Electronic Community

          According to Webster's dictionary, "community is a group of people living together as a smaller social unit within a larger one, and having common interests, work, life style, customs, language etc,". Similarly, an electronic community focuses on a group of people with common interests; only their interests are mediated through a computer net work rather than through physical proximity.

          Electronic communities, known also as "virtual communities" have existed for some time on the internet, the government – sponsored computer net work in the United States of America whose roots go back to the late 1960s. Many communities were organized through on-line bulletin boards, called "Usenet news groups" starting around the early 1980s. These communities consisted of self organizing interest groups in academic, research and government circles. Using electronic mail and bulletin boards, hundreds of interest groups sprang up.

          These communities have become dynamic places for consumers to pursue their interests. As Howard Rheingold wrote in his 1994 book "The Virtual Community", "People in virtual communities use words on screens to exchange pleasantries and argue, engage in intellectual discourse, conduct commerce, exchange knowledge, share emotional support, make plans, brainstorm, gossip, feud, fall in love, find friends and lose them, play games, flirt, create a little high art and a lot of idle talk. People in virtual communities do just about everything people do in real life, but we leave our boides behind" However some people may give false information under the guise of fake names and indulge in fraudulent activities. Such cases as reported in news papers have been increasing day by day and now we have a separate wing in the police department to detect 'Cyber Crimes' and prosecute the criminals.

Digital Library

          A digital library is a library in which wide range of collections are stored in digital formats as opposed to print, micro form, or other media and accessible by computers. The digital content may be stored locally, or accessed remotely via computer networks. A digital library is an information retrieval system of digitally stored contents.

Emergence of Digital Libraries

          In ancient times information stored in palm leaves, were collected and preserved in libraries (e.g. Nalanda Vishwa Vidyalaya in Bihar, Saraswathimahal Library in Tanjore etc.). From 19^th century, after the advent of printing machine, information available in the form of printed books, magazines research journals, documents, diagrams etc. were preserved in libraries and made available for use to the general public. In the later part of the 20^th century, existing information in the print form were transformed into advanced forms such as audio and video tapes, Cassette Discs, Microfilms etc. Libraries were considered as store houses of all types of information. The general publics were permitted to make use of the library either by visiting the books there or take them home on loan for a short period of time. When the applications of computer expanded its fold on human activities, libraries too came under its spell.

          To begin with he catalogue of books available in the library was digitized so that any one could with the help of his personal computer know whether the information needed by him is available in that particular library or not. This facility provided by libraries is called OPAC (Online Public Access System).

As information started pouring, day by day, books too multiplied in their number. as books and other information compilations required large space for their storage and preservation, space-crunch was felt in crowded libraries. In order to overcome this difficulty, publishers soon started to bring out books in C.D. Roms and micro-films. This advanced technologies enabled us to store vast information (books) in much smaller space; searching for information too became easier; time required for search is also very less; retrieved information could also be easily and quickly copied.

          Advancement in information and communication technology and computer applications combined together today to bring out a new dimension in information storage. As more number of people in the society today have basic knowledge and skills in handling computer, they store the needed information in their personal computers, copy them in a separate floppy / pendrive whenever required and carry it with ease to anywhere they go. This trend is becoming increasingly popular and such users often visit the web-sites in the internet, to pick up the information / data they need. Digital libraries are thus born to fulfil the needs of such people who rely on computers and the internet, to get at the information they need.

          Today information stored in the digital form are available in web-sites as books, journals, research articles, news bulletins, etc. those who have the facility of a computer and a proper internet connection can visit or download the information stored in web-sites, by using a proper browser. At present, navigators like 'Internet Explorer', 'Netscap Navigators' etc. are used internationally for browsing. The digital information storied in Web-sites is not only in text form but have also animation, natural and virtual environments, audio and video effects etc. and hence rich in quality. In any field on any topic, one can locate various kinds of information designed and stored as 'Blogs' in the Websites, which could be visited at any time from anywhere.

          Thus it could be summarized that digital library is a storehouse where information needed for users belonging to various fields are digitally stored and made available 'on-line', It is not only a wide range of collections and organizations, but also the on-line collection of information is managed by and made accessible to a community of users.

          Those websites alone which fulfil these two conditions viz. (i) digital storing of information (ii) online information is managed and made accessible to a community of users, are called digital libraries; and not all websites.

Advantages of Digital Library

1.    No Physical boundary.

2.    The user of a digital library need not go to the library physically; people from all over the world can gain access to the same information, as long as an internet connection is available.

3.    Round the clock availability of information.

4.    Multiple access: The same resources can be used simultaneously by any number of institutions and patrons.

5.    Information Retrieval: The user is able to use any search term (word, phrase, title, name, and subject) to search the entire collection.

6.    Preservation and Conservation: Unlike traditional books, digitized materials do not fall to degradation due to repeated visit of numerous users or their downloading.

7.    Space: Traditional libraries are limited by storage space; digital libraries have the potential to store much more information, simply because digital information requires very little physical space to contain it. As such, the cost of maintaining a digital library is much lower that that of a traditional library.

8.    Maintenance Cost: A traditional library must spend large sums of money paying for staff, book maintenance, rent for the building and cost of purchasing additional books. Digital libraries do away with these fees. Both type of libraries require cataloguing input to allow users to locate and retrieve material.

9.    Digitized materials are rich as they contain audio, video, and animation.

10.           Large chunk of information could be reached at a single source.

11.           Searching and downloading information take place rapidly in digital libraries.

12.           In downloading information, there is no chance for mistake or confusion to take place.

13.           The most significant aspect of digital library is that the information available are updated and get refined every day.

14.           Added Value: Certain characteristics of objects, primarily the quality of images may be improved. Digitization can enhance legibility and remove visible flaws such as strains and discolouration.

Demerits of Digital Library

1.    Copyright Confusion: Downloading and distributing information is very easy but there is confusion over the copyright owners. Works in digitized library cannot be shared over different periods of time in the manner of a traditional library. The republication of material on the Web by library. The republication of material on the Web by libraries may require permission from rights holders, and there is a conflict of interest between them and publishers who may wise to create web versions of their content for commercial purposes.

2.    Technological Changes: Technological changes over time and forward migration must be a constant consideration of every library. Migration is a means of transferring an unstable digital object to another more stable format, operating system or programming language. Migration allows the ability to retrieve and display digital objects that are in danger of becoming extinct. This is a rather successful short-term solution for the problem of aging and obsolute digital formats, but with ever-changing nature of computer technologies, migratin becomes this never-ending race to transfer digital objects to new and more stable formats. Migration is also flawed in the sense that when the digital files are being transferred, the new platform may not be able to capture the full integrity of the original object.

3.    Space required to record pictures and diagrams in the digital format is more than for the text and consequently involves high cost. Collection of information in a library is a continuous process. If libraries own the responsibility of updating information, digitizing pictures etc. or conserving information through forward migration then confusion results about who is to own the recurring cost of preservatin.

4.    Digitizing pictorial information / data is highly expensive.

Virtual Classroom Technologies

Virtual Classroom

A virtual classroom is a learning environment created in the cyber space. The objectives of a virtual classroom are to improve access to advanced educational experiences by allowing students and instructors to participate in remote learning communities using personal computers; and to improve the quality and effectiveness of education by using the computer to support a collaborative learning process. The explosion of the knowledge age has changed the context of what is learnt and how it is learnt – the concept of virtual classrooms is a manifestation of this knowledge revolution.

Hypertext Courses

          Structured course material is used as in a conventional distance education programme. However, all materials are provided electronically and can be viewed with a browser. Hyperlinks connect text, multimedia parts and exercises in a meaningful way.

Video-based Courses

          These are like face-to face classroom courses, with a lecturer speaking and Powerpoint slides or online examples used for illustration. Video-streaming technologies are used. Students watch the video by means of freeware or plug-ins (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player)

Audio-based Courses

          There are similar to video based courses but instead of moving pictures, only the sound track of the lecturer is provided. Often the course pages are enhanced with a text transcription of the lecture.

Animated Courses

          Enriching text-oriented or audio-based course material by animations is generally a good way of making the content and its appearance more interesting. Animations are created using Macromedia Flash or similar technologies. These animations help understand key concepts and also allow for better retention of learning.

Web-supported Textbook Courses

          These are based on specific textbooks. Students read and reflect the chapters by themselves. Review questions, topics for discussion, exercises, case studies, etc. are given chapter wise on a website and discussed with the lecturer. Class meetings may be held to discuss matters in a chat room, for example.

Peer-to-peer Courses

          These are courses taught "on-demand" and without a prepared curriculum. A new field of online education has emerged in 2007 through new online education platforms.

Communication and Interaction in Virtual Education

          Students in virtual education typically acquire knowledge in a unidirectional manner (e.g. by studying a video, reading a textbook chapter) with Subsequent discussions of problems, solving exercises, case studies, review questions, etc. help the students to understand better what they learned before. Electronic media like a discussion forum, chat room, voice mail, e-mail, etc. are often employed for communication.

          Homework assignments are normally submitted electronically, e.g. as an attachment to an e-mail. When help is needed, lecturers, tutors, or fellow students, or a help desk are available, just like in a real university. The difference is that all communication goes via electronic media.

e-Book

          An e-Book (short form of electronic book) is an e-text that forms the digital media equivalent of a conventional printed book. E-books are usually read on personal computers or smart phones or dedicated hardware devices known as e-book readers or e-book devices. Many mobile phones can also be used to read e-books.

Comparison of e-Books with Printed Books

1.    E-book readers are more fragile than paper books and more susceptible to physical damage.

2.    E-book readers can malfunction and e-books can be damaged due to faults in hardware or software.

3.    E-book readers are more likely to be stolen than paper books.

4.    Depending on the device, an e-book may be difficult to read in bright sunlight.

5.    Most publishers don’t produce the e-book equivalent of their printed books. In other cases the product quality is lower or it is released later.

6.    E-books can be easily hacked through the use of hardware or software modifications and widely disseminated on the internet and / or other e-book readers, without approval from the author or publisher. This ease of piracy is a significant drawback for publishers.

7.    If an e-book device is stolen, lost, or broken beyond repair, all e-books stored on the device may be lost. This can be avoided by backup either on another device or by the e-book provider.

8.    There is a loss of tactility and aesthetics of book-bindings. Also lot is the ability to very quickly riffle through the pages to search for a particular section or to get a sense of the book merely by sight.

9.    Screen resolution of reading devices may be lower than actual paper.

10.                       Due to the digital rights management reselling or lending out an e-book may have complications.

11.                       Some books available as e-book cannot be read on some e-book readers because they are not supplied in a format those readers allow.

12.                       While printed books remain readable for ages, changing technologies and less durable electronic storage media require e-books to be copied to a new carrier after some years.

13.                       E-book readers require various substances to produce, and are an environmental hazard as they are non-biodegradable.

14.                       Physical discomfort for some users, including eye strain.

15.                       More expensive, whereas used books are cheaper and most often only a few hundred rupees can be lost or stolen at one time.

16.                       A book will never break, but an e-book device can break, and a lot of money can be lost at one time.

17.                       One will never read thousands of books really well or over a short period of time, so the high amount held on an e-book reader becomes irrelevant.

18.                       A book is safe from electromagnetic pulses and overloads.

19.                       A whole paper book is never broken beyond repair, unless entirely burnt or decayed.

Production of e-Books

          Some e-books are produced simultaneously with the production of a printed format, as described in electronic publishing, though in m any instances they may not be put on sale until later. Often, e-books are produced from pre-existing hard-copy books, generally by document scanning, sometimes with the use of robotic book scanners, having the technology to quickly scan books without damaging the original print edition. Scanning a book produces a set of image files, which may be additionally be converted into text format b an OCR programme. Occasionally, as in some e-text projects, a book may be produced by re-entering the text from a keyboard.

Virtual Classroom Technologies

Virtual Classroom

A virtual classroom is a learning environment created in the cyber space. The objectives of a virtual classroom are to improve access to advanced educational experiences by allowing students and instructors to participate in remote learning communities using personal computers; and to improve the quality and effectiveness of education by using the computer to support a collaborative learning process. The explosion of the knowledge age has changed the context of what is learnt and how it is learnt – the concept of virtual classrooms is a manifestation of this knowledge revolution.

Hypertext Courses

          Structured course material is used as in a conventional distance education programme. However, all materials are provided electronically and can be viewed with a browser. Hyperlinks connect text, multimedia parts and exercises in a meaningful way.

Video-based Courses

          These are like face-to face classroom courses, with a lecturer speaking and Powerpoint slides or online examples used for illustration. Video-streaming technologies are used. Students watch the video by means of freeware or plug-ins (e.g. Windows Media Player, Real Player)

Audio-based Courses

          There are similar to video based courses but instead of moving pictures, only the sound track of the lecturer is provided. Often the course pages are enhanced with a text transcription of the lecture.

Animated Courses

          Enriching text-oriented or audio-based course material by animations is generally a good way of making the content and its appearance more interesting. Animations are created using Macromedia Flash or similar technologies. These animations help understand key concepts and also allow for better retention of learning.

Web-supported Textbook Courses

          These are based on specific textbooks. Students read and reflect the chapters by themselves. Review questions, topics for discussion, exercises, case studies, etc. are given chapter wise on a website and discussed with the lecturer. Class meetings may be held to discuss matters in a chat room, for example.

Peer-to-peer Courses

          These are courses taught "on-demand" and without a prepared curriculum. A new field of online education has emerged in 2007 through new online education platforms.

Communication and Interaction in Virtual Education

          Students in virtual education typically acquire knowledge in a unidirectional manner (e.g. by studying a video, reading a textbook chapter) with Subsequent discussions of problems, solving exercises, case studies, review questions, etc. help the students to understand better what they learned before. Electronic media like a discussion forum, chat room, voice mail, e-mail, etc. are often employed for communication.

          Homework assignments are normally submitted electronically, e.g. as an attachment to an e-mail. When help is needed, lecturers, tutors, or fellow students, or a help desk are available, just like in a real university. The difference is that all communication goes via electronic media.

Learning Without Frontiers (LWF)

Emergence of Learning without Frontiers

          Learning without frontiers is a concept propounded and implemented by UNESCO. Life in modern times is becoming more complex, unregulated and challenging. In such a situation individuals and institutions should rise to the occasion and utilize fully the various knowledge related organizations to develop and update their knowledge and skills and thereby understand the changing trends in social and economic scenario and to modify their beliefs and customs.

          Only when every one discharges his duties and responsibilities, the progress of the world will be smooth. Glaring inequalities in education, employment opportunities and economic growth result in conflict and violence. Social consciousness among the people of advanced countries and communities is need to develop humanism, higher productivity and universal welfare. That is why life long education and much faceted education system are needed to reduce the imbalances between the advanced countries and underdeveloped countries.

          To consider education is a need for young persons only is a myth. It is not only a preparation for a job to meet temporary needs, but also a necessity to cope up with modern life. Now there are more than 900 million illiterates in the world, out of who 130 million are children, most of them from Asia, Africa and Latin America. Many reports have pointed out that our school graduates   are less skilled and lack essential knowledge about modern developments.

In such a scenario, learning without frontiers is one of the attempts to meet the challenges and opportunities that area facing mankind such  as disintegration of society, cultural degradation, weakening of the authority of government, disillusionment among people and rise of fundamentalism.

Construction of Learning without Frontiers

          Learning without frontiers, sponsored by UNESCO is an attempt to solve complex social and political problems. It empowers the individuals and enables them to reconstruct the society.

          It removes obstacles like distance, time, age, situations and tries to meet the needs of various sections of people all over the world. To develop this vision, voluntary organizations all over the world, non-governmental agencies, privately owned business houses, philanthropists, universities and charitable trusts should work together so that a conducive environment for Learning without frontiers should be created.

Salient Features

1.    Open Learning Climate: It includes informal education, formal education and nonformal education.

2.    Use of Technology in Education: To remove illiteracy, audio visual aids and information technology to be used widely.

3.    UNESCO prepared and used several learning packages which included.

4.    Youth from the marginalized sections of society to be given opportunities for the betterment of their societies.

A conference was held in New Delhi in 1993 on the theme 'Education for all'. This was termed as 'Distance Education Initiative'. In this summit nine densely populated countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan) participated.

          The total population of these nine countries constitutes fifty percent of world population. In this summit, the role of distance education in national development was emphasized. The participant countries agreed to co-operate in the fields of teacher-education, meeting the further education needs of neoliterates and providing educational facilities for the school dropouts.

Technology in Learning without Frontiers

          In 1996 a conference was held in Bangkok (Thailand) to deliberate on the theme "Communication and Information Technology in LWF". It identified four phases in using technology in LWF like i) Planning; ii) Pilot Study; iii) Execution      and iv) Evaluation. It recommended the use of technology for locally produced materials in LWF, training for field workers and exchange of information and experiences.

ICT to Reaching the Unreached

          Though there is a phenomenal expansion of educational institutions and India's literacy rate has gone up to seventy percent, there are millions of people who never had an opportunity to learn. These unfortunate people include nomadic tribes, landless agricultural labourers, tribals living in hilly tracts, street children, adults and children living in remote islands and children with learning problems. These persons were till recently termed as unreachable. Now, with the aid of technology and enthusiastic social workers they have been reached by the National Open School, Indira Gandhi National Open University and State Open Universities.

Open Schools and Open Universities

Open learning system does not require any previous formal qualifying education. For entry, minimum age is prescribed. Any person can join these institutions after satisfying the minimum age rule and taken an entrance test.

          Courses offered relate to the needs or learners and learner groups could ask for new courses to meet their needs. Learners could choose the subjects of their preference and no group or combination of subjects are thrust upon them. Learners may or may not appear for the examinations held twice in a year Learners may appear for any subject or subjects, when they are ready for it Degrees, Diploma and Certificates are given to successful candidates in the annual convocation or by post.

          Learners are provided with printed self-learning materials (SLM). They could contact the nearest study centre for any academic help. Contact programmes are conducted regularly, though attendance required is minimal or optional.

          Open learning system encourages learners to learn by themselves, learn during their free time, choose subjects of their choice for study, select courses which will be useful in their career and above all derive satisfaction that they are enjoying something, which they missed as children or youth.

          Indira Gandhi National Open University  (IGNOU) and Tamilnadu Open University (TNOU) are offering numerous short term and long term courses and the fees are moderate IGNOU provides for both English and Hindi medium, while TNOU offers instruction and study materials in Tamil or English.

          England opened its first open university near London after second world war, which has inspired many nations to develop their own models of open learning system.

          Open universities have eased the pressure on  formal higher education. Many home makers, teachers, nurses, pensioners, job seekers and employees have availed of this opportunity to get a diploma or degree which they may not get now, but what they missed while young.

          Open Schools are helpful to scores of low paid employees to get the basic minimum qualification of Std. VIII, X or XII to enable them to complete for government or company jobs.

          To conclude, open schools and open universities have given a helping hand to the neglected sections of society. Both formal and nonformal education are expanding and even then the demand for quality education for all is yet to be realized. The concept of life long education has acquired a new dimension in the form of correspondence courses and open universities. They are paving the way for an egalitarian society. It is note worthy that in its document 'Learning to Be' UNESCO has commended open learning institutions.