Open and Distance Learning: The Challenge of Imparting Values

Online

Dr. Vijay Srinath Kanchi1

&
Dr. Sanjay N. Bharambe

ABSTRACT
In the present fast changing world, thanks to the information and communication technologies, communities across
the world are able to interact with each other closely. Satellite television channels, computers with interactive web
2.0 technologies and mobile telephony with apps like Whatsapp and Skype have shrunk the world into a small
village, resulting in cultural influences that transgress all boundaries. While there are several good things that
happen as a consequence of cultural influx from other parts of the globe, there is also a danger to the prevalent
cultures. This threat is more conspicuous in case of ancient civilizations like India whose time tested world
renowned value systems are directly under threat. Under the influence of consumerism and capitalism, the young
generation seems to be bent upon being more and more hedonistic and egocentric, forcing many to wonder whether
we are witnessing a wave of moral degradation and erosion of value systems. To preserve the cultural heritage and
inculcate cherished values among the young generations and simultaneously keep pace with the changing currents,
many academicians and intelligentsia along with many educational commissions have underscored the need to
include value education as part of the classroom teaching across the schools and colleges, raising the debate whether
values can be imparted in the classrooms. Adding complexity to this question is the doubt whether values can be
taught online. Or is it a great idea to take advantage of the power of online media to counter the challenge posed by
the very digital media and impart values to the students?

A section of academicians strongly argue that values are intrinsic to one’s personality and it is only the life
experiences that shape up the value system of an individual and classrooms, leave alone distance learning mode,
cannot be the right platform for value inculcation. This paper examines both the views for and against value
imbibing in classroom setting and through online media suggests ways and means for value inculcation.

KEYWORDS
Value education, learning by imitation, learning through teaching, efficacy of Open and Distance
Learning.

Definition of the keywords

1. Open and Distance Learning (ODL): According to the Commonwealth of Learning(Open
and Distance Learning, 2015) ODL refers to a system of teaching and learning
characterized by separation of teacher and learner in time and/or place; uses multiple
media for delivery of instruction; involves two-way communication and occasional face-
to-face meeting for tutorials and learner-learner interaction.
2. Distance Education: The Commonwealth of Learning also defines Distance Education as
a mode of teaching and learning characterized by separation of teacher and learner in
time and/or place for most part of the educational transaction, mediated by technology for

1
vskanchi@gmail.com (Corresponding Author).
 delivery of learning content with possibility of face-to-face interaction for learner-teacher
and learner-learner interaction, provision of two-way didactic communication, and
acceptance of industrial process for division of labour, and economies of scale (Open and
Distance Learning, 2015).
3. Open Learning: According to the Commonwealth of Learning (Open and Distance
Learning, 2015), Open Learning refers to policies and practice of openness in entry
requirements (with minimal or no restriction on qualifications), choice of courses, place
of study and time, etc. It is an educational philosophy where learning can happen
anywhere, anytime from any resource, and therefore, this can be seen as a practice in
face-to-face institutions.
4. Values: the regard that something is held to deserve; the importance, worth, or usefulness
of something. Principles or standards of behaviour; one's judgement of what is important
in life (Value | Definition of Value by Lexico, n.d.).

1. Introduction
‘Are values intrinsic to a human being?’ ‘Can they be inculcated in an academic environment?’
are among the many questions that perturb not only the academicians but also all those who are
concerned with the degradation of value systems in the human society. Added to this complexity
is the question of efficacy of value inculcation through distance mode. However, the revolution
in the information and communication technologies is a great boon to distance mode of learning
as it surpasses the space and time limitations and effectively engages all senses of the learners.
At a time when educationists look at Open Distance Learning (ODL) with the apprehension of
whether ODL mode is creating learned and educated populace or simply awarding degrees
without proper inculcation of knowledge, skills and attitudes among its beneficiaries, it is
pertinent to examine the strengths and weaknesses technology aided ODL in the context of
imparting values to its clientele.

While it could prove tricky to precisely define what values are, axiologically and deontologically
one could say ‘all those things and actions which are intrinsically good are valuable’ (p207,
Lillie, 1961). But again the question arises as to what is a good action? Moralists argue that from
an ethical point of view, ‘all actions that are resultant of good conduct can be called good’. Thus
values have a direct bearing on the conduct of an individual and it is the conduct of an individual
that is of great concern to us all as social beings. A society with a good value system ensures
welfare of it constituent individuals and individual welfare in turn results in societal wellbeing.
Hence the chief object of value education is to bring about such behavioral change in the
students that behooves good conduct which in turn results in societal well being and also gives a
sense of meaningfulness to their lives.
2. Significance of the topic
The radical developments taking place in the information and communication technologies are
helping the communities across the world to interact with each other closely. The influence of
Satellite television channels, Netflix and other internet channels, and mobile telephony with apps
like WhatsApp and Skype have brought the world closer, resulting in cultural influences that
transgress all boundaries. While there are several good things that happen as a consequence of
cultural influx from other parts of the globe, there is also a danger to the prevalent cultures. This
threat is more conspicuous in case of ancient civilizations like India whose time tested value
systems are world renowned. Unfortunately, the influence of consumerism and capitalism are
making the young generation more and more hedonistic and egocentric, resulting in palpable
moral degradation and erosion of value systems. Many educationists, intelligentsia and many
educational commissions have underscored the need to include value education as part of the
classroom teaching across the schools and colleges, as a means to safegaurd the cultural heritage
and also to inculcate cherished values among the young generations. This raised the debate on
whether values can be imparted in the classrooms. Adding complexity to this question is the
doubt whether values can be taught online. Will it prove to be a great idea to take advantage of
the power of online media to counter the challenge posed by the very digital media and impart
values to the students?

There is a strongly held view among a section of academicians that values are intrinsic to one’s
personality and it is only the family and surroundings coupled with the life experiences that
shape up the value system of an individual. According to this view, classrooms, leave alone
distance learning mode, cannot be the right platform for value inculcation. It is thus important in
this context to examine both the views for and against value imbibing in classroom setting and
through online media and suggest ways and means for value inculcation.

3. Objectives
1. To understand how value inculcation changed over time.
2. To discuss the challenges in imparting values in classrooms.
3. To evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of Open and Distance Learning.
4. To suggest methods in making best use of technology in imparting values online.

5. Scope and limitation

This paper being theoretical and conceptual in nature, follows the philosophical method of
rationalizing and is not based on any survey or experimental method. However, it surveys
various views expressed by educational commissions and other academicians about the
importance of imparting values in a classroom context.
6. Hypotheses/research questions
The following research questions are considered in the present conceptual paper:

1. Can values be imparted in a classroom situation?

2. Can technology aided pedagogy help in effectively inculcating values to learners at a
distance?
3. What are the challenges faced by the tutors while imparting values in a classroom?

7. Review of literature/researches
To preserve the cultural heritage and inculcate cherished values among the young generations
and simultaneously keep pace with the changing currents, many academicians and intelligentsia
along with many educational commissions have underscored the need to include value education
as part of the classroom teaching across the schools and colleges, raising the debate whether
values can be imparted in the classrooms.

Several education commissions set up by the government of India after independence to suggest
reforms in the education have aggressively underscored the need for mechanisms that build the
personality of the student as a whole through value inculcation. The National Commission of
Secondary Education (1952-53), also known as Mudaliar commission, while emphasizing
character building as the defining goal of education stated, “The supreme end of the educative
process should be the training of the character and personality of students in such a way that they
will be able to realize their full potentialities and contribute to the well-being of the community
(Kaur et al., 2015, p.12).” The University Education Commission (1962) maintained that “If we
exclude spiritual training in our institutions, we would be untrue to our whole historical
development (Kaur et al., 2015, p.12).” The Education Commission of 1964-66, led by Prof.
Kothari, agreeing with the Sri Prakasa Committee Report, also recommended “direct moral
instruction” for which “one or two periods a week should be set aside in the school time-table
(Kaur et al., 2015, p.12).” It identified the “absence of provision for education in social, moral
and spiritual values” as a serious defect in the curriculum. The Commission recommended that
these values be taught “with the help, wherever possible, of the ethical teachings of great
religions.” The National Policy on Education (1986) Expressed concern over “the erosion of
essential values and an increasing cynicism in society (Kaur et al., 2015, p.12)” advocated
turning education into a “forceful tool for the cultivation of social and moral values.” "Education
should foster universal and eternal values, oriented towards the unity and integration of our
people” it pointed out. The Government of India’s report on Value Based Education by the
Chavan Committee submitted in both houses of Parliament, provided impetus to resume work on
value orientation of education. The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 Echoed the vision of
education where values are inherent in every aspect of schooling. The National Curriculum
Framework, 2005 brought out by NCERT recommended an integrated and holistic approach for
nurturing universal human values and constitutional values at all stages of education to ensure all
round development of students and building of a healthy society (Press Information Bureau,
2012).

The above summation is an ample evidence to show that educational commissions believed
value inculcation as a panacea to fight the evils of the world.

8. Value Inculcation: Then and Now

Value education is a system consisting of pre-identified values that are incorporated in a
carefully designed courseware with well defined objectives which are administered to a target
group of students in a classroom environment under the supervision of a competent facilitator.

But how does one begin to acquire values? Family in which one is born and the upbringing one
receives at home shape up the values one adopts in one’s life. However not every family setup is
conducive enough to impart cherished human values to its members, thereby necessitating inputs
from other sources. A school or a college is a social institution meant for this purpose whose
primary objective is to imbue values among the pupils and knowledge imparting is, indeed, only
of secondary concern. In good old times when the world was not as inundated with information
as on today, educational centers such as gurukuls had the prime duty of value imbuing among
their learners and all knowledge is viewed upon as a tool for imparting lasting values. However,
thanks to radical reorientation of educational system by Macaulay during the British era, and the
subsequent changing currents that resulted from information explosion of last two centuries, the
schools and colleges lost their footing in values and began to serve only as information providing
machineries, losing the all important thread that information and knowledge shall have to be
subservient to value inculcation. As more and more schools began to be established by the
government with the sole aim of making the populace literate, the object of education slowly
began to shift from value imbibing to information gathering. Soon after India gained
independence, the already concerned educationists raised their voice to incorporate value
education at least as part of the course content, leave alone designing academic courses around
values.

9. CHALLENGES AND DIFFICULTIES IN IMPARTING VALUE EDUCATION

While value education can certainly be viewed as a good solution for at least bringing learners
abreast with values, there are several challenges and difficulties in executing value education
program in educational institutions some of which are briefly discussed here.

9. 1. Axiological Difficulties:
The foremost challenge is erecting a yard stick that is universally acceptable as basic and
necessary human value in all situations and contexts. Within the value sets, some values may
directly conflict with other accepted values under certain circumstances causing bafflement and
frustration about the right choice.
Hence mere impartation of knowledge of values does not suffice; rather efforts are needed to
empower learners to transform knowledge into wisdom. Only then the person will be able to
face, if not resolve, the value conflict and not feel bogged down by such baffling situations.

9.2. Result of the Teaching Cannot be Seen Immediately:

Another challenge is that the full appreciation of a particular value by a learner might take long
periods of time. This might mistakenly raise doubts about the efficacy of value education in the
minds of those who are accustomed to a world of instant results. But with certain degree of
perseverance on part of the trainer coupled with the effectiveness of the trainer and the innate
potential of the learner, the results are bound to follow.

9.3. Difficulty in Testing and Grading:

Efficacy of a particular methodology of value education being adopted by a trainer cannot be
easily gauged. Further, like the Stanford-Binet scale and its corresponding test for measuring the
Intelligence Quotient of a person, no testing and grading procedure is standardized to assess
value sensitivity of a person. Embedded values of a personality are difficult to judge through a
test or a procedure.

9.4. Doubts About Whether Values Can Be Imparted In a Classroom Situation:

A section of academicians strongly argue that values are intrinsic to one’s personality and it is
only the life experiences that shape up the value system of an individual and classrooms cannot
be the right platform for value inculcation. This argument presumes that classrooms are inept at
creating situations that highlight the significance of values and the need for adhering to them.
Arguably so. As long as the classrooms look upon values as some other form of information that
need to be simply informed to the students, appreciation of values can never happen. Unless the
classrooms recreate such situations that bring into focus the significance of values through role
plays, case studies, jurisprudential models, etc., students do not see a reason to accept values
taught in the classroom as indispensable. On the other hand, even if it is argued that not all
classrooms are capable enough to create ideal platforms for value dissemination, owing to many
inadequacies that our schools are fraught with, what is to be kept in mind is the fact that even if
the classrooms fail to create ideal platforms, they certainly can act as a source of knowledge
about, and the arguments in favor of values. There is no denying the fact that one needs to first
know about a thing before one adopts it. There are scores of young students who do not receive
right inputs on important values like empathy, compassion etc., in their family environment and
it could only be in a classroom, under the guise of an anecdote, or an inspiring story that such
students may for the first time come across these values and begin contemplate on them. Thus,
even if classrooms might fall short of the right milieu needed for recreating complex life
situations, their role as knowledge providers on various values and their significance cannot be
underrated.
10. Some Suggestion for Value Inculcation:
But how are human values to be inculcated among the young impressionable minds? The
solution lies in carefully considered and well designed value education. Value education is not
just moral or ethical education teaching the dos and don’ts for a decent social living; on the
contrary value education is bringing out the natural innate values that are inherent in every
human personality out as part of the process of human personality unfoldment. As the human
personality blossoms, the intrinsic values automatically get exhibited. But for the human
personality to blossom the educational system shall have to provide effective milieu to the
students. This is certainly possible if we consider the following things:

a) Only effective teachers are to be given the responsibility of conducting the value
education to the students. Heads of academic institutions must realize that value
imparting is a specialized training not every trainer is competent to handle. It is a
special field requiring professional handling by an effective teacher.

b) Teaching models such as Jurisprudential model are to be incorporated in value

education. When students are asked to take a stance on an issue connoting ethical or
value undertones, they begin to appreciate the underlying value and learn to adopt it into
their lives.

c) Case studies, real life situations can prove effective in conveying the significance of
values to the students.

Use of ICT technology and inspirational and motivational videos that compel the audience to
think and contemplate can prove effective in value inculcation.

11. Conclusions
In the present world of information overflow, influence of consumerism and capitalism is felt
heavily on the age old Indian value system making the young generation more and more
hedonistic and egocentric. Adding fuel to the fire, in the present education system, where
education is equated with information gathering and knowledge transfer, inculcation of values is
taking a back seat raising concern for concerted efforts toward value inculcation among youth by
one and all. While some argue whether values can be imparted in a classroom environment, there
is ample reasons to argue in favor of value education to be made part of the courseware in all
streams and in every level of education. A diligent execution of carefully designed value
education program with the help of classroom enactments, case studies, together with ample use
of ICT and educational models such as Jurisprudential model would certainly help students
appreciate the significance of values in one’s life for his own self advancement as well as the
wellbeing of the society in which he is a constituent element.
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Philosophy and Theory. Springer, Singapore.

Kaur, S. J., Sharma, Y., & Mathur, A. (2015). New Trends in Education. New Delhi Publishers.

Lillie, William. 1961. An Introduction to Ethics. University Paperbacks Metheun , London.

Open and Distance Learning: Key Terms and Definitions. (2015). http://oasis.col.org/handle/11599/829

Press Information Bureau, G. of I., Ministry of Human Resource Development. (2012, August 31).

Teaching of Value Education in Schools.

https://pib.gov.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=87132

Value | Definition of Value by Lexico. (n.d.). Retrieved February 16, 2020, from

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/value