skill building strategies for e-learning in indian agriculture- d. rama rao, g.r.k. murthy, k.m....

8/3/2019 Skill Building Strategies for E-Learning in Indian Agriculture- D. Rama Rao, G.R.K. Murthy, K.M. Reddy, V.K.J. Rao,

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Skill building strategies for E-Learning in Indian Agriculture

D.Rama Rao, G.R.K. Murthy, K.M. Reddy , V.K.J. Rao, M.N. Reddy,

N. Sandhya Shenoy and E. Bhaskar Rao

National Academy of Agricultural Research Management,

Hyderabad-500407

India being an agrarian country requires effective learning strategies and processes

in agriculture education and knowledge sharing. There are 51 universities with more

than 350 colleges offering courses in agriculture related disciplines. Majority of thecolleges are in rural areas. Distance education strategies can work miracles in

bringing the education to the doorsteps of rural populace. Rapid technological

advances are taking place in the information and communication technology (ICT)

hardware and software. On hardware front, computers with higher computing power

have become affordable and there is vast improvement in bandwidth and spread of

internet connectivity. On software front, open source software is becoming

increasingly affordable and shareable. It is important to promote the use of open

source software in agricultural education which can have multiple advantages like

communicating to the needy in rural areas, digital content on knowledge available in

Indian National Agricultural Research System (NARS) institutions, opportunity for

learning by anyone, anytime and anywhere and improved interaction among peers

and student-teachers through ICTs.

ICAR has been promoting ICTs in agricultural research, education and extension

management. By 2005, ICAR has created about 5000 Internet connected nodes in

about 300 NARS institutions. A need was felt to develop digital content for wider

dissemination using ICTs.

This calls for a consorted effort which starts from training manpower related to

agriculture in using the open source Learning Management System (LMS) for its

application. NAARM operationalised various ICT initiatives in NARS. Knowledge

sharing in agriculture is not yet fully realized in India because of lack of requisite

This paper was submitted for eINDIA 2010 conference Page 1


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skills in ICTs use. A multi-pronged ICT strategy is needed to involve NARS

Institutions for online sharing of contents to students, scientists, professionals and

farmers. Besides its central role for skill development in digital content development

and management, NAARM also played significant role to pilot ICT models and

coordinating among various partners to make ICTs an effective tool to share the vast

knowledge in Indian NARS. The project highlights critical success factors and

delivery models for capturing knowledge in Indian NARS through a range of digital

products like multimedia, vocational modules and e-learning through LMS. Because

of limited IT awareness, care needs to be taken in simplifying the capacity building

activity in the area of open source LMS. In light of these, this project is envisaged

with the following objectives

Objectives:

1. Institutionalize ICTs in NARS to enhance competitive advantage of Indian

agriculture,

2. Formulation of a content development strategy, capacity building and

coordination of e-learning and knowledge management activities, and

3. Development of e-learning systems and content in the major agricultural

subject domains.

At granular level, this study takes a look at imparting training in proven open source

LMS - MOODLE to professionals working in agricultural education and research

systems, who essentially comprise faculty and scientists specialized in agriculture

and allied disciplines.

Methodology

A preliminary study in the form of an action research1 was planned in 2006 touching

upon the broad themes of e-learning and knowledge management to evolve a

strategy for implementing e-content development and management in agriculture

education. The strategy aids in planning and facilitation of e-learning. An exercise

was made to identify potential centres for e-learning in NARS and evolve a suitable

skill development strategy with emphasis on open source technologies.



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The project objectives were achieved through an assessment of stakeholders for

implementing the e-learning in their universities and understanding their resources

and capabilities. The overall program strategy and training methodology were

developed in continuous dialogue with the stake holders through a number of face to

face meetings, work shops and pilot training modules in related ICT training courses

at the Academy, i.e. NAARM. This involved identification of suitable open source but

simple to use and with windows-friendly resources which can be incorporated in the

e-learning.

Results

1. Action research on e-learning strategy

Based on the pilot research a strategy was developed for implementing an ICT

based system to reach large number of stakeholders in agri-sector. The strategy

included internalising the content management so as to sustain its continuous

development. Faculty teaching specific courses are to be trained first and content

development is to be made coterminous with the course so that it could be put to test

with the students taking the course. Collective wisdom of faculty from other SAUs

can be used for vetting the content to follow the curriculum norms set by ICAR. It laid

emphasis on developing suitable capacity building program of knowledge networking

among the agricultural practitioners having non-IT background using suitable open

source and free to use web technologies for content management.

Various open source LMS were assessed for use in NARS. Among the open source

LMS, MOODLE2,3 was chosen for its simplicity and wide online support.

The experiences gained in implementation of the strategies developed in the action

research project are given in the following sections.

2. Strategy for capacity building on MOODLE



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Since the purpose is to administer the use of MOODLE by professionals in their

teaching and for the organization they are working, emphasis is laid on simplifying

the steps involved in its installation (as it necessitates knowledge of Apache for web

server, MySQL for database and PHP for scripting the web site) and use for

simplified tasks. Not withstanding the possibility that the target group might never

have even heard of the software, the task was to prepare them to set up/launch

their course in MOODLE in three days training module.

Since the faculty are to further spread the awareness in their respective

organizations, the first day of training is dedicated to installing the software in

simplified steps. For this, the MOODLE version 1.7 was preferred as it was then

available in single zipped file which on decompression split in to three software

modules needed for MOODLE to run. Further, they demand no prior knowledge of

networking concepts like web hosting and database administration. The installation

of MOODLE was explained through a Manual4,5 which had self explanatory screen

shots. Trainees had the hands-on feel of installing the software themselves in the

role of course administrators for MOODLE web site.

The second day was devoted for explaining various options as a Teacher like

creating lessons using different resources, viz. documents, PowerPoint

presentations, multimedia flash files etc., and creating activities for the students like

assignments, quizzes, discussion fora and chat.

The third day focused on conceptualizing lesson plans, gathering resources for the

lessons through internet and other sources, structuring them in to e-learning lesson

and hosting on MOODLE web site.

The experience in capacity building activity in e-Learning through MOODLE is

elicited through a structured questionnaire from the target group, which probed their

experiences after hosting the course.

3. Capacity building perceptions



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Success of any strategy depends on how well the target group perceived it. Hence, a

study was conducted through a structured questionnaire which probed their

experiences after hosting their course. Some of the perceptions are :

i. Status of IT infrastructure in the Agricultural Universities: Fourteen Universities

were assessed for their infrastructural preparedness for promoting e-learning.

The number of computer labs in the universities varied from a minimum of one

to a maximum of twenty with an average of five per university. Number of

computers per lab varied from a minimum of 3 to 100 with an average of 29 per

lab. All the universities are equipped with internet and networked. Basic course

on computers is offered in all academic programs. This amply suggests that

different universities have started to use computers, though in a small measure.

ii. Perception of learning MOODLE through training: The strategy adopted to train

the personnel in using MOODLE is evaluated on a 1-5 scale (1 indicates strong

rejection / disagreement, while 5 refers to strong acceptance / agreement).

Perceptions of respondents are :

About 88 per cent of participants strongly agreed to the statement that it is

easy to install the MOODLE using the method advocated. This is a significant

positive step towards the promotion of open source e-Learning strategy in

Agricultural Universities, considering the fact that the participants had least

touch with web based technologies and never used any LMS.

More than 90 per cent of the participants strongly agreed to the fact that it is

easy to run MOODLE in their campus as course administrators / teachers /

students accepting MOODLE as a user friendly software.

Forty five percent of the participants never faced any error or difficulty in using

the MOODLE while forty percent of the participants faced some error

occasionally.

About 82 percent of participants strongly agreed that online support for the

software as quite good. This is a strong point for using the software as

participants are confident of getting online support in case of any technical

difficulty.



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iii. Software features analysis: The participants perceptions on the

ease of use of different software features employed are:

a. Role as an administrator: More than 90 percent of participants strongly

accepted that for features like adding courses, users, blocks, site

appearance etc are useful and easy to install. However, 31 percent felt that

the trouble shooting part has to be strengthened. This emphasizes the fact

that the role as course administrator should be made clearer though training

strategies.

b. Role as a teacher: The use of activities for better interaction among peers,

and between teacher and student got a positive response. About 88 percent

are strongly comfortable in posting quizzes, 92 percent could use discussion

fora easily while as high as 97 percent felt comfortable in posting

assignments for the students. Only 73 percent were able to use Wikis, being

a new concept of knowledge sharing.

c. Role as a student: The role as a student elicited good response in general.

More than 90 percent are highly comfortable to upload assignments and take

part in quizzes.

4. Institutionalization of ICTs in NARS

By end of 2007, a strategy paper providing a road map for e-learning in Indian

agriculture education was developed and submitted to NAIP as part of the pilot

project1 initiated in 2006. NAIP in turn acted fast and sanctioned the first e-learning

project on agriculture course in 2008. This initiative has spurred universities

covering seven disciplines of agriculture to propose projects on e-content

development and management under National Agricultural Innovation Programme

(NAIP). The seven e-learning projects are at various stages of implementation now.

Based on the action research findings and subsequent training interactions, essential

minimum set of skill in web technologies and digital content development were

identified, tested to impart to the non-IT agri-professionals associated with the e-learning sub-projects. The resources are innovatively capsuled into a skill



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development module where the clientele are trained on the aspects of establishing

and managing a website right from scratch. After successful trial runs, the skill

development exercise has been standardized into a ten day module three days for

LMS and seven days for the content development.

The e-learning projects in seven major disciplines are being implemented in 20

universities, which in turn cover about 500 faculty in 50 colleges. NAARM has trained

over 250 manpower directly in focused programs from the seven e-learning sub-

projects. The trained faculty in turn trained another 500 at their locations in

association with the Academys faculty and resources. Training manual developed

by NAARM is used in both on campus and off-campus programmes. This multiplier

effect is an ongoing activity now. This has not only built the capacity of personnel but

also ensured uniformity in content and consistency in approach among the

diversified partners of the projects.

5. Development of e-learning systems and content

All the projects offered under National Agricultural Innovation Programme (NAIP) put

together are to develop about 10,000 lessons. As of now, about 3000 lessons are

developed and hosted. Today, there are more than eight websites in different stages

of development, which are being run and managed by the personnel trained by

NAARM. These sites are :

Veterinary courses by TANUVAS : http://www.elearnvet.net

Veterinary courses by Assam Agri University, Guwahati: http://59.160.223.155

Veterinary courses by Sher-e-Kashmir university : http://starelearning.org

Dairy science courses by NDRI, Karnal: http://www.ndri.res.in

Fishery science by College of Fisheries, Tuticorin&Mangalore:

http://www.elearnfish.net

Agribusiness by UAS, Dharwad: http://www.uasd.edu/ecourses.html

Agriculture courses by TNAU, Coimbatore: http://tau.tnau.ac.in/lms/

Post Graduate courses of NAARM: http://elearning.naarm.ernet.in

http://59.160.223.155/http://starelearning.org/http://www.ndri.res.in/http://tau.tnau.ac.in/lms/http://starelearning.org/http://www.ndri.res.in/http://tau.tnau.ac.in/lms/http://59.160.223.155/


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Horticulture courses developed by Colleges of Horticulture at Mudigere

(Karnataka), Solan (HP), and Coimbatore (TN) are under test on their intranets

As a spin off, many researchers/faculty have developed digital content modules on

success stories, technologies and package of practices for dissemination to farmers

and extension officials.

Thus, the project resulted in a comprehensive and sustainable online content

development and organization in agriculture disciplines, which is a model for the

agricultural sector in India and the developing world. This would soon become a

component of the national agricultural information portal that the ICAR is building.

Conclusions

The project highlight critical success factors and delivery models for capturing

knowledge in Indian NARS through a range of digital products like multimedia,

vocational modules and e-learning in training and education.

A key outcome is the innovative development of simple e-learning technology for

agricultural content development and management, and the deployment of open

standards in agricultural information exchange and delivery. Such an integrated

arrangement will be the first time that these are applied to farming situations

anywhere in the world.

The study amply demonstrated that the MOODLE can be applied as a potential e-

learning tool in the agriculture education with appropriate capacity building

methodology. The strategy adopted in the study to make novices to install, use and

manage a LMS website in MOODLE was found to be very effective and highly

suitable for replication to spread awareness on open source e-learning strategy in

other colleges and universities too.

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Dr P.K.Joshi, Director, NAARM, Dr N. H. Rao, Joint

Director , NAARM and Dr N.T. Yaduraju, National Coordinator, NAIP, New Delhi for

providing valuable guidance and support for the conceptualization andimplementation of the project.



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References

1. Project report on Development of education & training through e-learning, D.

Rama Rao, G.R.K. Murthy and M.N. Reddy, NAARM, Hyderabad, 2008.2. Moodle E-Learning Course Development, William H.Rice IV, PACKT Publishers,

2006.3. Moodle- an electronic classroom, Matt Riordan, available on

http://download.moodle.org /docs/teacher-manual.pdf4. Training manual on e-content management in standard formats, G.R.K.Murthy,

K.M.Reddy, NAARM, Hyderabad, 2009.5. Training manual on E-Learning, for training program on E-Learning, G.R.K.

Murthy and D. Rama Rao, , NAARM, Hyderabad, 2008,2009 & 2010.

BIODATA OF AUTHORS

Dr D. Rama Rao Dr Rao, a physicist by profession, has rich experience insteering knowledge management programs. His areas ofinterest include Decision Support and Information Systems,Technology Forecasting, e-Learning, technology in educationand ICTs for Development.

Dr G.R.K. Murthy Dr Murthy, an engineer by profession, is engaged in activities ofpromoting e-learning methodologies in agricultural education in

Indian scenario. He has standardised the use of Moodle for e-learning in agriculture and evolved new methods of teachingwith the help of simple low cost IT gadgets and open sourcetools.

Dr K. M. Reddy Dr Reddy, a veterinary scientist by profession, has wideexperience in conducting and providing training in the area ofeducational technology, multimedia and digital contentdevelopment. Developed many multimedia modules forlearning.

Dr V.K.J.Rao Dr Rao, an extension scientist by profession, has been workingin the areas of Participatory Rural Appraisal, ICT use inagriculture extension and multimedia content development.

Dr M. N. Reddy Dr Reddy, a statistician by profession, has interests inQuantitative Techniques using Statistical Methods and Models,Computational Statistics, Information Management,Geographical Information System (GIS) Applications in

Agriculture and Web Design.



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Dr N. Sandhya Shenoy Dr Shenoy, an extension scientist by profession, has beenworking in the areas of Participatory Methods, ICTs use inagriculture and gender studies. Successfully implemented ruralICT projects in public-private partnership mode.

Mr E.Bhaskar Rao Mr Rao, a computer professional, has been working in the areasof web design using open source CMS & LMS for e-learning.


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