ODL

Open and  distance learning

Open and distance learning (ODL) system is a system where teachers and learners need not necessarily be present either at same place and same time. It is very flexible in regard to modalities and timing of teaching and learning as also the admission criteria.ODL system  in India consist of indhira Gandhi open university (IGNOU), state open university (SOUs) , institutions and university offering education and includes correspondence course institute (CCIS). This is becoming more and more significant for continuing education.

Definition of ODL

ODL is modes of learning with certain characteristics with distinguish it from the campus based learning.

-          Jack foks  

Kothari commission

-          Provision of adult education

-          Provision for course that may promote culture and aesthetic values

-          Provision for availability of teachers in existing institution for students

-          Provision for course that through correspondence

Merits

1.      Availability of education at all level of education

2.      Provision for professional and technical education

3.      Flexible structure

4.      One can learn while at work or services

5.      Educational and vocational guidance

6.      Achievement of constitutional provision

Open universities in India

§  IGNOU

§  BR AMBEDKAR UNIVERSITY

§  NALANDA

§  KOTA OPEN UNIVERSITY

OBJECTIVES AND AIMS

§  Promote  educational well being of community

§  To encourage the open university and distance education system

§  To co ordinate and determine the standards

§  To less the tide admission in formal education

§  Achieve the constitutional provision

§   To provide counseling and guidance to people

NPE

-          Open  University System should act is for democratically education

-          Provision of educational opportunity at higher education

-          Making education a lifelong process

Features

-           Distance education is primarily a self learning

-          The student has to depend more on his own motivation

-          It is quite innovative

-          Flexible

-          Less expensive

-          Consider all un fulfilled desired of knowledge through this system

-          This system is psychologically as well as sociologically sound and effective

ODL (Open and Distance Learning)

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is a general term for the use of telecommunication to provide or enhance learning. Around the world, the academic community is discovering and exploring the Internet, teleconferencing, and related means to achieve an extended classroom or learning experience. Students in Russia are earning degrees from a university in Australia. Primary and secondary-grade students are exchanging e-mail across continents as a supplement to their formal studies. Students and teachers at all levels are taking part in teleconferences and forming associations that would have been unlikely five years ago. A number of world conferences have been held on ODL and many experimental projects are underway.

A few of the many educational organizations involved with ODL include:

·         The University of Bergen in Bergen, Norway, which offers its own ODL Resource Page

·         The Open University at the Institute for Educational Technology in the United Kingdom

·         The Virtual Classroom at the New Jersey Institute of Technology

2) Object Description Language (ODL) is a simple language for defining data structures that is used in the United States by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Several somewhat similar languages have been created by other organizations for defining program or data objects. These include an Object Design Language and an Object Definition Language.

Open Learning

Open Learning’s aim is to inspire, motivate and empower through education. We believe that learning can and should be enjoyable, ongoing, and above all effective. Transformative education enhances people’s abilities, promotes dynamic communication, and fosters a lifelong love of learning. We’re committed to creating fun and interactive communities and want our learning vision to spread far beyond educational institutions, branching into boardrooms, offices, team sports, group work, and right through to retirement. We believe that you should never stop learning, and we want to share our passion for accessible education.

What Is a MOOC?

A massive open online course (MOOC) is a model for delivering learning content online to any person who wants to take a course, with no limit on attendance. As new digital forms of formal and informal learning proliferate, there is an increasing need to better understand how people in different regions of the world are implementing massive open online courses (MOOCs) and other forms of open educational resources (OERs). Educators, researchers, politicians, and numerous other stakeholders want to grasp what the outcomes of these initiatives are and how they can be improved. Ongoing e-learning developments related to both technology and pedagogy have pushed institutions and organizations to grapple with issues of accreditation, credentialing, quality standards, innovative assessment, and learner motivation and attrition, among other areas of concern.

In response, MOOCs and Open Education around the World explores and illuminates unique implementations of MOOCs and open education across regions and nations. The book also focuses on the various opportunities as well as the dilemmas presented in this rapidly evolving age of technology-enabled learning. What are the different delivery formats, interaction possibilities, assessment schemes, and business models? What are the key controversies or issues that must be discussed and addressed? This edited collection explains MOOCs and open education trends and issues in a variety of contexts, shares key research findings, and provides practical suggestions and recommendations for the near future. The MOOCs and Open Education special issue of the International Journal on E-Learning (IJEL) is now published! It was edited by Mimi Miyoung Lee, Curtis J. Bonk, Thomas H. Reynolds, and Thomas C. Reeves (2015).

In April of 2001, the president of MIT, Charles Vest, announced the establishment of a project for placing MIT course contents on the Web for free access by anyone with an Internet connection. In effect, this announcement started the OpenCourseWare (OCW) movement. Since that time, open educational resources (OER) and more recently massive open online courses (MOOCs) have proliferated. A flurry of research reports, books, programs, announcements, debates, and conferences related to MOOCs and open education have encouraged educators to reflect on how these new forms of educational delivery might enhance or even transform education. As part of this global movement, the four editors of this special issue, Mimi Lee, Curt Bonk, Tom Reynolds, and Tom Reeves, organized a one-day preconference symposium on this topic at the International E-Learn Conference in Las Vegas in October 2013. One direct result of that event is this special issue of the International Journal on E-Learning (IJEL), which contains highly informative and important papers related to the present and future of MOOCs and Open Education around the globe.

What is the difference between open learning and distance learning?

·         Though open learning and distance education serve the same purpose by providing a chance of education who can't attend regular mode.
 Still they do differ a bit. Open learning lets one  appear in exams without need of any attendance whereas in case of distance education one has to attend a few classes 

·         Distance education is approached in various ways, with the more popular formats being print, audio, video, broadcast radio, television, and of course computers and the Internet. It is characterised by separation of geographic distance and time.

·         Open learning is defined as an approach to learning that allows learners flexibility and choice over what, when, at what pace, where, and how they learn. Open learning tends to be delivered via distance education that is characterised by separation of geographic distance and time.

·         Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is therefore a term used to describe learning that uses ICTs to provide or enhance learning.

Merits and Demerits 

Advantages

1.  Provides for an increase in Access to education for those who otherwise have no other opportunities due to work, family or physical limitations.

2.  Provides for a modality of instruction better suited for certain learners.

3. Greater flexibility for scheduling learning-Students can determine time and place of "classtime" .

4.  Greater flexibility in location for study-Students can engage course at home or work or on campus or at a library.

5.  Distance Education is Learner Centered -DE places responsibility for learning with the learner who must be more active and self directed.

6.  Facilitates greater learner-instructor interaction.

7.  Increased interaction with classmates.

8.  Facilitates Pedagogic Development-Individual Instructor Development.

9.  Produces a carryover effect into the regular classroom of imporved pedagogic techniques.

10. Opportunity to develop technology competencies for instructors and learners.

11. Access to global resources and experts via internet communication and Internet resources.

12. Allows for the internationalization of learning opportunities.

13. Centralized resources can produce higher quality materials for distribution .

14. Has the potential to equalize access to education.

Disadvantages

·         Time and frustration involved learning how to get on-line for novices.

·         Lag time between student input and feedback -Time lapse between need for learner support and resolution.

·         Occasional internet provider downtime.

·         Student must be more active and self-directed in learning environment -Depends on individual motivation and initiative.

·         Occasional feelings of isolation- Potentially less group support for learners leading to isolation and possible non-completion of program.

·         Instructional design for group activities and group interaction more demanding on the instructor.

·         Demands large effort and cost to develop appropriate materials.

·         Demands large effort to create and maintain the technological infrastructure.

·         Distance Education is not for everyone.-  It is not for undisciplined learners nor inflexible instructors.