Omkar Verma

Geology Discipline Group, School of Sciences, Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi -110068 (DL), India

(E-mail: omkarverma@ignou.ac.in)

Abstract

India is a unique country in having multi-languages, dynamic demography and varied geology with huge geo-resources. The country has limited numbers of the higher education institutes offering geoscience programmes. Among which, many institutes do not have specialised faculty for undertaking teaching-learning practices. There are numerous service sectors in India and across the globe offering opportunities to the qualified geoscience professionals. Consequently, demand for geoscience education is increasing day-by-day. An analysis of learners’ enrolment and their successful completion data from 2011-2012 to 2018-2019 of two master’s degree programmes (geology and geophysics) shows that nearly 41% learners successfully completed these programmes. It reflects an average state-of-geoscience education in India. It seems that the expensive books, uneven distribution of faculty, socio-economically marginalised learners, accessibility of teaching-learning resources and multi-languages are main barriers de-motivating learners. In this context, open educational resources offer a vital solution as they are helping to overcome these barriers around the world. This paper presents global and national developments in open educational resources and their role in strengthening geoscience education in India.

Keywords: Geoscience education, Online learning, Higher education, Open educational resources, India