Learning Strategies and Audio-Visual Aids Used in Adult Education in India: a Historical Overview
Learning Strategies and Audio-Visual Aids used in Adult Education in India: A Historical Overview Fouzia Khursheed Ahmad1 and Prof. M. C. Paul2 Abstract: Education is the first step towards empowerment, and the most crucial factor in the overall development of an individual as well as the nation. In India, education in general, and adult education in particular, has been through a series of changes since its origin as a welfare activity, to its emergence as a tool for social and political awakening in the country. Operationalized into various programmes, schemes and projects, as - basic literacy, civic literacy, functional literacy, and developmental literacy; adult education eventually evolved with the identification of the emerging needs of learners in the democratic society post-independence, with the discovery of new educational objectives, thus shifting the focus to the need for development of new methods and techniques of instructional delivery in adult education. The use of need- based learning strategies and audio-visual aids in education can help in addressing the pedagogical issues in adult education by promoting active learning, facilitating in the acquisition and retention of factual information, enhancing autonomy and learning achievement of adult learners and helping them in choosing what, where and how to learn in a purposeful way. Various strategies have been used since the ancient period in India to preserve, impart and retain knowledge, which necessitates a re-look at the different stages that adult education has witnessed in the development of instructional materials, mediums and techniques, structure, systematization of knowledge and the mode of delivery, that has guided the learning process.
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