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Innovations and Experiments in School

Unit II- Innovations and Experiments in School

Deschooling

Many opposers of the current institutionalized education propounded various new alternative approaches. One such important phenomenon is Deschooling. Ivan Illich is the originator of the term and idea of ‘de-schooling’. This idea signifies disestablishment of the public school system, abolition of compulsory education and advocates development. The concept of deschooling was first discussed by Ivan Illich in his book “Deschooling Society”in the year 1971. The concept of de-schooling was popularised in the conference held at the Inter Cultural Documentation (CIDOC) in Mexico in August 1974.It dealt with the present trends namely life long education. Ivan Illich deliberated on this concept and the conference issued 13 resolutions charge sheeting the conventional educational system and advocating fundamental changes in the concept, approach and operationalization of schooling.

Concept of deschooling

            Deschooling refers to the belief that schools and other learning institutions are incapable of providing the best possible education for some or most individuals. Some extend this concept beyond the individual and call for an end to schools in general. This is based on the belief that most people learn better by themselves, outside of an institutional environment and at a self-determined pace.

The concept of de-schooling is based on these facts:

·         Education and schooling do not mean the same; they are quite different

·         Organized schooling and compulsory education are the stumbling blocks to true education. Compulsory schooling, graded students, certification of students studying from certified teachers etc are to be dispensed with.

·         Basically children have the inquisitiveness to know ‘what’,’ how’ and ‘where’ of things around them. Hence they can learn what they like, from the different resources in the society.

Ivan Illich’s anti-institutional arguments

1. A critique of the process of institutionalization- Modern societies appear to create more and more institutions. This process undermines people - it diminishes their confidence in themselves, and in their capacity to solve problems. It kills convivial relationships. Finally it colonizes life like a parasite or a cancer that kills creativity.
2. A critique of experts and expertise- Experts and an expert culture always call for more experts. Experts also have a tendency to cartelize themselves by creating 'institutional barricades' - for example proclaiming themselves gatekeepers, as well as self-selecting themselves. Finally, experts control knowledge production, as they decide what valid and legitimate knowledge is, and how its acquisition is sanctioned.
3. A critique of commodification- Professionals and the institutions in which they work tend to define an activity, in this case learning, as a commodity (education), 'whose production they monopolize, whose distribution they restrict, and whose price they raise beyond the purse of ordinary people.
4. The principle of counter productivity- Counter productivity is the means by which a fundamentally beneficial process or arrangement is turned into a negative one. 'Once it reaches a certain threshold, the process of institutionalization becomes counterproductive. Illich is not against schools or hospitals as such, but once a certain threshold is reached, schools make people more stupid, while hospitals make them sick. And more generally, beyond a certain threshold of institutionalized expertise, more experts are counterproductive- they produce the counter effect ofg what they set out to achieve.

Learning webs

In Deschooling Society Ivan Illich argued that a good education system should have three purposes: to provide all that want to learn with access to resources at any time in their lives; make it possible for all who want to share knowledge etc. to find those who want to learn it from them; and to create opportunities for those who want to present an issue to the public to make their arguments known (1973a: 78). He suggests that four (possibly even three, he says) distinct channels or learning exchanges could facilitate this. These he calls educational or learning webs. Learning webs include the following:

1. Reference services to educational objects - which facilitate access to things or processes used for formal learning. Some of these things can be reserved for this purpose, stored in libraries, rental agencies, laboratories and showrooms like museums and theatres; others can be in daily use in factories, airports or on farms, but made available to students as apprentices or on off-hours.

2. Skill exchanges - which permit persons to list their skills, the conditions under which they are willing to serve as models for others who want to learn these skills, and the addresses at which they can be reached.

3. Peer-matching - a communications network which permits persons to describe the learning activity in which they wish to engage, in the hope of finding a partner for the inquiry.

4. Reference services to educators-at-large - who can be listed in a directory giving the addresses and self-descriptions of professionals, paraprofessionals and freelances, along with conditions of access to their services. Such educators... could be chosen by polling or consulting their former clients.

Community Schools

            In order involve students in community activities the idea of community schools emerged. It is a school system which tries to make the curriculum centre on the activities of the community. Community schools bring together many partners to offer a range of supports and opportunities to children, youth, families and communities -- before, during and after school, seven days a week.

The contribution of these partners are:

• Children are ready to learn when they enter school and every day thereafter.
• All students learn and achieve high standards.
• Young people are well prepared for adult roles in the workplace, as parents and as citizens.
• Families and neighborhoods are safe, supportive and engaged.
• Parents and community members are involved with the school for their life-long learning.

The salient features of community schools are:

•         The communities activities and occupations may constitute the subject matter

•         Pupil may work in co operation with adults in the community on problems of mutual concern

•         The school may be organized into a community for using the best trends in the outside community

•         The work of the school may be extended into the outside community such that it becomes the initiator and planner of projects for the development of the community

            In a community school, youth, families and community residents work as equal partners with schools and other community institutions to develop programs and services in five areas:

Quality education - High-caliber curriculum and instruction enable all children to meet challenging academic standards and use all of the community's assets as resources for learning.

Youth development - Young people develop their assets and talents, form positive relationships with peers and adults, and serve as resources to their communities.

Family support - Family resource centers, early childhood development programs, and coordinated health and social services build on individual strengths and enhance family life.

Family and community engagement - Family members and other residents actively participate in designing, supporting, monitoring and advocating quality activities in the school and community.

Community development - All participants focus on strengthening the social networks, economic viability and physical infrastructure of the surrounding community.

The benefits of community schools are:

• Community schools provide ample scope for community development
• They provide an education that promises immediate job-placement for students
• Short-term courses/ part time courses are available to students
• Parents, teachers and students jointly prepare the course contents considering the needs of the community
• Those who study in community schools can go for higher education in colleges or take up any suitable job
• Community schools promote the community awareness and social concern among the pupils

Types of community schools

Community schools could be organized into the following types:

1.      Schools that offer instruction in the main occupation of the local community. Different aspects of the vocation become the course content.

2.      Schools that develop social skills and competency in students so as to equip them to solve social problems of the community with the cooperation of the elders

3.      Schools that are organized so as to reflect all the prevalent practices and values of the society in a small scale

4.      Schools that undertake various kinds of educational extension work in the society like adult education, non formal education, agriculture, health and nutrition, environmental awareness etc.

           

Alternative schools

An alternative school is any school that offers alternative learning experiences beyond those provided by traditional schools. Because alternative schools function differently, it is difficult to give one definition. The philosophy and structure of alternative programs vary from one school to another. Alternative Education is designed to meet the needs of at-risk students who are not succeeding in the traditional setting.

The term ‘at-risk students’can be used to describe a wide variety of students, including,

• academically disadvantaged
• disabled
• low socioeconomic status

The characteristics of alternative schools are:

• Maximum teacher/student ratio of 1:15
• Small student base
• Clearly stated mission and discipline code
• Caring faculty with continual staff development
• Learning program specific to the student's expectations and learning style
• Flexible school schedule with community involvement and support
• Total commitment to have each student be a success

Alternative schools have more complete educational and developmental objectives than standard schools. They often have program fundamentals that focus on

·         Improving student self-esteem,

·         Fostering growth of individuality, and

·         Enhancing social skills.

·         Small size

·         Close student-teacher relationship

·         Student decision-making

·         Diverse curriculum

·         Peer guidance and parental involvement

Reasons for choosing an alternative school vary, depending on the adolescent, who may:

·         be an underachiever or failing and require more individualized attention

·         be exhibiting behaviours such as acting out, inappropriate sexual activity, oppositional defiance and/or substance abuse

·         be unusually gifted or motivated

·         have a special talent or interest, such as music or science, that cannot be further developed in the present school

·         have been diagnosed with emotional and/or psychological problems that require a more structured therapeutic environment

·         have engaged in petty criminal behaviours and is becoming more self-destructive

·         have special needs due to a learning disability or medical condition

·         be children and adolescents with behavioural and psychological issues, such as depression, personality disorders, substance use and abuse, and violence,

·         be children and adolescents with certain medical conditions and learning challenges

Alternative schools can be broadly classified under the following heads:

      Emotional growth boarding schools

      Special needs schools

      Schools offering therapeutic programs

Non Graded Schools

The grouping together of students by age, or actually within a twelve-month span, and teaching a specific and common body of skills and subject matter is called graded teaching. The disadvantages of the graded system’s rigidity became apparent by the end of the nineteenth century and there were various efforts to create different schooling models and achieve greater flexibility. As a result of the search for more appropriate, flexible, and child-oriented arrangements to replace the well-established gradedness, non-gradedness was developed. Non-gradedness refers to inter-age or inter-grade grouping in a classroom and schools with such classrooms are called non-graded schools.

The typical multiage classroom in a non-graded school includes students who are one or two years apart in age, for example, combining first, second, and third graders, or fifth and sixth graders. In this approach each child, according to her/his maturity and needs is admitted into a suitable group wherein every one through self learning master the different levels of education. Non-gradedness is thus defined in terms of respect for, and optimism about, individual differences. It calls for the provision of a pleasurable, challenging, and rewarding learning atmosphere where there are maximum opportunities for productive interaction between the learners.

Salient Features of Non-graded schools

·         Grade levels are abolished here and learning is individualized

·         Students learn at their own rate

·         The curriculum is both integrated and flexible

·         The timetable for the academic progress of each unique child is flexible

·         All children need not complete the curriculum prescribed for a level within a particular time period

·         Children of different age groups work together and learn from each other

·         Annual examinations, promotion to the next grade, fail or retention in the same grade etc are eliminated

·         These schools are good for under achievers

·         The teacher and students can get to know each other better than in a traditional graded school, and the students may exhibit more family-like relations.

Reasons for the establishment of non-graded schools

·         Some school districts have low enrollment and can fill schools more efficiently if grade levels are combined

·         Teachers and administrators simply believe in the effectiveness of multiage classrooms

·         Children in multiage classrooms have been found to perform better academically than their peers in traditional schools.

·         Classrooms using the unit approach to curriculum allow students to progress at their own rates.

·         Underachievers may be more comfortable, because they suffer fewer stigmas than in a traditional classroom.

·         Gifted students are not held back by the learning rate of the rest of the class.

·         Students learn to cooperate, and older or more advanced students may gain valuable leadership skills from helping other children.

·         Younger or more immature children benefit from the role models they have in the older children.

·         Many teachers also like the rapport they develop with students they stay with for several years.

·         Parents too have found they develop a stronger relationship with their children's teacher.

·         Research evidence shows that pupils in non-graded settings work comfortably and achieve better results that graded students do.

Navodhaya Vidyalayas

Navodaya Vidyalaya are Indian schools for talented children and form a part of the system of gifted education. The objectives of the scheme are to provide good quality modern education to the children predominantly from rural areas, without regard to their family's socio-economic condition. They are located all over the country, except Tamil Nadu. There are approximately 593 JNVs across India as of 2010. They offer quality education to all students who get selected through the admission process which includes an All India Entrance Exam, held at district level. The scheme of Navodhaya Vidhyalayas was started in the year 1985. Navodhaya Vidhaylayas were renamed as Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in the birth-centenary year of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru.

Objectives

• To provide good quality modern education to the talented children (selected on the basis written merit test) predominantly from the rural areas, without regard to their family's socio-economic condition.
• To ensure that all students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas attain a reasonable level of competence in three languages as envisaged in the Three Language Formula.
• To serve, in each district, as focal points for improvements in quality of school education in general through sharing of experiences and facilities.

 

Admission procedure

Talented students from each district are selected through an All India Level Entrance Exam conducted each year by CBSE and are given admission to 6th standard/class in the JNVs of respective districts. Till 1998, the Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Selection Test (JNVST) was conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education. The test is largely non-verbal and objective in nature and is designed to prevent any disadvantage to children from rural areas. Now admissions are also taken in Class IX and XI.

 

Fees

Since 2005, a moderate and uniform fee structure is implemented across all JNVs to reduce the dependency on Goverenment. However, girls are exempted from paying any fees. A monthly fee of Rs 200 is collected from boy students. Also, boys from Scheduled Communities(SC), Scheduled Tribes(ST) and Other Backward Communties(OBC), who parents doesnot fall into creamly layer as specified by the Government are exempted from paying any fees.

Student Exchange

            In JVN effoerts are made to develop the competencies of students in sc holistic and non-scholastic areas of education that leadfs to effective personality development of children. One of the important features of the Navodaya Vidyalaya Scheme is a scheme of exchange of students from one Vidyalaya in a particular linguistic region to another in a different linguistic region to promote understanding of the diversity and plurality of India's culture and its people. The Aim of the Migration in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas is focused on National Integration. According to the Scheme, selected 30% of 9th class students are exchanged between JNVs of non-Hindi speaking region and Hindi speaking region, for one year.

Organisation

            Navodaya Vidyalayas are run by the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti which is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Secondary & Higher Education, Government of India. The Chairman of the Samiti is the Hon’ble Minister of Human Resource Development. Hon’ble Minister of State for Education in the Ministry of H.R.D. is the Vice Chairman of the Samiti.

Sainik Schools

           

In our country, during the British rule, public schools were started in hill stations like Shimla, Dehradun, Moussori, Nainital etc to cater to the educational needs of the rich and the ruling class. The schools offered education from the nursery to high school level and presented pupils for the “Senior Cambridge Certificate”.  Schools started for the children of the British army officers as wellas the King George schools were later came to be known as Sainik Schools.

The Sainik Schools are a system of schools in India established by Sainik School Society, and conceived in 1961 by V. K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India, to prepare students for entry into the National Defence Academy (NDA). The schools come under the purview of respective state governments and Ministry of Defence. Sainik schools can be regarded as the ordinary citizen's public school where deserving students can get high quality education irrespective of their income or class background. Seats are reserved for children of serving defense personnel and concessions are given to children of government officials. Sainik Schools are otherwise called as “Military Schools”. The schools select bright and promising students through a national entrance examination and attempt to mould their overall personality with emphasis on extracurricular activities. Entrance examination for Sainik schools is conducted by the NDA.

Objectives of Sainik Schools

•         Enhancing the individual talents of the children

•         Developing warefare skills

•         Developing the essence of national security

•         Imparting military training along with education to the students

•         Preparing the students to lead as officers in the defence services of the country

Features of Sainik Schools

Sainik schools function primarily to develop the special talents of children. They train students in modern warfare and make them aware of the security needs of our nation. Sainik schools have excellent resources which can be exploited by cadets to develop their skills in sports, acadamics and other extracurricular activities. The Sainik Schools include an athletic track, cross-country track, indoor games, parade ground, boxing ring, firing range, canoeing club, horse riding club, mountaineering club, trekking & hiking club, obstacles course, football field , hockey field cricket field, volleyball court and basketball court.  The students of Sainik schools are NCC cadets. A cadet who completes his 12th standard usually possesses a NCC B certificate. Cadets are assigned to various houses. They are classified as sub-juniors, juniors and seniors respectively depending upon their class of study. Cadets compete in sports, physical training, academics, cross country sports, and various other competitions to win their cock house trophy which is very prestigious for the house. In India there are 17 Sainik schools in all. Children of age 11 to 18 study in sainik schools and are prepared to take the entrance examination for the “National Defence Academy”. NDA is a military defence institution functioning under the Defence Ministry. It is situated in Katakwatsala, near Pune in Maharashtra. To join the NDA, one should have passed the Higher Secondary Examination. Sainik scjhools are attached with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and follow the 10+2 pattern.

           

Virtual Schools

A virtual school or cyberschool describes an institution that teaches courses entirely or primarily through online methods. Though there are tens of thousands of commercial and non-accredited courses available online, the term "virtual school" is generally reserved for accredited schools that teach a full-time (or nearly full-time) course of instruction designed to lead to a degree.

Development of virtual schools

For the past four decades, long distance learning has been available to students. Initial efforts used the phonograph or radio to deliver instruction, which evolved to television in the 1960s and 1970s. The Internet became the modern carrier of long distance education in the mid-1990s, which gave birth to virtual, on-line schools.

Virtual schools have the same goal as traditional, brick-and-mortar schools: to graduate students. Unlike traditional schools, virtual schools are Internet based and available 24-7. They provide students the flexibility of any time, anywhere access to rigorous, personalized education. In the virtual classroom, every student is in the front row because he or she has one-to-one interaction with the teacher, and is directly accountable for every query, question or exercise. It is important to note that virtual schools are a complement as well as an alternative to traditional schools, not a replacement.

Working of virtual schools

All student services are conducted through Internet technology. The virtual school differ/contrasts from the traditional school through the physical media that links administrators, teachers and students. By providing a student's social security number the person is then entered into a database where they can choose which classes they want to take. There are many different virtual school instructional and enrollment models. Instructional models range from fully independent self paced courses to semester based, teacher facilitated courses. Class sizes range widely with anywhere from 25 students to as many as 200 students in each class section. Students keep in contact with teachers and collaborate with other students through web communication tools provided in the course delivery platforms. There are also many books and training manuals to aid in the development of such schools and courses.

Advantages of virtual schools

Advocates of virtual learning believe that virtual schools hold advantages including: not being required to attend and travel to face-to-face classes and the integration digital media into the curricula. Some virtual schools include online study groups in which students interact with each other online.

Disadvantages of virtual schools

1.       A person must be self-motivated to learn as learning cannot be enforced via the internet

2.       There is lack of socialization among students who opt for online learning

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) is Government of India's flagship programme for achievement of Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making free and compulsory Education to the Children of 6-14 years age group, a Fundamental Right. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations. The programme seeks to open new schools in those habitations which do not have schooling facilities and strengthen existing school infrastructure through provision of additional class rooms, toilets, drinking water, maintenance grant and school improvement grants. Existing schools with inadequate teacher strength are provided with additional teachers, while the capacity of existing teachers is being strengthened by extensive training, grants for developing teaching-learning materials and strengthening of the academic support structure at a cluster, block and district level.

Aims of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan

   is to provide useful and relevant elementary education for all children in the 6 to 14 age group by 2010

   to bridge social, regional and gender gaps, with the active participation of the community in the management of schools

   is to allow children to learn about and master their natural environment in a manner that allows the fullest harnessing of their human potential both spiritually and materially

   to provide opportunities for value based learning that allows children an opportunity to work for each other's well being rather than to permit mere selfish pursuits

Broad strategies central to SSA

1. Institutional Reforms- As part of the SSA, the central and the State governments will undertake reforms in order to improve efficiency of the delivery system.

2.      Sustainable Financing- The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is based on the premise that financing of elementary education interventions has to be sustainable.  This calls for a long -term perspective on financial partnership between the Central and the State governments.

3.      Community ownership- - The programme calls for community ownership of school-based interventions through effective decentralisation. This will be augmented by involvement of women's groups, VEC (Village Education Committee) members and members of Panchayati Raj institutions.

4.      Institutional capacity building- The SSA conceives a major capacity building role for national, state and district level institutions like National Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) / National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT) / National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) / State Council for Educational Research and Training (SCERT) / State Institute for Educational Management and Training (SIEMAT) / District Institute for Educational Training (DIET).

5. Accountability to community- SSA envisages cooperation between teachers, parents as well as accountability and transparency to the community.
6.  Priority to education of girls- Education of girls, especially those belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and minorities, will be one of the principal concerns in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

7.      Focus on special groups- There will be a focus on the inclusion and participation of children from SC/ST, minority groups, urban deprived children disadvantaged groups and the children with special needs, in the educational process.  

8. Thrust on quality- SSA lays a special thrust on making education at the elementary level useful and relevant for children by improving the curriculum, child-centered activities and effective teaching learning strategies.

9.      Role of teachers- SSA recognizes the critical and central role of teachers and advocates a focus on their development needs. Setting up of Block Resource Centres/Cluster Resource Centres, recruitment of qualified teachers, opportunities for teacher development through participation in curriculum-related material development, focus on classroom process and exposure visits for teachers are all designed to develop the human resource among teachers.  

SSA in Tamil Nadu

            The implementation of SSA in Tamilnadu has resulted in the introduction of new strategies and innovative experiences in the realm of Elementary Education. It has also brought in a new perspective on special focus groups - Girls, Children with Special Needs and SC/ST children. The successful SSA programmes in Tamil Nadu are:

A.    Activity Based Learning System                      

B.    Active Learning Method (ALM)                         

C.    Enriching English language at the primary level

D.    Design and Development of “Simply English”

E.    SSA - Unicef - British Council Teacher Education Programme

F.    Science is Fun

G.   Development of SLM & Workbooks

H.   TV/DVD player for every school

I.    CAL through ICT

J.     Mobile Science Van

K.    Reading Cell Development

L.     Special Residential Camps

N.    EDUSAT

Mobile Schools

            The concept of mobile school was popularized by the educationist McDonald. As against the traditional concept of classroom within the four walls and the school confined to a particular campus “Schools on the move”, otherwise known as “Mobile Schools” or “Schools without Walls” has emerged. Obtaining ‘self experience’ in a social setting is the underlying philosophy of this type of school.

Organization of Mobile Schools

            The essential feature of this approach is to take the students out of the classrooms to witness the important events and phenomena in society and gets a first hand experience of the same.

      Life long learning does not mean the whole time study throughout the day; it simply means the fusion of part time study and part time work for students.

      These part time jobs should be socially useful and productive.

      Some responsibilities are assigned to parents.

      Mobile schools are highly useful in organizing physical and social education as well as teaching certain difficult subjects in the school curriculum.

      Apart from the homes of pupils, other resources in the society are pressed into service for student’s learning

      Some of the experts from among the senior citizens of the society could be mentors of students so as to provide relevant education in a field setting.

      Educational material is presented in a lively and engaging manner.

      Children attending mobile schools learn the same way as children in other schools.

      The programme aims to mainstream the children into regular schools after providing up to one year of mobile schooling.

Advantages of Mobile schools

      They democratize education by taking education to people of different sections of the society

      They reinforce the concept of ‘Life Long Education’ by providing for part time study in different disciplines

      They reach out to the poor and the needy living in far off remote villages

      They reach the tribal in the mountainous regions and make education available even to those who have no easy access to schools

      Students become self dependent as education is integrated with socially useful productive work and that too on part time basis

      Apart from the teachers and parents, other learning resources in the society are also used

Mobile schools in India

      For children in massive cities, access to education is dependent on mobility. India’s families living in marginal areas of fringe settlements face cultural, economic and geographical barriers that prevent kids from attending schools regularly. So in cities across India, there are now mobile bus classrooms developed by NGOs and the Indian government. The schools-on-wheels travel to students during hours that suit their lifestyle and demands for work. The school is a bus or van converted into a fully functioning classroom for elementary to high-school age children. This innovation attempts to eliminate the poor mobility of city slums that prevent children from making it to the classrooms. The mobile schools in India have successfully addressed the problems of non-enrollment, wastage and stagnation in Indian slums.

Open School

Open school system is an attempt to provide secondary level education just as the higher education is provided by the Open University system. In August 1974, the Director, NCERT, appointed a working group to explore the feasibility of setting up an open school in Delhi which could offer education to the students in their homes.

            Series of meetings were held between 1975 and 1978 between NCERT, CBSE and Ministry of Education, Government of India. Keeping the recommendations and trend of discussion in view, a blue print of Open School was prepared which was approved by the Ministry of Education. In July 1979, the Director of the Open School was appointed.

            The National Open School in India was started in India by the CBSE in 1979. The objective of establishing this school was to provide alternative opportunity through distance education mode a heterogenous clientele comprising the rural people, urban poor, women, SC/STs, working adults and school dropouts who are unable to attend the formal school system. The unique feature of this National Open School (NOS) is that it takes education to the doorsteps of motivated learners and does not impose limitations of time and place. Further, it makes provision for studying at one’s pace and convenience. Various types of support services are provided to the clientele including Personal Contact Programmes through a number of Accredited Institutions conferred autonomous status to NOS with administrative control vested with the Department of Education, MHRD in 1989 which was subsequently amalgated with it in 1990. The NOS has the authority to conduct its own secondary/senior secondary examinations and issue certificates.

Objectives of NIOS

The main objectives of the NIOS are:

   To provide opportunities for continuing and developmental education at the school stage

   To provide consultancy services to the Government of India and States

   To serve as an agency for effective dissemination of information related to distance education and open learning

   To identify and promote standards of learning in distance education system and state open schools

   To exercise normative and coordinating functions while promoting standards in distance and open learning system in the country.

Advantages of school system

·         Eradication of illiteracy

·         Equalization of educational opportunities

·         Meeting the ever increasing demand for higher education

·         Diversification and vocationalization of education

·         Providing continuing education to people engaged in different vocations

Distance education, or Distance Learning

            Distance education, or distance learning, is a field of education that focuses on the pedagogy and andragogy, technology, and instructional systems design that aim to deliver education to students who are not physically "on site". Also called correspondence instruction or education through correspondence, it is popularly known as Distance Learning or Distance Education. It helps in bringing equalization of educational opportunities.

Objectives of distance learning

            The Indian Education Commission, 1964-66 has pointed out, “There must be a method of taking education to the millions who depend upon their own effort to study, whenever they can find time to do so. We consider that correspondence or home-study courses provide the right answer for this situation”. We need distance learning

• For eradication of mass illiteracy
• For meeting the ever increasing demand for higher education

The following are the objectives of distance learning:

1. To provide an effective alternative to wider opportunities especially in higher education

            The potential learners who never have been able to enter any institution of higher learning and others who just need additional knowledge in a particular discipline need distance learning or correspondence education. Still others are in need of refresher courses to cope with the latest development in their chosen profession.

2. To provide an efficient and less expensive education

            Due to increasing population and limited resources of our educational planners, provision of universal schooling is beyond the means of our country. In a developing economy it is difficult to divert huge sums of money to match the required level of expansion for traditional schooling. Hence distance education is the only practical alternative in India.

3. To provide educational facilities to all qualified and willing persons

            Correspondence courses seek to provide educational facilities to all qualified and willing persons unable to join regular university and other courses due to various reasons. The alternative system for this is distance education.

4. To provide opportunities of academic pursuits to educated citizens seeking to improve their standard of knowledge

            Due to personal and professional responsibilities many learners cannot afford to join the face to face system of education. For such type of persons, provisions are made through distance education whose objective is to provide opportunities to improve the standard of knowledge and learning through continuing education.

5.      To provide educational facilities to individuals looking upon education as a life-long activity

            Distance education facilities are needed for those individuals for whom education or to acquire knowledge in a new area is a life long activity, because life long education is emphasized for all stages of life.

David Stewart explains the concept of distance education with the model given below:

Resources for distance education

Essential features of Distance Education

A self learning method à The student has to depend more on his own initiative and motivation than anything else in distance education

No classroom teaching à Classroom teaching is absent in distance education and instruction is imparted to distance or off-campus students

By Post à Distance education is quite innovative and flexible as materials are sent to the students by post

Cheaper à Though its standard is not lower in any way, distance education is less expensive in comparison with the formal system of education.

Effective à Distance education is psychologically as well as sociologically sound and effective. As the learner is to make progress according to his own capacity, nothing is imposed from outside and everything is achieved by the learner.

Democratic à Distance education is democratic in nature bacause all the people of the country are able to fulfil their academic aspiration and satisfy unfulfilled desires of knowledge through this system.

Close contact à  There is a kind of close relationship between the teachers and the pupils as contact courses and study centres are provided.

Programmed instruction à The courses of diatance learning are sequenced according to the principles of programmed instruction which are beneficial for the learners to grasp the fundamentals and make progress according to his pace.

Certificates à On successful completion of the studies through distance learning the students are given certificates.

Promotion of standards à Distance education helps to promote the aesthetic, cultural and intellectual standards of the people.

Universities offering distance learning in Tamilnadu

      Alagappa University

      Annamalai University

      Bharathiar University

      Bharathidasan University

      Manonmaniam Sundaranar University

      Mother Teresa Women's University

      Periyar University

      Pondicherry University

      Tamil Nadu Open University

Floating University

            Floating University is an expensive innovative trend in education. The need to provide the learners, particularly in higher education with richer and more ‘true to idea’ experiences has resulted in the novel experiment “Floating University”.

            The innovative aspect of education here is that student learn formally on board the ship during their voyage to ports in different countries and informally through direct social contact of peoples in the port cities during their short stay on landing.

History

            Nearly 100 years ago, the idea for a floating university that would travel the world became the passionate pursuit of James Edwin Lough, a psychology professor at New York University. Lough's original vision eventually led to the successful maiden voyage of the SS Ryndam on September 18, 1926. It departed Hoboken, New Jersey with a capacity 504 students and a faculty and administrative staff of 63. This was not a mere sightseeing tour, but a college year of educational travel and systematic study to develop an interest in foreign affairs, to train students to think in world terms, and to strengthen international understanding and good will. Although the voyage was a great success, the concept of shipboard education did not fully take hold until the 1960s when it was resurrected as the University of the Seven Seas by a visionary California businessman named Bill Hughes. In 1970, the prophetic meeting of Bill Hughes and C.Y. Tung, a Chinese businessman led to World Afloat Programme. The program continued to gain momentum through the 1970s and 1980s. The University of Colorado-Boulder became the academic sponsor in 1977 and in 1978, a watershed year, both the non-profit Institute for Shipboard Education was formed and the program took the name Semester at Sea. This was the first floating university and since then this concept has gained popularity all over the world.

Learning Experience

            The ships were modified so as to house classrooms, library, seminar hall, laboratory, mini theatre, indoor stadium, living room for students etc. These ships were used to provide direct educative experiences for university students in some select courses by visiting nearby islands and foreign countries. The teachers and their families too visited the ports situated in different countries of the world. Whenever they landed in a port, they visited socially and culturally significant places in and around the port city and interacted with the local people. On board the ship, formal classes were held for six days in a week.

Slogan

            Training-through-Research is the slogan of the Floating University. The Floating University combines the advantages of the formal training of students with the experiences from advanced research in marine geosciences under supervision of leading scientists.

            The cores of the programme are annual marine expeditions and post-cruise scientific conferences. The key ideas of the programme are:

• Training through participation of students in scientific researches or
• Training through research
  
  

Features

Multidisciplinary approach

Students of different specializations participate in the programme. The team-work promotes complex studies of scientific problem and introduces students to adjacent disciplines

Effective transfer of skills and experience

Students work in one team together with experienced specialists, adopting new skills and knowledge in expeditions and laboratories much easier and faster than in lecture rooms.

Developing of intercultural contacts

Students and scientists of many countries participate in the programme. Intensive work of students develops very important virtues i.e. tolerance and mutual understanding.

Advantages

·         It provides first hand experience in the different parts of the world

·         It is a promising alternative to the stationary universities that our conventional institutions of higher learning are

·         It is a useful adjunct to our existing universities

Disadvantage

·         Cost of study is a major factor to be considered