Editorial

Abstract

This is the third and final issue of the journal for the year 2022 in which we have included six peer-reviewed research papers, one book review, and abstracts of papers in Hindi. This issue includes research on diversified areas of open and distance learning, ranging from programme flexibility to teacher TPACK and online learning during Covid-19.

In the first paper, Halder studied the technological-pedagogic-content knowledge of pre-service student-teachers, and reported significant gender and habitat differences (though there was no difference in respect of age, academic qualification, subject area, mode of study, and ICT knowledge). In the second paper, Anjana and Mukerji reported programme completion/pass-out in ODL programmes, and suggested that the completion rate was higher in professional programmes and those dealing with upskilling of graduates. Mohan and Ojha, in the third paper, undertook a factor analysis on technology preference and utilization by women distance learners; and reported three factors (self-learning, teachinglearning, and social learning) as important constituents of digital teaching-learning, and that the perceptions of women learners were dominated by technology advantages, learning difficulties, and technical challenges.

In the next paper, Ahmed and colleagues reported the findings of a study on the transition of undergraduate students from offline to online learning in Kashmir.  The findings suggested that while the students were more active and interactive in offline classrooms, there was less interaction, motivation, and more time constraint in online learning. Neetu Sharma and colleagues, in their paper, studied the effectiveness of video-based teaching-learning for pre-service student-teachers, and reported video-based learning was more effective than the traditional lecturebased learning. In the final paper, Venkateshwarlu and colleagues presented a critical analysis of the implementation of various advanced technologies (including social technologies and social networks) for distance/online learning during Covid19 in IGNOU, India. This analysis should be useful to other universities adopting DoL and blended learning too.

The book review on self-directed learning by Singh should be useful to our readers. We hope the papers included in this issue shall be of interest to all those who engage with these papers and intend to conduct further research in these areas.