CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF RELATED RESEARCH

2.0 INTRODUCTION

It is a fact that, what ever has been done earlier may prove to
be beneficial to the coming generations or the present generations.
Human beings are such animals who can take advantage of the
knowledge and findings of the previous generations as well as from
the surroundings.

Scott and Wortheimor (1932) has rightly stated that “Review of

related literature may serve to avoid unnecessar y duplication and
may help to make progress towards the solution of new problem”.
As a matter of fact, we hereb y begin the study of related literature in
order to avoid duplication of work even after putting whole-hearted
efforts and to know about the guidelines for the completion of the
stud y under consideration. Good Barr and Seates have mentioned
the following purposes of reviewing the related research;

• To share whether the evidence alread y available solves the

problems adequatel y without further investigations and thus to
avoid the risk of duplication.

• To provide ideas, theories, explanations or hypothesis and

variables in formulating the problem.

• To suggest methods of research appropriate to the problem.

• To locate comparative data useful in the interpretation of

results and

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• To contribute to the general scholarship of the investigator.

In view of the importance of the related literature of research

was done comprehensively and the same has been presented in the
present chapter. (Scott and Wortheimor (1932) Introduction to
ps ychological research New York, Harcourt Braice)

Review of the related studies implies locating, reading and

evaluating reports of research as well as reports of casual
observation and opinions that are related to the individuals planned
research project. It gives the researcher an understanding of the
previous work that has been done in that area. Until we learn what
others have done and what still remains to be done in an area. It is
difficult to achieve aims. It provides us with an opportunity of
gaining insight into the methods, measures, subjects and
approaches employed by other research worker.

2.1 EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED IN ABRO AD

Satellite communication for education is used the world over.

Use of satellite and interactive television broadcasts are used in
countries where geograph y and demograph y make it difficult to
provide efficient formal education.

There are number of experiments conducted by China using

satellite, but an important experiment in the field of education are
as; China Central Radio and TV University (CCRTVU) is a dedicated
distance education institution, which offers multimedia university
courses through radio, TV, print, audio-visual materials and
computer software. It is located in Beijing under the direct
supervision of the State Education Commission (SEDC). The
CCRTVU, together with 28 provincial TV universities (PRTVU), was
set up in 1979.

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 At present, this distance education system is made up of the
CCRTVU, 44 PRTVUs, more than 690 branch schools at prefecture
and city level, 1, 600 stud y centers at countr y level and 13, 000
teaching classes. The system is run and operated at different
levels, both central and local, based on overall planning with the
CCRTVU as its centre.

On 1 s t Jul y 1986, China’s Educational TV (CETV) was founded

and it began to transmit CCRTVU’s courses via satellite. It has now
three channels available to transmit programmes, mainl y the
CCRTVU’s own courses. At the beginning, CCRTVU’s courses were
transmitted for 33 teaching hours per week nation wide via the
microwave network of the CCTV.

At the moment, the total number of programmes transmitted

via both CCTV and CETV per year amounts to about 9, 000 teaching
hours. Meanwhile, local TV and radio stations also transmit some of
the CCRTVU’s courses as well as local TVU’s courses. Chinese
education TV experiment is one wa y video broadcast via satellite
with return via various media. Sina Sat-I from Sino Satellite
communication compan y limited covers all of China. The CCRTVU
s ystem has become an important component in China’s higher
education system. It makes great contributions not onl y in
extending the scale of higher education by training a large number
of qualified professional personal for economic construction and
social development, but also in adjusting the disciplines for higher
education and improving the imbalance in the geographical
distribution of higher education in China.

Canada launched its first satellite, Alouette in 1962. With the

launch of this satellite, Canada became the third nation in 1962 to
have built its own satellite for orbit. During this decade the other

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types of satellite launched were-Alouette ISIS satellites and the
black brand rockets. With these satellites, it was possible to deliver
television programmes in English and French to the whole countr y.
In 1967, Canada’s space programme, refocused on satellite
applications. In 1972, Canada launched Anik A.K. NASA launched it
on Thor-Delta launch vehicle and Canada became the first nation to
have a domestic satellite in geostationary orbit; Anik A 2 was
launched in 1973 as a backup, and Anik A 3 was kept on the ground
till 1975. With the Anik A satellites, the quality telephone service
and television programme reached ever y region in the country.
Telesat Canada introduced satellite services on commercial basis;
the communications research centre of DOC developed new
communications satellite technology and new users.
Communications Technology Satellite (CTS) was an experimental
programme jointl y sponsored by NASA. DOC supplied the earth
stations. Their earth stations were very flexible as the y were quickly
installed and were easy to operate by the users. Many educational
programmes were telecast through Anik through out Ontario. In
1979, the government of Canada supported another series, Anik B,
which was the second generation satellite launched by Telesat
Canada.

Knowledge Network – an Educational Channel was set up in

British Columbia. With these two satellites, Canada was seen as a
world leader in the use of satellites for social services, especiall y for
health & education. In Canada satellite systems have been adopted
to serve educational needs of many provinces. British Columbia,
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Quebec, each have a
dedicated satellite channel and Ontario has two, one for English and
second for French language. Medical specialists use television via

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the satellite. Night school students in British Columbia also receive
lectures from an institute of Technolog y in Vancouver.

The Pacific Ocean is a region of various cultures and

inhabitants. People in the region speak more than 1200 languages.
The pan pacific and communication experiments by satellite
(PEACESAT) prorgamme is now celebrating its 40 years in the
pacific Islands. The programme started in 60’s when in 1963, the
first geostationary communication satellites was launched.

In 1966, NASA’s Application Technology Satellite (ATS-I was

launched to conduct weather information experiments. In 1971, Dr.
B ystom proposal the PEACESAT project to NASA, which was
approved. The proposal was to demonstrate the benefits of
currently available telecommunication technolog y when applied
specifically to the needs of sparsel y populated areas by university of
Hawai at Monoa, at Hilo, Maui Community College, Wellington
Polytechnic and the university of south pacific. The PEACESAT
network supported 100 earth stations and incorporated more sub-
networks. In 1987, the PEACESAT programme was reestablished
under the US Department of Commerce, which approved
PEACESATs use of GOES-3 Satellite in 1989. IN 1993, it was
referred as digital PEACESAT. The PEACESAT network grew to
include 53 earth stations in 22 pacific Islands b y 1996.

The main attraction of the PEACESAT services is the video

conferencing. It also supports data services such as access to the
Internet. Programme areas supported are; distance learning and
training, tale health/telemedicine and research. Presentl y,
PEACESAT is using GOES-7 satellite. Current services include
interactive video and voice teleconferencing and access to Internet.
PEACESAT has survived 40 hours.

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 Most of the African states attained independence b y 1960.
When the educational facilities were inadequate and large section of
the population were illiterate. Most of the independent African
countries decided to give top priority to provide education for all.
The first radio broadcast station in Africa was started in Algeria in
1925 followed by Eg ypt in 1926 and Kenya in 1928.

The African states did not restrict the broadcasting to formal

education, but used it in non-formal and adult education. The
pattern of broadcast was 15 minutes of broadcast followed by
classroom discussion. Some examples are;

 The Ghana broadcasting corporation was started in 1957 and

television was introduced to school broadcasting in 1965. By
70’s there were seven subjects broadcast over television.

 In Ethiopia, the educational television came into being in

1965. The first broad cast was in Physics followed b y English.

 The Ivor y coast and Niger decided to use television for direct
teaching in order to introduce innovations and also expand
educational opportunity.

 In the last few years there has been a substantial growth of

satellite based broadcasting in Africa. In 1995, South Africa
launched the world’s first digital direct-to home subscriber
satellite service known as mindset network to tackle country’s
educational and health care programme.

The AVU (African Virtual Classroom) began its pilot operations in

1997 by 2003, 31 AVU learning centers (LC’s have been established
in 17 sub Saharan countries in Africa. During this pilot phase AVU
delivered some 3, 000 hours of instructional programmes, registered

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over 23, 000 students in semester long courses, provided 1, 000
personal computers to learning centers, and provided a range of
other services to its members. The AVU infrastructure currentl y
consists of a broadcast network with the uplink at Net sat express
hub New York, UAS and multiple receive onl y sites (AVU learning
centers) spread across sub-Saharan Africa. This network utilizes
digital video and audio broadcast over the NSS-7 in C-band.

Australia satellite system was started in 1985 with Aussat–1 &

2 of the first generation of satellites. The down link has two national
beams and four spot beams covering different parts of the countr y
Aussat–3 have a beam with uplink & downlink capacity available for
the south west pacific region. There are different types of earth
stations. Interactive, which can receive television broadcasts and
data and voice transmissions as well as transmit data and voice
television, receive only TVRO which can only get television, data &
voice but can not transmit signals to the satellite.

In New Zealand there is a single department of education and

nationwide public service broadcasting organization. 780 radio
broadcast programmes were produced annuall y by 1973. In 1974,
the production of school broadcast shifted from radio NZ to
department of education. The New Zealand correspondence school
began broadcasting to its pupils in 1931. The 1982 broadcasts, 279
programmes, comprised 45 hours of original programming and 12
hours of repeats. New Zealand produces programmes for adults
like mone y programme and computer programme.

In United Kingdom, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

provides quality educational resources to all levels of people. These
resources include radio & television broadcasts. Radio broadcasts
for schools in UK had been run since 1924. The TV programmes are

36
produced for the schools keeping in mind the challenges of the new
curriculum.

BBC has broadcasting research department, which was set up

as earl y as 1936. It provides audience reactions to both TV & radio
output. The Open University in Britain, established in 1971,
broadcasts lectures on BBC television. The programmes are
broadcast on the BBC’s national radio and television networks. The
programmes are for undergraduate or non-degree programmes and
have a reach of more than ten million viewers.

JISC & UKERNAZ- way satellite access trial project is a two-

wa y satellite Internet access. This pilot project operated from
November 2002 until the end of April 2004. It involves 17 higher or
further education sites in the U.K. The aim of this trial was to
investigate how far satellite telecommunication technology can
contribute towards solving connectivity and access problems in
remote and currentl y undeserved area.

The space link satellite will be world’s first satellite, which is

safely designed and dedicated to education. This satellite will
enable the student’s world wide to make observations in space and
perform quality of experiments and other space related activities at
a low cost.

The space link satellite will be about 55 –60 kgs, traveling

round the earth at 1200-1300 km altitude. It will provide a reliable,
direct, one-stop service for schools through its radio signals,
equipments and speciall y tailored data streams. Some of its
equipment will be remotel y re-configurable to meet teacher ’s
requirements.

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 In France, broadcasts for adult education began in late 1952.
This feel to the establishment of tale dubs in schools for the whole
community to watch TV together. Les Amphis de France 5 is an
example of educational programmes video broadcast via the
satellites telecom 2 C from France, a French educational TV
programme and website, has been operating as a service since
February 1996. It allows schools, training centres and individuals to
access audio-visual products and documents via a dedicated
website or via television.

Japan started its radio service for school in 1935. These

programmes were recognized as an educational aid in 1941 and
were popular, as there was shortage of teaching aids such as text
books. Nippn Hosa Kyokai (NHK) started a full-scale service for
schools in 1951, before the official TV service was started. NHK
started a specific educational TV channel in 1958 and the schools
service was shared between this and the main channel NHK has its
own satellite broadcasting channel. Majority of the schools at all
levels make use of NHKs school programmes.

Japan’s space programme began in 1955 with the contribution

of a handful of university professors. In 1970, Japan became the
fourth countr y to launch its own satellite in orbit, after the USSR, the
united states & France, Japan enjo yed a 100 percent success rate
with its rocket though Japan’s space agency the National Space
Development Agency (NASDA).

The Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) is a global

partnership of learning centers that use advanced information and
communication technologies to connect people around the world.
GDLN offers video conferencing and Internet resources for

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communication world bank established GDLN and till da y it is
providing support to the net work.

During 2003-2004, GDLN facilitated more than 850 video

conferencing based activities, connecting an estimated 26, 000
people around the world.

Teletuks is an interactive television service. Teletuks is a

community based project and broadcasts currentl y beams, via digital
satellite, to 72 schools in the four in land provinces, namely
Gauteng, North West and Mpumalanga. These schools are mostl y
located in rural areas although some town ships, schools have also
been equipped using sponsorship money. The transmissions can be
viewed at an y of the more than 72 viewing venues across the
country or by any one who has access to DSTV at home.
S ynchronous or asynchronous interactivity is possible as students
can give feedback by phone, fax or e-mail. The formal university
programme also include print based materials. As a community
service, teletuks also televises lessons to senior secondary learners
in an endeavour to help address some of the educational needs of
the countr y and to help prepare potential students for the demands
of tertiary study.

It is a free service aiming to supplement what educators do at

school by giving extra tuition in the 'Killer subjects' like
Mathematics, Physical Science, Biolog y, English, Geograph y and
accounting. Career guidance and primar y health care slots are
integrated as well, dealing with issues like AIDS awareness and
even wa ys of becoming involved in pla ying professional rugby. The
intention of the programme is not to replace educators at schools,
but to assist learners preparing for their final school-leaving exam in
the more difficult aspects of the particular subject. The lessons are

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generic and aim to review \rather than to introduce new content.
Logistics, however, prevent suppl y of support material. The
programme is currently aimed at senior learners aged 16/18 (grades
11 & 12) who can watch 50 minute lessons in two subject, four
afternoons a week of the academic year the lesson schedule is
prepared a term in advance and sent to schools where the
designated facilitator is expected to notify learners and make further
arrangements regarding accessibility and operation of equipment.
Apart from the weekly lessons, a winter and spring school is also
scheduled during Jul y & October school holidays. A total of 30
hours per subject is screened annually. The providers of Teletuks
argue that as a mass medium, television is more accessible to the
average learner than computer technology. With in rural areas,
learners are also more likel y to make a personal investment in
satellite technolog y which could be shared by the community rather
than buy a PC that has a dedicated application.

The university of Pretoria has a history of investing in

Sophisticated educational technological applications. The
department of telematic learning and education innovation has used
satellite transmissions, electronic networks, the internet & its virtual
campus, to supplement traditional undergraduate and postgraduate
teaching for the past 7 years. Such innovations not onl y support
flexible, life long learning, but also make it possible to provide high
quality education to learners, many in remote areas, who can not be
accommodated in traditional face to face teaching scenarios. The
niche market, which the interactive transmissions serve, are
students enrolled for courses in the fields of education, nursing,
African languages and some modules in other faculties.
(www.jisc.ac.uk/sat-report 42-html)

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 Past course lectures are reborn as vibrant Power point
presentation; a faculty member teaches his students in Cambridge
while he himself is standing in Hong Kong; International Experts
located in Copenhagen and London interact with a class seated
inside a “wired” Harvard class room these are just a few examples of
technology in action today at the Harvard School of Education
(HGSE)

Such scenes are transforming traditional teaching at the

school as the y open classrooms to new places, people and ideas,
through the unprecedented use of web-based and interactive media.
These transformations themselves are made possible b y HGSE’s
Learning Technologies center, which regularly employs innovative
technologies like the common course Website Tool Kit.

Diverse and impressive results the results of these new

technologies from web-based video presentations to audio & video
conferencing are as diverse as the y are impressive. For example,
here at HGSE, Bigelow Professor, and Hobbs professor Howard
Gardner have employed the commons video Tool to integrate
annotated lectures into their classroom power point presentations
this year. And when the SARS outbreak in Asia prompted restrictions
on international travel, visiting professor Kai-Ming Cheng was
unable to return to Cambridge from Hong Kong but he was still able
to teach his two courses, S-552 and A-141 on schedule
nevertheless. Working with LTC staff, Cheng delivered six of his
lectures from the University of Hong Kong by video conference, via
an internet 2 connection.

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2.2. EXPERIMENTS CONDUCTED IN INDI A

In Indian space Research Organization (ISRO) was created

under the department of Atomic Energ y in 1969. ISRO played and
continues to play the ke y role in planning and executing national
space activities. In 1972, the government of India established the
space commission and the department of space (DOS). DOS
conducts the nations space activities for ISRO.

The first Indian satellite Ar yabhatla, named after the famous

Indian astronomer, was launched in April 1975 by the erstwhile
USSR Inter Cosmus Rocket into a near earth orbit. Then the
experiment popularly known as Satellite Instructional Television
Experiment (SITE) was conducted during 1975-76, which is one of
the largest educational experiments using satellites.

In 1980, India successfull y launched its own Rohini-I satellite

on a satellite launch vehicle (SLV) rocket from Sri Harikota launch
site. In 1981, when Bastra- II was launched India also launched an
experimental communication satellite, Ariane, passenger payload
experiment (APPLE) with a C- band transponder. With APLEE, many
communication experiments were carried out. APPLE gave a strong
foundation to India for fixed satellite system.

2.2.1. Indian National Satellite (INS AT)

Indian National Satellite (INSAT) system is the result of the

previous experiments like SITE; STEP and APPLE. It is one of the
largest domestic communication satellite system which includes 11
transponders.

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 India has alread y planned initiated INSAT-4 series of satellites.
It is proposed that this series will have INSAT- A to INSAT-4 G with
INSAT-4 D as a spare. It is expected that b y 2005, INSAT will have
251 transponders in various bonds.

INSAT brought about a rapid expansion of the TV net work and

covered over 65 percent of the Indian land mass and over 80
percent of the total population INSAT revolutionized
telecommunication and TV broadcast in the countr y. INSAT net work
is also being substantially used for educational purposes such as
country wide classroom programme conducted by the UGC,
educational television programmes broadcast in local languages for
the benefit of the rural population and programmes broad by the
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). The ground
s ystem for the INSAT system are supplied by the Indian industr y.

2.2.2. Indian Remote Sensing Satellites

India launched remote sensing satellites IRS-1A in 1988 on

board a soviet ‘Vostak’ rocket. It was shut down for routine services
after collecting about 300, 000 images. ISRO has at present more
than ten remote sensing satellite under development, scheduled to
be launched in the next decade. With the IRS and IONSAT series,
India has started to get the benefits of space technology for
developmental applications specially in the areas of communication,
broadcasting meteorolog y, disaster management and management of
resources.

2.2.3. Satellite Launch Vehicles

India has demonstrated its capability in the launch vehicle

technology too. The first launch was done in 1980 using SLV- 3.

43
This launch vehicle placed the Rohini satellite into a near earth
orbit. In 1981 & 1983, two more launches of SLV-3 were conducted.

2.2.4. GR AM S AT

The concept of dedicated GRAMSAT satellite was developed,

keeping in mind, the need to eradicate illiteracy in rural areas. The
GRAMSAT is to assist in providing continuing education for special
groups to ensure that their skill (technical) are up grated from time
to time.

As part of a countrywide GRAMSAT pilot, Swaran Ja yanti Vikas

Antariksh Upagraha Yojana (Vidyavahini) has been inaugurated in
Orissa using INSAT-3 B. This will provide developmental
communication to about 800 villages in the Kala Handi Bolangair –
Koraput region.

2.2.5. METS AT

India also launched METSAT in 2002 from Prof. Satish Dhawan

space centre in Andhra Pradesh, which is an exclusive and
dedicated meteorological satellite.

2.2.6. GS AT- Experimental Satellites

GSAT’s are experiments satellites; GSAT’s are experiments

satellites. The first GSAT-1, satellites was launched by GSLV –D1
flight in April 2001. It carried two S-band transponders for Digital
Audio Broadeas’ (DAB) and three normal C –band transponders.
GSAT-3 & GSAT-4 are under planning. These satellites will carry
regenerative transponders.

2.2.7. EDUS AT

Edusat, India’s first thematic satellite dedicated exclusively for

education, was launched from Satish Dhawan space centre in

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Sriharikota on September 20, 2004. The 1950 kg. Satellite, placed
in the geosynchronous stationar y orbit, has multiple regional beams
covering different parts of the country. It has five Ku-band
transponders with spot beam covering northern, northeastern,
eastern, southern and western regions.

Dr. Kasturirangan, who was chairman of ISRO at the

conceptualization stage of Edusat said, “The satellite is being
planned in view of the challenges faced by the nation in the field of
education and the potential of suing satellite communication to
support education”.

Pilot projects have been undertaken to ensure the effective

utilization of Edusat. These are in Karnataka, Maharashatra and
Madhya Pradesh, and constitute the first phase experiments. In the
second and third phases, the Edusat network will be fully
operational.

Satellite based teleconferencing for training and development

b y remote sensing and communication, Gandhinagar: RESECO was
started in 1995 with the help of ISRO, Government of Gujarat has
set up its own teaching ends comprising studio and uplinking
facilities at RESECO. The receiving facilities are at 150 locations
and sets are being set up at the block level. The state government
has its own network with return audio and video through web camera
that is used for governance and administrative purposes.

Satellite communication for rural development by Abdul Nazir

Sahib-State Institute of Rural Department (ANSSIRD) SATCOM
Center, Mysore: This project started in 1995 using ISRO facilities at
Bangalore. The state departments, like rural development,
agriculture, education and health, took the initiative in setting up

45
their own studio and uplinking facilities at AMS-SIRD SATCOM
centre at Mysore in 2001. The project covers all the 20 districts of
the state. Receiving sets have been provided at DIET's. Facilities at
the block level are to be expanded by in staling 259 additional DRS
TV Sets (Trivedi (2005).

2.2.8 IGNOU-AIR Interactive Radio Counseling

In May 1998, the IGNOU-AIR interactive universities. IGNOU

collaborated with AIR Bhopal and started the project. The
experiment was successful and therefore extended to other AIR
stations. The focus of the counseling sessions is the academic
subjects. At present, these sessions are broad cast from 189 AIR
stations in India. IGNOU is using this mode to reach the isolated and
remote areas on the first and the third Sunda y of ever y month, IRC
is an National Broadcast Network. The session is for one hour.
Similarly, on the second and fourth (fifth) Sunda ys of ever y month,
the session is of one hour in all the AIR stations, except Srinagar
where pre-recorded lessons are broadcast at right for one hour. The
state open universities conduct the IRCs from Ahemedabad, Bhopal,
Bangalore, Patna, Jaipur, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai on the
fourth Sunday of every month.

A few evaluation studies on interactive radio counseling have

been reported. Chaudhary & Bansal (2000), Sukumar (2001) and
Sharma (2002) found that the participants appreciated the
interactive radio counseling sessions. However, it was found that
there was need to encourage interactivity amongst the listeners.
Non-students also make use of these programmes. Learners
suggested the used of local language for interaction EMPC-IGNOU,
June 2005.

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 One of the major experiments conducted through this mode of
NIEPA was in July 197. The experiment was a prelude to the world
conference "Education India- The Next Millennium". There were two
important dimensions of this experiments- The content and the
virtuall y of the conference. The one day experiment was divided
into four sessions. The first theme was education for All, the second
on Education and the World of Work. The focus of this session was
on higher education. The third theme focussed on educational
financing. The last session was on quality of education. The
conference was participated b y over 125 persons at different
locations of the country among the participants were education
secretaries, former Vice -Chancellor, Directors, Professor and
members of different NGO's.

The Kanwal Rekhi school of Information Technology (Kresl T)

at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bomba y, has started the
Distance Education Programme from 2002. The objective of the
programme is to make lectures by the expert faculty accessible to
students at far places through setting up of remote centers across
the countr y. The lectures are broadcast using VSAT net work and
hence provided live interaction between the students and the faculty,
There is a stead y increase in the number of students and in the
number of remote centres since the distance education programme
started. With the success of the programme, the faculty believes
that this is the way to the future to provide quality education. (Ar ya
Krithivasan and Iyer) (2005).

47
2.2.9. Audio-Conferencing in Training of Teachers at Primary
Stage: A pilot study

A three-day orientation programme of primary school teachers

through audio conferencing was organized by NCERT in
collaboration with AIR, Indore Station (MP), from 22 n d to 24 t h March,
99. The pedagogical and management problem faced by teachers
was the content of the programme.

This programme was organized by utilizing the off timings of

AIR, Indore. In all, 3 hours and 15 minutes time was used for live
broadcast (10 A.M. to 11.45 A.M. and 3.16 P.M. to 4.45 P.M.). To
establish two-wa y communication the participants were equipped
with a radio set, telephone and fax facility.

Objective of this study was:

• To assess the feasibility, workability and effectiveness of audio

conferencing in the area of teacher education by using the off
timing of radio station.

Sample:

There were 10 teacher centers in the Indore Education District

(Indore, Mowh and Sanware). 20 teachers were randoml y selected
and invited to each center. Making the total sample 200 primary
school teachers.

Design of the programme:

The programme was organized in three phases.

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Phase -I: Problem Phase-

In the first phase teachers ask questions through telephone

from the teacher centers. Being a live programme all the teachers
could listen each other. The role of the expert was onl y to ask
supplementary questions at this stage.

Phase -II: Solution Phase –

During this phase the teachers discussed the solution of the

chosen problem in face to face mode. The y also wrote possible
solution to the discussed problem and sent to AIR through fax for
discussion and dissemination. This is purely non-broadcast phase
(11.45 A.M. to 3.15 P.M.) when AIR is busy in its own regular
programmes.

Phase-III: Discussion –

Again a live broadcast phase (3.16 P.M. to 4.45 P.M.) during off
timing of the AIR. In this phase experts discussed solutions sent b y
teachers and gave their opinion and comments. Teachers were free
to make comments and ask supplementary questions during live
discussion.

E valuation:

The finding reveals that about 86% teachers agreed that the
programme was useful and better than the face -to- face training
mode, where second or third generation level trainees train them.
Through this training, they were able to talk to the District, State and
National level experts directly. About 84% participants felt that the
use of local telephone was a wise decision and cost effective affair.
Also 95% participants opined the radio broadcast was ver y clearl y
audible.

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Conclusion:

The review of researches done in this chapter reveals that

teleconferencing is a powerful and alternate mode of training and
retraining of teaching community not only in Indian context but also
abroad. When viewed in the context of resources available and the
magnitude of the problems, teleconferencing is the only medium
which can face the challenge of reaching the masses in every nook
and corner of our country. It can cover the remotest hilly and tribal
areas like Himachal Pradesh as well. Teleconferencing can
penetrate not onl y distance but also barriers of diversity in our
country including languages. It cannot be ignored that India still has
some inaccessible areas where expansion of education has faced
difficulties. Hence, teleconferencing can entertain, educate and
direct these disadvantaged and under privileged groups through a
powerful and meaningful programme.

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