With the tremendous developments in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the entire education system has been revolutionized by the creation of knowledge societies being enriched by various Open Educational Resources. In India, Distance Education caters to a wide range of learners with varied learning styles, preferences, with heterogeneous cultural backgrounds, economical status and geographical locations. Open Educational Resources (OERs) have become significantly important in education systems across the world. The optimal utilization of opportunities provided by these new technological developments presents a profound challenge for education systems of today. It has serious implications involving cost effectiveness and various related issues such as access, equity, pedagogy and quality. Creation and proper use of globally available OER and open access (OA) materials for providing easy access to quality education is one of the major requirements of today. The present paper discusses the various opportunities and challenges presented by the use of OERs in the distance education scenario of today. The various meaningful initiatives taken in India aimed at proper utilization of ICT to augment the quality of education are also highlighted. The paper mentions various OER initiatives taken at Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), a premier university in open and distance learning catering to the educational aspirations of more than 2 million students. The Open Educational Resources movement has come a long way in recent years and holds enormous promise for increasing access to and quality of learning, particularly in developing countries. The paper discusses the existing policies and guidelines for the use of ICT and OERs in India and emphasizes the need for formulation of policies and strategies to address the challenges in the education sector.
This presentation is made possible with the support of the Global OER Graduate Network (GO-GN): http://go-gn.net/
