The mounting presence of information and communication technology (ICT) initiatives in the higher education landscape has propelled the relevance

of open educational resources (OER), which simplify the search for inputs on a particular subject. Through an OER it is possible to get multiple inputs from various universities on the same subject.

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (Ignou) organized a two-day symposium last week to draw an action plan to further the cause of OER. The action plan stressed the need to leverage existing ICT facilities as well as other untapped options for OER.

The plan categorically stated that content repositories will be developed in as many subjects as possible and that content translation will be organized systematically. Enhancing the scope of community radios, creation of common access to OER through free software's like Skype and creation of metadata formed the other points of the action plan.

Addressing the symposium, Ashok C Kolaskar, former vice-chancellor, Pune University, stated that the full potential of open and distance learning (ODL) and open education (OE) in India has not been harnessed due to the lack of appropriate course wares. He reiterated the need to develop a mechanism to create and make accessible standard quality, usable and appropriate course wares for ODL and OE in forms of repositories.

In India, we lack the mechanism to access courseware free of cost. Moreover, there is a general lack of awareness in terms of the standard techniques of accessing courseware. This symposium has been instrumental in bringing together key people to take cognizance of these issues," informed Kolaskar.

The symposium, among other things, emphasized the need to educate people about the educational scope and benefits of IT in general. It also resolved to develop community level partnership in relation to issues like general education, computer literacy and documentation of environmental and ecological stock.

source: TOI