With a view to enrich teacher training programmes, which include diploma and certificate in primary education, the Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity (Ignou) is developing a portal (depssa.ignou.ac.in/ wiki).

Talking about the relevance of the portal to be launched soon, KR Srivathsan, pro vice-chancellor, Ignou, says, "Today, there is an increasing emphasis to streamline teaching methodology to suit the learning requirements of individual learners.

Moreover, there is an overriding concern for teaching to be interactive and aid students in terms of correlation and self-reflection. This portal will enable teachers to upload multimedia publishing content and, hence, will serve as a valuable repository of teaching ideas. It will also help in engaging teachers in a democratic process of developing innovative teaching methodologies as fresh pedagogical structures can be deliberated and explored."

Srivathsan states that while there is a profusion of online content in terms of teacher training, there is no portal that helps in structuring that content into effective training modules.

"This is where the portal will be refreshingly different. A panel of experts will help in identifying relevant content and converting it into teaching modules for specific subjects," he states. Srivathsan adds that while experimentation in terms of teaching methodology is needed there has to be consistency in terms of availability of training materials and literature to ensure that teachers across the country conform to certain standards. "This is a critical need that our portal envisages to achieve," he observes.

The portal will also include an open course guide. "An objective of this portal is to make it resonate with the needs and aspirations of teachers in semi-urban and rural areas. Hence, the content will be translated into multiple languages," shares Srivathsan. "It will also be linked to community radio stations and other local media platforms," he sums up.