International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)

ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 6.887

Volume 6 Issue V, May 2018- Available at www.ijraset.com

Research Areas in Open Schooling: A NIOS

Perspective
Yogesh Kumar1
1
Research Scholar, Mewar University, Chittorgarh, Rajasthan

Abstract: A National Institute of Open Schooling is a leading organization in the field of open schooling. The National Institute
of Open Schooling (NIOS) is the world’s largest Open Schooling institute that believes in extending education to all unreached
people and places. To continue successful operations for future growth, establishing its credibility and monitoring the progress it
has to constantly develop, innovate and improve its services and courses through the insights provided by in depth research. This
paper reports the findings of the study that had three main purposes: firstly, to develop a categorization of research areas in open
schooling; secondly, to identify the most important research areas in open schooling; and thirdly, to identify the most neglected
research areas in open schooling.
Keywords: Review of Distance Education Research; Research Areas
I. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Now days, people have become very conscious about education. Education takes the human being from darkness to light, it makes a
person capable of earning his livelihood and develops social consciousness. As a protest against the formal system, a new concept of
‘Deschooling” propounded by Ivan Illich and continuing education, highlighted by Paul Lengrand have emerged on the scene. A
new system of education which can be a substantive alternative to the existing system of education has been thought and in the
direction of this mission to provide education to all, at the school level, distance and open learning mode is considered as an
alternative to the formal system. The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) is the world’s largest Open Schooling institute
that believes in extending education to all unreached people and places. The NIOS is a national board that administers examinations
for Secondary and Senior Secondary examinations of open schools similar to the CBSE and the CISCE. The National Institute Open
Schooling (NIOS) has a history of more than two decades in experimenting with Open Schooling in India and at a few select
locations abroad. It offers a number of courses to a large number of the Indian population, which could not get the benefit of formal
education for one or other reason. Open learning focuses on removal of the many restrictions and rigidities in opening the doors of
education for the needy learners. Open learning system signifies flexibility in the opportunities of learning in terms of admission
criteria, periods of study, duration of program or courses, choice of subjects by students and scheme of evaluation.Schooling
through open and distance mode is not a very new concept. The history of correspondence education considered to be as old as the
history of postal services. In this context “it is claimed that correspondence tuition started about 1840, when Mr. Pitman sent his
students instructions, in shorthand, by post cards. In Germany a Frenchman, Charles Toussaint, in collaboration with Gastav,
founded a school for teaching languages through correspondence in 1856.
The first correspondence school program was launched as early as 1914 in Australia by Victoria University at the request of a parent
living in Beach Forest, Otway Mountains. By 1916, a special correspondence branch was established at Victoria University. The
success of this school program led to the continual growth of distance education, both at the primary and at secondary level in
Australia. It soon spread to all other Australian States and Territories. In 1919, distance learning centers were introduced in Canada
and in 1922 correspondence schools came up in New Zealand. Alternative schools, whether we call them Correspondence Schools,
Distance Learning Centres or Open Schools, emerged in the developed countries like Australia, Canada and New Zealand from
concerns about how to provide a minimum level of education to all.
In India, the initiation of study through correspondence courses has been achieved through the efforts of Shri K.L. Shrimali, a
former education minister of India. In the light of the successes achieved in several foreign countries, he focused that the alternative
to formal education is the correspondence/distance/open education. Thus the Government of India appointed a committee on
correspondence courses and evening colleges in 1961 under the chairmanship of Dr. D.S. Kothari. Thus, in pursuance of a
recommendation of the expert committee, the University of Delhi started correspondence courses as a pilot project in 1963-64, for
the B.A. Course. Encouraged by the response that these courses elicited and the results shown by the correspondence course
students, the U.G.C. appointed a committee in 1964 to consider the question of extension of these courses to other Universities.

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©IJRASET: All Rights are Reserved
 International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)
ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 6.887
Volume 6 Issue V, May 2018- Available at www.ijraset.com

The beginning of ODL operations at the school level in India may be traced to the introduction of correspondence courses at the
matriculation level by the Board of Secondary Education, Madhya Pradesh in 1965. Some other states like Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh,
Orissa, etc. followed suit. The syllabus, the year-end matriculation examination and certification modalities in all the States were not
different from those formal schools, i.e. this newly introduced system was a ‘supplementary’ system. Nothing significant happened
for more than a decade, then in 1979, the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi, set up an Open School as a project
activity. It was an initiative to move towards an ‘alternative system’ that provided for open entry, flexible choice of courses and
flexibility in the duration for course completion, etc. By this time both the Central and the State Governments had realized that
alternative schooling system is the only answer to the three fold challenge stated in the National Policy on Education (NPE)
1986/1992. Beginning with an experiment in 1979, the open school project of CBSE was upgraded as National Open School in 1989
by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, as an autonomous organization. The name was changed to
National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in the year 2002.
It is tempting to believe that if an Institution/Organisation is running smoothly with remarkable achievements, it will continue to
function in the same capacity. But sadly this is not the ultimate truth. Growth of any Institution/Organisation depends mostly on the
results and recommendations of constant research, which are being taken up for the upliftment of the Institution/Organisation and as
far as open schooling is concerned, research is an important component. Research plays an important role in strengthening any
institution/ Organisation. Since last three decades the role of research has been deeply broadened. Research on the
Institution/Organisation opens the door to identify the strengths, loop-holes and challenges to improve the existing system.
The National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) is the world’s largest Open Schooling institute that believes in extending
education to all unreached people and places. To continue successful operations for future growth, establishing its credibility and
monitoring the progress it has to constantly develop, innovate and improve its services and courses through the insights provided by
in depth research. Hence, researcher conducted this study to find research areas in open schooling (NIOS-World’s Largest Open
Schooling Institute), so that the researches on the research areas can contribute in the upliftment of organization.
II. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Research Areas in Open Schooling: A NIOS Perspective
III. OBJECTIVES
A. To develop a categorization of research areas in open schooling
B. To identify the most important research areas in open schooling
C. To identify the most neglected research areas in open schooling

IV. METHODOLOGY
Methodology deals with measures and procedures used for conducting the research. The present study is based on a literature review
on the topic and responses of experts. A categorization of research areas in open schooling was developed based on a literature
review on the topic. In order to identify most important research areas in open schooling, the experts were asked to rate the research
areas on a scale of importance ranging from 1 to 20, with 1 labeled “very low importance” and 20 labeled “very high importance.”
They were also asked to identify the most neglected research areas. 20 experts with at least 5 years of professional experience in the
field of open schooling and willing to contribute were requested to extend their help in study. The percentage is chosen as the
measure to depict experts’ ratings.
V. RESEARCH AREAS IN OPEN SCHOOLING
Over the years a number of reviews of distance education literature have been published in which the authors developed
categorization schemes of research areas. The first attempt to describe the structure of the distance education discipline was
proposed by Holmberg (1985). In the second edition of his book Status and Trends of Distance Education, his categorization system
included (1) philosophy and theory of distance education; (2) distance students, their milieu, conditions, and study motivations; (3)
subject matter presentation; (4) communication and interaction between students and their supporting organization (tutors,
counsellors, administrators, other students); (5) administration and organization; (6) economics; (7) systems (comparative distance
education, typologies, evaluation, etc.); and 8. history of distance education. Scriven (1991) used the following nine headings to
classify research areas in distance education: (1) students and their characteristics; (2) specific programmes and courses; (3)
telecommunications and media; (4) specific countries – practices and procedures; (5) theory; (6) course design and development; (7)
economics and management; (8) counselling and student support; and (9) tutors, staff development, staff involvement. Panda (1992)

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 International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)
ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 6.887
Volume 6 Issue V, May 2018- Available at www.ijraset.com

reviewed 142 studies on distance education conducted in India under nine broad themes (1) concept, growth, and development; (2)
curriculum, course planning, and development; (3) instruction and teaching; (4) Research Areas in Distance Education: A Delphi
Study Zawacki-Richter 3 media and technology; (5) learners and learning; (6) institutional policy and management; (7) economics;
(8) evaluation and programme evaluation; and (9) staff development. Mishra (1997) published an analysis of periodical literature in
distance education (1991-1996) with seven major groups and 34 sub-groups of research topics. Rourke and Szabo (2002) applied
nine categories for a content analysis of the Canadian Journal of Distance Education (1986-2001): (1) administration: budgeting,
change, inter-institutional cooperation, staffing; (2) evaluation: judgment of the worth, value, success of a course, program, or
courseware; (3) foundations: semantics, definitions, history, models; (4) instructional design: course, program, or product design,
development, and delivery; (5) instructor characteristics: satisfaction, motivation, attitude, perceptions, teaching style, gender,
demographics; (6) international perspectives: practices, procedures, role of distance education in specific countries; (7) learner
characteristics: satisfaction, motivation, attitude, perceptions, learning styles, cognitive styles, attrition, gender, demographics; (8)
technology and media: educational radio, educational TV, video, audio, computer conferencing; and (9) trends: discussion of the
general direction or inclination of issues and topics in the field. Manoj (2016) concluded eight research areas in open and distance
education: (1) Accessibility of Open Schooling System; (2) Courses of Study; (3) ICT and Media Research; (4) Teaching and
Learning Strategies; (5) Student Support Services; (6) Evaluation of Learners; (7) Cost Effectiveness of ODL System; (8) Tracer
Studies and Other Studies In contrast to the listings of research topics described above, this paper reports on an attempt to structure
the research areas in the field of open schooling.
A. Objective 1
Based on literature review categorization of research areas in open schooling is as follows:

Table 1
S. No Research Areas in Open Schooling

1. Access & Equity

2. Admission & Drop-out
3. Courses of Study
4. Curriculum development
5. Self Instructional Material/Course Evaluation
6. Media & Technology
7. Learner Support System
8. Teaching - Learning Strategies
9. Learner Characteristics and Competencies of
Learners
10. Tutor Marked Assignment
11. Examination and Evaluation/ Assessment
12. Quality Assurance
13. Costs and Benefits
14. Tracer Studies
15. Effectiveness of Open Schooling
16. Reputation of Open Schooling
17. Personal Contact Programme
18. Communication and Interaction Between Students
and Their Supporting Organization
19. Comparative Study
20. Management and Organization
B. Objective 2
Based on qualitative text analysis of the experts’ responses and literature review categorization of the most important research areas
in open schooling is as follows:

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 International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)
ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 6.887
Volume 6 Issue V, May 2018- Available at www.ijraset.com

Table 2
S. No Research Areas in Open Schooling
20. Quality Assurance
19. Self Instructional Material/Course Evaluation
18. Learner Support System
17. Curriculum development
16. Teaching - Learning Strategies
15. Examination and Evaluation/ Assessment
14. Personal Contact Programme
13. Tutor Marked Assignment
12. Media & Technology
11. Communication and Interaction Between Students
and Their Supporting Organization
10. Comparative Study
9. Learner Characteristics and Competencies of
Learners
8. Effectiveness of Open Schooling
7. Reputation of Open Schooling
6. Management and Organization
5. Costs and Benefits
4. Admission & Drop-out
3. Courses of Study
2. Tracer Studies
1. Access & Equity
C. Objective 3
What are the most neglected research areas in open schooling? This question was addressed in the second round survey by means of
an open-ended question. Based on qualitative text analysis of the experts’ responses and literature review it was found that there is a
great need for researches on Access and Equity; Tracer Studies; Admission and Drop-out in open schooling. These are the most
neglected areas followed by Costs and Benefits; Management and Organization; Reputation of Open Schooling; Effectiveness of
Open Schooling and Learner Characteristics and Competencies of Learners.

VI. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

This study reports on an attempt to structure the research areas in the field of open schooling based on literature review and opinion
of experts with regard to (1) categorization of research areas in open schooling, (2) most important research areas in open schooling,
and (3) the most neglected research areas in open schooling Growth of any Institution/Organisation depends mostly on the results
and recommendations of constant research, which are being taken up for the upliftment of the Institution/Organisation and as far as
open schooling is concerned, research is an important component. Research plays an important role in strengthening any institution/
Organisation. Research on the Institution/Organisation opens the door to identify the strengths, loop-holes and challenges to
improve the existing system. There was a high level of agreement on the importance of researches on Quality Assurance followed
by Course Evaluation; Learner Support System; Curriculum development; Teaching - Learning Strategies and Assessment. Learner
is the centre of any education system and all the system revolves around the learner. Hence problems of learners should be a concern
of open schooling. Though, little research work has been done in this area augmentation and strengthening of student support
services, improvements in the delivery system, decentralization of administration and extensive use of communication systems are
being studied using the experimental and the case study approaches. Further, it has to take up more initiatives and research to equip
learners for best student support services. Evaluation of any programme is very important aspect. It may be course evaluation,
learner evaluation or organization evaluation to find strengths and weaknesses of particular area. Evaluative studies pertaining to
organization, methods, procedures and results in terms of the learning outcomes of open learners, and the impact of open education
on the socio-economic development of various target groups deserve special attention for planning and policymaking need to be

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 International Journal for Research in Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)
ISSN: 2321-9653; IC Value: 45.98; SJ Impact Factor: 6.887
Volume 6 Issue V, May 2018- Available at www.ijraset.com

studied. Based on qualitative text analysis of the experts’ responses and literature review it was found that there is a great need for
researches on Access and Equity; Admission and Drop-out and Tracer Studies; in open schooling. It is observed that large number
of needy persons are left behind and number of dropped out students after enrolment is again a big question under the existing
system of open schooling. Hence research studies on accessibility of open schooling should be taken up to improve existing
accessibility of open schooling for learners. Tracer studies should be encouraged to find out how the pass outs are employed and, in
general, what they are doing. These are the most neglected areas followed by Costs and Benefits; Management and Organization;
Reputation of Open Schooling; Effectiveness of Open Schooling and Learner Characteristics and Competencies of Learners.
However, there are also new fields or key areas that are, or should be, on top of the research agenda such as media & technology
and new innovations. A possible interpretation for this imbalance is that the selection of research areas might follow practical
considerations, especially with regard to the availability of data. However, the dearth of researches dealing with issues especially on
the management, organization, and technology is disappointing. In order to guide practice, practitioners in the field should not rely
on under-informed trial and error, but on sound research and empirical investigation on the effectiveness of managerial interventions
for education innovation, diversity management, student and faculty support, quality assurance, course design, and intercultural
communication. Based on the review of research areas on the topic, the results can be used to explore the body of knowledge in
open schooling and to identify priority areas for future research projects. Prospective researchers can use the results to identify gaps
and priority areas and to explore potential research directions.
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