Teaching Support Systems, Aids, MOOCs and SWAYAM

Teaching support systems are the resources that help a teacher make instruction clearer, more interesting and more lasting: teaching aids, libraries, laboratories, technology and digital platforms. Teaching aids are classified as audio (radio, audio recordings, podcasts), visual (charts, models, maps, flash cards, blackboard, projected slides), audio-visual (television, films, video, multimedia) and activity-based (field trips, experiments, role play). Their purpose is to make abstract ideas concrete, raise attention and interest, support different learning styles and improve retention. A critical caution: aids support a teacher, they never replace one, and the wrong aid at the wrong time is a distraction. Educational technology has three strands: hardware (devices, projectors, computers), software (programmed material, courseware, apps) and the systems approach (planning inputs, process and outputs scientifically). ICT (Information and Communication Technology) refers to the whole family of digital tools used for teaching, learning and administration.

Edgar Dale, in Audio-Visual Methods in Teaching, arranged learning experiences on a cone from most concrete at the bottom to most abstract at the top. The levels, from base to apex, are: Direct purposeful experiences; Contrived experiences (models, mock-ups); Dramatised experiences (role play, plays); Demonstrations; Field trips; Exhibits (and museums); Television; Motion pictures; Recordings, radio and still pictures; Visual symbols (charts, maps); Verbal symbols (spoken and written words). The cone shows the increasing abstraction as one moves up, and it recommends that teachers choose a mix of experiences, generally beginning with concrete and moving up to abstract. A common misunderstanding to avoid: the popular percentages attached to the cone (“we remember 10 percent of what we read”, etc.) were not given by Dale and have no research basis. Dale’s cone is about concreteness vs abstraction, not about retention figures. A question asking which sits in the middle (exhibits, television) or at the top (verbal symbols) is a pure memory item; a question asking why direct experience is placed at the bottom is a concept item (it is the most concrete and involves the most senses).

India has built a large public digital learning ecosystem. The ones worth knowing:

• NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning, begun 2003 by IITs and IISc): video and web courses in engineering and sciences.

• SWAYAM and SWAYAMPRABHA: discussed below.

• e-PG Pathshala: postgraduate e-content (non-technical) developed by UGC through INFLIBNET. CEC (Consortium for Educational Communication) produces undergraduate content; its Educational Multimedia Research Centres (EMRCs) produce videos.

• Shodhganga: repository of Indian PhD theses (INFLIBNET). Shodhgangotri: repository of research synopses. e-ShodhSindhu: consortium for e-journals and e-books for higher education. National Digital Library of India (NDLI): a single window to educational resources.

• DIKSHA: digital infrastructure for school education and teachers (NCERT/MoE). NISHTHA: teacher training programme. PM eVidya: umbrella programme for multi-mode digital education. e-Pathshala (NCERT) gives textbooks and resources.

• National Academic Depository (NAD): digital storage of academic awards and certificates, linked to DigiLocker. Academic Bank of Credits (ABC): see Topic 8.

• Virtual Labs, Vidwan (expert database), NIRF (ranking framework, 2015) and NAAC (accreditation) are related quality and access tools.

Meaning of the letters: Massive (very large enrolment, sometimes lakhs of learners), Open (accessible to anyone without entry requirements, often free to learn), Online (delivered over the internet), Course (a structured learning programme with a defined outcome). The term was coined in 2008 (credited to Dave Cormier and Bryan Alexander) for the course Connectivism and Connective Knowledge (CCK08) taught by George Siemens and Stephen Downes at the University of Manitoba. The 2011 Stanford online AI course by Sebastian Thrun and Peter Norvig attracted about 160,000 learners, and 2012 was called the “Year of the MOOC” when Coursera, edX and Udacity launched.

Two types. cMOOC (connectivist MOOC) is based on connectivism (learning as building networks of connections); it is open, learner-driven and based on blogs, forums and social media; Siemens and Downes. xMOOC (extended MOOC) is institution-led, with video lectures, quizzes, assignments and certificates, in the style of Coursera and edX. Further forms include SPOCs (Small Private Online Courses) and hybrid or blended MOOCs, which combine online content with face-to-face support (this is what the word hybrid signifies).

Features and limitations. Strengths: scale, flexibility of time and place, low cost, access to expert teachers, self-paced learning, support for lifelong learning. Limitations: very high dropout rates (often 90 percent or more), the digital divide, limited personal interaction, doubts about assessment authenticity, language barriers and uneven quality. A MOOC does not replace the university; it is supplementary and helps learners who could not otherwise attend.

SWAYAM is India’s national MOOC platform, launched on 9 July 2017, and it is built on the three cardinal principles of education policy: access, equity and quality. Its mission is to take the best teaching to every learner, including the economically disadvantaged.

• Course delivery uses a four-quadrant approach: Quadrant 1: video lecture; Quadrant 2: specially prepared reading material (downloadable and printable); Quadrant 3: self-assessment through tests and quizzes; Quadrant 4: online discussion forum to clear doubts.

• Cost: courses are free of cost for learning; a nominal fee is charged only for the certificate when the learner chooses to take the proctored examination.

• Certification: requires appearing in and passing a proctored examination at an assigned centre; watching videos alone does not earn a certificate.

• Credit transfer: under UGC regulations (2016, later amended) a university may allow students to earn credits through SWAYAM courses, up to 40 percent of the courses in a programme in a semester (originally 20 percent). The credits are recorded in the Academic Bank of Credits.

• National coordinators who prepare and deliver the courses: AICTE (self-paced and international courses), NPTEL (engineering), UGC (non-technical postgraduate education), CEC (undergraduate education), NCERT (school education), NIOS (school education, open schooling), IGNOU (out-of-school and bridge courses), IIM Bangalore (management) and NITTTR (teacher training).

• Courses are also offered in regional languages, which reduces the language barrier that keeps many learners out of English-medium online content.

• SWAYAM vs IGNOU: SWAYAM is a MOOC platform offering free online courses for learners, supplementing the formal system; IGNOU is an open and distance learning university that awards its own degrees. SWAYAM is not only for school students.

SWAYAMPRABHA is a group of Direct-to-Home (DTH) educational television channels, started in 2017 with 32 channels, broadcast through the satellite GSAT-15, free to air, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Fresh content is telecast for about four hours daily and repeated several times so that learners can watch at a convenient slot. The channels are run by IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT, NIOS and NITTTR; the satellite uplink is done by BISAG and the web portal is maintained by INFLIBNET. Its purpose is to reach learners who have no internet connection or computer, so it extends education to rural and remote areas using a technology (television) that most homes have. SWAYAMPRABHA is not a mobile app, not a scholarship scheme, not an examination portal and does not award certificates (it is supplementary, and certification is available through SWAYAM, the internet-based platform). The two platforms together (SWAYAM for online + SWAYAMPRABHA for DTH) cover both connected and unconnected learners.