A Plan for facing challenges before teaching community

In my last post, I tried to summarize challenges before teaching community (or in other words education system because currently teachers are core part of education system) and left the plan to meet these challenges for next post. Now I am trying to present proposed plan which can help individual teacher or student to develop themselves as well as empowered them for contribution for institutional development.
Plan is based on concept of Real Institute (RI) and Virtual Institute (VI). Real institutes exist in real world and working under constraint of space and time. Here teacher and students meet for fix period of time, books and materials are available for limited students, teachers are bounded to work in hierarchy. Virtual institutes (VIs) exist in web world and are free from constraint of space, time and hierarchy. Here a lot of free resources are available. VIs are interactive, modifiable, customizable,  networkable and shareable. They are based on philosophy of collective writing, reading, experimenting and thinking. Although VIs are free from space, time, and hierarchy but it can be synchronized with RIs if required. Two supporting documents- draft report of ‘The Committee to Advise on Renovation and Rejuvenation of Higher Education’ (final report is much lengthy) and `The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age' (download orginal or marked copy by author of this blog) by Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg will be helpful to get the  idea that how renovation (to reduce gap between subjects, more interaction with real world etc) in Indian RIs can be achieved though VI.
Although I want to focus on how VIs can be used to for improving functionality of RIs but I defer this issue for later part of post because my primary aim is to present a plan for individual teacher who is self motivated and want to improve himself, his self motivated students (and his institution as side effect) . Following will be steps:

1. Insure a computer and internet connection (at least with moderate speed 256 kbps) in his possession.
2. Acquire basic  functionality to handle computer and to run some of application like word processor.
3. Learn some basic activity on web like e-mail, downloading materials from web, chat etc.
4. Learn authoring on web. For teachers who are using mathematical expressions some more expertise will be needed.
5. Take membership of some available  e-learning  courses (who allow your entry without fee or allow to see demo for sufficient period) in your field. Try to search under graduate courses. If you don’t get exactly matching subject on web (this is opportunity for you for future work), search nearly matching subject area and join it.
6. Try to learn how they are modularizing (target, prerequisites, time frame, sequencing, content created through piece of audio, visual, textual element), verification of learning, project, exam) the subject of interest.
7. Try to evaluate platform like blog,  forum and group reading, group experimentation (mainly for since subject) being used  for discussing the subject matter. If all facilities are not available at one site, try to use combination of platforms to get the skill. 
8. Try to start your own course with your some of self motivated students if platform where you got e-learning allowed. Otherwise start your course at site like 0space.org.
9. Share your experience to other teachers in your field through your blog. 

Any student can also follows steps 1-7 for self learning. I hope, when a teacher will reach at step 9, all paths for doing activity for VI (like starting inter-disciplinary course with help of experts from other area) will be cleared automatically. He can present a clear proposal for VI (or at least virtual department) with its benefits before authorities. He will find that attach VI may have following role (in context of concerned RI).

1. Used as testing lab for new courses.
2. To increase within and between group interaction among students, teachers and administrations.
3. To create more interactive modules (on VI) for already running courses at RI. This will create addition campus time for student and teacher. Such modules may be selected from already available modules on web under creative common license or available as open educational resources, Government can be requested for creating such modules with help select experts in specific area. RI can invest their own resources if they failed to find suitable modules from two sources.
4. VI will help in collaboration of different RIs (even with foreign RIs if government allows).
5. In taking help of alumnus and external experts. It is easy though VI.
6. To create additional resources where examples for already running courses at RI may be enriched by real life (local) problems. Such resources may be created with help of sources mentioned at 1 and 2.
7. To create inter- disciplinary courses. Here experts from different stream can provide their opinion for a particular question and can think what will be the final solution. Currently (at RI) different expert take their own class and do not bother about counter part while demand of subject is confluence of both subject not the group of two subjects.
8. To save energy from replying same queries in successive batches. Answer of such quaries may be searched at VI easily. Here student can see not only questions  in his mind (asked in earlier batches) but can see question raised by others. This will help in removing complexity that question raised in mind of student is not so important to spend time of whole class.     
9. To create link with society. VI may work as image of RI. Through VI, society can judge status of RI. 
10. Through VI, we can start modification process of educational centers without much disturbing current status of RIs. This movement can be initiated individual teacher (or group of teachers) and may be strengthen with support of concerned RIs or Government.
     

This is the last post (in series of blog posts) which are based on my lecture “A New Approach of Teaching For Expanding Knowledge Base” at Economics department of Lucknow University on May 23,2009.  In this series, I tried to express my views on topics like- what is knowledge, role of communication in expansion of knowledge, challenges before teaching community and plan to modernize our educational centers. I would appreciate if someone can help me in creating a vision of model VI.