The Indira Gandhi National Open University which was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 was established with the objectives to democratize higher education by taking it to the doorsteps of the learners, providing access to high quality education to all those who seek it irrespective of age, region, religion and gender, offering need-based academic programmes by giving professional and vocational orientation to the courses, and promoting and developing distance education in India. Since establishment, the University has emerged as the largest Open University in the world. The University is recognised as Centre of Excellence in Distance Education by the Commonwealth of Learning (1993). The University has been awarded Excellence for Distance Education Material by Commonwealth of Learning (1999). Besides, IGNOU has also launched of a series of 24 hour Educational Channels \u2018Gyan Darshan\u2019 which is also a nodal agency for these channels. Regular educational broadcast with facility for live interaction. UNESCO has declared IGNOU as the largest institution of higher learning in the world in 2010. The University has also been accredited A++ by NAAC.
The flexibility in admission, flexibility in terms of place, pace and duration of study, use of latest information and communication technologies, nationwide student support services network, cost-effective programmes modular approach to programmes resource sharing, collaboration and networking with conventional universities, open universities and other institutions\/organisations are some of the features of the University.
With a view to develop interdisciplinary programmes, the University operates academic activities with 21 Schools of Studies which are headed by Directors who arranges to organise its academic programmes and courses in coordination with the School faculty and staff, and different academic, administrative and service divisions of the University.
Programme offered by the University
The University offers Certificates, Diplomas, Advance Diplomas, Post Graduate Diplomas and Degrees, which are conventional as well as innovative. Most of these programmes have been developed after need based survey for such programmes. They are launched with a view to fulfilling the learners\u2018needs for: certification, improvement of skills, acquisition of professional qualifications, continuing education and professional development at workplace, self-enrichment, diversification and updating of knowledge, and empowerment.
The courses are prepared by experts from different Universities and specialised Institutions. The course materials are prepared in a very simple language where students can understand without the help from teachers. These course materials are considered as self learning materials. Similarly audio\/ video are also prepared in consultation with the course writer and finally send to learners for use.
Delivery of support to learners
In order to provide individualized support to its learners, the University established large number of Study Centres, spread across the country which is established at the colleges, Universities and institutions. These Study Centres are coordinated by 67 Regional Centres and Recognised Regional Centres. The purpose of these study centres are to let the learners interact with the academic counsellors on the day of counselling where the schedules are prepared by the Coordinators of the centre, refer to books in the Library, watch\/listen to video\/audio programmes and interact with the Coordinator on administrative and academic matters. Support services are also provided through Work Centres, Programme Study Centres, Skill Development Centres and Special Study Centres which has established at jail for jail enmates, special centres for women etc.
The Mode of delivery of courses
The method of course delivery system in the University is different from that of the conventional Universities. It is delivered through open and distance learning mode which is more learner-oriented and the learner is an active participant in the pedagogical (teaching and learning) process.
The University follows a multimedia approach for instruction, which comprises:
a)The printed study material (written in self-instructional style) for both theory and practical components of the programmes is provided to the learners in the form of a single print book and\/or e-book, comprising blocks and units or in the form of separate printed blocks for every course after the admission.
Apart from the printed materials, audio-visual material are also produced by the University as learning package for better clarification and enhancement of understanding of the course material given to the learners.
b)The video programmes are also telecast on National Network of Gyan Darshan and Swayamprabha channels. All Gyan Vani stations broadcast curriculum-based audio programmes as per their schedule that is notified in advance. In addition, some selected stations of All India Radio also broadcast the audio programmes. Learners can confirm the dates for the programmes from their study centres. To give clarity with the content of the courses live sessions are conducted via satellite through interactive Gyan Darshan Channel as well as simultaneously webcast at http:\/\/ignouonline.ac.in\/ and via Facebook Live and youtube sessions.
c) The counselling sessions are held as per schedule drawn by the Study Centres. These are mostly held outside the regular working hours of the host institutions where the study centres are located. However, in case the number of students in a programme is small, face-to-face counselling are not conducted but provide Web Enabled Academic Support to the learners.
e) The Programmes which have practical\/project component are mostly held at the respective study centres for which schedule is provided by the Study Centres. Attendance at practical sessions is compulsory. For project work, comprehensive project guide, in the form of a booklet, is provided to the learner along with the study material.
Apart from the support services mentioned above, the University provides online link of study materials for students to access where ever they are through computer or smart phone. They are:
Egyankosh: The IGNOU eGyan Kosh (http:\/\/egyankosh.ac.in\/) is one of the world\u2019s largest repositories of educational resources in higher education which is available for the learners and teachers, and public at large for free. The eGyan Kosh currently houses the self-learning material of over 2500 courses and an equal number of video programmes of IGNOU. The IGNOU learners are encouraged to make use of these resources for their learning.
IGNOU e-Content Mobile: Another way of assessing IGNOU study materials is through App IGNOU-e-Content Mobile App is an official mobile app of University. This app is an ICT initiative of IGNOU to provide Digital Learning Environment to IGNOU learners and extending Technology Enhanced Learner Support Services to them. The aim of this initiative is to disseminate the digitised course material to IGNOU Learners. IGNOU learners can use this app to access their course material through their hand held devices such as Mobile Phones and computers.
SCHEME OF PURSUING TWO UG\/PG PROGRAMMES SIMULTANEOUSLY IN IGNOU
A. As per the UGC notification students are permitted to pursue only Two academic programmes simultaneously at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate levels subject to fulfillment of the eligibility criteria for admission to each of the two programme(s) in the following manner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Indira Gandhi National Open University which was established by an Act of Parliament in 1985 was established with the objectives to democratize higher education by taking it to the doorsteps of the learners, providing access to high quality education to all those who seek it irrespective of age, region, religion and gender, offering need-based […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-367817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=367817"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/367817\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=367817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=367817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nagalandpost.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=367817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}