Interactive Distance Learning: A New Paradigm for Rural Masses in India Chaudhary Anju Grover, Professor Department of Journalism, Howard University, Washington, D.C.. U.S.A. Abstract Interactive distance learning has an enormous potential for supplementing adult literacy and regular education programs in India where the conventional system of education is outdated and inadequate for the growing needs of the society. Research shows that interactive technologies facilitate more leamer-centered personalized education and help to improve the process of instruction that takes education beyond the classrooms and lecture halls into a new era of networked and collaborative learning. This paper argues that interactive media can contribute towards creating a richer, more robust learning environment in a variety of ways. Interactivity at a distance, which is what the new media like teleconferencing can offer, merit serious consideration in India so that a purer and more refined form of distance education may evolve in the future. Currently, very few open universities are using state-of-the-art communication in India. The recent launch of interactive television in India represents a new opportunity for educating the rural masses in India, especially through distance learning. With the ability to interact with each other through Interactive TV, remote-site students from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds will have an opportunity to exchange enlightening view points on varied issues and acquire new knowledge about their trade and crafts and thus strengthen the capacity to improve their living conditions. By serving as a forum for discussion on religious, cultural, social, political and environmental issues, Interactive TV can mobilize the rural communities to address their development needs and reduce the poverty gap between the rich and the poor. Moreover, the use of Interactive TV for instructional purposes in India can set the stage for a new instructional paradigm that also has the power to bridge geographical, social, cultural and developmental distances. Top |