User:CalypsoTT

=About me=

Needs to be updated

Known as Kris, I am Krishnapillai Murugan, hailing from Nagercoil, Kanyakumari District in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu.

''To have a quick look at my practice lesson, please see

/An Introduction to Communication/

Educational qualifications
BA., MA., PGDTE., M.Litt., Ph.D.

I had my early schooling in Nagercoil. Armed with an MA in English Literature, I took up a teaching assignment at the Horsely Hills Public School, Madanapalle, Andhra Pradesh. After serving the School for about 18 months, I moved to Hyderabad for higher studies at the Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) and acquired the PG Dip. in the Teaching of English, M.Litt. and Ph.D.

Professional background

 * Registrar in-charge. Tamil Nadu Open University (08 July - 29 Oct, 2009)


 * Professor of English & Head, School of Humanities, Tamil Nadu Open University (TNOU), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India and Director i/c, Student Support Services Division (August 2004 – Present). Major Responsibilities: (a) Contribution in making policies on various aspects of open and distance learning (ODL), including ICT, copyright, IPR, learner support, staff development, curricula, etc. (b) Active participation at senior management level meetings. (c) Liaison with different agencies for various initiatives including innovative curricula, IT-enabled services, etc. (d) Planning and implementation of staff development programs for the functionaries in ODL contexts within the University and pan-India. (e) Conduct of systemic research for quality improvement. (f) Contribution in the implementation of eLearning/eManagement (g) Project management and (h) Consultancy.


 * Curriculum Development Specialist, The University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC), Barbados, West Indies. January 1998 – July 2004. Major Responsibilities: (a) Instructional Design/Evaluation and Management (i.e., planning, development, production, implementation, quality assurance, supervision and coordination). (b) Staff Development. (c) Research and (d) Consultancy.


 * Assistance Regional Director & Lecturer/Lecturer (SS) in Distance Education, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE), India. August, 1986 – December, 1997. Major Responsibilities:  (a) Designing/editing instructional materials. (b) Conducting training programs in different aspects of distance education, i.e., program planning/evaluation, materials production, student support servicing, etc. (c) Establishing and supervising student support services systems.


 * Research Associate. Central Institute of English & Foreign Languages (CIEFL), India. June - July, 1986. Responsibility: Designing a syllabus for the Summer Institute Program for the Teachers of English as a Second Language.


 * Teacher of English. Horsely Hills Public School, India. September, 1982 - May, 1984. Responsibilities: (a) Teaching English poetry, play, prose and fiction at the Higher Secondary level. (b) Preparing students for various extra curricular activities, including enacting plays and (c) Assisting the Principal in ‘house keeping’.

=Publications/Presentations=


 * 55 Text Books/Chapters/Reports in ODL and English Language & Literature.
 * 27 Articles in National/International Professional Journals.
 * 44 Papers/Key Note Addresses at Conferences.
 * 50 Workshops for ODL functionaries in India & abroad.
 * 200 Orientation Programs for various ODL functionaries in India & abroad.

=Consultancies=


 * 1) 2008: UNICEF/UNDP – United Nations Children’s Fund/United Nations Development Programme (COL-mediated Pilot Evaluator of an Effective Writing Programme).
 * 2) 2008: DEC – Distance Education Centre (Factfile on ODL in Tamil Nadu)
 * 3) 2008: COL – Commonwealth of Learning (Monitoring & Evaluation expert for TVET Programmes in the Caribbean).
 * 4) 2007: COL – Commonwealth of Learning (Feasibility of launching the Health Assistance Programme at a distance and of establishing an Open University in Ghana. Client: University of Education, Winneba, Ghana.)
 * 5) 2007: COL - Commonwealth of Learning (Feasibility of TVET Programmes in the Caribbean).
 * 6) 2006: COL – Commonwealth of Learning (Feasibility of Tech-MODE Livelihood Programmes in India).
 * 7) 2005: CEMCA – Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (Development of multi-media self-learning materials. Clients: Faculty members of 7 Universities in Sri Lanka).
 * 8) 2004: CARICOM – Caribbean Community (Development of self-learning materials in the area of tax collection. Clients: Tax Commissioners/Inspectors).
 * 9) 2003: OAS – Organization of American States (Field Coordinator for the JITL-Project of the UWIDEC, Barbados).
 * 10) 2002: COL - Commonwealth of Learning (Training in the development of self-learning materials in the areas of environmental engineering. Clients: Faculty members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc., Bangalore), Indian Institute of Management (IIT, Mumbai)m and National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI, Nagpur).
 * 11) 2001: COL - Commonwealth of Learning (Training in the development of self-learning materials in the areas of environmental engineering. Clients: Faculty members of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc., Bangalore), Indian Institute of Management (IIT, Mumbai) and National Environmental Engineering and Research Institute (NEERI, Nagpur).
 * 12) 2000: COL – Commonwealth of Learning (Training in the development of multi-media self-learning materials. Clients: Faculty members of the University of Guyana.)
 * 13) 1999: COL – Commonwealth of Learning (Feasibility Study to embark on community broadcasting in the Caribbean. Client: The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation).
 * 14) 1998: PAHO – Pan American Health Organization (Training in the development of self-learning materials in the area of Public Health. Clients: Public Health Instructors in the West Indies).
 * 15) 1997: CIDA – Canadian International Development Agency (Development of self-learning materials in the area of Agriculture. Clients: Senior faculty members (Seed Technologists) of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, India).
 * 16) 1996: BCD - British Council Division (Factfile on ODL in India).

=Professional Contributions=

1. At the TNOU

 * 1) Creation of the Vision and Mission Statements for the University.
 * 2) Creation of a TNOU Template for the production of self-learning materials.
 * 3) Creation/design of the University Web Site and coordination of its maintenance.
 * 4) Conceptualization of Learner Data Retrieval and Management System (LDRMS) with a view to establishing eGovernance.
 * 5) Coordination of the conduct of eContent production workshop.
 * 6) Training of the TNOU Faculties and other Course Writers in Tamil Nadu in the development of Course Materials in self-learning format.
 * 7) Conceptualization of the 24/7 Help Desk (Interactive Voice Response System) and creation of call-flow for the purpose.
 * 8) Introduction (for the first time in Tamil Nadu) of an institutionalized Postgraduate Programme in Spoken English with a CD supplement.
 * 9) Conceptualization/coordination of eContent production, preparation of its format at the storyboarding level.
 * 10) Conduct of Orientation/Training Programmes for Student Support Service functionaries across Tamil Nadu.
 * 11) Creation of Development Grant Proposals for the Distance Education Centre (DEC) (2006-2007 & 2007-2008), New Delhi.
 * 12) Coordination of the award of Government scholarships and South Asia Foundation scholarships.
 * 13) Framing of syllabi for the various Programmes of the School of Humanities. Writing as well as language and format editing of learning materials for the School of Humanities Programmes (BA and MA in English Literature, English Foundation Courses, M.Phil, Postgraduate Diploma in Spoken English and BA English and Communication).
 * 14) Coordination of the launch of Programmes in languages other than English and Tamil, i.e., BA Urdu and Foundation Courses in French, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Urdu.
 * 15) Establishment of 130 TNOU Centres in Tamil Nadu, 30 TNOU Centres across India and 11 University Coordinating Centres (UCCs) for quality delivery of TNOU Programmes. This includes the charting of their functions/responsibilities as well as consolidation, monitoring and evaluation of the functions of LRCs, as a measure towards quality assurance.
 * 16) Participation at various institution building activities that are more substantive in nature than quantitative.

2. At the UWIDEC

 * 1) Project Management
 * 2) Curriculum Planning and Development
 * 3) Instructional Design
 * 4) Quality Assurance/Re-engineering
 * 5) Research and Development

Project consultancies handled in the Caribbean


 * 1) Project Manager/Field Coordinator – ‘Building the capacity of UWI to implement technology-enhanced learning’, a project funded by the Organization of American States (OAS)
 * 2) Project Manager/Coordinator – ‘Evolving and implementing QA criteria for distance learning in the Caribbean Region, a COL considered project.
 * 3) Project Field Coordinator – UWIDEC/OAS project on the implementation of JITL technology.
 * 4) Involved in the project evaluation of such multimillion projects as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) funded initiative in the creation of distance education facilities and Japanese Funds in Trust funded capacity building exercise in the Caribbean (involving the University of the West Indies, University of Technology, Jamaica, University of Guyana, Anton de Kom University of Suriname and University of Quisqueya (Haiti).
 * 5) Facilitated training/workshops for professionals in the fields of food security, rural development, farming, public health, environmental engineering/ education, family medicine and a whole host of other disciplines. Some of these workshops were conducted on contracts. The agencies that have contracted me include PAHO, COL, CARICOM (Caribbean Community), CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) and OAS (Organization of American States).
 * 6) Drafted manuals for trainers, course developers, tutors, distance learners and the general public.

3. At the IGNOU

 * 1) Development of Post-Graduate Diploma in Distance Education (PGDDE)
 * 2) Development of Master of Arts in Distance Education (MADE)
 * 3) Instructional Design
 * 4) Staff Development
 * 5) Research
 * 6) Learner Support Services (at the Regional level)

=Academic/Professional Awards=


 * 1) The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) award for attending 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, London, 2008.
 * 2) UNESCO award for Open and Distance Education: Frontiers, Challenges and Strategies Conference, Hyderabad, India. August 2007.
 * 3) The COL award for attending 3rd Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, New Zealand, 2004.
 * 4) The COL award for attending 2nd Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Durban, South Africa, 2002.
 * 5) The COL award for attending Basic Education Conference, Hyderabad, India, 2000.
 * 6) COL/Canada Industry award for attending the 1st Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Brunei, 1999.
 * 7) UNESCO award for Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) conference, Hong Kong, 1998.
 * 8) The Croucher Foundation award for the AAOU Conference. China, 1998 (Could not use)
 * 9) The University Grants Commission (India) Research Fellowship (1985-1986)
 * 10) CIEFL Merit Scholarship (1984 -1985).

=Professional Memberships/Committees=


 * 1) Member, Convener Committee (to look into current duties of the Vice-Chancellor of the TNOU on his retirement). 1st – 23rd January, 2009.
 * 2) Member, Advisory Board, Indian Journal of Open Learning (IJOL). Professional Journal published from the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.
 * 3) Member, Editorial Board, International Review of Research in Distance and Open Learning (IRRDOL). Professional Journal published from the Athabasca University, Canada.
 * 4) Member, Editorial Board, COL-World Bank Global Distance Education Network (Small States). Past
 * 5) Member, National Expert Committee, IGNOU Resource Materials Initiative.
 * 6) Member, National Research Advisory Committee, IGNOU for M.Phil & PhD (Distance Education).
 * 7) Member, National Expert Review Committee, IGNOU Programmes of Postgraduate Diploma in Distance Education and MA in Distance Education.
 * 8) Member, TNOU Syndicate – Governor’s nominee.
 * 9) Member, TNOU Finance Committee – Syndicate’s nominee.
 * 10) Member, TNOU Academic Council - Vice-Chancellor’s nominee.
 * 11) Member, TNOU Planning Board – Vice-Chancellor’s nominee.
 * 12) Chairman, TNOU Board of the School of Humanities, TNOU.
 * 13) Chairman, TNOU Purchase Committee, Syndicate’s nominee.
 * 14) Member – Punishment norms for examination-related malpractices.
 * 15) Member, TNOU Examination-related Disciplinary Committee –    Syndicate’s nominee.
 * 16) Convener, TNOU Credit Transfer Committee.
 * 17) Convener, TNOU Marks Statement Committee.
 * 18) Convener, TNOU Research Committee.
 * 19) Member, TNOU Technical Committee (Community Outreach through the Cable TV).
 * 20) Coordinator, South Asia Foundation (SAF) Madanjeet Singh Scholarship (The scheme is no longer available).
 * 21) Life Member, Indian Distance Education Association (IDEA).
 * 22) Life Member, English Language Teachers’ Association of India (ELTAI).
 * 23) Expert Member, Doctoral Committee (English), Anna University.
 * 24) Institutional Member, Asian Association of Open Universities  (AAOU).
 * 25) Institutional Member, International Council for Distance  and Open Education (ICDE), Oslo, Norway.
 * 26) Past Member, Academic Program Committee, Distance Education Centre (DEC), The University of the West Indies, Jamaica.
 * 27) Past Institutional Member, Inter-American Consortium of Distance Education (CREAD), USA.
 * 28) Past Member, Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators (ACHEA), Jamaica.

=Scholarly Outputs=

Books/Chapters

 * 1) Designed/Edited 32 Course books in English Literature and Language. A TNOU Publication. 2004-2008
 * 2) “Status and prospects of ODL in State Agriculture Universities” Chapter in the book published as part of the Centenary celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU). An adapted version of the Centenary Lecture. A TNAU Publication. 2006
 * 3) Just-In-Time Lecture Technology (JITL): Manual. The University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados (2003).
 * 4) Adio teleconferencing in the Commonwealth Caribbean. A Chapter in Usha Reddi (2002) (ed.) Audio Conferencing in the Commonwealth. A CEMCA/Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Publication.
 * 5) “Course Development Processes at the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre.” In Fred Lockwood (2000) (ed.) Alternative Methods of Materials Production: A collection of examples. Open University, UK.
 * 6) “The Prospects of Agricultural Education through the Distance Mode in the Caribbean.” Chapter in Krishna Alluri and Krishnapillai Murugan (ed.) Agricultural Education: Technology Enhanced Learning. 1999
 * 7) “Evaluation practices at the IGNOU.” Chapter in Rudolf Scheumer (1998) Evaluation Concepts and Practices in Selected Distance Education Institutions. ZIFF-Papiere 108, Hagen, Germany.
 * 8) Total Quality Training in Open Education. K. Murugan (1996) Epic Publishers. India.
 * 9) “Towards Professionalism in Staff Development”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Staff Development: Growth and Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 10) “Development of Learning Materials”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Staff Development Perspectives. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 11) “Student Support Services”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Staff Development Perspectives. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 12) “Support Staff Development”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Staff Development Perspectives. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 13) “Trainer Training”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Staff Development Perspectives. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 14) “Job-need Analysis”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Management of Staff Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 15) “Methodologies for Staff Development”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Management of Staff Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 16) “Evaluation of Staff Development”. In K. Murugan (ed.) 1996. Management of Staff Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 17) Towards Effective Tutoring. An IGNOU Publication. New Delhi, India. 1995.
 * 18) "Curriculum Foundations”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1992. Curriculum. New Delhi. IGNOU.
 * 19) “Essential Components of Curriculum”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1992. Curriculum Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 20) “Approaches to Curriculum Planning”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1992. Curriculum Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 21) “Curriculum Implementation and Evaluation”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1992. Curriculum Development. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 22) “Staff Development.” In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1992. Learning Transactions and Improvements. New Delhi, IGNOU.
 * 23) How to study. An IGNOU Publication. New Delhi, India. 1989.
 * 24) “Reading”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1987. Student Support Services. New Delhi. IGNOU.
 * 25) “Study Skills”. In B.N. Koul (ed.) 1987. Student Support Services. New Delhi. IGNOU.

Articles

 * 1) EFA and Digital Divide: Real or Surreal? OSAC Journal of Open Schooling. Vol.II, No.I, (July 2002).
 * 2) Musings on technology. Caribbean Waves (2001).
 * 3) On the training of course writers. Caribbean Waves. (2000).
 * 4) From the Corner to the Centre Stage. Caribbean Waves. (1999).
 * 5) Of Policies and Curriculum Development. Caribbean Waves. (1998).
 * 6) Distancing ‘Distance’ from Distance Education. Kakatiya Journal of Open Learning (1996).
 * 7) 'Selection’ as Input for Counselor Training: Some Reflections.” Indian Journal of Open Learning (1996).
 * 8) The Complementarity of the Qualitative and Quantitative Evaluation. CIEFL Bulletin (1995).
 * 9) The Status and Prospects of Counselor Training: The IGNOU Experience. Indian Journal of Open Learning (1994).
 * 10) Second Language Teacher Education at a Distance: A Case. Indian Journal of Open Learning (1993).

Book reviews

 * 1) Garai, Atanu and B. Shadrach (2006): Taking ICT to every Indian village: Opportunities and challenges. In International Journal of Distance Education through the Information and Communications Technologies, University of the West Indies, Barbados. 2006
 * Rao, M (2005) News Media and New Media. In CEMCA Journal. 2005
 * 1) Keegan, Desmond (2004) The Future of Learning: From eLearning to mLearning. In IRRDOL, Athabasca University, Canada. 2004
 * 2) Allwright, D and Bailey, K (1991): Focus on the Language Classroom. In TESOL Quarterly (USA) 1994
 * 3) Keegan, Desmond (1990): Foundations of Distance Education (Second Edition). In Indian Journal of Open Learning (1994)

Book-length Manuscript (in preparation)


 * 1) Learning to Learn: Studying at a Distance.
 * 2) Preparing self-learning materials: Manual for Trainers of Trainers.
 * 3) Academic Counselling in Distance Education.
 * 4) Functional English Grammar.

Reports

 * 1) "Pilot Evaluation of the UNICEF/UNDP Effective Writing Programme”. Commisssioned by the Commonwealth of Learning. August/September 2008.
 * 2) “Impact Evaluation of the TVET Programme in the Caribbean.” Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning. September 2008.
 * 3) “Tech-MODE for Livelihood Programmes in India.” Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning July, 2008.
 * 4) India ODL Factfile (Tamil Nadu)”. Commissioned by the Distance Education Council (DEC), April 2008.
 * 5) “ODL Prospects in Ghana”. A Feasibility Report Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning following a consultancy. September 2007.
 * 6) “Use of public broadcasting in the Caribbean for open/ distance learning”. Feasibility Study Report. Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning, Caribbean Development Bank and Caribbean Broadcasting Union. May, 2000. (with Betty Mitchell)
 * 7) “Staff Development at the National Open University in India.” A Report submitted to the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. April, 2000.
 * 8) “Distance Education Systems in India and the Commonwealth Caribbean.” Report submitted to the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados. February, 1999.
 * 9) “Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education – Extended Contact Program.” Report submitted to the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), 1992.
 * 10) “Workshop for Mauritius Institute of Education Staff.” Mauritius, 1992. Report submitted to the Indira Gandhi National Open University.
 * 11) “Proceedings of the Orientation Program for the Counsellors of IGNOU”,1989.
 * 12) “Training the Trainers”. An IGNOU Publication. New Delhi, India. 1988.

=Conference Papers/Speeches=


 * 1) Special Address. “Recent Trends in ODL” . National Conference. Bharathidasan University, Trichy, Tamil Nadu. Mach 29, 2009.
 * 2) Key Note Address. “e English: Networked Collabrative Content Creation”. National Conference., Vellammal Engineering College, Chennai. March 27, 2009.
 * 3) Plenary Address. “English & Employability: Is it a myth?” National Conference, Anna University, Chennai. March 26, 2009.
 * 4) Key Note Address. “IT Trends: Implications for Seamless Education”. National Conference on Recent Trends in ICT organized at the Sri Rama Krishna Mission Arts and Science College, Coimbatore. March 17, 2008.
 * 5) Inaugural Address. “Soft skills Development.” Inauguration of Literary Association at the KGM College of Engineering and Technology.  Chennai. February 14, 2008.
 * 6) Plenary Address. “Networking Locally and Globally – Collaboration/Consortia: Why (not)?” at the National Conference on Higher Education at Crossroads. Organized at the Loyola College, Chennai. February 08, 2008.
 * 7) Key Note Address. “Knowledge Management and Learning Objects: A Contextual Exposition.” Refresher Programme organized by the IGNOU, New Delhi. January 24, 2008.
 * 8) Key Note Address. “ODL for Human Development: The Way Forward.” International Conference on Open Distance Education organized at the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, Hyderabad. August 2007.
 * 9) Key Note Address. “Emerging Technologies for Innovative Curriculum for English”. National Seminar organized under the auspices of the UGC at the Loyola College, Chennai. July 2007.
 * 10) Key Note Address. “M-Learning: A Wishful Thinking or Is It?” National Seminar organized under the auspices of the UGC at the Nandanam Government Arts College, Nandanam, Chennai. June, 2007.
 * 11) Key Note Address. “Support Services: Quality Issues and Indicators.” National Expert Group Meeting sponsored by the Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi. April, 2007.
 * 12) “Enhancing Student Support Services in ODL Contexts: A Technology Intervention Model”: Paper for the Fourth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Jamaica, November, 2006.
 * 13) “Changing Contours of ODL: Some Policy Perspectives”. Paper presented at the 12th Asian Association of Open Universities, Mumbai, November 2006.
 * 14) “ODL and Vocational Education and Training”. Paper presented at the VET Expert Consultative Meeting organized under the auspices of the Ministry of Human Resources Development, Government of India, Coimbatore, September 2006.
 * 15) Presidential Address “De-learning”. The Madras Progressive Union Higher Secondary School, Chennai. February 25, 2006
 * 16) Presidential Address “Learning in the 21st Century”. The Alagappa Group of Schools, Chennai. February 24, 2006.
 * 17) “ODL and Vocational Education”. An International Conference organized jointly by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) at Kovalam, Kerala. February, 2006.
 * 18) Key Note Address “The imperative quality auditing in ODL”. An International Conference “Quality Culture” sponsored by COL. November, 2005.
 * 19) “Global Trade in Educational Services: Implications for ODL.” Paper presented at the International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICDE) Conference. New Delhi. November 2005.
 * 20) Key Note Address: “Status and Prospects of ODL in State Agriculture Universities”. Part of the Celebration of the 100th year of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU), August, 2005.
 * 21) “JITL at UWIDEC”. Paper for the 3rd Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Dunedin, New Zealand. July 2004.
 * 22) “CD-based instruction for equity: The UWIDEC Initiative.” Paper for the Virtual Educa 2003, Fourth International Conference on Education, Technology and Training. The Inter-American Distance Education Consortium, Miami, Florida, USA. June 16-20.
 * 23) “Framing quality auditing policies for ODL.” Paper for the Third Annual Conference of the Association of Caribbean Higher Education Administrators. Barbados. July 3-5, 2003.
 * 24) “Using ICT in ODL for Curbing Neo-Elitism and Building Human Infrastructure.” Paper presented at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Durban, South Africa. July, 2002. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 25) “Incorporating Context-Specific ICTs to Improve the Quality of Student Service: Possibilities and Challenges in the Context of the University of the West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC).” Paper presented at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Durban, South Africa. July, 2002. (Co-authored with Mr. Michael Thomas, Research Officer, UWIDEC, Barbados).
 * 26) “Controlling Context-free ICT in Distance Education.” Paper presented at the International Conference on the Problems and Possibilities in Education in the Developing Countries, Barbados. March, 2002.
 * 27) “EFA and Digital Divide: Real or Surreal?” Paper accepted for presentation at the 15th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, India, February, 2002. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 28) “Retooling Open Learning Institutions”. Paper for the International Council for Open and Distance Education, Germany, April 3-5, 2001.
 * 29) “Quality issues in delivery modes for EFA through open learning system.” Panelist/Lead speaker at the Quality Issues in the delivery of Education for All, with particular reference to Open Basic Education conference, India, January 16-19, 2001.
 * 30) “Farming and ICT: are they bipolar?” Paper presented at the Indian Distance Education Association, India, April 27-29, 2000. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 31) “Status of Distance Education in the Caribbean and its Prospects for Agriculture Education.” Paper presented at the COL sponsored Experts Meeting during the Tel99-isphere Conference, organized by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada, in November 23-27, 1999 in Barbados.
 * 32) “Benchmarking for institutional partnerships.” Paper accepted for presentation at the 13th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, Beijing, China, October, 1999. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 33) “Instructional Management Systems: A symbiotic relation between ‘production’ and ‘service’.” Paper accepted for presentation at the 13th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, Beijing, China, October, 1999. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 34) “The relation of theory and practice in teacher education: A rocky courtship.” Paper presented at the Fifth Biennial Cross-Campus Conference on ‘Controversies in Education’ Trinidad, April, 1999.
 * 35) “Distance Education in the Commonwealth Caribbean: Survival of the fit-test.” Paper presented at the Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, Brunei, March, 1999.
 * 36) “Whose baby is a distance learner?” Paper presented at the 12th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, Hong Kong, November, 1998. (Co-authored with Dr. Savithri Swaminathan, Lecturer, Campus of Open Learning, University of Delhi, India).
 * 37) “Assuring quality in learning materials through ‘reflective’ training.” Paper presented at the 11th AAOU Conference, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. November, 1997.
 * 38) “Distance education institutions: Need for re-engineering.” Paper accepted for presentation at the 18th ICDE World Conference, Pennsylvania, USA. July, 1997.
 * 39) “Internationalizing open distance education.” Paper presented at the seminar on Globalization of Open Learning, New Delhi, India. December, 1996.
 * 40) “Bettering student servicing: Need for a paradigm shift.” Paper presented at the Indian Distance Education Association Conference, India. November, 1996.
 * 41) “Reflecting on the orientation of academic-counselors.” Paper presented at the IGNOU Dicennial Conference, India. November, 1996.
 * 42) “Can we bypass superhighways?” Paper presented at the AIAET Conference, India. October, 1995.
 * 43) “Managing quality in face-to-face interaction.” Paper presented at the 8th Asian Association of Open Universities Conference, New Delhi, India. February, 1995.
 * 44) “The qualitative-quantitative symbiosis.” Paper presented to the CIEFL Seminar Group, India. March, 1994.
 * 45) "Second language teacher education: The case of CIEFL.” Paper presented at the Festival of Ideas, CIEFL, India. February, 1993.
 * 46) “The relevance of distance education in the Indian context.” Paper presented at the Inaugural meeting of the IGNOU Study Centre, India. August, 1992.
 * 47) “Evaluation at the IGNOU.” Paper presented at the All India Conference of the Coordinators of the IGNOU Study Centers, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India. November, 1990.

=Staff/Professional Development=

Resource Person

 * 1) Workshop for Course Writers / Experts – Instructional Design. IGNOU, New Delhi. March 23 & 24, 2009.
 * 2) Workshop on the Development of Self-Learning Materials. Satyabama University, Chennai, India, 29th & 30st January 2009.
 * 3) STRIDE/IGNOU Refresher Programme in ODL. New Delhi, India, 22nd January 2009.
 * 4) DEC Workshop in the Assessment and Accreditation of ODL Institutions. November, 2008.
 * 5) Programme Review Committee of the IGNOU, New Delhi, June 2008 (Programmes: PGDDE and MADE).
 * 6) Refresher Programme in Distance Education, STRIDE, IGNOU, New Delhi. April, 2008
 * 7) Workshop on ODL. Maniammai Periyar University, Tanjavur, May 2008.
 * 8) UGC-Sponsored Workshop in Technology-mediated Content Creation and Teaching. Tiruchendur Aditanar College, Tuticorin, March, 2008.
 * 9) Sadbhavana Diwas Programme. Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur. August, 2007
 * 10) National Workshop on Training of Trainers in Academic Counselling. IGNOU, New Delhi. May 2007.
 * 11) “Student Services: Quality Issues and Indicators.” At the National Workshop-cum-Roundtable on “Quality Assurance in Distance Education.” April 16-17, 2007. STRIDE/IGNOU, New Delhi.
 * 12) Coordination/Resource Person and participant at the TNOU sponsored workshop of “e-Content Development”. April 2007.
 * 13) UGC-Sponsored Workshop in the Development of SLM. Tiruchendur Aditanar College, Tuticorin, March, 2007.
 * 14) Various academic Schools and functionaries of IGNOU, India; UWI, West Indies and TNOU, India. Designed and conducted more than 200 orientation programs (of 2-5 days each) for the course writers, academic-counsellors and coordinators.
 * 15) Periodical Orientation Programmes for the TNOU Centre Coordinators in Chennai and at various places in Tamil Nadu.
 * 16) Periodical Workshops for TNOU faculty and Course Writers in the development of self-learning materials in Chennai and at various places in Tamil Nadu.
 * 17) TechMode – Consortia Approach to ODL – an initiative of COL.
 * 18) Workshop on Self-Learning Materials. Conducted in Coimbatore for Agriculture Scientists under a COL contract. June/July 2005
 * 19) Multimedia Workshop for faculties in Sri Lankan Universities. Conducted in Sri Lanka under a COL contract. April 2005.
 * 20) Workshop on Self-Learning Materials. Conducted in Barbados for CARICOM Tax officers. Coordinated by Ms. Marva Lee – CARICOM. October 2004
 * 21) Workshop on JITL-T (Just In Time Lecture Technology). Conducted in Trinidad (3rd-6th June) and in Jamaica (24th 27th June 2003).
 * 22) “Workshop on the Development of Self-Learning Materials (SLM)” at the Centre for Environmental Education (CEE), Ahmedabad, India. August 18-23, 2002. [On COL contract].
 * 23) Consulting Editor, International Review of Research in Distance and Open Learning (IRRDOL), Athabasca University, Canada.
 * 24) “Repackaging of the UNESCO-COL environmental engineering courses into self-learning materials.” Workshop conducted for content experts in the design of self-learning materials in India. November, 2001 and April, 2002. [On COL contract].
 * 25) “Instructional design and media options for distance delivery of courses.” Workshop conducted for the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), University of Guyana, Guyana in August 20-25, 2001. [On COL contract].
 * 26) Member, Consulting Editorial Board, COL-World Bank Global Distance Education Network (Small States).
 * 27) “Preparing self-learning course wares.” Workshop conducted in program management (planning, development, implementation and quality evaluation) at the Conference ‘Distance Education in Small Island States.’ Organized by the University of the West Indies with the support of UNESCO and COL. Ocho Rios, Jamaica. July 27-28, 2000.
 * 28) Review Workshop of the project “Tropical Environmental Management”. Antigua, May 10-11, 2000.
 * 29) Workshop-meetings for the UWIDEC Curriculum Team. University of the West Indies. April, 2000, June, 1999 and February, 1998.
 * 30) “Examining Networking as a Method to Strengthen Regional Collaboration.” Meeting organized in Barbados by COL, Vancouver, Canada. 14-15 Feb., 2000.
 * 31) “Issues in Food Security in Asia”. A Roundtable Meeting organized in India jointly by COL, Vancouver, Canada, the Koyota University, Japan and the M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India. 18-19 December, 1999.
 * 32) Agriculture Education in the Caribbean. A Roundtable Meeting organized by COL in Barbados. 23-24 November, 1999.
 * 33) School of Medicine and Clinical Research, University of the West Indies, Barbados. Workshop for the medical practitioners in course design. October, 1999.
 * 34) The Center for Environmental Development (CED), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Project. Review meeting in Barbados. June, 1999.
 * 35) The Center for Environmental Development (CED), the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) Project, Jamaica. Conducted a training program for trainers in curriculum planning and course design. 14 -15 October, 1998.
 * 36) Workshop on effective writing for the Indian Army. India. September, 1997.
 * 37) National workshop on training the trainers. India. July, 1997.
 * 38) Institute of Correspondence Courses, University of Bombay, India. Conducted a 25-hour training program in course design and student support services in distance education. 1-5 April, 1997.
 * 39) Distance Education Council-National Assessment and Accreditation Council (DEC-NAAC), India. Resource Person. October, 1996-November, 1997.
 * 40) United Nations Development Program (UNDP) – Government of India – IGNOU Project in Administrative Reformation. Core Team Member and Resource Person for Distance Education. March-April, 1997
 * 41) Training conducted for the Panchayati Raj Project, IGNOU, India.
 * 42) British Council Division (India)-ODA Training in Distance Education. Coordinator. March, 1997.
 * 43) The Karnataka State Open University, India. Conducted a 5-day training program in the development of distance learning materials. March, 1997.
 * 44) International workshop for training tutor-counsellors. India. Sponsored by COL. November, 1996.
 * 45) Australia-India New Horizons. Australian International Education Foundation. India. October, 1996.
 * 46) National workshop on the development of instructional materials in distance education. India. August, 1996.
 * 47) British Council Division. Prepared a document on the Indian Open University system. April-May, 1996 (Co-authored).
 * 48) Workshop on question banking. India. March, 1996.
 * 49) The National Institute of Education, Bhutan. Coordinator of Training for the visiting team. November, 1995.
 * 50) National workshops on the development of instructional materials in distance education. India. March, 1996 and July-August, 1995.
 * 51) The Bangladesh Open University, Bangladesh. Coordinator of Training for the visiting team. April, 1995.
 * 52) Mauritius Institute of Education, Mauritius. Conducted a 4-week training program in distance education in Mauritius. April-May, 1992.
 * 53) The Institute of Correspondence Courses, Madurai-Kamaraj University, India. Conducted 2-day workshop for the course writers. July, 1991.
 * 54) Various academic Schools of IGNOU, India.
 * 55) Designed and conducted more than 200 orientation programs (of 2-5 days each) for the course writers, academic-counsellors and coordinators.

Participant

 * 1) Stakeholders’ Workshop – M&E. (Organized by the COL). New Delhi. November, 2007.
 * 2) Legal and Policy Issues (IPR) in Online Education. (Organized jointly by the UWI and Ford Foundation). Barbados. March 2003.
 * 3) Patent issues in education. (Organized jointly by the UWI and World Intellectual Property Organization). Barbados. February 2003
 * 4) Incorporating JIT-L (Just-in-Time Lectures) Technologies in Distance Education. UWI, Barbados, July, 2002.
 * 5) Use of WebCT for the design and delivery of online courses. UWI, Trinidad, July, 2001.
 * 6) Use of FrontPage for online course editing. UWI, Barbados. March/April, 2001.
 * 7) Pre-conference workshop on instructional design, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. November, 1997.
 * 8) Workshop for the external faculty members, CIEFL, India. October-November, 1991.
 * 9) Workshop on training the trainers with the assistance from ODA and International Extension College, UK. January-February, 1989.
 * 10) Workshop on video presentation with the assistance of ODA. January, 1989.
 * 11) National workshop on training needs in distance education with the assistance from UNESCO, Bangkok. January, 1989.
 * 12) Development of script and presentation of audio/video materials with the assistance of ODA and British Open University. May, 1988.
 * 13) Preparation of self-instructional materials. Funded by ODA and National Extension College, London. March, 1987.
 * 14) National workshop on the development of instructional materials in distance education. Jointly conducted by the UNESCO Regional Office, Bangkok and IGNOU, India. October, 1986.

=Research=


 * 1) Learner feedback on the effectiveness of learning materials and support systems at TNOU. Ongoing.
 * 2) Impact of culture on learning at a distance being initiated.
 * 3) M.Phil Research Scholars in English Studies (2007 – 2008): 5
 * 4) Research guidance and supervision (1987-1997): 60 continuing teacher-professional students of the PG Diploma/M.A. in Distance Education at various stages/levels of their preparation in the following areas:


 * Distance learner concerns.
 * Possibilities and experiences of distance education in India.
 * Preparation of/transformation into self-learning materials.

=Thesis Examiner=


 * 1) PhD. Thesis (“A Study of the Performance of Indira Gandhi National Open University with reference to its Various Aspects of Enrolment, Income and Expenditure and Support Services”) Submitted to the University of Madras, India (April, 2002). Research Scholar: Mr. Panner Selvam
 * 2) PhD. Thesis (“Impact of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) Programmes on Women Learners in Tamil Nadu.”) Submitted to the University of Madras, India (March, 2001). Research Scholar: Mr. P. Thiyagarajan
 * 3) A Master’s Project (“Students’ Perceptions Of Tutor Support In A New Distance Education Degree Programme At The University Of The West Indies, St. Augustine.”) Submitted to the UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad (March/April 2000).

=My current interests=

Areas of Research Interest (a) Technology/ODL for human development and social transformation (b) Pedagogy of the web and instructional design (digital ICT-mediated/enabled instruction and constructivism) (c) Total quality staff development/teacher education (personal theories of teachers, reflective practice in teacher education, evaluation of the impact of staff development programmes, second language teacher education, the theory of practice, etc.)

I am also interested in reading, cooking and gardening.

/AN INTRO TO COMMUNICATION/

Anil



|Asha