Open Distance and eLearning Virtual Conference
Dr Sanjaya Mishra
Dr Sanjaya Mishra
Education Specialist: eLearning
Commonwealth of Learning
Canada
Dr Sanjaya Mishra joined COL as Education Specialist: eLearning at its headquarters in Canada on 2 January 2015. Previously, he served COL as Director of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) from 1 July 2012 to 31 December 2014. Dr Mishra is one of the leading scholars in open, distance and online Learning. Prior to joining COL, he was Programme Specialist (ICT in Education, Science and Culture) at UNESCO, Paris.
Dr Mishra has over 25 years of experience in design, development and management of open and distance learning programmes. With a blend of academic and professional qualifications in library and information science, distance education, television production and training and development, he has been promoting the use of educational multimedia, eLearning and use of open educational resources (OER) and open access to scientific information around the world. During his service in different capacities at the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), amongst many innovative activities and programmes, he developed the OER-based one-year Post-Graduate Diploma in eLearning.
As a staff developer and trainer, Dr Mishra has received the ISTD-Vivekanand National Award for Excellence in Human Resource Development and Training in 2007 and has facilitated over 1000 hours of training in distance education, information and communication technologies, educational multimedia, eLearning and Open Educational Resources in over 30 countries. He is involved in developing technology-enabled solutions for increasing the quality of and access to educational opportunities at all levels. Dr Mishra’s vision is to unleash the potentials of every learner by providing an enabling environment for excellence through innovative use of educational technologies.
The Satija Research Foundation for Library and Information Science conferred Dr Mishra with the Indian Library Leaders 2012 Award, and Dr Mishra received the Prof G Ram Reddy Social Scientist Award 2013 from Prof G Ram Reddy Memorial Trust for his contribution to distance education and OER. He has contributed over 200 publications as books, chapters, journal papers, conference presentations, book reviews and distance learning materials. At UNESCO, he facilitated the adoption of open access to scientific information and research. Dr Mishra has also previously served as Assistant Regional Director of one of IGNOU’s Regional Centers and as a Programme Officer at CEMCA (2001-2003).