How Institutions Use ICT for Faculty Development

Professional development is no longer a one-time event that happens at the start of a teaching career – it is a continuous process. As education evolves alongside technology, institutions across India are taking deliberate steps to ensure their faculty keep pace. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become the primary vehicle for this effort, enabling institutions to deliver training at scale, bridge geographical barriers, and build lasting teaching and research competencies. Here’s a closer look at how this is happening and what it looks like on the ground.

Why institutional support for ICT-based development matters 🔗

India’s higher education system is the second largest in the world by enrolment, with nearly 30 million students spread across over 48,500 institutions. The unprecedented growth of institutions over the past two decades has created a parallel challenge: a shortage of well-trained faculty equipped for modern, technology-integrated teaching. Institutions have responded by building structured ICT-based professional development ecosystems – combining training workshops, online certification programmes, and blended learning models – to systematically build faculty competency.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has been central to this effort, formally recommending that university teachers complete at least 25% of their curriculum through online learning tools and that institutions strengthen ICT-based faculty training as a standard practice.

Training workshops: the foundation of institutional ICT support 🔗

Training workshops remain the most widely used format for faculty development in ICT. These are typically short, focused programmes – spanning a few days to a week – designed to introduce faculty to specific digital tools, platforms, or pedagogical frameworks. Workshops may cover areas such as using Learning Management Systems (LMS), creating e-content, integrating open educational resources, or adopting blended and flipped classroom approaches.

What makes institutional workshops effective is that they are context-specific. Unlike generic online tutorials, these sessions are tailored to the actual technological infrastructure available in the institution and the specific teaching challenges faculty face. They also create peer learning opportunities, where educators share experiences and strategies with colleagues from the same or similar institutional environments.

Online certification programmes: scaling development beyond the campus 🔗

Online certification has become a critical complement to in-person workshops. These programmes allow faculty to upskill at their own pace, without disrupting teaching schedules. They also make specialised training accessible to educators in smaller colleges and remote regions who might not have access to regular in-person programmes.

The government’s SWAYAM platform (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) is the most significant national initiative in this space. Launched under Digital India, SWAYAM hosts free online courses from Class 9 level through to postgraduate study. Over 11,772 courses have been offered through the platform, with more than 4 crore enrolments registered. Faculty can access courses specifically designed for professional development, including a dedicated track on ICT in Teaching and Learning offered through NITTTR (National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research).

The Annual Refresher Programme in Teaching (ARPIT), hosted on SWAYAM, is another notable initiative. Under this programme, UGC coordinates discipline-specific online modules for in-service faculty, enabling refresher training without requiring them to leave their institutions. Credits earned through SWAYAM can also be transferred as per UGC’s credit framework regulations, reinforcing the academic legitimacy of online certification.

Faculty Development Programmes (FDPs): building research and teaching capabilities 🔗

Faculty Development Programmes are structured, longer-duration initiatives aimed at building both teaching and research capabilities. They go beyond basic ICT skills to address pedagogical competencies, curriculum design, and academic research methods. ICT is integrated throughout as both the medium of delivery and a subject of learning.

AICTE’s Short Term Training Programmes (STTP) provide financial support for institutions to conduct faculty training in technical education. The National Initiative for Technical Teachers Training (NITTT) runs in three phases: the first phase is conducted entirely through MOOCs on the SWAYAM platform via the NITTT portal; this is followed by an industrial internship phase and then mentor-based training. This multi-phase model reflects a more comprehensive understanding of professional development – one that combines online learning with experiential and mentored practice.

The Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme (MM-TTP), coordinated by UGC, is specifically designed for university and college teachers. Its ICT module covers a broad range of competencies – from MS Office and e-learning tools to synchronous and asynchronous online classrooms, LMS platforms, MOOCs, and the role of SWAYAM in open and distance learning – making it one of the most holistic ICT development programmes available to faculty in India.

Blended learning approaches: merging face-to-face and online training 🔗

A blended learning model – combining in-person instruction with online components – has become the dominant framework for effective faculty development. The UGC has formally recommended this approach, issuing a concept note on blended mode teaching and learning to guide institutions in its implementation.

In a typical blended FDP, participants complete foundational modules online (through platforms like SWAYAM or the institution’s own LMS) and then attend in-person sessions focused on application, discussion, and hands-on practice. This model addresses a key limitation of purely online training: while online modules offer flexibility and accessibility, face-to-face sessions ensure participants can apply new skills in real classroom contexts with immediate feedback from facilitators.

The SWAYAM platform itself is built on this philosophy. Its ICT in Teaching and Learning course uses a four-quadrant approach: video lectures, downloadable reading materials, self-assessment quizzes, and an online discussion forum – structured to replicate the engagement of a blended classroom environment.

Case studies of leading institutions 🔗

National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA) 🔗

NIEPA, a Deemed University established by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, is one of India’s premier institutions for capacity building in educational planning and administration. Its origins trace back to the UNESCO-established Asian Regional Centre for Educational Planners and Administrators in 1962, and it has since become a leading hub for research and training in education governance.

NIEPA uses ICT to extend its training reach across the country. The institution offers online training modules and virtual workshops covering educational leadership, policy planning, and curriculum development. By taking its programmes online, NIEPA has been able to reach faculty members and educational administrators across India who would otherwise face significant geographical and logistical barriers to accessing its training. The Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Programme, co-coordinated through NIEPA faculty, exemplifies this approach – with programmes now conducted in fully online mode to maximise participation.

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) 🔗

IGNOU, established by an Act of Parliament in 1985, is the world’s largest university by enrolment, serving over 3 million students through 21 Schools of Studies, 67 Regional Centres, and more than 2,000 Learner Support Centres across India. It holds the distinction of being the first Open University in India to receive NAAC’s A++ accreditation.

IGNOU’s contribution to ICT-based faculty development is embedded in its institutional DNA. Its open and distance learning model itself is a demonstration of how ICT can scale quality education. For faculty and teacher training specifically, IGNOU integrates technology through MOOCs on SWAYAM, SWAYAM PRABHA channels, and its e-Gyankosh digital repository. The university also established the i-CAT institute to design and deliver need-based teacher training programmes through the Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system, specifically addressing the needs of under-served regions. IGNOU’s teacher training programmes in distance mode have been instrumental in clearing the backlog of untrained teachers across several Indian states.

SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai 🔗

SNDT Women’s University – India’s first women’s university, founded in 1916 – has been a consistent pioneer in ICT-based faculty development through its Department of Educational Technology (DET) at the Juhu campus in Mumbai.

Between 2011 and 2015, the DET conducted a series of faculty training workshops on Integrating ICTs in Higher Education, funded by the Commonwealth of Learning, Canada. These workshops trained 500 participants from across SNDT’s university campuses and affiliated colleges, spanning Mumbai and Pune. Topics covered digital tool integration, e-content development, and technology-enhanced pedagogy.

The university offers dedicated postgraduate programmes – an M.A. and M.Sc. in eLearning – making it one of the few Indian universities to offer formal academic degrees in this field. SNDT’s B.Ed. programme, recently revised in alignment with NEP 2020, explicitly integrates ICT competencies across its learning outcomes, covering tools such as Google Classroom, Padlet, and Kahoot, and frameworks like TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). The university’s affiliated PVDT College of Education for Women further reinforces this by equipping student teachers with ICT skills and organising need-based workshops for practising teachers and teacher educators.

What makes institutional ICT efforts effective 🔗

Across these institutions, a few common factors drive the effectiveness of ICT-based professional development. First, policy alignment – linking faculty development programmes to national frameworks like NEP 2020 and UGC guidelines ensures institutional buy-in and resource allocation. Second, access and flexibility – using online and blended formats removes barriers of geography and scheduling. Third, structured assessment – building in certification, credit transfer, and formal recognition motivates participation and validates the learning. And finally, continuity – one-off workshops have limited impact; the institutions that see the greatest results treat faculty development as an ongoing, iterative process embedded in institutional culture.

What do you think? As institutions increasingly rely on ICT to deliver faculty development at scale, does the flexibility of online training come at the cost of the depth that in-person workshops provide? And beyond formal training programmes, what role should institutions play in supporting faculty members who are self-directing their own digital professional development?

References

1. https://www.ictacademy.in/pages/faculty-development.aspx
2. https://www.ugc.ac.in
3. https://swayam.gov.in/about
4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWAYAM
5. https://swayam.inflibnet.ac.in/
6. https://www.aicte-india.org/schemes/staff-development-schemes
7. https://onlinecourses.swayam2.ac.in/ntr25_ed17/preview
8. https://www.niepa.ac.in/
9. https://www.ignou.ac.in
10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indira_Gandhi_National_Open_University
11. https://sndt.ac.in/
12. https://sndt.ac.in/index.php/det/ict-training