Mobile learning or m-learning is the design and delivery of eLearning course through mobile
devices, such as tablet computers, MP3 players and Smartphone. Thus we can say m-learning
is the ability to obtain or provide educational content on personal pocket devices such as PDAs,
Smartphone and mobile phones. Educational content refers to digital learning assets which
includes any form of content or media made available on a personal device.
M-learning offers unique and modern ways to support learning process. It presents distinctive
attributes compared to conventional e-learning: personal, interactive, contextual, portable,
collaborative and situated, it emphasizes "just-in-time-learning" as instruction can be delivered
anywhere and at any time through it. Moreover, it boosts formal, non-formal and informal
learning and thus holds good potential to transform the delivery of education and training.

30.2DIFFERENCE BETWEEN E- LEARNING AND MOBILE LEARNING

E-learning can be real-time or self-paced, also known as "synchronous" or "asynchronous"

learning. Additionally, e-learning is considered to be “tethered” (connected to something). In
contrast, mobile learning is often self- paced, un- tethered and informal in its presentation.

E- learning Mobile learning

lecture in classroom or internet labs learning anytime, anywhere
e-mail-to-e-mail immediate messaging
private location no geographic boundaries
travel time to reach to internet site no portable time with wireless internet connectivity
Further Mobile learning differs from e-Learning in the following ways:

 More personal
 Immediate response, Spontaneous
 More connected
 Fast learning
 More fun
 More interactive
 Networked

30.3 APPLICATIONS OF MOBILE LEARNING

Miniature but portable e-learning – Mobile, wireless, and handheld technologies are flexible
and good replacement for desktop technologies. Their unique miniature feature makes it very
convenient for the user to travel with it at any time and any place. They are used as Virtual
Learning Environment (VLE).

Just-in-time training –Mobile learning has transcended time and space. Learning has become
quick and immediate. There is no time lag and that is why it is possible in training with updated
latest knowledge and expertise.

Informal, personalized, situated mobile learning – Technologies are further enhanced with
additional functionality, for example location awareness through GPS (the Global Positioning
System uses satellites to help users to navigate with accuracy) or video-capture, and arranged
to deliver educational experiences that would otherwise be difficult or impossible. This makes
it more informal, personalized and enhances situated learning.

Cater to rural and remote areas – The technologies are used to overcome environmental and
infrastructural challenges to delivering and supporting education where conventional e-
learning technologies would fail.

Gamification –Learning when delivered through fun becomes all the more interesting.
Through mobile learning game-like tools and mechanics can be used to make learning more
engaging. It has the potential of delivering significant experiences to students. Students are
then rewarded and given appropriate re-enforcement for their hard work and effort. In
incorporating Gamification it increases the potential of better retention.

Flash surveys—Mobile learning helps in flash surveys. It has a strong monitoring and
evaluation system that provides timely feedback on project progress and impact. It is quick in
its service in taking speedy feedback.

30.4 ESSENTIALS FOR MOBILE LEARNING

To check the authenticity and reliability Mobile Learning has to be evaluated rigorously.
Following factors have to be kept in mind before and during the process of mobile learning;
1. Mobile learning must be trustworthy and transferable
2. Consistent with the teaching and learning philosophy
3. Ethical in terms of standards from legal to normative
4. Appropriate to the specific learning technologies and the ethos of the learning
5. Efficient, in terms of cost, effort and time
6. Authentic Content should be presented before the learners
7. Aligned to the chosen medium and technology of learning

30.6 ADVANTAGES OF MOBILE LEARNING

Encourage ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning

A major advantage of using wireless mobile technology is to reach people who live in remote
locations where there is little or no access to schools, teachers, laboratories and libraries.
Mobile technology can be used to send instruction and information to these remote regions
without having people to leave their geographic areas. This will help communities in such
places since students and workers will not have to leave their families and jobs to go to a
different location to learn or to access information.

Just-in-time learning

Just-in-time learning boosts high level learning since learner’s access and applies the
information right away rather than learns the information and then applies the information at a
later time. Educators are empowered since they can use the mobile technology to communicate
with learners immediately. It allows for more rapid and dynamic update of course content.

Reach differently able children

Students with learning difficulties and differently able students benefit greatly from mobile
learning. It gives them opportunities to feel more like their peers, and foster a sense of normalcy
which thereby promotes integrated learning. In the social context it helps to mainstream all
categories of children.

Improve twenty-first century social interactions

Mobile technologies have the power to promote and foster collaboration and communication,
which are essential for twenty-first century success. The instructional focus is shifted to new
pedagogical strategies that emphasize the learner rather than the teacher. This shift in pedagogy
is an important step in maximizing the potential benefits of mobile learning.

Fit with learning environments

Mobile devices can help overcome many of the challenges related with larger technologies, as
they fit more naturally within various learning environments. For instance, one can use the
dictionary and thesaurus on Dictionary.com, or plan equations with Quick Graph, explore the
world with Google Earth make your own stories with Story Kit, and explore the latest space
missions with the NASA app. These, and many others, are free downloads that are ideal for
educators to use with their students in school.

Reach economically backward children

Because of their relatively low cost and user-friendliness in low-income communities,
handheld devices can help advance digital equity, reaching and inspiring populations ‘at the
edges’ – children from economically disadvantaged communities and those from developing
countries. It is affordable and user friendly.

Caters to individual difference

Each child has a unique learning style. Instruction should be catering and adaptable to
individual and diverse learners. Mobile learning has significant opportunities for genuinely
supporting differentiated and individualized learning through mobile devices. It enhances
learning and dramatically improves retention.

Some Interesting Fact: Mobile Training can reduce classroom training costs by up to 80%

30.7CHALLENGES OF MOBILE LEARNING

Though Mobile learning usage is increasing in leaps and bounds to cater to all sections of the
society still there are few challenges which need to be overcome.

Negative aspects of mobile learning

When mobile devices are integrated into children’s learning; cognitive and physical challenges
must be addressed. It has the potential for distraction, physical health issues and unethical
behavior.
Differentiated access and technology
There is wide range among mobile technologies. This brings a challenge for teachers and
learners who wish to keep pace with the changing technology.

Limiting physical attributes

Physical aspects of mobile technologies that may prevent an optimal learning experience
include: limited text entry, small screen size, and limited battery life. Poorly designed mobile
technologies badly affect usability and can sidetrack children from learning goals. There is a
limitation with respect to the volume of content also that can be sent.
Mobile Devices not designed for education

At present, most mobile devices are designed for commerce and other industry related use
rather than for use in education, teaching and training. Hence, it is need of the hour that
educators and trainers work with developers of mobile devices to build an “ideal” mobile
device for education. The device must adapt to the learners’ needs and requirements rather than
getting the learner to adapt to the mobile device.

Deviation of Cultural norms and attitudes

Though many experts believe that mobile devices have significant possibility to enhance
children’s learning, parents and teachers are not yet convinced. Most teachers see cell phones
as distractions and feel that they have no place in school. The devices are used for more fun
than learning. Nowadays children are very sensitive and have less resistance. It ends up in
having overprotected friendship and deviation of cultural norms and attitudes.

No mobile theory of learning

Currently, no widely accepted learning theory for mobile technologies has been established,
hampering the effective evaluation, pedagogy, and design of new applications for learning.

Technical challenges include:

 Copyright issue from authoring group

 Limited data transfer rate and processing power
 Limited memory
 Challenge to cope up with new technology
 Screen size and key size
 Connectivity and battery life

Though there are few challenges but importance of mobile learning cannot be overlooked. It
has to be remembered that mobile phones are not the only means of delivering content but are
used in combination with other delivery methods like books, reference materials, audio-visual
aids and other learning materials. This integrated use of resources and technology helps
contribute to more meaningful learning experiences among teachers and learners.

Future of Mobile devices:

In 2017, it is expected that tablets will outsell PCs and Laptops

30.8 LET US SUM UP

Mobile learning or m-learning is the design and delivery of eLearning course through mobile
devices, such as handheld and tablet computers, MP3 players, Smartphone and mobile phones.
m-learning offers modern ways to support learning process It presents unique attributes
compared to conventional e-learning: personal, portable, collaborative, interactive, contextual
and situated, it emphasizes "just-in-time-learning" as instruction can be delivered anywhere
and at anytime through it.

Difference between E- Learning and Mobile Learning

E- learning Mobile learning
lecture in classroom or internet labs learning anywhere, anytime
e-mail-to-e-mail instantaneous messaging
private location no geographic boundaries
travel time to reach to internet site no travel time with wireless internet connectivity

Applications of Mobile Learning

 Miniature but portable e-learning
 Just-in-time training
 Informal, personalized, situated mobile learning
 Cater to rural and remote areas
 Gamification
 Flash surveys

Essentials of Mobile Learning

 Trustworthy and transferable
 Efficient, in terms of cost, effort and time
 Ethical
 Appropriate to the specific learning technologies and the ethos of the learning
 Consistent with the teaching and learning philosophy and conceptions of teaching and
learning of all the participants
 Authentic Content
 Aligned to the chosen medium and technology of learning

Advantages of Mobile Learning

 Encourage ‘anywhere, anytime’ learning

 Just-in-time learning
 Reach differently able children
 Improve twenty-first century social interactions
 Fit with learning environments
 Reach economically backward children
 Caters to individual difference

Challenges of Mobile Learning

 Negative aspects of mobile learning

 Differentiated access and technology
 Limiting physical attributes
 Mobile Devices not designed for education
 Deviation of Cultural norms and attitudes
 No mobile theory of learning

REFERENCES/LEARN MORE:

ENRICH YOUR KNOWLEDGE BY WATCHING THE FOLLOWING

SLIDESHARE:

1. http://www.slideshare.net/scil-info/2014-05-iotamobilelearning
2. http://www.slideshare.net/timbuckteeth/digital-futures-innovations-in-mobile-
learning
3. http://www.slideshare.net/msquareg/mobile-learning-about-mobile-
learning?qid=858c5767-3183-493c-b5b4-8f66f8f26888&v=qf1&b=&from_search=2
4. http://www.slideshare.net/MAhonen/wireless-systems-and-health-risks-implication-
for-pedagogical-and-educational-practices-presentation

WATCH THIS INTERESTING YOU TUBE VIDEOS

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgGaEbQsKWY
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC50lZb_45E
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI4UzwE1ols

4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Biu7OQV-tA
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC50lZb_45E
a. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6mdB5zSyqs
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dECs3SRh8Xo
7. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6mdB5zSyqs
8. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duGdkp_jJTw

READ THESE ARTICLES:

1)
http://www.qou.edu/arabic/researchProgram/distanceLearning/mobileLearning.pdf
2) http://www.ijonte.org/FileUpload/ks63207/File/08.behera.pdf

REFERENCE
1. http://elearninginfographics.com/10-mind-blowing-mobile-learning-statistics-
infographic/
 2. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742
3. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/exploring-students-mobile-learning-practices-
higher-education
4. http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-955/papers/paper_37.pdf
5. http://www.educause.edu/ero/article/exploring-students-mobile-learning-practices-
higher-education
6. https://www.alumniportal-deutschland.org/en/study-continuing-
education/continuing-education/article/mobile-learning-1.html
7. http://www.learndash.com/9-surprising-mobile-learning-facts/

OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

Unit Structure:

32.1 Introduction to Open Educational Resources

32.2 What are Open Educational Resources?
32.3 History of OER
32.4 How does OER work?
32.5 Types of OER
32.6 Major Issues in OER – Licensing and Intellectual Property Rights
32.7 Ethics in using OER
32.8 Choosing the best OER (with reference to the OER Commons)
32.9 Using OER in Primary, Secondary & Higher Education
32.10 Sharing & Collaborating Educational Resources
32.11 Creating own Educational Resources
32.12 Advantages of using OERs

 Teachers
 Learners
 Institutions
32.13 Challenges in using OERs
32.14 Summary

Learning Outcomes

After completing this module, students will be able to:

 State the concept of Open Educational Resources (OERs)

  Describe the history of OERs
 Explain the copyright and the issue of licensing of Intellectual Property Rights while
using an OER
 Reflect upon the ethics in using an OER
 Decide the best way to use OERs
 Elaborate on the advantages and disadvantages of using OERs

32.1 Introduction to OERs

Gone are the days when a student or a teacher would trudge to the library in order to browse
through books and get their information and facts or when access to a good library; be it the
British Library, the American Library or the Asiatic Society, was something to be proud of.
Knowledge, today, is just a click away. Whether one wants to look up the meaning of a word
or its usage, one just has to log on to the internet and viola, it is there!

This phenomenon of accessing information online has become a boon for in the education field
with the availability of various online resources which a teacher or a student can use.

32.2 What are Open Educational Resources?

The idea of open educational resources (OER) has numerous working definitions. Often cited
is the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation definition which defines OER as:

"Teaching, learning, and research resources that reside in the public domain or have been
released under an intellectual property license that permits their free use and re-purposing by
others.”

Open educational resources include

 full courses,
 course materials,
 modules,
 textbooks,
 streaming videos,
 tests,
 software, and any other tools, materials, or techniques used to support access to
knowledge".3

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines OER as:

"digitised materials offered freely and openly for educators, students, and self-learners to use
and reuse for teaching, learning, and research. OER includes learning content, software tools
to develop, use, and distribute content, and implementation resources such as open licences.”

3
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources
On the other hand, the Commonwealth of Learning has adopted the widest definition of Open
Educational Resources (OER) as

‘Materials offered freely and openly to use and adapt for teaching, learning, development and
research.’

And the WikiEducator project suggests that OER refers

"to educational resources (lesson plans, quizzes, syllabi, instructional modules, simulations,
etc.) that are freely available for use, reuse, adaptation, and sharing'.

If we analyse the above definitions, we realize that OER comprises all conceivable digitized
and non-digitized resources that are available freely in the public domain and help in the
process of teaching, learning and research. They may be simple lesson plans, you tube videos,
online explanations and even full-fledged courses. Thus from the freely available dictionary
to MOOC’ s free University courses, all come under the purview of OERs.

32.3 History of OER

A large part of the early work in OERs was funded by government institutions and the William
and Flora Hewlett Foundations. From 2002 to 2010, the foundation donated more than $ 14
million to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to develop the MIT Open Courseware.

Believing that OERs can widen access to quality education, particularly when shared by many
countries and higher education institutions, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO) champions OERs as a means of promoting access, equity
and quality in the spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In 2003, the ownership of Wikipedia and Wiktionary projects was transferred to the Wikimedia
Foundation, a non-profit charitable organization whose goal is to collecting and developing
free educational content and to disseminate it effectively and globally. Wikipedia ranks in the
top-ten most visited websites worldwide since 2007.

The Open Courseware Consortium, founded in 2005 to extend the reach and impact of open
course materials and foster new open course materials, counted more than 200 member
institutions from around the world in 2009.

OER Commons was founded in 2007 by Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in
Education (ISKME), which is a non-profit education research institute dealing in innovation in
open education content and practices, as a way to develop, share, and promote open educational
resources to educators, administrators, parents, and students.
OER Commons also provides educators with tools to align OER to the Common Core State
Standards so that they may evaluate the quality of OER to OER Rubrics and to contribute and
share OERs with other teachers and students worldwide.

To further promote the sharing of these resources among educators, in 2008 ISKME launched
the OER Commons Teacher Training Initiative, which focuses on advancing open educational
practices and on building opportunities for systemic change in teaching and learning.

WikiEducator was launched in August 2006 to provide a forum for planning education projects
built on OER, creating and promoting open education resources (OERs), and networking
towards funding proposals. Its WikiEducator's Learning4Content project builds skills in the
use of MediaWiki and related free software technologies for mass-collaboration in the
authoring of free content and claims to be the world's largest wiki training project for education.
By June 2009 the project had facilitated 86 workshops training 3,001 educators from 113
different countries.

32.4 How does OER work?

Since the material that we can use under OER is all free, one uses it simply by acknowledging
the work by attributing it to the original author so that the world knows that you respect the
knowledge of others. One needs to just acknowledge the author. Other than that, one is
welcome to reuse the content, change it, and translate it so that it meets one’s needs.

This boils down to the motto of ‘Don’t just take. Share your work, too.’ OERs believe in
collaborations and thus expect students and teachers to login and not only use one’s work but
also share the one’s own knowledge with others.

32.5 Types of OER

Today knowledge is available to us at the click of a mouse. Information is getting digitized and
almost every bit of knowledge is available on the internet. Students and teacher alike use these
resources for educational purposes. Broadly, the OERs can be divided into the following
categories:

 Resources that help in learning the content: These include textbooks, dictionaries,
videos and podcasts which explain the content etc.
 Resources that help in evaluating the content: These include quizzes and tests which
can be taken online, sample tests, etc.
 Resources that help in planning: These include planners and rubrics, applications etc.
 Resources that help in educational development: This, perhaps, is the most important
role of OERs which can be used by all to develop any topic in depth.

32.6 Major Issues in OER – Licensing and Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property refers to creations of the mind. The World Intellectual Property
Organisation (WIPO) – the key multilateral institution that governs such rights, in conjunction
with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) – defines the term as meaning:

“the legal rights which result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary
and artistic fields.”

In practical terms, intellectual property rights confer a temporary, fixed-term monopoly on the
exploitation, use and proliferation of a particular creation, in exchange for which
commercialisation of the creation is mandated or implied.
The arrival and rapid growth of the Internet and other important communication technologies
took the copyright system unawares. Up until the 1990s, the copyright system was designed
for a world which communicated in certain predictable ways – on paper, on television, and on
established radio frequencies. Digital media created an unprecedented problem.

From a developmental perspective, the relatively cheap and interactive possibilities offered by
the Internet were, and are, seen as opportunities. The copyright system is well cognizant of
such opportunities too, but it also recognises a threat.

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are characterised by the fact that their copyright scope is
limited by means of an open content license. The “all rights reserved” model of traditional
copyright is replaced with a more generous “some rights reserved”. What does this mean
exactly? In the schooling context, an open content license enables the recipient of an
educational work to freely use, distribute (and in some cases modify) the material.

In the context of schooling, OERs apply mainly to educational textbooks and other extra-
curricular resources. To grow this body of work implies not only that more resources are freely
available to educators, but also that more educators (and schools) can participate in the
production of such resources. Thus, not only does the body of knowledge grow with OERs, but
so does the number of knowledge creators.

Some of the ways these restrictions are kept is by “locking” a device so that one cannot easily
download or copy it. This is generally done to protect the authenticity of the content such as
text books or resource materials. Foe most cases, OERs allow free usage of the material
provided along with a line for the credit to the author.

The best way that a teacher can use OERs is through the OER Commons site which is a library
of all open educational resources for free use or reuse.

32.7 Ethics in using OER

Can consent of use of resource be presumed when one is using an OER or are there any ethical
issues which need to be decided and adhered to if one uses OERs. The best way to check
whether the OER is actually ‘open’ is to check for any citations to be made. Most knowledge
builders expect to be cited for their work. Even if the resource has been reworked or changed,
it is always better to cite the original.

The main guidelines for ethics have been given by the British Educational Research
Association (BERA) and the principles behind it are:

 Informed consent
 Respect for persons
 Minimizing Harm

32.8 Choosing the best OER

Most people start finding an OER with the help of a Google search. Most educators are simply
looking for some information or details. A better way to search for open resources is to the use
specific gateways such as the OER Commons (www.oercommons.org) or the Open
Professional Educational Network (OPEN) platform at (www.open4us.org)

The Find OER button or the general search button can be used to direct one’s search to the
following:

 Video search
 Image Search
 Audio/ Music Search
 General Search

One can also specify the search in terms of:

 Animations and simulation search General Educational Search

 Open textbooks
 Recorded Lectures
 Modular Course component search
 Complete course search

Thus using forums such as OER commons or OPEN helps to get the most authentic and best
pen resource available in a uniform directed manner.

32.9 Using OER in Primary, Secondary & Higher Education

Mainly aimed at higher education, India’s National Knowledge Commission (NKC) decided,
in December 2005, to explore opportunities with open education materials in order to
understand the implications for extending access and enhancing quality for higher education in
India. Following are some of the initiatives in OER in India.

 National Repository of Open Educational Resources (www.nroer.in)

In August, 2013, India launched a new learning repository for open educational resources
(OER). The

 Department of School Education and Literacy,

 Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, and the
 Central Institute of Educational Technology, National Council of Educational Research
and Training have collaboratively developed the National Repository of Open
Educational Resources (NROER) which is a storehouse of OER for the primary,
secondary and higher secondary education in India.

The resources available here are licensed under the creative commons and can be used and
adapted freely with a reasonable amount of citations and linkages indicating where it is from.

One can also add to the knowledge and become a knowledge creator.

 I-Consent (www.mkcl.org/iconsent)

A group of more than 20 educational institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and

the government has come together to form the Indian Consortium for Educational
Transformation (I-CONSENT) which is working to increase access to quality education
through eLearning.

I-CONSENT is currently leading four initiatives:

 Virtual School and Learning Homes: a pilot programme in Maharashtra State that
offers education to out-of-school children through open and distance learning.
 Open Educational Resources: learning materials that are freely available online for
educators.
 Nurturing Excellence and Talent Services (NETS): a training programme that teaches
teachers to use various tools and techniques to identify and nurture talent in students.
 eTeacher Training: an audio programme with learner support that provides teachers
with knowledge and skills in information and communications technologies, open and
distance learning and the development and use of open educational resources.

National Programme for Technology Enhanced Learning (www.nptel.iitk.ac.in)

This is a joint venture by seven of the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and the Indian
Institute of Science (IISc) and funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the
NPTEL is a trial programme which helps provide free engineering education. At present the
program has 120 web based courses and 115 video courses in the core sciences, computer
science, civil engineering, electrical engineering, electronics and material engineering. The
NPTEL also provides an opportunity for teachers and students from rural areas to learn from
these high quality lectures and improve the quality of teaching in these rural colleges.

Ekalavya project (http://ekalavya.it.iitb.ac.in)

The Ekalavya project has been launched by IIT, Bombay. Aimed at teaching high quality
engineering concepts, in this project, the content is developed in various Indian languages and
is distributed through the internet. This project has also developed an Open Source Educational
Resources Animation Repository (OSCAR) and provides web-based interactive animations for
teaching various concepts and technologies. OSCAR provides a platform for
mentors/professors to suggest ideas for animation and for developers/students to create content
based on the suggested ideas and guidance. Funding for the Ekalavya and OSCAR project
comes mainly from private industry.

E-grid

E-Grid develops and maintains pedagogically sound and refereed Educational Resources in
identified subjects. Subject specific portals are developed and these portals are governed by
subject experts within the program. This project is supported by the Human Resource ministry
at IIIT, Kerala. Currently, this program also offers open Educational Resources only in the
sciences and engineering sciences.

32.10 Sharing & Collaborating Educational Resources

Using OERs is a great way to learn from the vast repository of that is already available. OERs
helps in collaborative learning by:

 Providing greater collaboration:

- within subject disciplines
- across discipline boundaries
- between educational institutions and employers
- between educational institutions and other organisations
 More opportunity for teachers to:
- engage in reflective practice
- get feedback
- get ideas from others

Some of the major sites where teachers can collaborate and share are:

 WikiEducator- an evolving community involved with collaborative OER projects

 UKOER Phase 2 Final Report: cultural considerations
 STEM OER: guidance on open educational resources in Science, Technology,
Engineering and Maths

32.11 Creating own Educational Resources

In planning one’s learning resource, one needs to keep four questions in mind.

1. What are my Objectives? The teacher must have clear cut objectives in mind. Only then
will he/she be able to create a great educational resource.
 2. What activities do I wish to engage my learners with? Activities which are planned
need to be age and content appropriate. The age and maturity level of the learners must
be kept in mind so that effective resources are created.
3. How will I evaluate the effectiveness of what I have produced? This relates to how you
will assess and evaluate what has been taught. When we meet our learners face-to-face,
the learner’s body language gives plenty of feedback regarding the success of a teaching
method. In producing OERs you don't have such quick feedback.
4. In the light of the evaluation, how will I change 1 and 2 above?

OERs follow the OER Commons which ensures that the OER is of a good quality. The best
way to create own OERs is to become a member and then opt to create and share.

32.12 Advantages of using OERs

Undoubtedly, using OERs are of a great use to all, the teacher or the learner. Given below are
some of the advantages of using OERs to the institution providing the OER, the teacher as well
as the learner.

Teachers:

 Inspiration and ideas for different ways of teaching

 A wider pool of resources to draw on
 Fills gaps in the teachers expertise or media production skills e.g. video for production
 Allows for feedback from peers and learners and for comparing work with others
 More opportunities to collaborate with others across institutions, sectors and subject
disciplines
 Greater awareness of open educational practices and intellectual property issues
 More learners can be reached

Learner:

 A clearer idea of what it's like to study within a particular institution, subject area or
course prior to application
 Free-of-charge access to a wide range of educational resources worldwide
 Access to supplementary resources to support study skills
 The ability to benefit from varied perspectives on, and approaches to, a single subject
 A curriculum which is integrated into real life experience
 Resources can be accessed in a variety of settings - useful for non-traditional and work-
based learners
 Free access to educational resources without being required to enrol in an institution

Institution:

 Marketing and reputation building through showcasing the work of the institution
  Extending the institution’s reach internationally
 Social responsibility in line with the academic traditions of sharing knowledge
 More opportunities to collaborate within and beyond the institution
 Preserving knowledge in disciplines where resources are not widely available
 Improved intellectual property management
 New opportunities for staff development

32.13Challenges in using OERs

OERs have become the lifeline in the teaching profession. Yet one must guard against some of
the following challenges that OERs face and use it judiciously. The main challenges that an
OER faces today are:

 Quality issues: Since many OER repositories allow any user to create an account and
post material, some resources may not be relevant and/or accurate.
 Lack of human interaction between teachers and students: OER material is created
to stand alone, and since self-learning users may access the material outside of a
classroom environment, they will miss out on the discussion and instructor feedback
that characterize for-credit classes and that make such classes useful and valuable.
 Language and/or cultural barriers: Although efforts are being made to make OERs
available in multiple languages, many are only available in English, limiting their
usefulness to non-English speakers. Additionally, not all resources are culturally
appropriate for all audiences.
 Technological issues: Some students may have trouble using some OERs if they have
a slow or erratic internet connection. Other OERs may require software that students
don’t have and that they may not be able to afford.
 Intellectual property/copyright concerns: Since OERs are meant to be shared openly,
the “fair use” exemption from the U.S. Copyright Act ceases to apply; all content put
online must be checked to ensure that it doesn’t violate copyright law.
 Sustainability issues: Since OER creators generally do not receive any type of payment
for their OER, there may be little incentive for them to update their OER or to ensure
that it will continue to be available online.

32.14 Summary

MODULE 32 - OPEN EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES

REFERENCES/ LEARN MORE

Bibliography

1. Okada. A; Collaborative Learning 2.0: Open Educational Resources; 2013, IGI Global
Publishing, Newark, USA

Webliography
 1. http://teacherswithoutborders.org/resources/open-educational-resources
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_educational_resources
3. 7 Things you Should know about OER retrieved on 15th June, 2014 from
http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELi7061.pdf
4. A Basic Guide to Open Educational Resources released by UNESCO, retrieved on 15th
June, 2014 from http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/Basic-Guide-To-OER.pdf
5. Open Professional Education Network - http://open4us.org/
6. http://nroer.in/home/
7. http://libguides.umuc.edu/content.php?pid=98930&sid=742401

External Links

1. Introduction to OER - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v102jkoYIIQ

2. Using OER Commons - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcHL5sSoH0c

Suggested Reading

1. OERs – Changing the Rules (Video) - https://www.oercommons.org/about

2. Copyrights and Open Educational Resources -
http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/Copyright_and_Open_Educational_Res
ources.pdf
3. Report of the Working Group on Open Access and Open Educational Resources -
http://knowledgecommission.gov.in/downloads/documents/wg_open_course.pdf
4. A Guide to Open Educational resources -
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/programmerelated/2013/Openeducationalresources
.aspx#Collaborate

MODULE 34 – MOOC
Unit Structure

34.1 Introduction to MOOC

34.2 Concept of MOOC
34.3 History of MOOC
34.4 Future of MOOCs
34.5 Technological and Logistic Feasibility of MOOCs
34.6 Financial Feasibility
34.7 Procedure for enrolling with a MOOC
34.8 Joining a MOOC
34.9 Advantages and Limitations of MOOC
34.10 Summary
Learning Outcomes

After completing this Module students will be able to

 Explain the concept of a MOOC

 Describe the history of MOOCs
 Analyse the future of MOOCs
 Evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of learning through a MOOC
 Enrol themselves for a MOOC
 Identify a professionally advantageous course from a MOOC
 Compare two similar courses from more than one MOOC

34.1 Introduction to MOOCs

A recent development in the field of distance education is the onset of Massive Open Online
Courses or MOOCs which aim at providing unlimited participation via open resources
available on the internet. Provided by prominent Universities and other institutes of higher
learning, it focuses at providing quality education and certified courses to students, teachers
and professors using videos, animations, web-tutorials and any other resources which can be
availed on the net.

34.2 Concept of MOOCs

Names like Coursera, Harvard Online, EdX etc. are soon going to be the norm in the near
future. Once upon a time education and the dispensing of education were held as a highly
guarded right and free dissemination of knowledge was frowned upon. The student had to make
the effort to find the master. This bent of mind soon changed with the government taking over
as the guardian of education and the right to free and compulsory education was advocated.

In order to bring education to the masses, the concept of distance education evolved. Earlier,
distance education revolved around dissemination of printed material, video tapes or TV
programmes like Gyandarshan or programmes by the UGC.

Today, with the Web 2.0 revolution and easy access of internet connectivity, learners can look
forward to learning from the best of institutions across the world as they throw open their doors
and provide open access to anyone anywhere.

As we can see a pictorial description of MOOC, it asks a lot of questions. The first being, ‘What
does it mean to be massive?’ A normal Harvard college4 has 6700 students registered at the
undergraduate level and 14,500 more at the graduate and professional level. That totals around

4
http://www.harvard.edu/harvard-glance
21000 students for the most prestigious institute of learning in the US. Compared to this, a
single course at Coursera had around 240000 students.5

The Openness refers to it being free (although verified and signature tracks, which are paid
courses, are also being offered) and geographically well distributed. The students are from
across the world, age groups, and social strata and with different educational qualifications and
needs.

The online part refers to it being accessed over the internet. The classes may be synchronous
and it uses a variety of forums, such as the social media, blogs, discussions etc., to bring the
material across.

The defining characteristic of the MOOC is that it is a course. And therefore follows all the
basic characteristics of being a course. It has an instructor, is affiliated to a college or a
University, it has course work to be completed, assignments to be submitted and an evaluation
process. And ultimately, one gets a certificate.

What is the future of MOOCs? Watch the video in the link given below to see the future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSJ3_dZcm8

34.3 History of MOOC

The idea of providing free online academic courses is not a recent phenomenon. In 1999, MIT
proposed to take all its undergraduate and graduate courses and provide it online, for free.6 In
2002, MIT opened to the public with 32 courses which were free.

The history of distance learning can be broadly divided into three generations:

Correspondence Studies: This refers to the era when printed medium and texts were the main
source of imparting knowledge and these could be supplemented with contact programmes or
practice lessons. The postal service, which was becoming cheaper and faster, was the medium
for exchange of ideas. These programmes became very popular in Europe and the United States
which looked at having a more qualified work force post the industrial era.

Use of Multimedia: The dominance of correspondence studies declined with the arrival of the
electronic media and the radio and television became popular means for teaching and learning

5
https://www.coursera.org/about/community
6
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_OpenCourseWare
in the early and mid-20th century. Those who did not have access to formal classes could watch
these programmes for free.

Use of the Internet: With computers and the internet making a foray into household, the United
Kingdom initiated the Open University in 1969 and combined the advantage of communication
technology and the resourcefulness of both the correspondence studies and the multimedia
approach to provide distance education.

Yet, all these can only be considered as the precursors to the MOOC phenomenon which
needed the Web 2.0 revolution and the easy access to a computer and Wi-Fi before it could
take root.

A brief history of how MOOC started:

Canadian educator George Siemens advocated the theory of Connectivism to explain the
changes in education that one could see due to the adoption of technology both inside and
outside a classroom. Using this theory, George Siemens (Athabasca University, Canada)
partnered with Stephen Dowles (National Research Council, Canada) to create an online
course that would be offered to anyone who is interested.7 This course was called the
Connectivism and Connective Learning/2008 (CCK/2008). The term MOOC was coined by
Dave Cormier of the University of Prince Edward Island and Senior Research Fellow Bryan
Alexander of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education in response to this
course.

Another phenomenon which happened simultaneously was when a Bangladeshi born American
named Salman Khan started making educational videos and started uploading it on YouTube.
Millions of students watched these videos and this led to the birth of the Khan Academy.

In 2007, Apple launched the iTunes U, which posted educational podcasts, videos, texts and
audiophiles for downloads.

The above three can truly be called the precursors to the MOOC as we know it today. The first
course to be offered under the brand of a MOOC was the course on Artificial Intelligence from
Stanford University developed by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig in 2011 that drew 160,000
online registrants.

Since then many well-known Universities have joined the bandwagon. Some have their own
online programmes such as the Yale Online courses from Yale University, Harvard Online
from the Harvard University but not all are free. Sites such as Coursera have one of the best
consortiums of free courses from around the world which can be availed in various subjects.

7
http://moocnewsandreviews.com/what-is-a-massive-open-online-course-anyway-attempting-definition/
34.4 Future of MOOC
Since its start in 2008, many journalists have been predicting the death of MOOCs but this
hardly seems to be the case and online courses are growing in leaps and bounds. With
geographical distances being reduced to naught, distance is the least of the issue while taking
up a course. Today, anyone, anywhere with access to basic technology can access the best
course worldwide.

The future belongs to the digital natives who are not only techno-savvy but demand that
technology be a part of the learning process. They want the best and they want it now and with
MOOCs, these demands can be met easily.

MOOCs are definitely being taken seriously and the seriousness with which it is being taken
can be seen with the former President of Yale University, Richard C Levin becoming the new
CEO of Coursera in April 2014.

There is also the trend of MOOCs tying up with social media platforms in order to enhance the
interactivity and collaboration amongst students. Most recently EdX (which is a non-profits
online-learning organization) tied up with Facebook and two other companies to provide free,
localized education to students in Rwanda on “affordable” smart phones.

Thus, from being a means of higher education, the kinds of courses being offered will also start
to vary and may soon encompass primary and secondary education levels.

34.5 Technological and Logistic Feasibility of MOOCs

Although institutes of higher education need to find creative ways of incorporating technology
into the curriculum, experts are cautious about the technological feasibility of MOOCs. The
question is not whether technology can adapt to the needs of providing for sustainability of
online courses. Rather, the questions are more pedagogical?
There are the sticky issues of plagiarism and identity frauds to be dealt with. With OERs
becoming the norm, the culture of copy and paste, is becoming the rule.

Most MOOCs have turned to peer reviewing as means of evaluation. Participation in discussion
forums and commenting on other’s posts add to visibility and evaluation points. How much of
this adds credibility to the certificate received needs to be monitored.

Sceptics also question the wisdom of teaching many learners over the traditional one-to-one
learning which takes place in formal education. The teacher as the friend, philosopher and
guide is replaced by technology and though MOOCs try and bridge this gap through discussion
forums, it is difficult to meet the need of each and every learner.

34.6 Financial Feasibility

MOOCs require a lot of work. Even if the instructor is ready to teach for free, there is the
question of recording, uploading, devising technological modules, adding subtitles to text,
conducting analytics and much more. All this requires manpower and money. So the main
question to be asked is, how do MOOCs make money?

At present, most MOOCs run on grants or investments by risk takers. For example, Coursera
has been financed by Venture Capitalists and World Bank and it is devising ways and means
by which it can raise money legitimately. On the other hand, EdX is a not-for profit project
toward which both Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University have
contributed $ 30 million in order to provide world class University education for free.

On the other hand, MOOCs such as ALISON (Advanced Learning Interactive Systems Online)
based in Galway, Ireland is completely ad supported.

Financial feasibility is going to be a moot and important point for the sustainability of the
MOOCs. Some of the ways in which this can be done are through:
 Making Certification a paid option: Thus getting a certificate will not be automatic
and students who want a certificate would have to pay for it.
 Making an entire course a paid option: Thus, students who take up the course need
to pay for it. The cost is kept reasonable and volumes i.e. number of students will make
the course financially viable.
 Having premium option: Some courses are offered with the basic package coming
free and the premium version being a paid option.
 Corporate Packages: Certain business models and software are being offered only to
corporate houses as a part of their training modules. These can be done through
exclusive online packages which are paid for by the company.
 Advertisements: Most MOOCs haven’t yet gone for this option but this might be a
very viable option in the future.

34.7 Procedure for enrolling with a MOOC

Joining any MOOC will require access to a computer, internet connection and a set of
headphones. With these basic requirements, a learner can log on to the internet and search for
courses that they would like to do.

The simplest way would be to log on to www.moocs.co, a site that acts as the MOOCs
University and has the links and the news for all certified MOOC providers. The home page
has search links to various categories of MOOC such as those catering to K-12 education
(school and high school education) as well as higher education.

Alternately, a learner can log on to each MOOC separately and search the courses that they
provide. Once a course is chosen, one has to sign up (by providing a personal email id) and
creating a password and login in.
Most courses have a start and end date and is divided into weekly sets of video lectures,
homework and assignments which have to be completed and submitted.

34.8 Joining a MOOC

The experience of a MOOC is best felt by actually experiencing it. And in this section, it would
be best if the learner, i.e. you, actually enrol yourself for a MOOC.

Some of the best places to start are:

 www.moocs.org
 www.coursera.org
 www.edxonline.org
 www.futurelearn.com

The following link takes you to a page where the entire list of online course providers is listed.
http://www.moocs.co/Higher_Education_MOOCs.html (Higher Education MOOCs)
http://www.moocs.co/K-12_MOOCs.html (K-12 MOOCs)

Once you search for a course that you like, you just have to click on the button which says
enrol and viola, it’s done!

34.9 Advantages and Limitations of MOOC

Once you know what a MOOC is and have identified, enrolled and, hopefully, completed an
online course, it becomes easy to figure out the advantages and limitations of the same.
Advantages:
 The best of the Universities at your doorstep: One can take up a course from Harvard,
Yale, Stanford, and Princeton without having to step out of one’s home. Most of the
instructors are those who have taught these same topics offline for many years and it is
the same lectures which the world can now benefit from.
 It is free: Most of the courses available online are free and anyone with an internet
connection can enrol.
 They are short term courses: Online courses range between 3 week courses to 12 week
courses and not much beyond that. A usual leeway of two extended weeks is given in
order that the students may work at their own pace. Thus, many small topics can be
taken up and quality education received.
 Small units can be learnt: Unlike a proper college course, online courses can be very
specific and small. Thus an entire subject can be broken down into very small courses
and can be learnt
 One is not restricted with what one can learn: There are hardly any pre-requisites to
what one can learn. It only depends on one’s interest and willingness to learn. Thus
anyone can take up courses as diverse as music, calligraphy, science or anything that
one’s hear desires.
  There is in-depth knowledge: As an extension of the above point, one gets in-depth
knowledge since a very small portion may be taken up.
 Variety in teaching methodology used: Since the methodology can vary as per the
technology available, one can move away from the lecture method and can incorporate
videos, tutorials, case studies, demonstrations etc.

Disadvantages
Lack of Official Recognition: One of the major he major weakness of MOOCs is the lack of
official recognition. One does not get a recognised degree or certificate upon its completion
but are self-contained. However, in some universities and platforms, it is offered the possibility
to pay a fee and get an official certificate at the end of the course.

Huge rate of Dropouts and Students on Trial: A major disadvantage is the number of people
dropping out of these massive courses. Few students complete the courses, and fewer actually
do all the assignments and the assessments. A recent study shows that only 2.000 out of the
100.000, who enrolled in one MOOC, finished it.

Cultural differences in Pedagogy: Every education is taught in a particular context and thus
the content from the course offered by a university outside one’s home country may not match
one’s own culture and other conditions a person is familiar with. For example, if one takes a
course about Economics and Food from a university in the United States, it may be that recipes
and the approach is going to be really different to what it is expected in the UK.

Thus, as a mature learner, one is expected to be aware of the advantages and challenges of
using any MOOC and choose judiciously.

34.11 Summary
A MOOC has:
 an instructor,
 is affiliated to a college or a University,
 has course work to be completed,
 assignments to be submitted and
 an evaluation process.
 And ultimately, one gets a certificate.

The first course to be offered under the brand of a MOOC was the course on Artificial
Intelligence from Stanford University in 2011 that drew 160,000 online registrants. Since then
many well-known Universities have joined the bandwagon like Yale and Harvard.

Joining any MOOC will require access to a computer, internet connection and a set of
headphones.

Advantages:
  The best of the Universities at your doorstep.
 It is free.
 They are short term courses.
 Small units can be learnt
 One is not restricted with what one can learn.
 There is in-depth knowledge.
 Variety in teaching methodology used.

Disadvantages
 Lack of Official Recognition.
 Huge rate of Dropouts and Students on Trial.
 Cultural differences in Pedagogy.

A mature learner is expected to be aware of the advantages and challenges of using any MOOC
and choose judiciously.

MODULE 34 – MOOC
REFERENCES:
Webliography

1. http://www.harvard.edu/harvard-glance
2. https://www.coursera.org/about/community
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_OpenCourseWare
4. http://www.openuniversity.edu/courses/global?subj-area=35
5. http://moocnewsandreviews.com/what-is-a-massive-open-online-course-anyway-
attempting-definition/
6. http://www.hastac.org/blogs/cathy-davidson/2013/09/27/what-was-first-mooc
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course
8. http://edf.stanford.edu/readings/new-coursera-ceo-out-front-and-optimistic-about-
online-education
9. http://edf.stanford.edu/readings/edx-and-facebook-team-offer-free-education-rwanda
10. http://www.c21uwm.com/2013/03/13/moocs-a-cautionary-note/
11. http://www.openeducationeuropa.eu/en/blogs/making-money-moocs

Graphics used
The following graphic taken from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MOOC_poster_mathplourde.jpg depict the concept of a
MOOC as a poster.
Video Links
Future of MOOCshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoSJ3_dZcm8

What is a MOOC? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW3gMGqcZQc

IDs of some common MOOCs

 www.moocs.org
 www.coursera.org
 www.edxonline.org
 www.futurelearn.com

List of online course providers

http://www.moocs.co/Higher_Education_MOOCs.html (Higher Education MOOCs)

http://www.moocs.co/K-12_MOOCs.html (K-12 MOOCs)

Suggested Reading

1. Article – How MOOCs work? http://people.howstuffworks.com/massive-open-online-

courses-moocs.htm
2. Article - http://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2013/8/166304-money-models-for-
moocs/fulltext
3. Article - Association for Learning Technology (2012), ‘MOOC pedagogy: the
challenges of developing for Coursera’.
http://newsletter.alt.ac.uk/2012/08/mooc-pedagogy-the-challenges-of- developing-for-
coursera/.
4. Article - Kolowich, S (2013) ‘The Professors Who Make the MOOCs’
http://chronicle.com/article/The- Professors-Behind-the-
MOOC/137905/#id=overview.
 COMPUTER AIDED LEARNING

Module Structure:
23.0Learning outcomes
23.1Introduction
23.2Concept of Computer aided learning
23.3Modes (Drill and practice, tutorial, game, simulation, discovery, problem
solving)
23.4Advantages and limitations of computer aided learning
23.5Role of teacher
23.6Let us sum up
23.7Exercise

22.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of computer aided learning

 Describe the various modes of computer aided learning
 Explain the advantages and limitations of computer aided learning

22.1 INTRODUCTION

The term Computer Aided Learning (CAL) covers a range of computer-based packages, which
aims to provide interactive instruction usually in a specific subject area, and many predate the
Internet. These can range from sophisticated and expensive commercial packages to
applications developed by projects in other educational institutions or from national initiatives
to simple solutions developed by individuals with no funding or support.

22.2 CONCEPT OF COMPUTER AIDED LEARNING

Computer aided learning is a form of programmed instruction which is carried out with the
help of computers. Where the computer is used as a learning medium or an aid to learning.
Computer aided instruction (CAI) or computer aided learning (CAL) are two terms used
interchangeably with the same meaning. However, the latter term is more learner cantered.

CAL is an innovation in the area of ‘Programmed learning’ which is an individualized self-

learning technique carried out with the help of computer technology.

Definition: “It refers to the situation in which a computer system is utilized in the learning
process.”

“It is the direct interactive learning experiences through computer.”

“It is an interactive instructional technique whereby the computer is used to present the
instructional material and monitor the learning that takes place.”

Characteristics:

 CAL is an instructional technique used in computers which is designed for an individual

and is individually paced with individualized instruction.
 It is either a linear or a branching type of instruction.
 It is designed differently for different group of learners.
 It is an instructional technique based on 2 way interaction of a learner and a computer
for the purpose of learning and contains a stored instructional programme designed to
inform, guide and test the students.
 CAL is characterized by selection of appropriate response button by the learner.
 Complex subject matter is made simpler in CAL for the purpose of learning.
 It is costly.

22.3 MODES OF CAL:

1. Drill and practice: Computers can be used effectively for drill and practice. The
programme is designed in such a manner that the learner gets drilled until a skill is not
only learnt but is brought to the state where the response becomes automatic. (Gagne
1982). This mode of CAL uses the computer to present the learner with a series of
exercises which he or she must complete by choosing an appropriate response or
answer. The computer then provides the learner with a feedback about the answer. The
computer gives a congratulatory message if the answer is right and incorrect answers
are diagnosed and corrected.

CAL provides drill and practice for already learnt material. The computer keeps the
record of the performances of the learner. CAL offers a means of providing endless
drill and practice without repetition, at a pace that can be controlled by the learners
permitting the learners to work at different levels.. The nature of the exercises depends
on the learner’s progress. Thus as one learns and as the accuracy and speed improves,
the exercises become more difficult or vice-versa.

CAL permits the learners to work at different levels. It also provides opportunities for
the learners to design of the material permits the user to proceed, step by step, through
a logical instructional sequence. The systematic design of the material permits the user
to proceed, step by step through the logical instructional sequence.

Drill and practice is used for mathematics, foreign language translation practice,
vocabulary building, and sentence construction etc.

E.g. In providing drill work in the skill of subtraction, the computer will display on the
screen, 15-12=------ and the child will respond by typing an answer on the numeric
 keyboard. If the answer is wrong, the computer displays “wrong” or “incorrect” or “try
again” and if the answer is right, it provides a congratulatory remark and another
problem of higher level is presented 25-27=----

2. Tutorial:

Click here to watch video on prepositions

Click here to watch video on laws of motion

As you have seen in the video, the computer acts as a teacher here and the students are
learning in their own way and at their own pace. Each student participates in some sort
of tutorial where one is taken on a journey through the learning material via
conversation, in which information is presented and feedback is elicited through a
process of question, answer and challenge.

CAL provides learner with learning a topic or a concept through continuous feedback
provided by the computer where a subject matter, complete lesson or concept is
presented in the computer in the sequential order in small packages. The explanation
can be given orally through audio tapes too. Perfect interaction and dialogue is
maintained by both the students and the computer. The content is tested there and drilled
or practised if needed. This mode can be designed in a linear or branched way.

E.g. Topics like Newton’s law of motion, history of freedom struggle, evolution of
money, solar eclipse, and set theory can be taught using CAL.

3. Gaming:

Games are activities that are played with a prescribed set of rules which usually results
in a winner at the completion of the activity. This mode facilitates learning by playing
opposite a computer or other learner and it is highly interactive. A game activity may
or may not entail simulation elements and it may or may not be instructional.

It depends on the skill practised in the game whether it is for academic or training
related to a specified instructional objective. Since the learners love imagination, games
can provide an excellent vehicle to impart knowledge in an enjoyable manner.

E.g. Spelling games, general knowledge games, and games on dates in history, games
of calculation in mathematics, games of fixing prices of things, etc. can be easily taught
using the gaming technique.

4. Simulation:

Click here to watch a video on how the brain works

 Click here to watch journey inside the cell

As you have seen in these videos, students can see how the brain works or what is there
inside the cell. It is impossible to get these direct experiences in real life. Computer
aided instructional videos help the students to have virtual experiences.

Many a times, learning involves the student studying real-life system or phenomena.
Sometimes this is quite feasible, but there are some learning experiences, which are too
time-consuming, expensive, difficult or dangerous. Computers can be used to emulate
a real life system by following a set of rules which approximates the behaviour of the
real system. CAL simulation is flexible and controllable by the learner.

The learner is presented with a simulated situation having correspondence with real life
situation. Computer develops the model in which simulated conditions are shown on
the computer screen on which the learner has to work imagining it as a real situation.
Students are active characters in the situation where they face all problems, take
decisions and come out either as a winner or loser. In this mode, learners can practise
without any risk. It can help in solving various educational and social problems.

E.g. Science experiment, dissection of a human body, learning to drive a car or

badminton game, events in history, etc.

Educational simulations are metaphors designed to focal the learners’ attention on

concepts, which allows them to explore artificial environment; imaginary or based on
reality at their fingertips which provides a good opportunity for exploration,
experimentation and interaction.

5. Discovery mode:

In this mode, the problem is presented to the learner who solves it either through trial
and error or systematic approach. This programme provides various multiple situations
through which the learner tries to find the correct answer. This is very similar to
branching programme, in which various frames including the remedial frames are
designed. Each frame may contain information, clues and examples and also questions
to which the learner has to respond. Feedback is provided to the student for each
response that he/she provides. For chemistry experiments the use of indicators for
titration of acid and bases of different strengths, one can use the discovery method of
presenting a problem.

E.g. Mathematical problems, grammar learning.

6. V-CAL mode:
 This mode includes two teaching media viz. a video recorder and a computer in an
integrated way, which makes learning highly interactive. This provides truly two way
communication e.g. Video recorder is attached to the computer, which gives
instructions, information or feedback to the responses of the learner by actually
interacting with him. This helps the learners to understand the matter easily and clear
their doubts thus providing effective learning material to suit individual needs.

Click here to watch YouTube on Dandi march

7. Problem solving method:

This mode falls into two categories; one in which students write a program logically to
solve a problem and those written by someone else to help the student solve problems.
In the learner written programme, the student defines a problem logically and writes a
computer program to solve it. The computer will do the necessary calculations and
provide the answers. In this way the computer helps the learner in achieving problem
solving skills by doing complex calculations. In the second category, the computer is
the problem solver. The computer makes the calculations while the student manipulates
one or several variables.

22.4 ADVANTAGES AND LIMITATIONS OF COMPUTER AIDED LEARNING

ADVANTAGES:
1. Correct record for teachers:
It provides individualized and complete learning to the learner and can help the teacher
to collect a detailed record of performance in order to correct minute mistakes. It proves
to be a very good teaching learning aid for the teacher to keep an accurate record of the
learner’s performance and also to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. The
learner can also self-evaluate his performance.

2. Motivational learning:

The learning material is colourful, attractive and illustrative which motivates the learner
to learn. It also helps the child to get continuous feedback of his performance which
motivates him to gain mastery of the subject matter.

3. Active learning:

The immediate feedback provided by interactive teaching learning process keeps the
students active throughout to respond and to keep trying for the correct answer.

4. Develops thinking ability of the learner:

CAL helps the learner to make decisions and realize the consequences of those
decisions. Thus thinking ability can be developed.
 5. Easy Access:

Learning can be accessed anywhere, anytime and not just in the classroom.

6. Learner centred:

The learner can learn at his own pace. It is an instrument of self-learning. It helps the
learners to have some control over the rate and sequence of their learning pattern. It
provides a positive, effective climate, especially for slow learners.

7. Appeal:

Color, music, and animated graphics and simulation add appeal to laboratory activities.

LIMITATIONS:

1. A programmer cannot provide every possible response expected or required by the

learner. As it programmed, computer has its own limitation. Computer cannot work as
human brain. So it is not possible to understand situation, and then respond accordingly.
2. The student is alone at the computer which may prove to be boring for him. Many a
times it is mechanical learning which may give physical strain to the children. One
important aim of education is to develop social skills which is not possible to much
extent with the help of computer aided learning. Even for inculcating values,
developing sensitivity, developing right attitude, we cannot rely on computer aided
learning.
3. It proves to be expensive as compared to traditional learning. Pre requisite for Computer
aided learning are computer, speakers, headphone, internet connection etc. Initial
investment for all these things is high. Development of CAI packages itself is very
costly affair.
4. It is a dehumanizing method of instruction as the computer fails to appreciate the
emotions of the students. The emotional and affectionate climate created by a human
teacher in direct classroom interaction is missing in CAL.
5. All topics and all subjects cannot be taught through CAL. It is always suggested to give
first priority to direct experiences which is ignored due to CAL.
6. Required educational software are not always available in the market.
7. CAL has to depend on the cooperation of three experts: computer engineer, lesson
writer and system operator. Experts are rarely available.

23.5 ROLE OF TEACHER:

1. The teacher provides specific curriculum requirements for instructional units.

 2. The teacher has to sit with the students, determine his learning needs and
preferences and produce suitable tutorial packages.
3. If possible, the teacher has to write a complete programme using the appropriate
computer language.
4. The teacher should be well trained in designing the learning material as per the need
of the student.
5. Though the teacher is not in direct contact with the learner, she should constantly
supervise the performance of the learner.
6. The teacher should use the computer as an aid to learning and not the complete
instructor.
7. The teacher has to be a facilitator of learning, keen observer to ensure meaningful
learning and a good guide for providing right direction towards self-learning

22.6 Let Us Sum Up:

Computer Aided Learning (CAL) covers a range of computer based packages. It helps to
provide students interactive instructions related to specific subject topic by making use of
computer. CAL is developed differently for different group of learners. CAL are presented
through different modes i.e. Drill and practice, tutorial, simulation, games. V-cal, problem
solving, discovery etc.

CAL provides individualize interactive instructions to students. Teacher get complete record
of students learning progress. Students find learning motivational, self-paced, simple, active
and interesting. CAL helps in developing thinking ability of the learner. It is Learner centred
learning.

CAL has its own limitations. It is expensive. It requires infrastructure and human, material
resources. It lacks human touch which is important aspect of any education. It is mechanical at
times. But one can remove the limitations by improving the quality of CAL.

Such education leads to developing healthy self-learning habits in students resulting in better
and meaningful outcomes and also provides teachers with extra time to concentrate on other
significant roles in the development of the overall personality of the learners.

REFERENCES

Husain, N. (2010). Computer Assisted Learning: Theory and application, Shipra Publication.

Lewis, R. J. (1987). Trends in Computer Assisted Education. Blackwell Scientific Publications,

London.
Vanaja, M & Rajasekhar S. Educational Technology Computer Education Neelkamal
publication.2006.

SUGGESTED READING
 http://www.studynet1.herts.ac.uk/ptl/common/LTDU.nsf/Teaching+Documents/0473
9C2AEC9B471B8025729F00330361/$FILE/whatiscal.pdf
 http://www.preservearticles.com/2011122018614/what-are-the-advantages-and-
disadvantages-of-computer-assisted-learning.html

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TUTORING SYSTEM

Module Structure:

25.0 Learning outcomes

25.1 Introduction

25.2 Artificial intelligence tutoring systems: Concept

25.3 General architecture of Artificial intelligence tutoring system

25.4 Advantages of Artificial intelligence tutoring system

25.5 Limitations of Artificial intelligent tutoring system

25.6 Examples of Artificial intelligence tutoring system in education

25.7 Let us sum up

25.0 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After going through this module you will be able to:

 Explain the concept of Artificial tutoring system

 Explain the various modules of Artificial intelligence tutoring system
 Explain the advantages of Artificial intelligent tutoring system
 Explain the limitations of Artificial intelligent tutoring system
 Discuss various examples of Artificial intelligent tutoring system

25.1 INTRODUCTION

Students always need one to one attention. But teachers have huge class and limited time.
Tutoring ensures individualized paths and effective learning. Intelligent tutoring system (ITS)
enables to provide the best alternative to tutoring. ITS is software that mimics real tutor. It
poses problems, provides support, redirects mistakes and provides encouragement. It is where
a computer assisted instructional programme functions intelligently.

25. 2 INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM: CONCEPT

Teachers started using machines to assist in their instructional endeavours before the invention
of the computer. After microcomputer systems became more sophisticated, Computer-
Assisted Instruction allowed for more flexible and comprehensive instruction. A student could
skim through or skip some of the material using this type of instruction just as one could skip
some pages of a book. Most CAI programs were not considered intelligent. Intelligent
computer assisted instruction was introduced by Jaime Carbonell in 1970 when he designed a
computer program called SCHOLAR. This program is considered the first Intelligent Tutoring
System (ITS).

MEANING OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM

Sharon Derry(1993): “An intelligent instructional system can observe what the learner is doing
during problem solving and has done over a series of problem solving session and from this
information draw inferences about students’ knowledge, belief and attitudes in terms of some
theory of cognition.”

Lee Gugerty (1993) : “Intelligent tutoring involves explicit modelling of expert representations
and cognitive processes, detection of student errors, diagnosis of students’ knowledge,
instruction adapted to student’s knowledge state, hints, feedback and explicit didactic
instruction and doing all of the above in a timely fashion as the student solves problems.”

ITSs seek to mimic the methods and dialog of natural human tutors, to generate instructional
interactions in real time and on demand, as required by individual students. Intelligent tutoring
system contains knowledge about the domain and also knowledge about the student and how
to teach that student. It aims at providing each student with a computer based tutor that has all
the qualities of a master teacher. This includes deep subject matter expertise, excellent
knowledge of teaching techniques, powerful communication skills and the ability to inspire
and motivate students to learn.

Implementation of ITSs incorporates computational mechanisms and knowledge

representations in the field of artificial intelligence, computational linguistics and cognitive
science.

An ITS is an educational software containing an artificial intelligent component. The software

tracks students’ work, tailoring feedback and hints along the way. By collecting information
on a particular student’s performance, the software can make inferences about strengths and
weaknesses, and can suggest additional work.

ITS is also known as ICAI (Intelligent Computer Aided Instruction) and KBTS is (Knowledge
Based Tutoring System.

25.3 GENERAL ARCHITECTURE OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM

ITSs consist of at least three basic components (Barr & Feignbaum, 1982; Bonnet, 1985)

 The expert knowledge module

 The student knowledge module
 The tutoring module

More recent research added fourth component:

 The user interface module

  The expert knowledge module

The expert knowledge module contains a description of the knowledge or behaviors that
represent expertise in the subject matter domain. The ITS is teaching –often an expert system
or cognitive model. It comprises the facts and rules of the particular domain to be conveyed to
the student, i.e. the knowledge of the expert. Expert knowledge is represented in various ways,
including semantic networks, frames and production system.

Expert knowledge module has the following elements:

 Surface knowledge e.g. the description of various concepts that the student has to
acquire.
 The representational ability that has to be a critical part of expertise.
 The ability to include implicit representational understanding from explicitly
represented information.

The expert knowledge module or domain expert serves as:

 The source of knowledge to be presented to the student, which includes generating

questions, explanations and responses.
 A standard for evaluating the student’s performance.
 Evaluative tool to detect common systematic mistakes, and if possible identify any gap
in the student’s knowledge.
 Tool to assess the student’s overall progress.
  The student knowledge module:

It refers to the dynamic representation of the emerging knowledge and skill of the student. The
student knowledge module uses a student model containing description of student knowledge
or behaviours, including his or her misconceptions and knowledge gaps. A mismatch between
a student’s behaviour or knowledge is signalled to the tutor module, which subsequently takes
corrective action, such as providing feedback or remedial instruction.

ITSs are computer programs that are designed to incorporate techniques from the AI
community in order to provide tutors which know what they teach, who they teach and how to
teach it. ITSs similarly be thought of as attempts to produce in a computer, a behaviour which
if performed by a human, would be described as good teaching.

Student model module is helpful to:

 Eradicate bugs in the student’s knowledge.

 Correct ‘incomplete’ student knowledge.
 Initiate significant changes in the tutorial strategy, to help diagnose bugs in the student’s
knowledge
 Assess the students.

In all, students’ model module acts as a source of information about the student, and serves as
a representation of the student.

 The tutoring module

It is the part of the ITS that designs and regulates instructional interactions with the student. It
is closely linked to the student model, using knowledge about the student and its own tutorial
goal structured to decide which pedagogic activities will be presented; hints to overcome
impasses in performance, advice, support, explanations, different practice tasks, test to confirm
hypothesis in the student’s model.

 User interface module

It is the communicating component of the ITS which controls interaction between the
student and the system. In both directions, it translates between the system’s internal
 representation and an interface language that is understandable to the student. When the
ITS presents a topic, the interface can enhance or diminish the presentation. Since the
interface is the final form in which the ITS presents itself, qualities such as ease of use, and
attractiveness could be crucial.

Web based intelligent tutoring system:

Web based Intelligent tutoring system allows users to take a lesson without time and space
constraints. It requires zero cost installation and has maximum time and place flexibility.

There are three types of Web based ITS:

 Static WBT: Teacher arranges learning material in order to cover one or more topics
and convert them in interactive linked HTML pages. Learners can exploit it only by
following the path established by teachers.
 Personalized WBT: Teachers using a specific kind of software named course
management system are able to perform manually a set of additional tasks. They can
monitor student knowledge by testing them, assign recovery material if necessary
define different paths for different learning goals.
 Adaptive WBT: It includes all features of a personalized WBT but the teacher is
supported in his activity by using Artificial Intelligence technique.

25.4 ADVANTAGES OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM

 Reduces geographical barriers:

The users can take the course sitting at home or at office. It is a very convenient way of
learning. It reduces cost and time as well as the learner does not need to travel for the
course.

Most of the internet educational material lack interactivity and diagnostic capability.
Web based ITS provide a better option for effective e-learning.

With the help of web based ITS, it is possible to reach heterogeneous group of learners
and satisfy their needs.

 Improves tutoring:
 Personal tutoring is effective in terms of effectiveness. But it is not plausible in terms
of physical space, financial constraints and availability of human tutor. ITS can provide
students with experiences similar to that of human tutoring that too with very low cost.
Better quality tutoring can be made available to all the students irrespective of their
location.

 Variety of uses:

ITS is suitable in a variety of learning environments. ITS has been used for mathematics,
physics course. ITS has been proved successful for radar operational skill in navy, in flight
simulation, army fire training, health services. ITS can be also used to teach soft skills like
selling, negotiating, collaborating etc.

 Cost effective

Initially one has to incur cost for ITS for purchasing the software and hardware. In future it is
proved a very cost effective alternative. This cost is also less expensive than cost incurred in
funding building, other infrastructure. It can be said that investing in ITS is a onetime
investment which will give returns for a very long period in the future.

 Motivation

Through ITS, students are motivated to complete assignments. Students show greater
satisfaction with learning than students who participate in regular classroom as they find the
teaching-learning process more interactive and interesting.

 Greater achievement rate

Students who learn through ITS show increase in marks. Research also proved that ITS
programs develop greater problem solving capabilities.

 Enhance learning speed

ITS’ students increased their cognition of concepts and moved through the assignments faster.
They were seen to grasp and retain the content at a better speed.

25.5 LIMITATIONS OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM

  Not for all subjects

Subjects like mathematics, science and logic are suited to an ITS model. The problem solving
levels within the design can move through various levels of complexity. Subjects like History,
Literature, Geography and Social science making the ITS design more complicated.

 Pedagogical constraints

Human tutor can use a variety of teaching methods. They also adapt teaching methods
according to the learners’ responses. This is not possible with ITS. The ITS uses single method
of teaching.

 Gaming the system

Students systematically use the “help” “trial and error” property of the system to advance
through various levels of problem solving. Students might complete the task without actually
engaging in critical thinking.

 Lengthy and expensive development of ITS

Development of ITS requires the cooperation and input of subject matter experts, the
cooperation and support of individuals across both organizations and organizational levels. The
other problem is the development of software within both budget and time constraints. The
long timeframe required for development and the high cost of the creation of the system
components puts the constraint on implementation of ITS in real world. A high portion of that
cost is a result of content component building.

Weak pedagogy

Current ITS uses the pedagogy of immediate feedback and hint sequences that are built in to
make the system "intelligent". This pedagogy is criticized for its failure to develop deep
learning in students. When students are given control over the ability to receive hints, the
learning response created is negative. Some students immediately turn to the hints before
attempting to solve the problem or complete the task.

ITS system fails to ask questions to the students to explain their actions. If the student is not
learning the domain language then it becomes more difficult to gain a deeper understanding,
  Evaluation

Evaluation of an intelligent tutoring system is an important phase; however, it is often difficult,

costly, and time consuming. Even though there are various evaluation techniques presented in
the literature, there are no guiding principles for the selection of appropriate evaluation
method(s) to be used in a particular context.

26.6 EXAMPLES OF INTELLIGENT TUTORING SYSTEM IN EDUCATION

 Algebra Tutor PAT (PUMP Algebra Tutor or Practical Algebra Tutor):

It is developed by the Pittsburgh Advanced Cognitive Tutor Centre at Carnegie Mellon

University, This ITS engages students in anchored learning problems and uses modern
algebraic tools in order to engage students in problem solving and in sharing of their results.

 Mathematics Tutor

The Mathematics Tutor helps students solve word problems using fractions, decimals and
percentages. The tutor records the success rates while a student is working on problems while
providing subsequent, level-appropriate problems for the student to work on.

 eTeacher

It is an intelligent agent that supports personalized e-learning assistance. It builds student

profiles after detailed analysis of the student’s performance in online courses. E-Teacher then
uses the information from the student's performance to suggest a personalized courses of action.
The content is designed to assist their learning process.

 REALP

REALP was designed to help students enhance their reading comprehension by providing
reader-specific lexical practice.

It provides personalized practice with useful, authentic reading materials which are taken from
the Web. The system automatically builds a user model according to student's performance in
the online courses. After reading, the student is given a series of exercises based on the target
vocabulary found in reading.
  CIRCSlM-Tutor

CIRCSIM-Tutor is an intelligent tutoring system that is used with first year medical students
at the Illinois Institute of Technology. It uses natural dialogue based, Socratic language to help
students learn about regulating blood pressure.

 Why2-Atlas

Why2-Atlas is an ITS that analyses students’ explanations of physics principles. The students
input their work in paragraph form and the program converts their words into a proof by making
assumptions of student beliefs that are based on their explanations. In doing this,
misconceptions and incomplete explanations are highlighted. The system then addresses these
issues through a dialogue with the student and asks the student to correct their essay. A number
of iterations may take place before the process is complete.

 SmartTutor

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) developed a Smart Tutor to support the needs of
continuing education students. Personalized learning was identified as a key need within adult
education at HKU and Smart Tutor aims to fill that need. Smart Tutor provides support for
students by combining Internet technology, educational research and artificial intelligence.

 Auto Tutor

Auto Tutor assists college students in learning about computer hardware, operating systems
and the Internet in an introductory computer literacy course by simulating the discourse
patterns and pedagogical strategies of a human tutor. AutoTutor attempts to understand
learner's input from the keyboard and then formulate dialog moves with feedback, prompts,
correction and hints.
25.6 LET US SUM UP

Intelligent tutoring system is software containing an artificial intelligent component. It mimics

the human tutor to generate instructional interactions in real time and on demand required by
individual students. It aims to provide each student with a computer based tutor that has all
qualities of a master teacher.

ITSs consists of four basic components i.e. the expert knowledge module, the student
knowledge module, the tutoring module and user interface module.

ITSs reduces geographical barriers, improves tutoring. It can be used in a variety of ways and
situations. ITS is a cost effective option. It motivates students; enhances learning speed and
helps in greater achievement.

ITSs have few limitations and criticism against it. It does not suit for all subjects. It can use
relevant teaching methods. Students may involve in gaming the system. The development of
ITS is a lengthy process. Evaluation phase in ITS is a difficult task.

Algebra Tutor, Mathematics tutor, eTeacher, REALP, CIRCSIM-tutor, Why2-Atlas, Smart

tutor and Auto tutor are some of the examples of Intelligent tutoring system.

REFERENCES

 Carbonell, J. R. (1970). AI in CAI: Artificial intelligence approach to computer

assisted instruction.
 IEEE Transactions on Man-Machine Systems 11(4): 190–202. Sleeman, D. H.
& Brown,
 J. S. (Eds.). (1982). Intelligent Tutoring Systems. New York: Academic Press.
Wenger, E. (1987).
 Artificial Intelligence and Tutoring Systems: Computational and Cognitive
Approaches to the Communication of Knowledge . Los Altos, CA: Morgan
Kaufmann.
 Joseph Psotka, Sharon A. Mutter (1988). Intelligent Tutoring Systems: Lessons
Learned. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0-8058-0192-8.
 Ford, L. A New Intelligent Tutoring System (2008) British Journal of
Educational Technology, 39(2), 311-318
  Bailin, A & Levin, L. Introduction: Intelligent Computer Assisted Language
Instruction (1989) Computers and the Humanities, 23, 3-11

Weblinks

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_tutoring_system
 edutechwiki.unige.ch/en/Intelligent_tutoring_system

SUGGESTED READING

 Keles, A., Ocak, R., Keles, A., & Gulcu A. (2009). ZOSMAT: Web-based
Intelligent Tutoring System for Teaching-Learning Process. [Elsevier.]. Expert
Systems with Applications , 36 , 1229-1239.
 Nwana, H. S. (1990). Intelligent tutoring systems: An overview. Artificial
Intelligence Review, 4, 251-277.
 Freedman, R. (2000). What is an intelligent tutoring system? Intelligence, 11(3),
15–16.

Weblinks

 http://www.compassproject.net/sadhana/teaching/readings/its.pdf
 www.uni-obuda.hu/journal/Samuelis_10.pdf

MODULE 36: SPOKEN TUTORIAL

Module Structure

36.0 Learning Outcomes

36.1 Introduction to Spoken Tutorial
36.1 Process of making a tutorial
36.2 Advantages and Limitations
36.3 Application in education
36.5 Let us sum up

36.0 Learning Outcomes

After going through this module, the learner will be able to:
 Acquire knowledge of the concept of spoken tutorials.
 Develop an understanding of the process of making a spoken tutorial.
 Have an understanding of the various applications of spoken tutorial.
  Make his/her own spoken tutorial

36.1 Introduction to Spoken Tutorial

Learning is more effective when animation and narrations are presented simultaneously.
Audio-video demonstrations can illustrate features with maximum clarity.

One such means of effective learning can be achieved by Spoken Tutorial. The Spoken Tutorial
project is the initiative of the "Talk to a Teacher" project of the
National Mission on Education through ICT, launched by Ministry of Human Resources
Development, Govt. of India.

Spoken tutorial refers to explaining a computer based activity, along with a live demonstration
of it in parallel, with a running commentary. Running commentary can be in any language. One
of the ways of including the commentary is by using Cam Studio.

A spoken tutorial teaches any computer-based activity with a screen cast and a narration. The
screen casting software easily captures activities on the screen. Together with a recorded
narrative, the tutorial can be played back as a movie. Screen cast software makes a movie of
the entire activity, both the screen and the spoken part. This movie is the spoken tutorial. The
running commentary can be in English or in any other language.

After being made in one language, a tutorial could easily be dubbed in other Indian languages.
Each of the tutorials, whether original or dubbed, goes through a strict review procedure.
Domain experts review the tutorial for accuracy. Following this review process, the tutorial is
uploaded to the public domain.

So, basically spoken tutorial makes use of the screen cast along with the narration and the
method to be used for teaching and also includes a text book for additional information.

Spoken tutorial = screencast + audio + pedagogy + text box

Spoken tutorial is a recording of an actual session. As a result, it can capture every step that is
required to explain an activity. This completeness combined with an accompanying audio-
video tutorial makes the spoken tutorial the best way to document and to explain software or a
computer based activity.
Spoken tutorials are extremely easy to create and they require very less storage space. One
recorded CD can hold up to 10 hours of spoken tutorial. Spoken tutorials are useful for learners
and also job seekers as there is a huge demand for people who can help create spoken tutorials.

Spoken tutorials can be created by public that is by students of colleges, schools, working
professionals, housewives, retired and unemployed people.

Spoken tutorials can be used to bridge the digital divide, as the original content can be recorded
in any language and also can be dubbed in any language. It can also help in increasing digital
literacy.

36. 2 Process of making a tutorial

A spoken tutorial is an audio-video tutorial that explains an activity performed on the computer.
An expert explains the working of software, by demonstrating it on the screen, along with a
running commentary. A screencast software makes a movie of the entire activity, both the
screen and the spoken part. This movie is the spoken tutorial. The running commentary can be
in English or in any other language. Spoken tutorial is a recording of an actual session. As a
result, it can capture every step that is required to explain an activity. This completeness,
combined with an accompanying audio-video tutorial makes the spoken tutorial the best way
to document and to explain a software or a computer based activity. Creating a document in
any other way is inefficient. A ten minute video, for example, can have about 100 screen
transitions.
Imagine the work involved in taking screen shots and using them to create a ‘pdf’ document.
The size of the video created is of the order of 1MB per minute, for a 800x600 screen size in
normal resolution. The file size needs to be small for transmission through low bandwidth and
also to pack a large number of tutorials on a CD, meant for countrywide circulation.

Spoke tutorials have been using this methodology to create a series of tutorials in open source
software families, such as LaTeX, Scilab, GNU/Linux, ORCA and Python. They selected the
duration of a typical spoken tutorial to be about ten minutes long. Although only a small topic
can be covered in ten minutes, by stringing them together, one can come up with study plans
that are capable of teaching advanced topics as well. The process of making a tutorial involves
the creation of a script. Then using a recording software, like Cam Studio which is a screen-
recording software that records all activities which you see on your computer screen and allows
you to play them back later on, Cam Studio can be used with Microsoft Windows 95, 98, Me,
NT 4.0, 2000 or XP versions. All you need is a 400 MHz processor, 64 MB of RAM and 4 MB
of hard-disk space for program installation. Cam Studio is an open source software and can be
downloaded free of cost from the internet. Go to the site www.camstudio.org. This will open
the Cam Studio website. Scroll down and click on the link to download. Follow the instructions
and you will have downloaded Cam Studio on your PC.

Once you have installed CamStudio, double-click on the icon to run it. This will open the
CamStudio dialog box. You will see the Main Menu right at the top of the window. Under File,
you have the option to Record, Stop, Pause and Exit. You will find the corresponding buttons
in the dialog box as well -the Red button to record, the Grey button to pause and the Blue button
to stop the recording. It lets you record over your screencast like even a power point
presentation and create a spoke tutorial. All the slides can be played like a movie.

36. 3 Advantages and Limitations

• Small size: about 1 MB per minute - the tutorials are in small parts or strings and last only
about 10 minutes. Many such tutorials can be made in one CD.

• Inexpensive – the requirements are only a computer and internet and the tutorial can be
downloaded. In order to make a tutorial is also inexpensive as the software used is free.

• Self -pacing – spoken tutorial is to be used as a self-study material and a learner can learn
about 1 hour matter form one spoken tutorial of 10 minutes.

• Can reduce the digital divide as language does not remain a problem in any part of the
country. The audio part of spoken tutorials is easily dubbed in many of the Indian
languages. This includes major Indian languages such as Hindi, Assamese, Bengali,
Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu, and also languages with fewer speakers, such
as Bodo, Nepali and Sanskrit. This combination of English video and mother tongue audio
helps retain the employment potential high for students who are not fluent in English.

• Can increase digital literacy as it is very easy to use. It can reach far corners of India and
technology will not be something to be feared about. Spoken tutorials can also be used to
bridge digital divide. For example, one can use it to explain how to write emails, how to
buy train tickets online, and how to open a bank account. One can explain how to do a web
search and locate low cost agricultural loans, information about primary healthcare and first
aid can also be given.
• Can reduce the time taken to learn a new software or concept. For instance, in a college
curriculum, one typically takes several hours to teach the software “C”. In comparison,
Spoken Tutorials needs 20 tutorials of around 10 minute each, adding up to 200 minutes,
or a little over 3 hours in duration. Of course, it goes without saying that the student has to
later practice the programming language to acquire proficiency and enhance productivity.

36.4 Application in education

Spoken tutorial can be used in teaching –learning process effectively and on a large scale.

String of spoken tutorials makes a study plan. By stringing together study plans, it is possible
to teach even complicated topics in a simple manner.

Hence, with the use of simple strings, complex mathematical equations, geometrical
constructions, balancing chemical equations, computation of physics data, English grammar,
spoken English can be taught by this method, easily and effectively.

The spoken tutorial can be provided to the students and they can play it like a movie and
understand the concepts easily. They can use it to learn- listen, pause, try the software in
parallel, rewind, etc.

Once the content is done, additional exercises can be provided, assignments can be given at the
end of the spoken tutorial and solved assignments can be given at the end of the study plan.

Spoken tutorials are very useful for mass education wherein the CDs of lessons plans can be
played to a number of students at the same time.

Spoken tutorials are useful for diverse learners who have different needs and the spoken
tutorials can be used by gifted as well as slow learners according to their own pace and levels
of understanding and comprehension.

Spoken tutorials are very useful for learners with different learning styles, like the audio, visual
learners as it combines both the activities on the computer screen as well as the audio recording.

School dropouts and students of distance learning can benefit immensely by the use of these
spoken tutorial CDs. They can continue with their studies as per their limitations and
geographical barriers are removed in the use of spoken tutorials.
36.5 Let us sum up
As can be seen from above, the Spoken Tutorials project at IIT Bombay attempts to provide IT
training through audio video tutorials, created for self -learning. The topics covered are
programming languages, simulation and circuit design platforms and office productivity tools,
all using open source software. Spoken Tutorials tries to teach the essence of a software in a
focused way and hence does it efficiently reproducing every step: coding the discussed feature,
compiling it, executing it and testing for desired results. This is always possible, as the training
is restricted to open source software only. The training methodology of Spoken Tutorials can
be extended to multiple disciplines – from first aid, to booking a ticket, to perhaps filling a
government form. The success of Spoken Tutorials is an encouragement for those involved in
education to experiment with novel ways of pedagogy and delivery that not just reduces the
time and cost of training, but also extends reach.

Attached along with is a spoken tutorial created using a power point presentation and
CamStudio. But the tutorial can be seen only if you have CamStudio installed.
It is open-source software and can be downloaded free.

To download CamStudio, visit camstudio.org or camstudio.en.softonic.com. Click on

download. It only takes few minutes. Once downloaded, when you run the CamStudio, you can
see the Spoken Tutorial.

***********************************************************************

36.7 Suggested reading: There are lots of spoken tutorials uploaded on these websites:
 www.spoken-tutorial.org
 Spoken Tutorial Project, IIT Bombay - YouTube
 Spoken Tutorials
 show_promo.htm
 Spoken Tutorial Project, IIT Bombay - YouTube
 Spoken Tutorials | Scilab.in
 Learn English Speaking and Improve your Spoken English ...
 Learn Hindi - Free Hindi Tutorial - YouTube
36.8 References
 www.spoken-tutorial.org
 CSI Communications, Knowledge Digest for IT Community
Csi-india.org ISSN 0970-647X | Volume No. 35 | Issue No. 6 | September 2011

Role of NCERT in Development of Educational Technology

Module Structure
37.1 Introduction
37.2 Establishment of NCERT
37.3 The Major Constituent Units of NCERT
37.4 Objectives of NCERT
37.5 Major Programmes and Activities of NCERT
37.6 Uses of Educational technology by NCERT
37.6 Efforts Initiated by NCERT in Developing Educational Technology
37.7 Let us sum up

37.1 Introduction

The life and the world around us are greatly influenced by the emergence of technology.
Each and every area of life has been touched by technology. It is beyond our imagination to
live even a day without the use of technology. Many researches are being carried out,
resulting in new solutions to various problems of life. In this connection, education has also
not been untouched by technology for solutions to various educational problems.

From providing resources in the classroom to distance education, the role of educational
technologies is undoubtedly significant. These multiple facets of Educational Technology
make a crucial difference to the way in which the term is interpreted. In order to understand
educational technology Vasudha Kamat, Joint Director, Central Institute of Educational
Technology (CIET), NCERT, explains: “Educational technology is a very broad term which
implies those processes which facilitate learning. This includes planning, developing, using,
evaluating, and managing technologies for enhancing quality of learning (and/or teaching).
Also, it encompasses face-to-face, distance as well as e-learning.”

Appreciation of the role of educational technology as an agent of change in the classroom

is influencing the teacher and the teaching-learning process, and its role in systemic issues
like reach, equity, and quality. There are various government and non-government
organizations at micro and macro level engaged in the development, dissemination and
systematic implementations of educational technology for the provision of quality
 education. The NCERT is one such institution which plays a vital role in the development
of educational technology.

37.2 Establishment of NCERT

The National Council of Educational Research and Training was set up by the Government
of India. It was established on 1st September, 1961. It has its headquarters at New Delhi.
NCERT helps and advises the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the
Government of India in formulating and carrying out its educational policies and
programmes. It collaborates with the departments in the states, the universities and
institutes. Through the development of research, publication, extension training, NCERT
tries to improve educational system. NCERT also provides technical advice to states for the
improvement of the standard of state science exhibitions and their exhibits for national
science exhibitions. It also maintains close contact with similar national and international
institutions. It communicates the results of its researches by publishing books and journals.

37.3 Major Constituent Units of NCERT

NCERT constitutes the following units:

1. National Institute of Education (NIE), New Delhi

2. Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), New Delhi.

3. Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational Education (PSSCIVE), Bhopal

4. Regional Institutes of Education:

- Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Ajmer

- Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Bhopal

- Regional Institute of Education (RIE ), Bhubaneswar

- Regional Institute of Education (RIE), Mysore

- North-East Regional Institute of Education (NE-RIE) Shillong

5. Field Advisers' Offices in the States.

37.4 Objectives of the NCERT

The main objectives of NCERT and its constituent units are:

 To undertake aid, promote and coordinate research in areas related to school education.
 To prepare and publish model textbooks, supplementary material, newsletters,
journals and other related literature.
 To organize pre-service and in-service training programme for teachers.
 To develop and disseminate innovative educational techniques and practices.
 To collaborate and network with state educational departments, universities,
NGOs and other educational institutions.
 To act as a clearing house for ideas and information in matters related to school
education.
 To act as a nodal agency for achieving goals of universalisation of elementary education.

37.5 MajorProgrammes and Activities of NCERT

The NCERT, through its various constituent units carry out different programmes and
activities. The major programmes and activities of NCERT are:

Research:

Research is one of the vital functions of NCERT. NCERT provides training in educational
research methodology through its different departments such as National Institute of
Education (NIE), Regional Institutes of Education(RIEs), Central Institute of Educational
Technology (CIET) and Pandit Sunderlal Sharma Central Institute of Vocational
Education(PSSCIVE) NCERT gives financial assistance and academic guidance for
research programmes of other institutions/organizations. Assistance is given to scholars for
publication of their Ph.D. theses. Research fellowships are offered to encourage studies in
school education to encourage competencies in research work.

Development:

NCERT is involved in developmental activities in school education. The development of

curricula and its renewal is another major area of work of NCERT. It not only develops
instructional materials for various levels of school education but also makes them
appropriate to changing needs of children and society. Developmental activities are also
carried out in the areas of educational technology, population education, and education of
the disabled and other special groups.

The developmental activities include development of curricula and instructional materials

in school education in the area of pre-school education, formal and non-formal education,
vocationalisation of education and teacher education. Audio-video spots on early literacy
are conceptualized to generate knowledge and understanding of the concept and importance
of developing literacy skills in early years and to sensitize the teachers, educational
administrators, parents and community about the importance of early literacy.

Training

One of important functions of NCERT is training of teachers. NCERT work in pre-service

and in-service training at various levels i.e. pre-primary, elementary, secondary and higher
secondary in the following areas:
  Special education
 Guidance and counselling
 Vocational education
 Educational technology

The Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs)of five different zones of India

also undertake the training of key personnel of the states and of state level institutions
and training of teacher educators and in-service teachers.

NCERT has incorporated following significant features:

 Integration of content and methodology of teaching
 Long-term internship of teacher trainees in the actual classroom setting
 Participation of students in community work through the pre-service teacher education
programmes at the Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs).

PSSCIVE, Bhopal the constituent unit of NCERT organizes training programmes on

Computer Technique, automobile technology etc. Training packages for classroom
transactions in Science, classroom transaction in Mathematics and Biology and skills in
English have been prepared by RIE, Mysore.

Extension

Various Departments of the National Institute of Education (NIE), RIEs, PSSCIVE and
CIET are engaged in various ways in the comprehensive extension programme. Constituents
of NCERT work in close collaboration with various agencies and institutions in the states.
It also works extensively with Extension Service Departments and Centres in teacher
education colleges and schools to provide support to different group of personnel, including
teachers, teacher educators, educational administrators, question-paper setters, textbook
writers, etc.

The NCERT has also extended its service to rural and backward areas with the aim of
reaching out to the functionaries in these areas where special problems exist and where
special efforts are required. It organizes special programmes for the educationally
disadvantaged sections of the society.

Publication and Dissemination

Another major programme of NCERT is publication. Publication wing of NCERT looks

after the publications of textbooks for different school subjects for Classes I to XII. It also
prints or brings out workbooks, teachers’ guides, supplementary readers, research reports,
etc. NCERT publishes instructional materials for the use of teacher educators, in-service
teachers and teacher trainees. These instructional materials are produced through research
and developmental activities. These are provided as models to various agencies in states and
Union Territories for adoption and/or adaptation.
NCERT publishes several journals such as ‘The Primary Teacher.’ It is published both in
English and Hindi. Journal of Indian Education provides a forum for encouraging original
and critical thinking in education through discussion on current educational issues etc.
Besides these, a house journal called NCERT Newsletter is also published in English and
Hindi (Shaikshik Darpan). It is a noticeable fact that NCERT ensures use of technology.
Through the publication NCERT promotes ET and ensures that teachers and students make
use of educational technology in the class rooms.

Exchange Programmes

The exchange programmes of NCERT are carried out through interaction with international
organizations like UNESCO, UNICEF, UNDP, NFPA and the World Bank. The purpose of
interacting with the international agencies is to study specific educational problems and to
arrange training programmes for personnel from other countries. It acts as the Secretariat of
the National Development Group for Educational Innovations. The NCERT has been
organizing and offering training facilities, usually through attachment programmes and
participation in workshops, to educational personnel of other countries.

37.6 NCERT and Educational technology

i) Preparation of teachers: - NCERT has taken initiative in implementing educational

technology. It has been quite successful in training and retraining of large number of school
teachers effectively and economically. It encourages teachers to be ICT literate for official
and personal use to build comfort and later creativity in educational work. NCERT provides
training to pre-service teachers through the Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) to
evaluate and integrate available materials into the learning process.

ii) Telecast lesson: - CIET, the constituent element of NCERT initiated in telecasting
lessons for different standards in different subjects. INSAT (Indian Satellite) was launched
which gave boost to a series of innovative and constructive television programmes. These
programme has been taken place for national development and for educating the Indian
masses living in remote areas. The programmes are telecast through National Telecast (DD)
as well as Gyandarshan Channels. They are also made available on CD formats to the
students, teachers as well as general public.

iii) Audio-visual materials: - NCERT plays a major role in the preparation, development
and use of audio-visual material. The CIET wing of NCERT at the Video Division held the
responsibility of producing high quality Educational Video programmes for the school
going children and teachers.

37.7 Efforts Initiated by NCERT in Developing Educational Technology

The NCERT plays a significant role in the development of educational technology single
handedly through its constituent units and by collaborating with other agencies. Some of the
initiatives taken by NCERT in the area are discussed below.
Establishment of Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)

Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) at the top level was established in 1984
with the unification of the Centre of Educational Technology and Department of Teaching
Aids. The CIET is concerned with the development of educational technology, mass
communication media, and extends educational opportunities to improve the quality of
educational processes, practices and outcomes. The activities of CIET also include design
and production of media software namely radio and television programmes. It holds
programmes to build competencies of media workers from the State Institutes of
Educational Technology (SIETs) for development and utilization of such software. The
institute disseminates its software through broadcast and non-broadcast modes. Need based
research and evaluation activities are undertaken and studies are taken up to assess the
effectiveness of materials and programmes by CIET.

Enhancing Media Programme

Mass media like radio and television have been used in an irregular fashion for education
for a long time. In 1970, the Ministry of Education took up a scheme of ET. Under this
scheme, an ET unit in the Ministry, a Centre for Educational Technology (CET) under
NCERT, and ET cells in six SITE states were set up in 1974. Both CET and DECU
(Development and Educational Communications Unit) of the Space Application Centre
(SAC), Ahmedabad conducted formative and summative research in respect of the
programmes that they had carried out.

CET launched a multimedia programme of in-service teacher training, which was highly
successful. There was excellent coordination between the state units and CET for the first
few years. Every programme of CET was directed towards solving an educational problem
or enhancing learning to achieve well-defined educational goals. The programmes were
related to the education of marginalized communities. However, this vision was lost some
time in the early 1980s. With new directives from the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (earlier known as the Ministry of Education), the close coordination between
the state units and the central unit virtually came to an end.

The launching of the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) in 1980 and its availability for
educational purposes, directed the Ministry of Education to take over the production of
educational television programmes for transmission via Doordarshan. INSAT for Education
was conceived as a tripartite project, and was supported by UNDP, UNESCO, and GOI.
Under its support, an Educational Technology Division in the Ministry of Education was set
up. CET was merged with the Department of Teaching Aids of NCERT and was renamed
as Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET).

Some of the Educational Technology (ET) cells in the states were upgraded to State
Institutes of Educational Technology (SIETs) and ET cells were opened in some other states.
Studios with adequate hardware for production were installed. CIET was charged with the
task of undertaking educational television and radio production, conducting training and
research, and performing as a central coordination agency for all production and utilization
of efforts. Along with SIETs, CIET aimed at the utilization of mass communications in a
major way to meet various educational objectives. These projects provided examples of the
use of modern methods of media planning and application.

The application of media in education in an Indian situation must take into account the
availability of software and access to hardware. CIET conducted experiments in
teleconferencing. The project seems to have reached sub optimal achievement levels after
the initial planning, as support systems were found to be insufficient. Thus the educational
system has failed to appreciate the usefulness of media programmes in their educational
plans.

Television and radio sets were supplied to schools over many years. AIR (All India Radio)
and Doordarshan were chosen as the carriers for the broadcasts. As production and
broadcasts began, equipment and personnel were put in place. So far as CIET and the SIETs
were concerned, the production of video and audio programmes became their main work.

Computers in Education

Indian experiments in taking computers to schools involved the participation of a large

number of institutions for tasks such as the supply of hardware and software, the
development of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) packages, and the training of teachers.

A project called Computer Literacy and Studies (CLASS) launched in 1984 was a joint
initiative of MHRD, Department of Electronics, and NCERT. It covered 42 Resource
Centres and 2,582 schools. It made use of microcomputers provided by the BBC. The
evaluation of the project by SAC revealed the need for greater interaction between resource
centres and project schools, the need to reduce the time gap between the training of teachers,
the installation of systems, and the initiation of activities in schools, the imparting of
adequate hands-on experience to teachers and students, and the provision of computer
literacy programmes in the timetable. The project had only a limited success, and has been
described at best as a “spectator sport”.

Teacher Training

The Regional Institutes of Education (RIEs) of NCERT also have ET cells. Further, even in
higher education, it is recommended that teacher training in Educational Technology should
form a part of their programme. The aim was to bring about qualitative development in the
field of education. Through the various constituent units NCERT takes charge of training of
teachers in different activities at both pre-service and in-service levels.

In pre-service teacher education:

-Introduces teachers to flexible models of reaching curriculum goals.
- Introduces use of media and technology enabled methods of learning, making it
inherent and embedded in the teaching-learning process of teachers.
 - Train teachers to evaluate and integrate available materials into the learning
process.
- Enable trainee teachers to access sources of knowledge and to create knowledge.
- prepares the teachers at the school level for teaching different subjects.

In ‘in-service’ teacher education:

- Creates a system of lifelong professional development and support, especially of
educational leaders and managers such as headmasters and principals.
- Encourages ICT literacy for official and personal use to increase comfort and
later Enhances creativity in educational work.
- Supports the development of and nurture teachers’ self-help groups /
professional development groups on the ground as well as online.

37.8 Let us sum up

The National Council of Educational Research and Training was set up by the Government
of India. It was established on 1st September, 1961. It has its headquarters at New Delhi.
NCERT helps and advises the Ministry of Human Resource Development of the
Government of India in formulating and carrying out its educational policies and
programmes. The NCERT provides academic and technical support for improvement of
school education through its constituent units.

NCERT identifies the educational goals and suggests to adopt the methods and process to
achieve those goals. It devises the way to use various human and non-human resources in a
systematic manner in order to provide solutions to the various problems in the field of
education.

NCERT performs the significant functions of conducting and supporting research. It offers
training in educational research methodology. Developmental activities in school education
constitute an important function of it. The major developmental activities
include development and renewal of curricula and instructional materials for various levels
of school education and making them relevant to changing needs of children and
society.

Another important dimension of NCERT's activities is the pre-service and in-service

training of teachers at various levels. The NCERT has comprehensive extension
programmes in which various Departments of the NIE, RIEs, CIET, PSSCIVE and the
offices of the Field Advisers in the states are engaged in various ways. NCERT publishes
instructional materials for the use of teacher educators, teacher trainees and in-service
teachers.

Establishment of CIET, enhancing media programme, implementation of computers in

education, teacher training emphasizing training in ET are the major initiatives taken by
NCERT with collaboration of various government bodies for the enhancement of
educational technology.

It provides training facilities to the people in the field of education from other developing
and developed countries so as to bring about a change in the education system and
methodologies.

References and Important Web Links

"Public Information Services."National Council of Educational Research and Training.

Retrieved on June 2014. "National Council of Educational Research and Training," Sri
AurbindoMarg, New Delhi-110016"
Aggarwal, j. c. (2009).Essentials of educational technology innovations in teaching learning.
2nd ed. http://books.google.co.in/

“National Focus Group on Educational Technology”. Retrieved on 27th April 2014 from
http://www.ncert.nic.in/new_ncert/ncert/rightside/links/pdf/focus_group/educational_tec
hnology.pdf
National Council of Educational Research and Training(NCERT)
NCERT Annual Report 2010-11. Retrieved on 11th July 2014 from
http://www.ncert.nic.in/rightside/links/pdf/annual_report/annual_report_10-11.pdf

www.ncert.nic.in

http://www.ncert.nic.in/oth_anoun/NCERT_CALENDAR.pdf

http://www.ncert.nic.in/oth_anoun/rfd_ncert.pdf

http://www.psscive.nic.in/

http://www.psscive.nic.in/pdf/nvqef

http://www.ncert.nic.in/index.htm

http://www.authorstream.com/tag/NCERT
http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/
http://www.antriep.net/ncert.htm
www.ciet.nic.in/video.php

http://www.rieajmer.ac.in/
http://www.riebhopal.org//
 http://as.ori.nic.in/riebbs//
http://www.riemysore.ac.in//
http://nerie.nic.in/
http://www.ncert.nic.in/departments/rie.html

ROLE OF CIET IN DEVELOPMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

TECHNOLOGY
Module Structure

38.1 Introduction
38.2 Emergence of Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)
38.3 Divisions of CIET
38.4 Role of CIET
38.5 Functions of CIET
38.6 Efforts taken to mobilize Educational Technology
38.7 Important Programmes of CIET
38.8 Other Activities of CIET
38.9 Let us Sum up

38.1 Introduction

The world has been reduced to a small knit family with the emergence of technology. The application
of technology can be realized in every step of life. There is a fairly large consensus that technology has
been an inevitable and integral part of our everyday life, work and home experiences. A day without
the use of technology cannot be imagined. Like any other, the field of education has not been shy away
from technology. In fact technology has brought a revolution in the field of education. We can observe
the degree of use of technology in the classroom setting from the blackboard to assessment of student’s
achievement. The entire learning process now, is under the control of educational technology. The
launch of INSAT brought with it a drastic change in the field of education. Television and radios entered
into the classrooms. In order to provide quality education through educational technology and improve
communication technology Central Institute of Educational Technology came into existence.

38.2 Emergence of Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET)

In 1980 Indian National Satellite (INSAT) was launched. The accessibility of INSAT for educational
purposes, led the Ministry of Education to take over the production of educational television
programmes for transmission via Doordarshan. INSAT for Education was envisaged as a tripartite
project and supported by UNDP, UNESCO, and GOI. An Educational Technology Division in the
Ministry of Education was set up with the support of this project.

In-service training through the multimedia approach was organized by the Centre for Educational
Technology (CET), NCERT in 1975–76 with the educational objective to show teachers that “Science
by Doing” is a good technique for teaching science, and get them to practice it.

The Central Institute of Technology (CET) was merged with the Department of Teaching Aids of
NCERT and was renamed as Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET).
Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) as a premier institute of Educational Technology,
located in New Delhi was set up in 1984 at the top level. The Centre of Educational Technology and
Department of Teaching Aids were merged and the CIET had taken its shape. It is the sixth element
unit of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), and an autonomous
organization under the Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD), Government of India.
MHRD also funds CIET. With the formation of CIET some of the ET cells in the states were upgraded
to State Institutes of Educational Technology (SIETs) and ET cells were opened in some other states.
Along with SIETs, CIET aimed at the utilization of mass communications in a major way to meet
various educational objectives.

The vision of CIET is to be the national pioneer and leader in various aspects of the professional
improvement and advancement in educational communication and technology, grounded in theory, in
research, in practice and in code of ethics, providing solutions by utilizing the innovations, research
combined with design, building and managing the resource center of quality educational media software
and integration of technology and pedagogy.

The main aim of CIET is to endorse Educational Technology especially mass media singly or in
combinations (multimedia packages) to extend educational opportunities and improve quality of
educational processes at the school level. It is mainly concerned with the development of video and
audio Programme, 16 mm films and other learning materials, training of personnel in educational
technology, media planning, and script writing Programme, production and technical operation. Let us
see the functions of CIET through its different divisions in promoting and using technology in the field
of education and training.

38.2 Divisions of CIET

Central Institute of Educational Technology conducts its activities and programmes through its six
divisions:

i) Media Production Division,

ii) Planning and Research Division,
iii) Department of Information and Communication Technology,
iv) Training Division,
v) Media Resources Dissemination Division and
vi) Engineering Division.
38.3 Role of CIET

The roles of CIET are mentioned below.

a. To design, develop and disseminate alternative learning systems: CIET is taking lead in
designing and developing e-content in the form of learning objects. It plays a significant
role in developing interactive multimedia as learning materials in Mathematics and
Geography for standard IX to XII.

b. To promote Educational Technology: CIET encourages using educational technology for

providing better quality of education. It promotes mass media individually or in
combination develops multimedia packages to extend educational opportunities. It helps
in improving the qualities of education at school level.
 c. To train Personnel in Educational Technology: It provides training to the teachers to
develop and make use of learning objects effectively. It trains teachers face to face as
instructional designer.

d. To advice and co-ordinate activities of SIETs: CIET is guiding SIETs (State Institutes of
Educational Technology) for the development of learning objects.

e. To provide consultancy and media support to other constituents of NCERT: the

constituent units of NCERT viz. NIE, PSSCIVE, RIEs etc. are supported by CIET in
academic and technical programmes.

38.5 Functions of CIET

The following are the major functions of CIET.

a. The major function of CIET is to design and produce media software materials namely,
television/ radio, film, graphics etc. It helps to strengthen the transaction of curricular and co-
curricular activities at the school level.

b. CIET provides training in areas such as script development, media- production, communication
and research, technical operations, setting up studios, repair and maintenance of equipment in
order to enhance the competencies in development and use of educational software materials.

c. Documentation and dissemination of information, materials for better utilization and acts as an
agency in the field of Educational Technology.

d. It coordinates and provides suggestions to the academic and technical programmes and
activities of the State Institutes of Educational Technology (SIETs)

e. Development of designs for the use of Information and Communication Technologies in

education.

f. CIET provides training to the faculty in the use of Educational Technology in their teacher
education programmes. E.g. Institutes of Advanced Study in Education/Colleges of Teacher
Education and District Institutes of Education and Training

g. Research, evaluation and monitoring of the systems, programmes and materials to improve and
increase their effectiveness.

38.6 Efforts taken to mobilize Educational Technology

The Ministry of Education took up a scheme of Educational Technology (ET) in 1970. Under this
scheme, an ET unit in the Ministry, a Centre for Educational Technology (CET) under NCERT, and ET
cells in six SITE states were set up in 1974. Both CET and DECU (Development and Educational
Communications Unit) of the Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad conducted formative and
summative research in respect of the programmes that they had carried out. CET launched a multimedia
programme of in-service teacher training, which was highly successful.

CIET carried out experiments in teleconferencing. The project seems to have reached sub optimal
achievement levels. After the initial planning, support systems were found to be lacking. The
educational system has failed to appreciate the usefulness of the media programmes in their educational
plans. The production of video and audio programmes was the main tasks of CIET and SIETs.

38.7 Important Programmes of CIET

Different programmes of CIET are planned, designed, produced and evaluated through its six divisions.
Each division has a specific obligation and it works towards achieving the goals set by the division and
the CIET in general. Each division plans its programme in the months of January-February of each year.
The programmes of some of the main divisions are discussed below.

 Department of Information and Communication Technologies(DICTs) Division

The DICT broadly works for:

• Creation of multimedia materials for students and teachers.

 Imparting training on use of information communication technologies(ICTs) in teaching-

learning process and research methodology for teachers and teacher-educators i.e. schools,
DIETs, CTEs, IASEs, SCERTs, faculty from Education Departments of Indian Universities.

 Faculty training on ICTs in Education including Web 2.0 Tools, Wiki/ Wiki Educator, MacLab
and Robotino, Use of Open Source Materials etc.

 Innovations in ICTs in Education.

 Dissemination and extension of ICT resources among schools, students and teachers in every
nook and corner of the country is the motto of the Division.

 Continuous updating and maintenance of CIET website.

 Media Production

Tarang, a daily satellite educational television service that transmits programmes in Hindi is served by
the CIET. This ETV service transmits programmes at the primary level for students and teachers. While
programmes produced at CIET and the State Institutes of Educational Technology (SIETs) at Lucknow
and Patna are cased and transmitted on Tarang, the other SIETs at Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar,
Hyderabad and Pune look after similar telecasts in their respective regional languages. The ETV
programmes are received in eleven states and United Territories of Chandigarh and Andaman and
Nicobar Islands.

 Audio Production

The demand of the production of audio/radio programmes has substantially increased during last couple
of years. CIET produces audio programmes and broadcast them through Gyanvani – an educational
FM channel operating at more than 12 stations such as Delhi, Lucknow, Bhopal, Patna, Indore, Mumbai,
Jaipur, Allahabad, etc.
After signing the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Akashwani, the CIET is providing
audio programmes to the Allahabad, Bhopal, Delhi, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Lucknow, Patna, Rohtak
and Shimla Stations of Akashwani. This programme entitled Umang is broadcast once in every week.

The CIET has been producing audio programmes for broadcast as well as for non-broadcast modes to
cater the existing programmes requirements.

These programmes have been developed in such a way that they could easily be incorporated into the
day-to-day learning experiences of school and not school going children. They can be used in the class
room as well as at home. Click on the link to listen various programmes
http://ciet.nic.in/audio_production.php.

These programmes are also useful to the teachers as reference materials in areas not elaborated in the
textbooks but a part of the curriculum. There are packages specially meant for the teachers. Audio
Production Division is, dealing with the Production of Audio programmes for children of all the age
groups viz.3 to 6 years, 5 to 8 years, 8 to 11 years, 12 to 14 years, and 15 to 16 years.

The programmes cater to the needs of all areas of Education such as:

1. Pre-school/Elementary Education.

2. Science Education and Mathematics.

3. Social Sciences and Humanities.

4. Teacher Education and Extension.

5. Education of Groups with special Needs.

6. Women's Studies.

 Video production

At the Video Production Division (VPD), high quality Educational Video programmes for the school
going children (age 5 to 18 years) and teachers (primary and secondary) are produced.

 The division conducts its programmes with the help of the teams of enthusiastic and qualified
Producers, Cameramen, Floor Managers, Floor Assistants as well as light men etc.

 This Division also has four subdivisions: Camera, Graphics, Scenic and Puppet.

 Video Programmes are produced in two languages viz. English and Hindi.

 The programmes are telecast through National Telecast (DD) as well as Gyandarshan Channels
and they are also made available on CD formats to the students, teachers as well as general
public. For telecast time schedule click here .

Subdivisions of Video Production:

  Camera Unit

 Photo unit

 Puppet

38.8 Other Activities of CIET

 Educational Films

The Film and Photo Division of the CIET produces educational films.

 E-content Development

CIET develops e-content in the form of Learning Object. It is developing interactive multimedia
learning objects for classes IX to XII in science, mathematics and geography. CIET provides guidance
to State Institutes of Educational Technology to develop learning objects. CIET also involves in
training teachers.

 Video Festival

Annually CIET organizes a children's Video Festival for encouraging improvement of quality of
production and exchange of programmes.

 Training Programmes

The CIET also proves training programmes in Educational Technology for various faculty and
institutions such as the University Departments of Education, Institutes of Advanced Studies in
Education (IASEs), Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) and the District Institute of Education and
Training (DIETs).

Faculties from the CIET and SIETs are sent to different countries for specialized training in the
maintenance of ET systems.

38.9 Let us Sum up

Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) was established in 1984 with the merger of the
Centre of Educational Technology and Department of Teaching Aids and sixth constituent unit of the
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The main goal of CIET is to promote
the use of educational technology, particularly mass media, for improving and spreading education in
the country and for developing an alternative system of education.

The roles of CIET are to Design, develop and disseminate alternative learning systems, promote
Educational Technology, train Personnel in Educational Technology, advice and co-ordinate activities
of SIETs, Provide Consultancy and media support to other constituents of NCERT.

Quadrant – 2
Important Links and References

http://education.newkerala.com/india-education/Central-Institute-of-Educational-Technology.html

http://ciet.nic.in/video_production.php

http://ciet.nic.in/audio_production.php

http://ciet.nic.in/genesis.php

http://www.siethyd.ap.gov.in/

http://gujarat-education.gov.in/giet/

http://sietkerala.nic.in/

http://sietpune.nic.in

http://sietorissa.nic.in

http://nroer.gov.in/gstudio/resources/videos/#videocollections

http://wetube.gnowledge.org/DDK/480p.webm

http://wetube.gnowledge.org/CVL/480p.webm

http://www.sakshat.ac.in/

http://ncert.sakshat.ac.in/ncert/

http://umangciet.ath.cx

http://www.ciet.nic.in/audio.php

www.ciet.nic.in/video.php

http://www.ciet.nic.in/video/VTS_01_2_jan.ogv

www.ncert.nic.in

http://www.ciet.nic.in/webcast.php

http://www.ciet.nic.in/lecture_series.html

http://www.teindia.nic.in/