Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) -IGNOU

Introduction 

Division of Distance Education in 1986, soon after the establishment of IGNOU in 1985 to cater to the training needs of various functionaries of the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU).

Later, based on the proposal by Commonwealth of Learning (COL), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, the Division of Distance Education of IGNOU was upgraded into the Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) in 1993 to set up a training and research institute for distance education in the South Asian Region.

STRIDE has been conducting training and research activities for IGNOU, State Open Universities (SOUs) and distance education institutes in India as well as serving the distance education training, research and capacity building needs of the Asian, African and the Caribbean countries (around 45 countries). More than 500 major training programmes have been conducted by STRIDE since 1985. Also around 40 major research projects have been completed by STRIDE.

Objectives 

The objectives of STRIDE are :

• To identify training needs of different target groups already involved and those expected to get involved in open distance education;
• To build up a resource base of up-to-date information, training materials, courses and expertise, and make such resources available whenever needed;
• To develop training strategies and training materials to meet the various needs of different types of individuals and distance teaching/training institutions;
• To organise and conduct training and staff development activities for the identified target groups and institutions through various strategies leading to completion of certificates, diplomas and degrees;
• To promote research in Open and Distance Education at the fundamental, experimental and application levels in order to constantly enrich the training programmes and management processes and meet the challenges of the expanding educational environment;
• To offer research degree programmes to eligible target group leading to MPhil and PhD degrees;
• To respond to the needs of dynamic systems of education and development using information and communication technologies;

Activities 

STRIDE performs the following activities:

• Offers four academic programmes – Ph.D. in Distance Education, M. Phil. in Distance Education, M.A. (Distance Education) and Post Graduate Diploma in E-Learning (PGDEL) - to develop human resources in distance education within India, and in Commonwealth and other developing countries.
• Organizes institutional, regional, national and international training programmes for academic, non-academic, and other professionals working in distance and open education institutions.
• Develops training packages and other resource materials for training of various categories of functionaries working in the distance education system.
• Conducts and supports research and programme evaluation in distance and open education for improving the quality of distance education and for system development.
• Provides national and international consultancy services on distance education and training for capacity building and systems development in government, non-government, and private institutions/organisations.
• Acts as an information resource center for open and distance education in the country and abroad including publication of training resources on open learning.
• Publishes internationally refereed Indian Journal of open Learning to disseminate information about theory practice and research in open and distance education.
• Offers a professional development programme (ACT Online) for academic capacity building activities of academic counsellors of IGNOU and other institutions.