Recent Trends in Communication Technology for Distance

EducationSanjaya Mishra

Objectives

• Describe the developments of communication technologies for distance education

• Critically examine the implications of the developments for teaching and learning at a distance

Satellite TV/ DTH

• Increased reach to remote areas

• IGNOU’s GD1 is available on DTH (Ku-band)

Wireless Connectivity

• Mobile Phones

• Bluetooth

• WiMax

• Global Positioning System

• Wireless LAN

Read/Write Web

• Blogs

• Wikis

• Social Bookmarking

Audio Online

• Podcasting

• Internet Radio

TV/Video Online• On demand Video

• Live Broadcasting

• Video Conference

Semantic Web• Web 1.0 : Simple HTML

pages, text, graphics, multimedia

• Web 2.0 : User Interaction, user creation, read-write web

• Web 3.0 : Search, precision, relevance, artificial intelligence, natural language processing; Resource Description Framework

Second Life

• Virtual World

• Avatars

Push Technologies

Micro-blogging

• Connections

• Social bonding

• Role modeling

Miniaturization of Storage

• Flash Drives

Open Source/Open Content

Folksnomy

• User participation

• User indexing of Web

• Social Tagging

Assistive Technologies

• Providing inclusive education through use of technology

• WWW accessibility guidelines

Conclusions

• User empowerment through control of learning (use of social media)

• User generated content; constructivist approach

• Connectivism; just-in-time knowledge resources

• Teacher empowerment; free software movement

• Open Educational Resources; knowledge banks