www.IndianJournals.com Members Copy, Not for Commercial Sale Downloaded From IP - 210.212.215.245 on dated 11-Mar-2011 11 Critical analysis of e-learning opportunities and e-readiness in the public extension system: Empirical Evidence from Tamil Nadu Meera, Shaik N.*, Mangal Sain**, Muthuraman P*, Arun Kumar S*, Sailaja B*, Jyothi SSP*, Viraktamath BC*** Abstract: Application of E-Learning strategies in Agriculture is seen as a potential driving force in bringing about knowledge based on sustainable agricultural development. Efforts have been made to introduce initiatives on pilot basis without taking into consideration, the existing capabilities of the extension systems of the country. Any strategy aiming at providing learning opportunities to extension workers should be based on critical analysis of e-learning opportunities and e-readiness among the existing system. In this backdrop, the present study was conducted in Tamil Nadu to assess the feasibility of e-learning strategies for agricultural development in general and rice sector in particular.An analysis of the distribution of respondents based on ICT skills revealed moderate to high degree (45% and 42%) of ICT skills among the rice workers. Various potential Digital Rice Knowledge Delivery Systems (RKDS) are also identified enabling identifying effective channel for knowledge delivery. Among these RKDS, online courses with field exposure (83%), online synchronous courses (75%) and online asynchronous courses (81%) are identified to have feasibility for launching e-learning in agriculture. E-readiness perception of extension workers revealed that 63% have moderate and 32% have high level of e-readiness. Factors such as ICT ability (r=0.8513**), frequency of use of ICTs (r=0.8638**), experience (r= -0.5353**) mass media exposure (r=0.8113**) and several other socio-economic factors are having significant correlation at 1% level of significance. Keywords: E- Learning; E-readiness;Information Literacy; ICT Skills; Distance Learning; Digital Knowledge Delivery System; Rice; Public Extension System. Introduction Over the past decade, there has been a resurgence of international interest in distance education and distance learning as potentially useful strategy for addressing human development issues and agriculture is not an exception (Duguay, 2003). This resurgence has been rooted in part in the evolution of new information and communications technologies, and in part in the improvement of pedagogical and administrative models for facilitating learning at a distance. A large range of media are available for distance education in Agriculture that needs to be harnessed (FAO 1989). But without more representative content, there is less incentive for farmers to harness the ICTs for agricultural prosperity. More recently, harnessing e-learning strategies are gaining significance (Meera, 2003) On the other hand, need for improved agricultural extension throughout the developing world has never been greater. Agricultural and rural development and hence , rural extension continue to be in transition in the developing world. These transitions are happening because of the forces that are driving the world agriculture today. The vulnerability of farming in the developing world is quite evident due to forces like climate change, changes in natural resources quality (including desertification over large tracts), lack of coping strategies at micro and macro levels of decision making, coupled with globalization, emerging market forces like commodity markets, sustainability constraints etc. The challenges can only be met from information intensive efforts in the extension systems. Synchronization in time and space between knowledge and input delivery systems is essential to impart credibility to the extension message. But, accessing information coming from physically remote rural locations in the developing world was until recently, difficult and costly; it was equally difficult to deliver information to the farmers, extension workers and researchers who live and work in such places (CTA, 1999). ICTs can help in enabling extension workers to gather, store, retrieve, adapt, localise and disseminate a broad range of information needed by farmers, thus transforming them from extension workers into knowledge workers. The emergence of such knowledge workers will result in the realisation of the much talked about bottom-up, demand driven technology generation, assessment, and refinement and transfer (Meera et.al,2004). A large range of media is available for distance education in agriculture that needs * Senior Scientist and Consortium Principal Investigator, Rice Knowledge Management Portal, Directorate of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad 500 030; **Principal Scientist & Head, TTT – DRR, *Senior Scientist – DRR, ****Scientist – DRR, *Senior Scientist –DRR, * Senior Research Fellow, Rice Knowledge Management Portal, DRR ***Project Director – DRR Email: shaiknmeera@gmail.com, Phone: +91-9000680909 Journal of Global Communication Vol. 3, No. 2, July - Dec. 2010 : 11-18 IndianJournals.com