Journal of Global Resources
Biannual International Peer-Reviewed Journal
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print)/2455-2445 (Online)

January 2021
Volume 07 (01)
Crossref DOI 10.46587

DOI: 10.46587/JGR.2021.v07i01.014

14TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING PANDEMIC COVID-19: A CASE STUDY OF
IGNOU
Bhanu Pratap Singh1 and Sher Singh2
Assistant Director, Regional Services Division, IGNOU, New Delhi, India
2
Assistant Regional Director, Regional Centre, IGNOU. Jaipur, India
Email: shersingh@ignou.ac.in
1

Abstract: In India, the UGC as a regulatory body to monitor the Higher Education in India
has arranged and shared several online links which are useful for the students, faculties,
academicians and researchers. To tune with UGC regulations, the role of IGNOU isimportant for sustainable development of the communities around us and to suggest the
futuristic model(s) of ODL as a transformed form of capacity building of everyone, evenduring the pandemic of COVID-19. Though the present study is based on IGNOU
admission data, but the similarity of situation across nations may make it useful for otheropen and distance learning systems as well. The National Education Policy 2020 is the firsteducation policy of the 21st century and aims to address the many growing developmental
imperatives of our country. This National Education Policy envisions an education systemrooted in Indian ethos that contributes directly to transforming India, that is Bharat,
sustainably into an equitable and vibrant knowledge society, by providing high-quality
education to all, and thereby making India a global knowledge superpower. Needless to
say that IGNOU is already playing an important role to tune with the new education policy
2020.
Key words: ICT, Pandemic, IGNOU, Enrolment & New Education Policy 2020
Introduction
Across the globe, teaching and learning have been grossly affected due to the COVID-19
pandemic. The lockdown due to COVID 19 has lead towards the alternatives of online
instruction to ensure the continuation of education. Higher education has started moving
towards developing an online mode of education or else it was put on hold. The Senate of
IIT Bombay has taken the decision to move entirely towards the online teaching-learning
for the rest of this year. The Alumni of IIT Bombay has come forward and have committed
a good amount of support to the fellow students, who are from economically less privileged
families for assisting them with the hardware devices like laptops, computers, internet andbroadband connectivity to access online classes. All said and done COVID 19 has beyond
the wildest imagination of the mankind, changed the ways to live, work, teaching & learning.
Millions of students have been driven out of University campuses and Faculty is confinedto their homes. This has forced the teaching community to look for alternatives to maintainthe continuity in the teaching learning process. The pandemic has forced all the teachers
to Work from Home (WFH). The transitions of standing before the students in the classrooms for delivering lectures into WFH may be the future of pedagogy is replaced by
Facebook (FB) Live, Zoom or Google Meet, Microsoft Team, WebEx etc. in the recent few
months /years. The technology-enabled learning has become handy to transform teaching& learning, now the students will need technology driven pedagogy to explore, understandand express them. The device (computer, mobile, tablet, etc.), social media, internet, Open
Education Resources (OER) are going to bring fundamental structural change in Higher
education.
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Objectives of the Study
The study proceeds with the following objectives.
1. To present an overview of the role of changing technology in the open and distancelearning system.
2. To present an overview of Challenges during Covid-19 and HEI interventions
Role of Changing Technology in The Open and Distance Learning System
With the advent of technology and frequently changing forms, the Open and distancelearning system also, has significantly transformed its delivery mechanism. Upgradedplatforms are ICT dependent and its success largely relies on quality of supplementary
instruction and the expansion of educational opportunities circumventing the socioeconomic-geographical limits, to attempt inclusion. The Commonwealth of Learning
identifies the Open and Distance Learning system as “a way of providing learning
opportunities that is characterized by the separation of teacher and learner in time, or placeor both time and place; learning that is certified in some way by an institution or agency;
the use of variety of media including print and electronic; two way communications thatallow learners and tutors to interact; the possibility of occasional face to face meetings; anda specialized division of labor in the production and delivery of course”. Whether pandemic
or no pandemic, catastrophes or no catastrophes, the physical separation of the teacher
and the learners is important and the use of variety of media to maintain a two-way
communication has been emphasized time and again. The only thing that varies is the time
duration it takes, to overcome such interruptions. Overcoming the aftereffects of flood,
terror attacks and mass destruction or a pandemic will take different time durations and it
is important during this duration of time, that communication has to be maintained withlearners to ensure zero loss of academic time. That’s where technology has a crucial roleplay.
Gade and Agarwal (2018) in their study, raised serious concerns about the ereadiness of two state open universities for adopting e-learning for information
dissemination and research. They concluded that the technological, pedagogic readinesswere high amongst the faculty including their own personal willingness and that theuniversities must move towards technology driven e learning. Rahman (2014), in his study
focused on the role of ICT in open and distance education. He stated that application oftechnology in educationist not the ultimate goal. Instead it should be used to pursue quality.
Since ICT has tremendous potential, it must be cautiously used with respect toappropriateness and acceptability in society as the socio economic background of anindividual influences their ability to learn from different media technology.
Aoki (2012), while analyzing the generations of distance education withtechnologies and pedagogies concluded that distance education has been becoming more
complex and multi-faceted as time has gone by with added features and technologies. With
these technologies, now it is possible to achieve the ideal learning environment for alearner, that is customizable according to the individual learner’s needs and preferences.
Sarmah and Lama (2017) highlighted the role of radio as the most efficient and costeffective medium of mass communication in distance teaching and learning, especially inthe developing countries, like India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Thailand etc. They also highlighted
the role of community radio which could be utilized for education purpose. Kumar andSharma (2002), talked about radio technology and major radio educational projects toreaffirm that radio can be an effective medium in reaching out quality education and training
to the needy ones. From the perspective of delivery technologies, the open and distancelearning system has been classified into the following five categories by Taylor (2001).
 First Generation - Correspondence model with reliance on the print medium (study
guides, text books and supplemental reading lists etc.). It was a one-way
communication.
 Second Generation - With the introduction of radio in 1920s and TV in 1950s, themultimedia model with reliance on pre-recorded audio / video tapes / CDs and
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

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computer based learning was initiated. It initiated one way (from institution to
students through broadcasts, audio tapes etc.) and two-way communication (fromstudents to teacher through tutorials, phones etc.)
Third Generation - The tele learning model with telecasts / broadcasts and audio /video conferences, facilitating two ways synchronous as well as asynchronous
communication.
Fourth Generation - The flexible e-learning model with internet (www.) access toresources, online material with simple graphics, emails and interactive multimedia,
computer mediated communication etc.
Fifth Generation - Intelligent flexible learning model with interactive internet
technologies, computer mediated communication with automated voice response
system. campus portal access to institutional processes and resources.

Since this model was introduced before the advent of social media and web 2.0
technologies (technology which allows creation and sharing of information by anyone withcopyrights and ownership), it does not take into account the heavy reliance on web 2.0 andweb 3.0 technologies such as Wikis, Blogs, Social Networking, Podcasting and Content
Hosting Services like YouTube, etc. The Open Universities (OUs) have a greater challenge
to effectively utilize technologies considering the facts that, the OUs have much higher
enrolment as compared to the conventional systems and the OUs do not operate througha single campus instead operate through a collaborative network of institutions, which isgeographically scattered may even be remotely located.
Pedagogy of Online Learning
Educational Technologists for long have advocated that Information Technology shall be asignificant and legitimate substitute to enhance the outreach paradigm in education. Thisis the new paradigm added to the way teaching fraternity will interact with their students
and among themselves in the future. The internet is going to be the treasure trove of
amazingly well-curated content and pedagogical tools. This change is bound to inspire
adaptability and creativity. There will surely be serious long term Lockdown effects,
considering the scale of fast changes taking place in the economic, social and politicalarena. We find that the resources around us are not divided evenly, and some of us may
face additional challenges around technology-access, internet-access, bandwidth, or evenelectricity. Blended learning implies that at least some of the learning is happening online,
over the internet, using reasonably powerful devices, with the support and training to backthem up. Yet in addition to above, it is forcing educators and parents to consider how
technology can better support education, the sudden shift to remote learning has also
exposed profound problems. Too many students are without internet at home, or adequate
enough broadband to be able to participate in online teaching. There are many families,
who cannot afford computers or mobile devices. The pivot to remote learning has surfaced
inequalities that, though already present, were not highlighted by classroom-based
education. I think the best technological innovation or change that should come next would
come as a result of looking carefully at issues of equity and either redesigning existing
technologies, or revisiting the whole endeavor. The current crisis has acted as a fillip to
encourage digital education. It is equally important here to look for the judicious mix ofOpen Educational Resources (OER) along with delivery of education via television/satellite.
IGNOU and ICT
The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has a pan India jurisdiction andoperates through a network of 56 regional centers and around 2800 learners support
centers spread across the length and breadth of the country. There are 11 recognizedregional centers under the Army, Navy and Assam Rifles Scheme with more than 80 learnersupport centers. The vast geographical spread of network including the remote and rural
areas, huge enrolment and collaborative network with a variety of institutions makes it
essential to ensure that appropriate technologies are in place to take care of the academic
119requirement of each learner in order to promote inclusivity from the technologicalperspective. A brief about the technological initiatives of the University is mentioned
hereunder. Though, a number of online facilities have been created for various learnerservices like development of institutional portal self-contained with information, online
admission and re-registration, online submission of exam form, online submission ofgrievances etc., here we are discussing only about initiatives related to delivery of content
and communication with students.
The Electronic Media and Production Centre (EMPC) of the University is mainly
focused on the delivery of content. It facilitates audio and video programme production andalso manages the broadcast of academic programmes through Gyan Vani FM radio andinteractive radio counselling (IRC); internet based interactive web radio known as
Gyandhara and telecast through the Gyan Darshan Channels. The University is also the
National Coordinator for 5 DTH (direct to home) channels of the Swayam Prabha, which ishoused in the Centre of Online Education (COE), IGNOU. The COE coordinates with
Channel Coordinators for programme production, scheduling and management of thesechannels. The COE also maintains the e-Gyankosh, which is the online repository of selflearning material for around 227 programmes being offered by IGNOU. The IGNOU
Student e-Content App is an ICT initiative to provide technology enhanced learner support
by providing access to online repository of study materials that is e-Gyankosh. There also
exists online repository of assignments, old question papers, prospectus of various
programmes.
Apart from the delivery of content initiatives above, the learner connecting initiativesof the University include programme specific Discussion Forums for some of the
programmes, The Web Enabled Academic Support (WEAS), which is a scheme initiatedby the National Centre for Innovation in Distance Education (NCIDE), with the aim toprovide an interactive one-stop programme portal, that helps students in getting academic
support on the programme they are enrolled in. The University also has a Facebook page
which keeps uploading videos having academic content from the teachers of the University.
The Regional Centers also have their own web page, email ids, login credentials for iGRAM
portal (IGNOU Grievance Redress & Management) and Facebook / social media accounts
for maintaining the connectivity with students. The SMS facility is in place to keep learners
informed about latest decisions on the academic programmes and calendar.
The assessment and evaluation activities (both formative and summative) are theonly activity which is being done offline. The above initiatives go to a great length inreaching out to the unreached, beyond doubt. However, at the same time it needs to beensured that the multiplicity of channels of communication should not leave a learner
tangled in between selecting the mode to communicate or to learn. Especially, during theperiod of lockdown, where the face to face communication is at an absolute halt and not
opened due outbreak but IGNOU is facilitating their learners with best quality of student
support services. An over channelized stream of communication might lose its purpose andstrength.
Suitable Usage of Technology for Better Outreach of IGNOU ProgrammeConsidering the fact that though in India, mobile and internet subscription rates have rapidly
increased over the previous decade but the penetration issue is yet to be addressed tobridge the ‘digital divide’ between rural / urban areas and also remote / difficult areas. As
per the data of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in December 2018, thetotal tele density (wireless and wireline) at the all India level was 91.45 and it varied from59.50 for rural areas to 159.98 for the urban areas. Similarly, the internet subscription base(broadband, narrowband and wired and wireless) per 100 of population was 46.13 for all
India and varied from 23.87 in rural areas to 93.86 in urban areas. As per internet data,
there are 260 million users (above 13 years of age) of social media in India.

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Since the base of telephone, mobile and internet subscriptions are comparatively
lower in rural areas, and considering the fact that quite a substantial number of students
have taken admission from the rural areas, there might be a requirement of more initiatives
through any mode of technology with a wider base. It may be construed from the discussion
above, that tactical measures need to be implemented as far as technology usage isconcerned.
Challenges during Covid-19 and HEI interventions
A plethora of challenges are created by Covid-19. The HEIs have responded positively andadopted various strategies to face the crisis during the pandemic. The Government of India
has also taken number of preventive measures to prevent spread of pandemic Covid-19.
Learning from Home in Times of Covid-19 Lockdown: Opening up Possibilities orBaring Inequalities?
HEIs in 188 countries are currently shut owing to the global Covid-19 pandemic. There isdiscussion around how to continue the teaching-learning process in these times of
emergency. Many institutions have employed online learning tools to enable studentteacher interaction. Platforms like Microsoft Teams, Zoom and YouTube are being used to
upload and view teaching content, conduct live lessons, and give and evaluate
assignments. Some fundamental challenges have also been observed in research studies
to viewing technology-enabled education as the magic bullet that shall allow the education
process to carry on uninterrupted in current times.
Barriers of Access and Connectivity
Television and internet facilities are not default features of a household in every family but
luxuries that they aspire to have some day. When we turn to digital learning, it is important
to note the background and situation of learners for whom having the pre-requisites ofdigital learning is not a given. Continuous supplies of electricity, availability of a device withstable internet connectivity, basic digital literacy among students are some basic criteria foraccessing of digital education. There is huge digital divide that exists, and one that is beingbrought to the force as we look towards technology in these times of crisis.
Lack of Teacher Preparedness to Use Technology
Use of ICT among teachers make effective of teaching-learning process. The capacities ofteachers to conduct classes online, ensure that existing online learning modules are being
completed by students, check for understanding using virtual platforms cannot be taken for
granted. Without adequate training and support, the feasibility of use of ICTs isquestionable, expecting teachers to seamlessly move to online platforms would beunreasonable.
Understanding between Parents and Teachers in use of ICTs
Even if we were to assume that the challenges of access and connectivity were resolved,
there is a question of how to ensure that Learners get an environment conducive tolearning. Small but significant prerequisites include a quiet space where Learners canengage with online classes with no interruptions. This would need a certain understanding
between parents and teachers so that they create an effective learning space for Learners.
Even during pre-lockdown times, this was a major challenge. Most teachers felt that it wasvery difficult to make aware parents to understand the academic issues their ward wasfacing and that they needed to be involved. Many believed “parents assume their job isdone the moment their ward is enrolled into School/University”. They nevertheless sharedthat most parents, on one occasion or the other, had said that they wanted a better life for
their learners than the one they were living and had requested teachers to guide their
Learners. However, parents did not see much of their role except in enrolling their ward inschool, and registering them for external tuitions. This disconnects between parents andteachers are likely to act as an impediment in using homes as primary sites of the schoolingprocess.

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The Socio-Economic Disadvantage
To add to the inequalities of access, connectivity and relationship with the HEIs andthe lockdown has led to half a million migrant population to leave cities and go back to theirnative towns and villages. The current crisis has left no semblance of normalcy for them,as daily sustenance is a major cause of concern for many. Expecting that they should findways to make their learners digitally connect with HEIs and participate in online classes
would be arrogant and irrational.
Gender Gap
In the current situation, girls face a compounded predicament. In addition to suffering at thehands of the socio-economic disadvantage their families have been exposed to, the livesof girls have been affected in more ways. For many of them, the lockdown has meant anincrease in domestic responsibilities. During my research, more than half the girls
interviewed cooked meals for their families before coming to colleges in the morning. Someof them also got delayed in reaching colleges on a regular basis because they had
household chores to complete before leaving home. For many girls, the hours they spentin colleges ended up being the only time they had to themselves and for studying. The
current situation has presumably added to their responsibilities and taken them further
away from the learning process. The COVID-19 pandemic is set to change the world sooner
than we know. The way our governments, institutions, organizations, and people think andfunction, will radically change – perhaps for the long term.
Among many economic sectors, the higher education sector is undergoing atectonic shift right now. What several futurists and education technologists have been
forecasting for a long, is now happening. At least for two decades now, edutech (short for
Education Technologies) enthusiasts have been predicting that technology will become thebiggest intermediary of teaching–learning processes. In the wake of Covid-19 pandemic,
millions of students across the globe have been driven out of their university spaces, andprofessors are confined to their homes. Higher education stands disaggregated, and faculty
and students are grappling with the sudden new norm of completely tech-mediatedteaching and learning. Over the past 20 years, this crossover to online learning was
happening in fits and starts, in islands across different theatres – colleges, universities, skill
development companies, and corporate learning centers. Most policy level changes
remained half-hearted attempts stemming from old mindsets. At best, old processes werereplicated with some modern technology tools for a few courses as an ‘experiment’, or partof their existing classroom courses as ‘blended learning’.
About 60 million students across the globe, are limited to home during the crucial
months of February to April - which generally see a flurry of curricular and assessment
activities. Institutions and students alike are under pressure to not lose academic time andre-invent their teaching-learning in the only possible way – go completely online. What does
this mean for the institutions and academic leaders, administrators and students in the longrun is getting clearer. The new, total technology-mediated education can be termed as
Education 4.0, after the first three waves of education systems that evolved over 2000
years of civilization - the Gurukula system (one master to a few pupils), the traditional
university system (one to many learners) and distance learning (one to very many learners
across the spectrum). The good news is – the mainstream institutions are willing to moveto online, and there’s a possibility of habits changing to enable Education 4.0. Or are wejust being optimistic? Let us ask some sobering questions 

Online higher education has been around for more than a decade now. Why did it not
take over the conventional education system in the Pre-Covid era?



Why is it not a norm already?

When massive businesses have already moved from offline to online in the Pre-Covid
era, why hasn’t higher education not moved to online?
122While inertia and ‘fiefdom’ attitude of existing educators is partially to blame, thetruth is, every industry that has become digital has had its own inertia and fiefdom hurdles.
It is just that ‘digital’ brought in a massive wave of efficiency and effectiveness in theseindustries, and the pure economics and convenience of it washed away the inertia andfiefdom hurdles. In digital higher education, there has not been such a wave yet; it’s
important to understand this.
Several efficiency and effectiveness reasons have impeded this wave, such as:Abysmal completion rates in the digital higher education system;

Non-existent rigor of assessment;

Non-establishment or non-transparency about improvement in knowledge, applicationand competency in learners;

Non-contextual delivery (context is a key success factor in higher education; it
influences the learning outcomes. Faculty in a classroom setup can size-up and deliver
the class);One-size-fits-all delivery;Practitioners trying to just ‘transpose’ classroom to the digital medium, which is causing
many problems;

Doing “live” classes may not bring in efficiency or effectiveness;Taking a concept all the way to application or higher-order thinking is missing; andmany more reasons.

While the land is fertile for habits to change, the new digital landscape has its unsolved
problems, and hence it is where it is.
Conclusion
It may be construed from the discussion above, that tactical measures need to be
implemented as far as technology usage is concerned. The following measures could be
supportive in better delivery of content as well as providing academic support to students
in any institution. Programme wise approach – identifying the programmes with higher
enrolment, especially from rural areas and without practical components and initiate theacademic Counselling through centralized Radio Broadcast (Gyanvani, Gyandhara web
radio), with pre-recorded audios and pre-recorded video telecast through National
television (Gyan Darshan). Since radio and television have a wider coverage even in the
remote rural areas and almost all households, utmost use of this source could be made forsequential transmission of programmes. All the programmes, where enrolment is less than
100 are largely urban centered (except a few) may put on Face Book Live or on any othercloud platform for providing necessary academic support or virtual platforms in thesynchronous mode (web conferencing through Adobe Connect, Google Classrooms etc.)
Formation of groups on Social media network and upload of videos could be another mode
to connect. Such initiatives will ensure better inclusion and cater to the requirements of themasses without leading to multiplicity of platforms of interaction and will provide effective
support during the lockdown period at least for a few months. Resumption of life andactivities have always happened after such calamities in the past and the generations
today, are better equipped with man-made technological resources to cope up with them.
The covid-19 crisis has thrown up unprecedented and complex issues for us all. In
the education landscape, it has led to school closures and a disruption of the teachinglearning process. The primary response mechanism has been to turn to online tools andplatforms, and leverage technology to continue the process. While this has opened up
possibilities for distance learning, it has also revealed glaring challenges that stem from
economic, social, digital, and educational inequalities. Solutions that do not take into
account these challenges would not only widen the learning gap on a socio-economic basis
123but may also make it more difficult for them to catch-up and for us all to realize the promiseof education- at the heart of which lies equity and inclusion.
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Websites
http://mospi.nic.in/
www.ignou.ac.in
https://iite.unesco.org/
https://www.who.int/
https://core.ac.uk/
https://www.mphonline.org

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