Development Communication & Extension

MDV-108
Development Communication
and Extension
Indira Gandhi National Open University
School of Extension and Development Studies
Block
1
EXTENSION EDUCATION
UNIT 1
Extension Education - An Overview 7
UNIT 2
Extension Education - A Global Perspective 24
UNIT February,
3February,2019
2019
Private and Corporate Extension Services 44
PROGRAMME DESIGN COMMITTEE
Prof. Amita Shah Prof. P. Radhakrishan
Gujarat Institute of Development Research Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai
Ahmedabad
Prof. Ramashray Roy (Rtd)
Prof. S. K. Bhati Centre for Study of Developing Societies
Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi New Delhi
Prof. J. S. Gandhi (Rtd)
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi Prof. R. P. Singh ( Rtd)
Ex-Vice-Chancellor, MPUAT, Udaipur
Prof. Gopal Krishnan (Rtd)
Punjab University, Chandigarh Prof. K. Vijayaraghavan
Prof. S. Janakrajan (Rtd) Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi
Madras Institute of Development Studies Chennai. Dr. Nilima Shrivastava, IGONU, New Delhi
Prof. Kumar B. Das
Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi
Utkal University, Bhubaneswar
Prof. Nadeem Mohsin ( Rtd) Dr. Nehal A. Farooquee, IGNOU, New Delhi
A.N.Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna Dr. P. V. K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi
PROGRAMME DESIGN COMMITTEE (Revised)

Late Prof. T S Papola(Rtd) Dr, S, Rubina Naqvi
Institute of Studies in Industrial Development Hindu College, University of Delhi, Delhi
New Delhi Prof. Nadeem Mohsin ( Rtd)
Prof. S. Janakrajan (Rtd) A.N.Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, Patna
Madras Institute of Development Studies Chennai. Prof. Rajesh, Delhi University, New Delhi
Prof. S. K. Bhati Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi
Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi
Prof. Nehal A. Farooquee, IGNOU, New Delhi
Prof. Preet Rustagi
Institute of Human Development, New Delhi Prof. P. V. K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi
Prof. Gopal Iyer (Rtd) Dr. Pradeep Kumar, IGNOU, New Delhi
Punjab University, Chandigarh Dr. Nisha Varghese, IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. S Srinivasa Rao Dr. Grace Don Nemching, IGNOU, New Delhi
Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
COURSE PREPARATION TEAM
Units Writers: Editing and Proof Reading
Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar Prof. S.K. Bhati (Content Editor)
IGNOU, New Delhi (Units 1 & 2) Mr. Praveer Shukla (Language Editor)
Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. V. Rasheed Sulaiman
CRISP, Hyderabad (Unit 3)
Course Coordinator: Prof. P.V.K.Sasidhar, E-mail : pvksasidhar@ignou.ac.in

Programme Coordinators : Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar, Prof. B.K. Pattanaik, Prof. Nehal A. Farooquee
PRODUCTION TEAM
Mr. S. Burman Mr. K.N. Mohanan Mr. Babu Lal Rewadia
Dy. Registrar (Publication) Asst. Registrar (Publication) Section Officer (Publication)
MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi MPDD, IGNOU, New Delhi
February, 2019
 Indira Gandhi National Open University, 2018
ISBN : 978-93-88498-72-2
All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, by mimeograph or any other
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MDV-108 DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATION AND
EXTENSION
Dear Lerner,
The theme of the course MDV-108 is ‘Development Communication and
Extension’. Development is not only a matter of plans, targets, budgets, technology,
experts, and organizations to govern them. Rather, it is an effective use of all
these mechanisms as communication and educational means for changing the
mind and actions of people in such ways that they help themselves to attain
development. Extension work is one of working with people, not for them; of
helping them become self reliant, not dependent on others; of making them the
central actors in development work, not spectators. The extension process is
educating people to put useful development knowledge to work for them.
You are aware that development is a widely participatory process of directed

social change in a society, intended to bring about both social and material
advancement for the majority of the people in the social system. Such widespread
behaviour change could only be attained by effective utilization of communication
in development of different sectors. Similarly, often we notice that some
developmental innovations are readily received by members of social system and
other innovations are delayed for several years. Then the questions are:
• What is the nature, importance and functions of communication in
development work?
• What is the role of communication channels in development work?
• What is the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
development?
• What is meant by development innovation, innovativeness and adopter
categories?
• How development innovations are diffused into social system and what are
the factors influencing their diffusion?
• What is the role of communication process in diffusion and adoption of
developmental innovations?
In short, the essence of this course is to make you understand that communication
and extension education are the means and development is the outcome.
Block 1, Extension Education, deals with an overview of extension education

with focus on meaning, components, objectives, functions, key principles and
processes of extension education and its interrelationship with development. In
the second part, this block covers extension education in important developed,
developing, and underdeveloped countries. In the third part, this block dealt with
private and corporate sector’s role in extension and development programmes.
Block 2, Extension Teaching Methods and Audio Visual Aids, discusses the
meaning of teaching and learning in the context of extension and development in
the first part. In the second and third parts, this block discusses the meaning,
functions, classification, and description of extension teaching methods, and audio-
visual aids, along with their selection for various teaching occasions.
Block 3 ‘Communication in Extension and Development’ with three units

deals with an overview of communication, communication channels, important
theories and models of communication.
Block 4 ‘ICT for Development’ with two units appraises you about the interface
between ICT and development of various sectors and how the ICTs are useful for
rural and urban development.
Block 5 ‘Diffusion of Innovations for Development’ with two units gives an

overview of diffusion of innovations and innovation processes for development.
Block 6 ‘Innovation, Innovativeness and Adopter Categories’ with four units

presents various attributes of innovation, the concept of innovativeness, adopter
categories, opinion leaders, diffusion networks and consequences of innovations.
BLOCK 1 EXTENSION EDUCATION
Extension is a diverse, valuable and relatively new operational concept. Extension

played a significant role in the development of agriculture and allied sectors. But
extension principles are not well understood by wider sections of the people in
other sub- sectors of development. The purpose of this block is to make you
understand the basic concepts of extension education and their relationship to
development with a systems perspective.
Unit 1, Extension Education - An Overview focuses on history, meaning,

different components, philosophy, objectives, functions, scope, principles and
the process of extension. It also discusses the interrelation between extension
and development.
Unit 2, Extension Education - A Global Perspective, describes global extension

terminology, global transformation of extension meaning over time, changing
role, approaches and global paradigms of extension, extension systems of few
countries including India and global challenges for extension systems.
The Unit 3, on ‘Private and Corporate Extension Services’ delineates the

differences between private extension and privatisation of extension, need for
privatisation of extension, options for funding and delivering extension, private
extension initiatives in India and global experiences and lessons with extension
privatization.
.
Extension Education
6
Extension Education - An
UNIT 1 EXTENSION EDUCATION – AN Overview
OVERVIEW
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 The History of Extension
1.3 The Meaning of Extension
1.4 The Components of Extension
1.5 The Philosophy, Objectives, Functions, and Scope of Extension
1.6 Principles of Extension
1.7 Process of Extension
1.8 Extension and Development
1.9 Let Us Sum Up
1.10 Keywords
1.11 References and Selected Readings
1.12 Check Your Progress – Possible Answers
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Extension is a diverse, valuable and relatively new operational concept in India.
The need for work in this area of subject matter has grown out due to the increased
contribution and scope of extension in different sub-sectors of development work.
The process of extension appears to be the best method for inducing people to
help themselves, using their own resources to the maximum and government aid
to the minimum, in the process of development.
Extension discipline attracts; first, those who want to go on to become professional

extension workers; second, those who need or want to understand a portion of
extension education as part of their regular training in other fields; and, third,
those who just want to study an interesting subject. We, the development
professionals, mostly fall under second category, i.e., we need to understand
extension education in order to implement development programmes in a better
way. Further, the extension concept and its applications are well known to
researchers, teachers and functionaries working in agriculture and allied sciences.
But the meaning, concept, importance, and application of extension principles
are not well understood by the wider sections of people in other sub- sectors of
development. Therefore, the purpose of this unit is to make you understand these
issues so that you can carry out extension work in different sub-sectors of
development.
After studying this unit you should be able to:
• Understand the history, meaning, components, objectives, and functions of
extension
• Explain the principles and process of extension education
• Discuss the interrelationship between extension and development
7
Extension Education
1.2 THE HISTORY OF EXTENSION
The term extension has its origin in the Latin word, tensio, meaning, stretching
and ex, meaning out. The literal meaning of extension is stretching out. Extension
is education and its purpose is to change the attitude and practices of people with
whom the work is done. The common use of the term, university extension, was
first recorded in the 1840s, in Britain. The first practical steps were taken in
1867-68 when James Stuart, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, gave lectures
to women’s associations and working men’s clubs in the north of England. James
Stuart is often considered the ‘Father of University Extension’. In1871, Stuart
approached the authorities in Cambridge University to organize centres for
extension lectures under the university’s supervision. Cambridge formally adopted
the system in 1873, and was followed by London University in 1876, and Oxford
University in 1878. By the 1880s, the work was being referred to as ‘the extension
movement’. In this movement, the university extended its work in those beyond
the campus.
The growth and success of extension work in Britain influenced the initiation of
similar activity elsewhere, especially in the United States. There, in many states,
comparable out-of-college lectures were becoming established by the 1890s. Later,
the extramural work of the land-grant colleges, concerned with serving the needs
of farm families, was to expand dramatically and become formally organized;
but the use of the term, extension, continued and has persisted as the designation
for this work. All these activities indicate that the target group for university
teaching should not be restricted to students on campus, but should be extended
to people living elsewhere. Extension may be seen as a form of adult education,
in which the teachers are staff members of the university. For many years, this
was mainly an activity of the college of agriculture, which employed county
extension agents all over the state. Later, extension agents started serving other
sub sectors of development in addition to agriculture and allied activities.
In India, the university extension gained momentum with the establishment of
the State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) on the pattern of Land-Grant colleges
in the US. The first SAU was established in Pantnagar in 1960, and, as on 2010,
there are now 45 SAUs in the country. These universities have the state wide
responsibility for extension education and have integrated teaching, research,
and extension at all levels, i.e., individual, department, college, and university.
The University Grants Commission of India has recognized extension as the third
dimension, equivalent to teaching and research, in its landmark policy framework
of 1977. With this policy, extension has emerged as third major function of
universities in general, and of agricultural universities in particular. This policy
framework also led to the establishment of departments or centers of adult and
continuing education and extension in general universities. On similar lines,
IGNOU has also started the School of Extension and Development Studies.
1.3 THE MEANING OF EXTENSION

Extension education is an applied science consisting of content derived from
research, accumulated field experiences, and relevant principles drawn from the
behavioural science synthesized with useful technology into a body of philosophy,
principles, content, and methods focused on the problems of out of school
8 education for adults and youth - J.P. Leagans (1961).
Extension education is the process of teaching rural people how to live better by Extension Education - An
Overview
learning ways that improve their farm, home and community institutions – J.P.
Leagans (1961).
Extension work is an out of school system of education in which adult and young
people learn by doing with partnership between the Government and the people,
which provides service and education designed to meet the people with an
fundamental objective of development of the people – Kelsey and Harne (1963).
Extension is a programme and a process of helping village people to help
themselves, increase their production and to raise their general standard of living.
– D. Ensminger (1961).
Extension is the increased dissemination of useful knowledge for improving rural
life. – H.W. Butt (1961).
Extension education is defined as an educational process to provide knowledge
to the rural people about the improved practices in a convincing manner and help
them to take decision within their specific local conditions – O. P. Dahama (1973).
Extension involves the conscious use of communication of information to help
people form sound opinions and make good decisions - Van den Ban and Hawkins
(2002).
Extension Education - Common Elements
• Is an intervention
• Is an educational process
• Is a communication intervention
• Intends to induce voluntary change in behaviour
• Focuses on a number of target processes and outcomes
• Has an altruistic orientation
• Has a technological, research, and professional dimension.
You may notice some similarities as well as differences of opinion about the
meaning of extension in the above definitions. Probably, one, or more, of the
following questions may come to your mind after understanding the above
definitions.
• Is extension concerned only with information communication and formation

of opinion, or with the formation of decision making also in the process of
development?
• Should extension aim at increasing knowledge only, or should it also help to

identify development problems, and to clarify goals to attain development?
All development organizations pay attention to some or all of the above aspects
in their extension efforts. From the above discussion, it can be concluded that
extension is an education and it is aimed at bringing a desirable change in behaviour
(knowledge, skills and attitudes) of people so as to involve them actively in the
process of development.
9
Extension Education
Development Extension
Development extension is an education and it is aimed at bringing a desirable
change in behaviour (opinions, knowledge, skills and attitudes) of all the
stakeholders of different sub sectors of development so as to involve them
actively in the process of development
Extension has now developed into a full fledged discipline, having its own
philosophy, objectives, principles, methods, and techniques which must be
understood by every development worker and others connected with development.
It may, however, be mentioned here that when extension is put into action for
educating the people, it does not remain formal education. In that sense, there are
several differences between the two by nature (Table 1.1).
Table 1.1: Differences between Formal and Extension Education

Formal Education Extension Education
Starts with theory & works up to Starts with practices & may take up theory
practice later on
Students study subjects People study problems.
Fixed curriculum offered No fixed curriculum or course of study &
people help to formulate the curriculum
Authority rests with the teacher Authority rests with the people
Attendance is compulsory Participation is voluntary.
Teacher instructs the students Extension worker teaches & also learns
from the people
Teaching is only through Teaching is also through local leaders
instructors
Teaching is mainly vertical Teaching is mainly horizontal
More or less homogeneous Heterogeneous audience
audience
Rigid Flexible
Pre-planned & pre-decided . Freedom to develop programmes locally
programmes based on the development needs &
expressed desires of the stakeholders of
development
More theoretical More practical and & intended for
immediate application in the solution of
problems.
Activity 1: Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by extension

education. Compare their views with those given in this unit and identify the
common features.
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10
Check Your Progress 1 Extension Education - An
Overview
Note: a) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
b) Check your answers with those given at the end of the unit.
1) Write the meaning of extension in the context of development.
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2) Write three differences between formal education and extension education.
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1.4 THE COMPONENTS OF EXTENSION

In the context of development, extension has the following three, broad
components
• extension education
• extension service
• extension work
1.4.1 Extension Education

Extension education is basically a need oriented, local resource based, problem -
solution oriented system, and is interrelated with education and research. Here,
the extension efforts are related to research both in terms of its products, viz.,
new technology and processes. The extension education role is generally performed
by higher learning institutions, viz., research institutes, universities, and apex
level training and extension organizations.
1.4.2 Extension Service

Extension service is the mission and mandate of development department in all
the states. Extension service is a programme for development employing the
extension process as a means for implementation.
Extension service is location specific, input intensive, service oriented, and field
level professional activity with the following two objectives:
• Transferring new technologies or innovations, and advising the people on
improved methods.
11
Extension Education • Communicating development constraints to research institutes / development
organization / policy makers, as feedback for participatory technology
development.
Thus, extension service serves as a link between researchers, development workers,
and people. Extension service also works hand-in-hand with other development
departments, and input agencies to multiply their efforts and effects.
1.4.3 Extension Work

Extension work is to assist people through educational and service approach.
Through extension work, people are stimulated to make changes that result in
more efficient production and marketing, conservation of natural resources,
improved livelihood security, health, and more satisfying family and community
life. Extension work is at the lowest in hierarchy, but extremely broad based in
usage. It is also extremely location specific and usually susceptible to outside
criticism. Extension work is to help people to help themselves.
For example, many times, people demand that local extension workers do various
works. Unless the people are also taught to do these things themselves or involve
them in those works, it is not extension education but simply a service.
Example: Conservation of forests/trees by extension workers vs. Community forest

management by Vana Samrakshana Samities
Extension Work or Education?

Extension Work : Irrigation water management.
Extension Education: Teaching the farmers irrigation water management by
themselves, or involving farmers through participatory irrigation water
management.
The primary focus of the development extension worker should be extension
education.
Activity 2: Visit a nearby development department like agriculture / family

health and welfare/ forest office / NGO, etc., and observe and discuss their
extension education, extension service, and extension work. Write your
observations.
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1.5 THE PHILOSOPHY, OBJECTIVES,

FUNCTIONS, AND SCOPE OF EXTENSION
1.5.1 Philosophy of Extension
According to Mildred Horton the principles of extension philosophy are:
12
• the individual is supreme in a democracy Extension Education - An
Overview
• the home is the fundamental unit in a civilization
• the family is the first training group of the human race
• the foundation of any permanent civilization must rest on the partnership of
man and land (nature).
According to Ensminger, extension philosophy is
• changing attitudes, knowledge and skills of the people
• working with men and women, young people, boys and girls to answer their
needs and wants
• helping people to help themselves
• “Learning by doing” and “seeing is believing”
• development of individuals, their leaders, their society, and their world as a
whole.
• working in harmony with the culture of the people
• a two way channel
• a continuous educational process.
1.5.2 Objectives
The literal meaning of the term, objectives, is the expressions of the ends towards
which our efforts are to be directed. In other words, an objective means a direction
of movement. Before starting any development programme, you should clearly
understand the objectives of extension so that you know what to do, where to go,
and what is to be achieved. In the context of development, the fundamental
objective of extension is to stimulate desirable development.
Fundamental Objective of Extension

In the context of development, the fundamental objective of extension is to
stimulate desirable development.
However, the role that extension plays in development depends on how one defines
extension. By applying the definitions given in the above section, we may arrive
at a concept of extension that seems to synthesize diverse perspectives of
development into five objectives
i) Transferring knowledge from researchers to people end users.
ii) Advising people in their decision making.
iii) Educating people to be able to make similar decisions in future
iv) Enabling people to clarify their own goals and possibilities and to realize
them
v) Stimulating desirable developments within the framework of the national,
economic and social policies involving all the sub sectors of development
as a whole.
1.5.3 Functions
The extension system includes all public, private, and non government
development institutions that transfer, mobilize, and educate people, as distinct 13
Extension Education from a service or a single institution that, traditionally, provides advice only.
After reviewing a number of efforts to define or characterize extension, it is helpful
to see extension as both a system and the set of functions performed by that
system to induce voluntary change among people for development.
A set of functions of extension includes
• transferring technology in multiple directions for sustainable development
• transferring management to mobilize and organize developmental activities
by all communities
• transferring capacity to educate, build human resources and capacity building
of all stakeholders, market intelligence, management, and in negotiating
financial, input, and market services.
1.5.4 Scope
The dictionary meaning of scope is space for action. The scope of extension is
mostly dealing with the problems concerning development programmes. It teaches
people how to do something and to work out ways and means to satisfy their own
felt needs. It teaches people how to recognize and solve problems of development.
It is an education of action in groups and masses, within a democratic framework
of society. It emphasizes the change of mental outlook of the people and instils in
them, ambition of higher standards of development, and the will and determination
to work for such standards. So, in short, the scope of extension is to enable the
people to have high standards of development, so as to reach high living standards
of their own lives.
Scope of Extension
The scope of extension is to enable the people to have high standards of
development so as to reach high living standards of their own lives.
Check Your Progress 2

1) Do you agree that extension education plays an important role in development
programmes? Support your answer.
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2) Write three objectives of extension.
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14
1.6 PRINCIPLES OF EXTENSION Overview
Extension work is based upon some working principles and process, and the
knowledge of the following principles is necessary for an extension and
development professional.
i) Principle of interest and need: extension work must be based on the needs
and interests of the people. These needs and interests differ from individual
to individual, from village to village, from block to block, from state to
state, and therefore, there cannot be one development programme for all
people.
ii) Principle of cultural difference: extension work is based on the cultural

background of the people with whom the work is done. Improvement can
only begin from the level of the people where they are. This means that the
extension worker has to know the level of the knowledge, and the skills of
the people, methods, and tools used by them, their customs, traditions, beliefs,
values, etc., before starting the extension programme.
iii) Principle of participation: extension helps people to help themselves. Good

extension work is directed towards assisting people to work out their own
problems, rather than giving them readymade solutions. Actual participation
and the experience of people in these programmes creates self confidence in
them, and they learn more by doing.
iv) Principle of adaptability: people differ from each other, one group differs
from another group, and conditions also differ from place to place. Therefore,
extension programme should be flexible, so that necessary changes can be
made whenever needed, to meet varying conditions.
v) The grassroots principle of organization: any development programme

should fit in with the local conditions. The aim of organizing a local group is
to demonstrate the value of the new practices or programmes so that more
and more people participate.
vi) The leadership principle: extension work is based on the full utilization of
local leadership. The selection and training of local leaders to enable them
to help to carry out extension work is essential to the success of the
development programme. People, especially, in rural areas have more faith
in local leaders, and they should be used to put across a new developmental
idea so that it is accepted with the least resistance.
vii) The whole-family principle: extension work will have a better chance of
success if the extension workers have a whole-family approach instead of
piecemeal approach or separate approach. Extension work is therefore, for
the whole family, i.e., for adults and the youth.
viii) Principle of co-operation: extension is a cooperative venture. It is a joint

democratic enterprise in which people cooperate with their village, block,
and state officials to pursue a common development cause.
ix) Principle of satisfaction: you may be aware of the saying that “a satisfied
customer is the best advertisement.” The end product of the effort of extension
15
Extension Education teaching is the satisfaction that comes to the people and their family members
as the result of solving a problem, meeting a need, acquiring a new skill, or
some other changes in behaviour. Satisfaction is the key to success in
extension work.
x) The evaluation principle: extension is based upon the scientific methods of

development, and it needs constant evaluation. The effectiveness of the work
is measured in terms of the changes brought about in the knowledge, skill,
attitude, and adoption behaviour of the people, but not merely in terms of
achievement of physical targets.
xi) Principle of democratic approach: extension education is based upon the

democratic principle of discussions and suggestions. Participation of people
in extension activities is voluntary and development interventions are carried
out based on the perceived needs of the people.
Activity 3: Identify important principles governing extension work from your

own experiences.
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1) Write four principles of extension education.
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1.7 PROCESS OF EXTENSION

The process of extension, as applied to development programmes, involves five
essential phases. Fig. 1 shows the sequence of steps that result in progress from a
given situation to a new or a more desirable one.
i) Analyzing the Situation: this requires a large amount of facts about all
aspects of the situation where extension work is to be taken up. Information
is needed about the peoples’ interests, education, their needs, social customs,
farming systems, water bodies, etc. These details can be obtained by
conducting participatory rural appraisal / rapid rural appraisal, and these
details help in identifying suitable developmental programme to the problems.
16
3. Teaching Overview
2. Deciding Objectives / 4. Evaluation

Goals
1. Analyzing Situation 5. Reconsideration
Fig. 1.1 Steps in the Extension Process (Leagans, 1961)
ii) Objectives / Goals to be Accomplished: the beneficiaries of development

programmes must be involved in selecting a limited number of objectives
which should state the behavioural changes in people as well as the economic
or social outcomes desired.
iii) Teaching: teaching is the process of arranging situations in which the things
to be learnt are brought to the notice of the people, their interest is developed,
and a desire for change is aroused, i.e., they are stimulated to action. The
essential role of an extension worker is to create effective learning situations
with the following essential elements
i) instructor - extension worker like you.
ii) learners - all stakeholders of development programmes.
iii) subject matter - planned developmental activity. Examples:
participatory irrigation management, community forest management,
mineral mixture feeding to livestock, etc.
iv) teaching materials - flannel-board, black-board, charts, models, samples,
slides, film show, etc., on participatory irrigation management.
v) physical facilities - sitting accommodation, good visibility, etc.
Teaching Participatory Irrigation Management

If we want to teach the farmers about the use and advantages of participatory
irrigation management, we need to do this by conducting demonstrations
under a canal area, showing them what the participatory irrigation
management is, explaining its advantages and comparing it with other
methods. After seeing the beneficial effect, the farmers are convinced and
motivated to action and start voluntary participation in irrigation water
management.
iv) Evaluating the Teaching: evaluation is to determining the extent to which

the objectives have been reached. Plans for evaluation should be built into
the plans of work during earlier phases. Remember, a distinction should be
made from mere records of accomplishments from original objectives stated.
v) Reconsidering: this step consists of a review of previous efforts and results
which reveal a new situation. If this new situation shows the need for further
17
Extension Education work, then the whole process may begin again, with new or modified
objectives.
These steps are intended only to clarify the necessary actions in carrying out
a planned extension educational effort. It does not imply that these steps are
definitely separate from each other. Several experiences tell us that planning,
teaching, and evaluation take place continuously in varying degrees
throughout all phases of the extension process.
1) Based on your experience and understanding of the above discussion, write
the importance of the following phases of extension education process.
i) Analyzing a situation
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ii) Objectives
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iii) Teaching
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iv) Evaluation
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1.8 EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT

In the course introduction, we discussed that development is not a matter of only
plans, targets, budgets, technology, experts, and organizations to govern them.
Rather, it is an effective use of all these mechanisms as educational means for
18
changing the mind and actions of people in such ways that they ‘help themselves’ Extension Education - An
Overview
to attain development. Emerging from the acceptance of this idea is the concept
of extension education to show and find the ways to help people. In this context,
extension is one of working with people, not for them; of helping them become
self reliant, not dependent on others; of making them the central actors in the
development, not spectators. In short, the essence of extension process is helping
people by means of education to put useful development knowledge to work for
them.
The ultimate goal of extension is to develop the people by improving their standard
of living through education and voluntary participation in extension programmes.
In this context it is imperative to understand the concept of development, its
varied dimensions and their relation to extension.
Development vs. Extension

Development is not a matter of only plans, targets, budgets, technology,
experts, and organizations to govern them. Rather, it is an effective use of all
these mechanisms as educational means for changing the mind and actions
of people in such ways that they help themselves to attain development.
Extension is one of working with people, not for them; of helping them
become self reliant, not dependent on others; of making them the central
actors in the development, not spectators.
Development means development of men, the satisfaction of their basic needs -

food, shelter, clothing, and access to safe drinking water, sanitation, public
transport, health, and educational facilities. Underdevelopment means denial of
basic needs to people while enhancing the material returns to the dominant groups.
Development will necessarily involve the use of socio-cultural, financial, political,
and human resources facilitated by extension (Fig.1.2)
Social and Cultural

Development
Economic
Development Political
Extension Development
Human Development
Fig. 1.2: Extension and Development

19
Extension Education Human (Personal) Development: Development in any meaningful sense must
begin with, and, within the individuals. Unless motivation comes from within,
efforts to promote change by extension workers will not be sustainable by the
individual. The individual will remain under the power of others. In this context,
human development is the process by which an individual develops self respect
and becomes more self confident, self reliant, cooperative, and tolerant of others
through becoming aware of his/her short comings as well as his/her potential for
positive change.
Economic Development: This is a process by which people, through their own,

and/or, efforts and with the help of extension agents boost production for direct
consumption and have a surplus to sell for cash.
Political Development: If development is to truly benefit the people, then the

political structure must be responsive to their needs and aspirations as well as
protect their rights and their property. The people have to acquire political power
in order to :
• participate in decision making at local level and to choose their own leaders
• plan and share power democratically
• create and allocate communal resources equitably and efficiently among
individual groups.
Extension workers feedback on developmental issues or problems is important
to influence policy makers in making suitable developmental policies.
Social and Cultural Development: It refers to those investments and services

carried out, or provided by, extension agents for the benefit of the people and
communities whether as a village; a district or a nation. These services include
health, education, water, energy, transport, communication, etc.
Extension vs. Development

The relationship between extension and socio-cultural, economic, political
and human development is illustrated in Fig. 2. The two columns represent
economic and political development and a girder represent socio-cultural
development. The girder (socio-cultural development) is dependent upon
the support of the two columns (economic and political developments) which
in turn rest upon a foundation of human development. Extension is the
connecting link (process) between people and development (outcome).

1) Write the interrelationship between extension and development.
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20 ......................................................................................................................
1.9 LET US SUM UP Overview
In this unit we started by looking at the meaning, components, objectives, and

functions of extension education and understood that development is not a matter
of only plans, targets, budgets, technology, experts, and organizations to govern
them, rather, it is an effective use of all these mechanisms as educational means
for changing the mind and actions of people in such ways that they help themselves.
We also examined the key principles and processes of extension and realized that
knowledge of these is necessary for any development professional. At the end we
discussed the interrelationship between extension and development and concluded
that extension is the process and development is the outcome of the extension
process.
1.10 KEYWORDS
Extension Education : extension education involves the conscious use of
communication of information to help people form
sound opinions and make good decisions.
Extension education is the process of teaching
people how to live better by learning ways that
improve their farm, home and community
institutions.
Extension Service : a programme for development employing the
extension process as a means for implementation.
Extension Work : work that engages people in development work
through education and service.
Objectives : the expressions of the ends towards which our
efforts are to be directed.
Process of Extension : the process of extension, as applied to development
involves five essential phases, viz., analyzing the
situation, deciding objectives, teaching,
evaluation, and reconsideration.
1.11 REFERENCES AND SELECTED READINGS

The following resources were used in writing this unit.
GFRAS. (2017). The New Extensionist Learning Kit. Thirteen Learning Modules
for Extension Professionals. Lausanne, Switzerland, Global Forum for Rural
Advisory Services GFRAS.
Jones, G.E. and Garforth, C. (1997). The History, Development, and Future of
Agricultural Extension.In: Swanson, B.E., Bentz, R.P. and Sofranko, A.J. (Eds.).
Improving Agricultural Extension: A Reference Manual, FAO, Rome, Italy.
Leagans, J.P. (1961). Extension Education for Community Development. In:

Extension Education in Community Development, Directorate of Extension,
Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi ( Refer for
further details on Extension Education) .
21
Extension Education Sulaiman, R. V. and Davis, K. (2012). The “New Extensionist”: Roles, Strategies,
and Capacities to Strengthen Extension and Advisory Services. Lindau,
Switzerland: Global Forum for Rural Advisory Services.
Suvedi M., and Kaplowitz M.D. (2016). Process Skills and Competency Tools –
What Every Extension Worker Should Know – Core Competency Handbook.
Urbana, IL, USAID-MEAS.
Van den Ban, A.W. and Hawkins, H.S. (2002). Agricultural Extension, CBS
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi (Refer for further details on Extension
Education).
1.12 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
1) Development extension is an education and it is aimed at bringing a desirable
change in behaviour (opinions, knowledge, skills, and attitudes) of all the
stakeholders of different sub sectors of development, so as to involve them
actively in the process of development.
2) (i) Formal education starts with theory and works up to practice, while
extension education starts with practices and may take up theory later on.
(ii) Students study subjects in formal education, while livestock farmers
study problems in animal husbandry extension. ( iii) In formal education we
have a more or less homogeneous audience, while in extension education
we have a heterogeneous audience.
1) Yes. Extension education plays an important role in development programmes

mostly by dealing with the problems of people. It enables the people to have
high standards of development so as to reach high living standards in their
own lives. It teaches them how to recognize and solve problems in
development.
2) The three objectives are : (i) transferring knowledge from researchers to

people; (ii) advising people in their decision making; and (iii) educating
people to be able to make similar decisions in future.
1) The principle of interest and need; (ii) the principle of cultural difference;
(iii) the principle of participation (iv) the principle of adaptability.

1) i) Analyzing situation: This helps in collecting a large amount of facts
about people, their interest, their education, what they think they need,
their social customs, habits and folkways.
ii) Objectives: this helps in involving beneficiaries of development
programmes in extension by stating the behavioural changes as well as
22 the economic or social outcomes desired.
iii) Teaching: this arranges situations in which the things to be learnt are Extension Education - An
Overview
brought to the notice of the people, their interest is developed and desire
aroused, i.e., they are stimulated to learn and to be in action.
iv) Evaluation: this determines the extent to which the objectives have
been reached. This will also be a test of how accurately and clearly the
objectives have been chosen and stated.
1) Extension is the connecting link (process) between people and development

(outcome). The economic and political development leads to socio-cultural
development. These three needs are the foundation of human development.
23
Extension Education
UNIT 2 EXTENSION EDUCATION – A
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Global Extension Terminology
2.3 Global Transformation of the Meaning of Extension
2.4 The Changing Role and Approaches of Extension
2.5 Global Paradigms of Extension
2.6 Global Extension Systems
2.7 Global Challenges for Extension Systems
2.8 Let Us Sum Up
2.9 Keywords
2.11 Check Your Progress - Possible Answers
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Globally, it is not technology or physical resources alone, but what people do
with them is important in the process of development. What people do with the
resources depends largely on the nature and extent of the investment in their
educational growth.
The importance of extension of knowledge through education vs. the discovery

of knowledge through research for overall development is not yet fully realized
equally in many parts of the world. This reality is being increasingly recognized
by development agencies globally where emphasis is on the use of democratic
methods to attain national development objectives. This is particularly so in many
Asian, African, and Latin American countries which are interested in promoting
participatory development. Emerging from the acceptance of this idea is the
concept of ‘ways to help people to help themselves’ in order to improve their
level of living by aided self help through education. This concept is popularly
expressed globally by the term ‘Extension Education’ which we have discussed
in the previous unit.
Worldwide in different countries, extension education is currently associated with

different sub-sectors of development and diverse providers, employing a variety
of terminologies – everything from extension to advisory services to knowledge
and information services. As a result, the term, extension, has become a generic
phrase employed to refer to the variety of systems and providers that have emerged
for communicating and transmitting information and technology for the
development of different sub-sectors globally. The purpose of this unit is to
introduce you to the global extension education systems by taking examples from
developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries.
24
After studying this unit you should be able to: Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
• Discuss the meanings of extension terminology used in different countries
• Explain change in role, approaches and paradigms of global extension
systems
• Discuss the extension systems that are operational in few countries
• Summarize the areas of change and challenges faced by global extension
systems.
2.2 GLOBAL EXTENSION TERMINOLOGY

In the previous unit we discussed that the term, extension, was first used to describe
adult education programmes in England in the second half of the 19th century.
These programmes helped to expand - or extend - the work of universities beyond
the campus and into the neighbouring community. The term was later adopted in
the United States of America, while in Britain it was replaced with the term,
advisory service, in the 20th century. A number of other terms are used in different
parts of the world to describe or denote extension work.
Country Local Terminology Meaning
Arabic Al-Ershad Guidance
Dutch Voorlichting Lighting the path
German: Beratung / Aufklarungc / Advisory work/Enlightenment/
Erziehung Education
French Vulgarisation Simplification
Spanish Capacitacion Improving skills
Thai, Lao Song-Suem To promote
Persian Tarvij & Gostaresh To promote and to extend
Indonesia Penyuluhan Lighting the way ahead with a torch
Malaysia Perkembangan Lighting the way ahead with a torch
USA Cooperative Extension Teach people to solve problems
themselves
Austria Forderung Furthering / stimulating
(Source: Van den Ban and Hawkins, 2002)
The Dutch use the word voorlichting, which means lighting the pathway ahead
to help people find their way. In Indonesia the term penyuluhan and in Malaysia
the word perkembangan are used which means ‘lighting the way ahead with a
torch’. This follows the Dutch example and Germans talk of ‘advisory work’ or
beratung, which implies that an expert can give advice on the best way to reach
your goal, but leaves the way for your selection. The Germans also use the word
aufklarung (enlightenment) in health extension, to highlight the importance of
learning the values underlying good health , and to stress the point that we must
know clearly where we are going. Germans also speak of erziehung’(education),
as in the USA, where it is stressed that the goal of extension is to teach people to
25
Extension Education solve problems themselves. The Austrians speak of forderung(furthering) or
stimulating you to go in a desirable direction. The French speak of vulgarisation
which stresses the need to simplify the message for common man, while the
Spanish use the word capacitacion which indicates the intension to improve the
people’s skills, although normally it is used to mean training.
2.3 GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION OF THE

MEANING OF EXTENSION
From the discussion presented in the previous section, we can understand that
there is no widely accepted standard meaning for the term extension education
the world over. However, over time the meaning of extension has been changed,
based on its development objectives, reach, delivery, funding, etc. For your
comprehensive understanding on how the meaning of extension changed overtime,
examples are given below, which are taken from a number of books on extension
published over a period of over 50 years.
1949 : The central task of extension is to help rural families help themselves
by applying science, whether physical or social, to the daily routines of
farming, homemaking, and family and community living (Brunner and
and Hsin Pao Yang, 1949).
1965 : Extension has been described as a system of out-of-school education

for rural people (Saville, 1965).
1966 : Extension personnel have the task of bringing scientific knowledge to

farm families in the farms and homes. The object of the task is to improve
the efficiency of agriculture (Bradfield, 1966).
1973 : Extension is a service or system which assists farm people, through

educational procedures, in improving farming methods and techniques,
increasing production efficiency and income, bettering their levels of
living and lifting social and educational standards (Maunder, 1973).
1974 : Extension involves the conscious use of communication of information

to help people form sound opinions and make good decisions (Van den
Ban, 1974).
1982 : Extension is to help people identify and analyse their production

problems and become aware of the opportunities for improvement
(Adams, 1982).
1988 : Extension is a professional communication intervention deployed by
an institution to induce change in voluntary behaviours with a presumed
public or collective utility (Roling, 1988).
1997 : Extension is the organized exchange of information and the purposive
transfer of skills (Nagel, 1997).
1999 : The essence of agricultural extension is to facilitate interplay and nurture
synergies within a total information system involving agricultural
research, agricultural education and a vast complex of information-
providing businesses (Neuchatel Group, 1999).
26
2004 : Extension is a series of embedded communicative interventions that Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
are meant, among others, to develop and/or induce innovations which
supposedly help to resolve (usually multi-actor) problematic situations
( Leeuwis and Van den Ban, 2004).
2010 : Extension is a system that facilitates access to new knowledge,

information and technologies and promotes interaction with research,
education, business, and other relevant institutions to assist in developing
technical, organizational and management skills and practices
(Christoplos, 2010).
2017 : ‘The New Extensionist’ is a global view of extension and advisory

services (EAS) that reinvents and clearly articulates the role of EAS in
the rapidly-changing rural context. It argues for an expanded role for
EAS within agricultural innovation systems (AIS) and development of
new capacities at different levels to play this role (GFRAS, 2017).
Activity 1: Examine how the meaning of extension changed over time since
1949. Write your observations.
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1) Write the meaning of extension terminology used in any five countries.
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2) What do you understand by term ‘The New Extensionist’
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27
Extension Education
2.4 THE CHANGING ROLE AND APPROACHES OF
EXTENSION
2.4.1 Changing Role of Extension
Globally, till the recent past, extension education for development has been,
essentially, the responsibility of public sector, both in terms of funding and delivery.
However, with the introduction of privatization, liberalization, and globalization,
extension is globally viewed as comprising public, private, and semi-public
systems that make up a multi-institutional, multi-sectoral pluralistic system. Also,
views on extension have changed in emphasis from simple transfer of technology
to organizing people for participatory development. Originally thought of as part
of a ‘knowledge triangle’ composed of research, education, and extension,
currently extension is viewed more broadly as part of innovation systems for
development. These changes, involving how extension is perceived, how its aims
have changed, and how it is seen to fit into a newly conceived larger system of
innovations, further underscores the importance of extension as both an object of
reform and an engine of innovations for development.
Extension Innovations for Development

Extension innovations for development is the process by which new
knowledge, information, or technology is improved, adapted, diffused, and
used, leading to social, cultural, human and economic developments.
Globally, as an object of reform, it is called upon to adopt, for example, innovative

structural, funding and managerial arrangements, and as an engine for advancing
innovations for development (the process by which new knowledge, information,
or technology is developed, adapted, diffused and used, leading to social, cultural,
human and economic development), it is called upon to take on new roles beyond
traditional technology dissemination.
2.4.2 Change in Extension Approaches

The development of extension services in different fields of development in the
modern era has differed from country to country. Despite the variations, it is
possible to identify a general sequence of four approaches or generations (NAFES,
2005).
i) Colonial Extension: experimental stations were established in many
Asian, African, and Latin American countries by the colonial powers. The
focus of attention, first, was on agricultural extension with more emphasis
on export crops such as rubber, tea, cotton, and sugar. Technical advice was
provided to plantation managers and large landowners. Assistance to small
farmers and marginalized people who grew subsistence crops and livestock
was rare, except in times of crisis. Colonial powers also started education
and family health care extension through the establishment of schools and
hospitals.
ii) Diverse Top-down Extension: after independence, commodity / service
based extension efforts emerged from the remnants of the colonial system,
with output targets established as part of five year development plans in
community development, agriculture, industry, education, health and family
28
welfare, etc. In addition, various schemes were initiated to meet the needs Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
of small and marginalized people with support from foreign donors.
iii) Unified Top-down Extension: during the 1970s and ‘80s, the Training and
Visit extension system was introduced by the World Bank. Existing extension
organizations were merged into a single national service. Regular messages
were delivered to groups of people, promoting the adoption of improved
technologies or practices for development.
iv) Diverse Bottom-up Extension: when World Bank funding came to an end,
the Training and Visit extension system collapsed in many countries, leaving
behind a patchwork of programmes and projects funded from various other
sources. The decline of central planning, combined with a growing concern
for sustainable development and equity, has resulted in participatory methods
of development gradually replacing top-down approaches. The fourth
generation ‘Diverse Bottom-up Extension’ is well established in some
countries, while it has only just begun in other places.
Major Changes in the Indian Extension System

India’s extension system has experienced major changes since the late 1990s
in governance structures, capacity, organization, management, and advisory
methods. The changes involve the decentralization of extension service
provision to the local level, the adoption of pluralistic modes of extension
service provision, and financing, the use of participatory extension
approaches, capacity training of extension beneficiaries to express their
demands, and capacity training of service providers to respond to the demands
of beneficiaries. The reform initiatives reflect the view that development in
all sectors requires demand-driven, accountable, need specific, purpose-
specific, and target-specific extension services (Rivera, et.al., 2001)
2.5 GLOBAL PARADIGMS OF EXTENSION

Globally, any particular extension system can be described both in terms of both
how communication takes place and why it takes place. It is not the case that
paternalistic systems are always persuasive, nor is it the case that participatory
extension initiatives are necessarily educational. Instead there are four possible
combinations, each of which represents different extension paradigms for
development as follows (NAFES, 2005):
i) Technology Transfer for Development (Persuasive + Paternalistic): this
paradigm was prevalent in colonial times, and reappeared in the 1970’s and
1980’s when the Training and Visit system was established in many Asian
countries. Technology transfer involves a top-down approach that delivers
specific recommendations to people about the practices they should adopt
for development.
ii) Advisory Development Work (Persuasive + Participatory): this paradigm
can be seen today where government organisations or private consulting
companies respond to people’s enquiries for development with technical
prescriptions. It also takes the form of projects managed by donor agencies
29
Extension Education and NGOs that use participatory approaches to promote development through
pre-determined packages of technology.
iii) Human Resource Capacity Building for Development (Educational +
Paternalistic): this paradigm dominated the earliest days of extension in
Europe and North America, and later in Asia and Africa, when universities
gave training to people who were too poor to attend full time courses. It
continues, today, in the extension activities of colleges, research organizations
and development departments around the world. Top-down teaching methods
are employed, but people are expected to make their own decisions about
how to use the knowledge they acquire for development.
iv) Facilitation for Development (Educational + Participatory): this paradigm

involves methods such as exposing people to learning experiences, and
person-to-person exchange of extension communication. Knowledge is
gained through interactive processes and the participants are encouraged to
make their own ideas / decisions for development. The best known
agricultural extension examples in Asia are projects that use Farmer Field
Schools or participatory technology development.
Change in Role, Approaches and Paradigms of Global Extension

Systems
Globally, it must be noted that, there is some disagreement about extension
roles, approaches and paradigms. About extension role, some argue for public
delivery of extension services, some argue for private delivery and some
argue for public-private partnerships. About extension approach, some favour
diverse / unified top-down extension, while some support diverse bottom-up
extension. In case of paradigms, some experts believe that the term extension
should be restricted to persuasive function, while others believe it should
only be used for educational activities. There are economic (for role),
efficiency (for approaches) and philosophical (for paradigms), reasons behind
the above agreements or disagreements. However, irrespective of role,
approach, and paradigm, we are concerned with the practical point of view,
of how extension is useful for the development of any sector. In this context,
the above discussed extension roles, approaches and paradigms are currently
being organized under the name of extension for development pragmatically,
if not ideologically, in one part of the globe or another.
Activity 2: Visit a nearby extension and development worker’s office, and

enquire about the changing role and approaches of extension. Compare their
views with those given in the above section and write your observations.
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30
Check Your Progress 2 Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
1) How the role of extension is changing?
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2) Name the four extension approaches, in general.

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3) Name the four global paradigms of extension.

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2.6 GLOBAL EXTENSION SYSTEMS

In this section, we will discuss briefly the extension education systems of a few
countries, including India.
2.6. 1 India
In the Indian context, there are four major organizational streams devoted to
extension work for development of various sub-sectors. These are:
i) First Line Extension System – comprising mainly Union & State Ministries;
Research Councils and their Research Institutes functioning under various
Ministries; National and Sate Institutes for Development of different sectors;
and Central and Sate Universities.
ii) Second or Middle Level Extension System – comprising mainly State
Departments for Development.
iii) Third Level Extension System – comprising mainly Village Level Extension
Workers under State Departments.
31
Extension Education iv) Development Extension work by Non-Government Organizations, Voluntary
Organizations, Business and Corporate Houses.
The extension organizations under these four extension systems, with examples,
are given blow for your understanding.
Extension System Organizations

• Union and State Ministries of Agriculture,
Rural Development, Health & Family
Welfare.
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR), Indian Council of Medical Research
First Line Extension (ICMR), Council of Scientific and Industrial
System Research (CSIR), Indian Council for Social
Science Research (ICSSR), Indian Council
for Forestry Research ( ICFR).
National Institutes of Rural Development
(NIRD), National Institute for Health and
Family Welfare (NIHFW), National Institute
for Agricultural Extension Management
(MANAGE).
• Central Universities, State Agricultural
Universities, State Health Universities,
General Universities.
• State Departments of Agriculture, Animal
Husbandry, Environment, Panchayat Raj and
Second or Middle Level Rural Development, Revenue, Health and
Extension System Family Welfare, Education, Energy.
• State Institutes for Rural Development
(SIRD).
Third Level Extension • Village Level Extension Workers for various

System Line Departments.
NGOs and Voluntary • Council for Advancement of People’s Action

Organizations and Rural Technology (CAPART).
The Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology

The voluntary sector in India plays a major role in extension and
development, through mobilising communities and catalysing people’s
initiatives for change, as well as through direct implementation of
interventions around specific issues. Formal recognition of the role of
voluntary organisations in the Seventh Plan documented to the formation
of the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology
(CAPART) in 1986, as a nodal agency for catalysing and coordinating the
emerging partnership between voluntary organisations and the Government
for sustainable development of rural areas. CAPART was formed by
amalgamating two agencies, the Council for Advancement of Rural
Technology, and People’s Action for Development India. CAPART is an
32
Extension Education - A
autonomous body, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, Global Perspective
and functions under the aegis of the Ministry of Rural Development,
Government of India. Today, this agency is a major promoter of rural
development in India, assisting over 12,000 voluntary organizations across
the country in implementing a wide range of development initiatives.
Indian extension programmes for development can be classified under four distinct
stages
• Community Development
• Technological Development
• Development with Social Justice
• Infrastructure Development
Some examples of extension programmes in each of the stages, with commonly
used abbreviation, and, year of initiation, are presented.
Year Popular Extension and Development Programme
Abbreviation
Community Development
1952 CDP Community Development Programme
1953 NES National Extension Service
1954 CDB Community Development Block
1957 Panchayati Raj Democratic Decentralization
Technological Development
1960 IADP Intensive Agricultural District Programme
1964 IAAP Intensive Agricultural Area Programme
1964-1965 ICDP Intensive Cattle Development Project
1966 HYVP High Yielding Variety Programme
Development with Social Justice
1951 NFWP National Family Welfare Programme in 1951
1970-1971 SFDA Small Farmers’ Development Agency
MLFA Marginal Farmers’ and Agricultural Laborers
Programme
DPAP Drought Prone Areas Programme
1972-1973 PPTA Pilot Project for Tribal Development
1974 T&V Training and Visit Programme
1978-1979 IRDP Integrated Rural Development Programme
1979 TRYSEM Training of Rural Youth for Self-Employment
1980 NREP National Rural Employment Programme
1982 DWCRA Development of Women and Children in Rural Areas
1983 NAEP National Agriculture Extension Project
33
Extension Education
1986 CAPART Council for Advancement of People’s Action and
Rural Technology
1986 TMO Technology Mission on Oilseeds
1989 JRY Jawahar Rozgar Yojana
1993 EAS Employment Assurance Scheme
1994 DPEP District Primary Education Programme
1994 SFAC Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium
1994 PPP Pulse Polio Programme
1999 SGSY Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
2005 NRHM National Rural Health Mission
Infrastructure Development
1999 NATP National Agricultural Technology Project
2004 PURA Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas
2005 JNNURM Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
2006 NAIP National Agricultural Innovation Project
2006 MGNREGA Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Act.
2015 AMRUT Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation
2016 NRuM National Rurban Mission
2.6.2 The United States of America

In the United States of America (USA), an extension agent is a university employee
who develops and delivers educational programs to assist people in economic
and community development, leadership, family issues, agriculture, environment,
and in many other developmental issues. Another programme area that extension
agents provide is 4-H and Youth. Many extension agents work for Cooperative
Extension Service programs at Land-Grant Universities. They are sometimes
referred to as county agents or educators. For your understanding, their extension
work is briefly described below.
Cooperative Extension Service: Cooperative Extension Service in the United

States is publicly supported, informal adult education and development
organization. Established in 1914 by the Smith-Lever Act, it constitutes one of
the largest adult education programmes in the world and consists of three levels
of organization - federal, state, and county. The Cooperative Extension System
involves many organizations, including: USDA Cooperative State, Research,
Education and Extension Service, over 100 State Land-Grant Universities and
Colleges, and over 3,000 county governments. Land-grant partners include
historically black universities and colleges, Native American universities and
colleges, and informal partnerships with Hispanic institutions of higher education.
Its overall objective is to plan, execute, and evaluate learning experiences that
will help people acquire the understanding and skills essential for solving farm,
34 home, and community development problems.
4-H : 4-H in the United States and Canada is a youth organization administered Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service with the
mission of “engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the
field of youth development.
H
H H
H
Fig. 2.1: Official 4-H emblem
The name represents four personal development areas of focus for the organization
• Head
• Heart
• Hands, and
• Health
The official 4-H emblem is a green four-leaf clover with a white H on each leaf
standing for Head, Heart, Hands, and Health. White and green are the 4-H colors.
The white symbolizes purity and the green represents growth ( Fig 2.1) .
The 4-H pledge is:

I pledge my head to clearer thinking,
my heart to greater loyalty,
my hands to larger service,
and my health to better living,
for my club, my community, my country, and my world.
The 4-H motto is “To make the best better”, while its slogan is, “Learn by doing”
(sometimes written as “Learn to do by doing”). The goal of 4-H is to develop
citizenship, leadership, and life skills among youth through mostly experiential
learning extension programmes. The organization has over 6.5 million members
in the United States, from ages five to nineteen, in approximately 90,000 clubs.
Though typically thought of as an agriculturally focused organization as a result
of its history, 4-H, today, focuses on citizenship, healthy living, and science,
engineering and technology extension programmes. Today, 4-H and related
programmes exist in over 80 countries around the world. Each of these
programmes operates independently, but cooperatively through international
exchanges, global extension education programs, and communications.
2.6.3 Israel
Agricultural Extension Service of Israel is called Shaham. It handles four main
areas: 35
Extension Education • Training farmers in different methods, according to need.
• Providing professional training to farmers.
• Producing applied knowledge through field experiments and observations.
• Professional counseling to units of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Special emphasis is given to subjects that reflect public and social benefits and
that serve the farmers in particular as well as the entire population. There are
professional teams, on the national and district levels, that are working on the
promotion of these subjects.
• Water aspects - efficient use of water; water recycling; use of reclaimed and
salty water.
• Integrating technologies and mechanization, thus saving in labor force.
• Improving the quality of agricultural produce to meet international standards,
for both the local market and export.
• Decreasing the use of pesticides in vegetal agriculture.
• Promoting agricultural subjects that are related to the quality of the
environment (dairy-farm reform; use of sludge in agriculture; prevention of
agricultural trimming burning, etc).
• Diversifying available species in agricultural production.
2.6.4 China
Modern extension service started in China in 1915 with a sponsored popular
lecture of promoting forests. This was followed by extension programmes on
cotton production and extension campaign to eliminate illiteracy in 1918. During
this period the priority areas for extension work were
• first - literacy
• second - agriculture and economic reconstruction
• third – rural health
• fourth - citizenship education.
In 1924, a division of extension was started in Nanking Agriculture College, and
in the same year a national committee of agriculture extension service was
organized. After independence, in 1949, China started extension work for the
development of all sub sectors under five year plans. During the 1950s, after the
People Republic of China came into being, the agricultural technology extension
(ATE) system was well set up. County-level demonstration farms, manned by
Mutual Help Group model laborers and technicians and ATE stations were
established. With the end of Cultural Revolution in the late 1970s, the commune
system also collapsed and the government started reforming its agricultural
extension services. Presently, the public ATE system of china functions at five
administrative levels, i.e. national, provincial, city, county and township. The
county and township levels constitute the basis of this grassroots extension system.
The national level extension institution is the National Agricultural Technology

Extension and Service Center (NATESC). After that a large number of Agricultural
Technology Extension and Services Centers (ATESCs) are located at each
administrative level i.e. provincial, city/prefectural, county and township, which
36
cover four technical are namely crops, livestock, aquaculture and agriculture and Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
agricultural machinery. The ATE system performs the following functions:
• Provision of public service
• Supporting science and technology
• Improving farmer’s capability
2.6.5 The Philippines

The extension programme in the Philippines has a very prominent place in the
Asian and Far Eastern countries. It has organized national, provincial, and
municipal levels. Under the Local Government Code of 1991, the Congress of
The Philippines decentralized authority to local Governments to manage and
supervise basic services, including extension which had, until then, been the
responsibility of the ministries. Resources and assets were transferred, as well as
powers to generate resources, locally, for funding extension and development
projects by a total reorganization of the extension system. The extension methods
used are from individual to group extension, from mass to folk media, and
information technology. In more recent programmes, the Key Production Area
development approach is used which focuses on priority areas best suited for
specific commodities which are based on agro-climatic suitability and the
availability of markets for the products. By this approach, efficient utilization of
scarce resources is ensured and the farmers’ investments paid off. The
empowerment of farmers and fisher folk plays a central role in the approach and
agrarian reform will give farmers access to land and water resources. Building on
the Philippines tradition of ‘schools on the air’ a pilot project was established in
1992 with the Government and The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry
and Natural Resources Research and Development. After having established the
outside information needs of local farmers (by participatory methods), short term
training programmes are broadcast on the air, and supplemented with printed
materials or videos.
2.6.6 Bangladesh
The Comilla project in Bangladesh which aroused the interest of the rural
development workers all over the world could be considered a giant leap forward
for the extension work in Bangladesh. In the early 1960s (then East Pakistan), a
National Academy was started at Comilla to train government officials in rural
development. Kotwali Police Station of the District was the experimental
laboratory for developing and testing rural development methods focusing
agriculture development. By trial and error, the Academy developed a
comprehensive approach with a particularly interesting feature for extension
agents. It facilitated an agreement between the local people and the Academy to
carry out activities such as - organizing themselves into village cooperatives,
and, it became the principal agency for non formal education, which is the theme
of extension in development work.
2.6.7 Sri Lanka

The extension approach in Sri Lanka centres around collective action by many
departments as against a single department and emphasizes use of group extension
methods. The basic concepts underlying the above approach are the people centred,
bottom-up participatory planning in the preparation of divisional, district, and
provincial programmes, based on people’s needs, identified through problem 37
Extension Education census, problem analysis, and a problem solving processes. For example, in
agricultural extension, Farmer Reference Groups (FRGs) have been established
with common interests and similar resource endowments. The FRGs are the most
important link between the extension officer and the community.
2.6.8 Pakistan
The rural community development programme in Pakistan is called the Village
Aid Programme which was initiated in 1952. The letters A, I, and D in the title,
although pronounced ‘Aid’, are an abbreviation for part of the full title – Village
Agricultural and Industrial Development, or, more simply, ‘V-AID’. The extension
workers under this programme are called V-AID workers (VAWs). The aim of
the V-AID programme is to assist villagers, both individually and collectively, to
plan and implement self-help programmes designed to eliminate, or reduce, their
common problems, and to reach agreed goals of development. The types of
assistance rendered by the VAWs to the villagers are designed to give them the
confidence and the ability to act through organized effort, with a minimum of
outside help. V-AID extension programmes changed the concept of government
assistance, from unilateral government planning and super imposition of
programmes upon the villagers - in a word, doing things for villagers – to one of
supplementing the organized efforts of the villagers in planning and implementing
their own programmes for development. Basic Democracy System, Rural Works
Programme, Integrated Rural Development Program, Peoples Works Programme,
Barani Area Development Program, Traditional Training and Visit (T&V)
Extension System are the other major extension and development programmes
of Pakistan.
2.6.9 Lao People’s Democratic Republic

In the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR), the extension approach is based
on many years of experience involving a set of policies, principles, structures,
and processes that should be applied in all provinces and districts, and by all
projects that support extension activities. Project managers, provincial staff, and
field workers are expected to plan and adapt their extension activities in response
to the demands made by village authorities and farming households in a flexible
manner. The Lao extension approach is based on the policies of the government,
particularly the Strategic Visions for Various Development Sectors and the
National Growth and Poverty Eradication Strategy (2004). These policies, and
past experience, have led to the identification of following guiding principles.
• Decentralised
• Pluralistic and participatory
• Need based
• Integrated
• Gender-sensitive
• Group-based
• Sustainable.
The extension structure of Lao PDR consists of two parts
• Government Extension Service
• Village Extension System
38
The Government Extension Service has three levels: the National Extension Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
Service, the Provincial Extension Service, and the District Extension Service.
Staff at the Provincial level is called subject matter specialists and staff at the
District level is being retrained as generalists. The Village Extension System
involves three groups of people: the village authorities, who plan and manage
extension activities as part of their own development plans; production groups
that are formed by villagers with a common interest, and; village extension workers
who facilitate activities of production groups and help extend information to
other members of the community. The village extension workers are appointed
and compensated by the community, while receiving technical support through
the Government Service.

1) Name the four distinct stages of extension programmes for development in
India.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2) What is the meaning of 4-H in the extension system of USA?
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
3) What is V-AID?
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2.7 GLOBAL CHALLENGES FOR EXTENSION

SYSTEMS
Extension systems, globally, are forced to adapt to funding constraints. Also, the
global perspective on extension is no longer that of a unified public sector service,
but of a multi -institutional network of knowledge and information support for 39
Extension Education the development of people (Swanson and Pehu, 2004). While the most vital
element of the extension process is constituted by objectives (Karami, 1994), the
emphasis on various extension objectives differs globally from country to country
(van den Ban, 1986). The goals, for example, shift from the creation of surpluses
for a metropolitan context only, to providing income generating opportunities for
small and marginalized people; to increasing equity in rural areas; to broad,
integrated rural development; or to organizing rural people to allow them to bring
about their own development and countervail exploitative forces (Roling, 1982).
Following are some of the challenges for extension systems, globally, in promoting
and achieving the changes in extension that will advance extension’s potential to
enhance development (Rivera, 1997).
Advice : complement the focus on development with attention to distribution of

benefits of development, but with increasing concern for sustainability of natural
resources and the environment, plus the organization of people into relevant
associations to increase people-centred development.
Stakeholders: promote the participation of people in extension programme

development activities (programme planning, implementation, and evaluation),
and widen the present focus of inclusive development.
Source of Information: complement the present focus on development research

as the exclusive source of information with a capitalization on local knowledge,
public-private partnerships and networking.
Information Channels: complement the dominant role of face-to-face extension

with information technology, both for cost effective delivery and for empowerment
of the rural and urban poor.
Institutional Management: move from evaluation of performance related

extension to result related extension; and facilitate interrelations coordination of
public and private extension services.
Technology Transfer: shift away from a linear, sequential model of generation,

transfer and utilization of technology towards a model that recognized each
stakeholder’s ability to gather and apply new information, and, thus, shift away
from a message oriented and target oriented development approach to concern
for the quality of the interactions and the role of government in providing a
platform for those interactions.
Funding: balance public funding / support for extension with people’s and private
contributions, whereby government funding primarily justified by positive
externalities, poverty targeting and industrial development.
2.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we started by looking at the global extension terminology and
understood that though terminologies differ, the overall meaning of extension is
almost similar. Later, we discussed the global transformation of the meaning of
extension over time, its changing role, approaches, and the global paradigms of
extension, and concluded that there has been some disagreement about extension
roles, approaches, and paradigms. However, irrespective of role, approach, and
paradigm, we are concerned with the practical point of view, of how extension is
40
useful for the development of any sector. Later, we discussed global extension Extension Education - A
Global Perspective
systems of few countries including India. In the end, we discussed the global
challenges for extension systems.
2.9 KEYWORDS
Al-Ershad : guidance
Voorlichting : lighting the path
Beratung / Aufklarungc/ : advisory work / enlightenment/ education
Erziehung
Vulgarisation : simplification
Capacitacion : improving skills
Song-Suem : to promote
Tarvij & Gostaresh : o promote and to extend
Penyuluhan : lighting the way ahead with a torch
Perkembangan : lighting the way ahead with a torch
Forderung : furthering / stimulating
Cooperative Extension : Cooperative Extension Service is the publicly
Service supported, informal adult education and
development organization in the USA.
4-H : (Head , Heart, Hands, and Health) : 4-H in the
United States and Canada is a youth organization
administered by the Cooperative State Research,
Education, and Extension Service with the
mission of “engaging youth to reach their fullest
potential while advancing the field of youth
development”.
V-AID : Village Agricultural and Industrial Development
is a rural community development programme in
Pakistan.

Adams, M. (1982). Agricultural Extension in Developing Countries, Longman.
Bradfield, D.J., (1966). Guide to Extension Training (1st Edition), FAO.
Brunner, E. and Hsin Pao Yang, E. (1949). Rural America and the Extension
Service, Columbia University.
Christoplos, I. (2010). Mobilizing the Potential of Rural and Agricultural

Extension. Rome, Italy: Food and Agricultural Organization.
41
Extension Education Karami, E. (1994). ‘Alternative Agricultural Extension Objectives’, Agricultural
Progress, Vol 68, pp 15–24.
Leeuwis, C. and Van den Ban, A. (2004). Communication for Rural Innovation:
Rethinking Agricultural Extension (3rd Edition), Blackwell Publishing .
Muddassir, Muhammad and Naseer, Junaid. (2017). Agricultural Extension

System in China, Social Scholars, April 2017, pp 1-16.
Maunder, A. (1973). Agricultural Extension: A Reference Manual (1st Edition),

FAO.
NAFES (2005). Consolidating Extension in the Lao PDR, National Agricultural

and Forestry Extension Service, Vientiane.
Nagel, U. J. (1997). Alternative Approaches to Organizing Extension, in Swanson,

B. “Improving Agricultural Extension: A Reference Manual” (3rd Edition)” FAO.
Neuchatel Group. (1999). Common Framework on Agricultural Extension.
Rivera, W. M., Van Crowder, L., and Qamar, K. (2001). Agricultural and Rural
Extension Worldwide: Options for Institutional Reform in the Developing
Countries, FAO/SDRE, Rome.
Rivera, W. M. (1997). ‘Agricultural extension into the next decade’, European

Journal of Agricultural Extension, Vol 4, No 1, pp 29–38.
Roling, N. (1982). ‘Alternatives approaches in extension’, in Jones, G. E., and

Rolls, M. J., eds, Progress in Rural Extension and Community Development,
John Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp 87– 115.
Roling, N. (1988). Extension Science: Information Systems in Agricultural

Development, Cambridge University Press.
Saville, A.H. (1965). Extension in Rural Communities: A Manual for Agricltural

and Home Extension technician Workers. Oxford University Press.
Swanson, J., and Pehu, E. (2004). ‘Foreword’, in Rivera, W., and Alex, G., eds,
Demand-Driven Approaches to Agriculture Extension. Case Studies of
International Initiatives, Agriculture and Rural Development Discussion Paper
10, Extension Reform for Rural Development, World Bank Publications, No 3,
Washington, DC, p viii.
Van den Ban, A. (1974). Inleiding tot de Voorlichtingskunde, (Dutch edition first
published by Boom, later quoted in English editions: 1988, van den Ban and
Hawkins, and 2004, Leeuwis and van den Ban).
Van den Ban, A. W. (1986). ‘Extension policies, policy types, policy formulation
and goals’, in Jones, G. E., ed, Investing in Rural Extension: Strategies and Goals,
Elsevier Applied Science Publishers, London.
Van den Ban, A.W. and Hawkins, H.S. (2002). Agricultural Extension, CBS
Publishers and Distributors, New Delhi.
42
Extension Education - A
2.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE Global Perspective
ANSWERS
1) (i) Al-Ershad (Arabic) : Guidance (ii) Voorlichting (Dutch) : Lighting the

path (iii) Beratung / Aufklarungc / Erziehung (German) : Advisory work /
Enlightenment/ Education (iv) Vulgarisation (French) Simplification (v)
Capacitacion (Spanish): Improving skills.
2) The New Extensionist’ is a global view of extension and advisory services

that reinvents and clearly articulates the role of EAS in the rapidly-changing
rural context.
4) The changing role of extension includes change from public delivery of

extension services to private delivery to public-private partnerships. The
changes involve the decentralization of extension service provision to the
local level, the adoption of pluralistic modes of extension service provision
and financing and the use of participatory extension approaches.
5) The four extension approaches in general are: Colonial Extension; Diverse

Top-Down Extension; Unified Top-Down Extension and ; Diverse Bottom-
Up Extension.
6) The four global paradigms of extension are: Technology Transfer for

Development (Persuasive + Paternalistic); Advisory Development Work
(Persuasive + Participatory); Human Resource Capacity Building for
Development (Educational + Paternalistic) and Facilitation for Development
(Educational + Participatory).
1) The four stages of extension programmes for development in India are

programmes for: Community Development; Technological Development;
Development with Social Justice and; Infrastructure Development.
2) The meaning of 4-H in the extension system of USA represents four personal
development areas of focus for the organization, viz., Head, Heart, Hands,
and Health.
3) The rural community development programme in Pakistan is called the V-

AID. This stands for Village Agricultural and Industrial Development or
more simply, V-AID. The extension workers under this programme are called
V-AID workers.
43
Extension Education
UNIT 3 PRIVATE AND CORPORATE
EXTENSION SERVICES
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Private Extension and Privatisation of Extension
3.3 Why Privatise Extension?
3.4 Options for Funding and Delivering Extension
3.5 Private Extension Initiatives in India
3.6 Global Experiences and Lessons with Extension Privatization
3.7 Let Us Sum Up
3.8 Keywords
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The number and types of organizations supporting extension and development
with information, inputs and services have increased during the last two-three
decades. Many of them are private agencies which, while not always formally
identified as extension services, nevertheless provide advisory and other support
services to people. These include: input agencies, group organisations, producers’
cooperatives, agro-processors, non-governmental agencies (NGOs), agri-business
houses, progressive farmers, individual consultants and consultancy firms,
financial institutions, and media and internet services. Though Government,
especially through the state line departments continues to support development
through implementation of different programmes, people depend on many of
these private agencies to meet their demands for information and other support
for development.
What roles does the private sector play in extension? Can it complement the
public sector extension efforts? Or is private extension a substitute for public
extension and if so can extension be privatised? This unit discusses some of
these issues and explores potential opportunities for enhancing the effectiveness
of extension service delivery through forging public-private partnerships.
After studying this unit, you should be able to:

• Explain the importance of private and corporate extension,
• Describe the diversity of extension service providers
• Discuss the experiences from private extension and privatization of extension

services
• Better support implementation of public-private partnerships in extension
44
Private and Corporate
3.2 PRIVATE EXTENSION AND PRIVATISATION Extension Services
OF EXTENSION
Promoting private extension and privatization of extension services are two
approaches used by national governments worldwide to improve the delivery of
extension services. Private extension is not a single entity, but includes a wide
range of service providers. The first type is entirely private and they use their
own revenues to promote technologies, inputs and services. Most of the private
profit oriented actors belong to this category. The second type consists of
organizations that receive funds from government and other donors for
implementing extension programmes and they are mostly of the “not-for profit”
type. The third type consists of membership organizations that raise some resources
from members (either as membership fee or service fees) for providing services.
Broad Classification of Private Extension Service Providers

Private profit-oriented actors
• Consulting enterprises
• Processing/marketing enterprises
• Input supply enterprises
• Traders
• Private universities and research institutions
Private not-for-profit organizations
• NGOs
• Religious organizations
Producer organizations
• Farmer associations and federations
• Commodity grower associations
• Community and village organizations
Though private extension and privatization of extension are totally different

aspects, both are often viewed similarly. While private extension indicates the
extension activities of private individuals or organizations, privatizations is a
public policy decision taken by the Government to reduce its role in an activity
and encourages private sector to take up these roles. Privatisation of extension
can take place broadly in two ways:
i) Dismantling
ii) Controlled privatization
3.2.1 Dismantling
In this case, public sector extension organization is closed down or abandoned
and the services of the existing staff are terminated. Several European countries,
as well as Australia and New Zealand, have largely privatized their public extension
system. In most cases, these newly constituted private extension organizations
received public funding on a declining basis while they attempted to shift the
cost of advisory services to users in the form of user charges.
45
Extension Education 3.2.2 Controlled Privatization
In this case, the public sector extension agency is transformed to become more
efficient and effective by changing ownership, governance and funding pattern.
And the options include:
i) Contracting: Government contracts the private companies or the NGOs to

offer specific extension services. (eg: Government contracting experienced
and well recognized NGOs for training officials and farmers on new
technologies/approaches such as Integrated Pest Management and Watershed
Management.
ii) Franchise agreements: Government grants private entities authority to

provide a particular service. Users receive and pay for the services directly,
but the government may monitor performance (eg: Use of paravets to offer
AI services and animal vaccinations).
iii) Vouchers: Government provides certificates to producers that they could

exchange with qualified service providers for services. The service providers
can then returns the voucher to the government for reimbursement. (eg:
Extensively tried in Uganda through the National Agricultural Advisory
Services (NAADS) programme).
iv) Self-help. Government encourages individuals or groups to organise their

own services for development (eg: Government organizing farmer interest
group and commodity based groups and supporting them to access services
and information)
v) Subsidy arrangements/grants: Government makes a financial contribution

to private organizations to facilitate the provision of services at reduced or
zero cost (eg: Government contracting NGOs to provide services to farmers
in specific locations).
Activity 1: Identify the different individuals and organisations providing

private extension service in your district. Enquire and write how these different
agencies are funded and how far the costs for providing these services are
recovered from users?
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) Write the examples for the following Private Extension Service Providers
a) Private profit-oriented actors : ..............................................................
b) Private not-for-profit organizations : ....................................................
46 c) Producer organizations : .......................................................................

2) Write any three options for controlled privatization. Private and Corporate
Extension Services
......................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
3.3 WHY PRIVATISE EXTENSION?

There is a general belief that the private sector is more efficient and cost effective
than the government in running certain public services. Private companies are
normally smaller than government bureaucracies, which helps them to take action
more quickly when needed. They also have necessary resources and use better
technology to provide quality and timely service at a lower cost. Of course profit
making is the ultimate motive of private companies. Sectors like communication,
railways, industries, education and health have been privatized in many developed
countries. This trend for privatization is now expanding in less developed countries
as well. Areas like agricultural extension, which involves long term investment
in human behavioural change, is not as attractive to the private sector as are those
which give quick and positive returns on their investments. Still, there are
components within agricultural extension such as the sale of farm inputs like
seed, fertilizer and pesticide and advisory services for the same, which could
promise profit.
Through the process of privatisation, extension effectiveness is expected to

improve by:
• reorienting public sector extension with limited and well focussed functions.
• more number of extension providers (institutional pluralism) resulting from
active encouragement by the public sector to initiate, operate and expand.
• more private participation leading to the availability of specialised services
hitherto not available from the public system.
• user contributions to extension leading to improved financial sustainability,
and support and control by clients leading to client orientation.
Whether privatisation is the only means to achieve overall effectiveness and

efficiency in extension can be further debated. Some have questioned the
distributional impacts; the dependence on private providers would result in
extension. Sulaiman and Gadewar (1994) based on a review of experiences from
privatisation of extension in different countries lists major disadvantages arising
out of extension privatisation as follows:
i) contradictory message flow.
ii) negative impact on sustainability.
iii) sidelined educational role.
iv) lesser contact between farmers and extension.
v) high cost of technologies.
47
Extension Education vi) increase in regional imbalances.
It is worth mentioning here that the public sector extension is not totally free
from many of these limitations. Katz (2002) noted that reforms in public extension
organisations such as decentralisation, transformation to independently functioning
units, or the introduction of payment for services in the private interest and other
cost-sharing agreements, coupled with capacity building for personnel, appear in
general just as promising as privatisation.
Activity 2: Discuss with some of your colleagues on how privatization

improves the effectiveness of extension. Compare their views with those given
in the above section.
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) Write any three advantages of extension privatization.
......................................................................................................................
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2) Write any three disadvantages of extension privatization.
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3.4 OPTIONS FOR FUNDING AND DELIVERING

EXTENSION
Though extension services were originally designed world-wide as a publicly
funded and publicly delivered service, many of them adopted different forms of
funding and delivery during the last two decades. These were essentially
implemented to reform public sector extension. There are various funding and
48 delivery alternatives and this is indicated in Fig.3.1.
Funding Extension Services
Public Private
Government funds, and its
Producers / associations pay
extension agency, provides
fee or tax to cover costs of
services and training.
extension services
Public
Public sector funding and Public sector cost recovery

delivery
Diversified
Sltrategies
Delivery
within
a Country
Government funds, but shifts
responsibility for service Public withdrawal from
delivery to other providers: funding and delivery
Private
• Contracting out
• Subsidies to producers to Commercialization
hire services directly Privatization to private
• Funding NGOs for services company
Public sector funding of Transfer to NGOs or farmer
“external” extension organizations
providers
Fig.3.1: Public sector extension funding and delivery alternatives

(Source: FAO, 2009)
• The ‘upper-left quadrant’ indicates the common funding and delivery of

extension via public sector extension systems. This quadrant illustrates the
traditional arrangement by which governments fund and deliver public sector
agricultural extension services.
• The “lower-left quadrant” refers to systems where the government continues

to fund extension, but shifts responsibility for delivery in various ways
(contracting, subsidies to producers to hire their own services, funding NGOs
to carry out extension-type services, etc.). Essentially, funding comes from
the government, but private entities deliver all or part of the services – usually
through contracting arrangements. The government may also fund producers
directly for the hiring of extension services. In another variation, the
government may fund grassroots organizations to carry out government-
directed extension activities. Funding an NGO or other entity to carry out
extension services is distinct from the government shifting its entire
responsibility to NGOs or farmer organizations, which is the alternative
illustrated in the quadrant on the lower right.
• The ‘upper-right quadrant’ points to systems in which the public sector

provides services, but charges fees for them (paid for by the individual or
farmer organization). This represents a cost-recovery approach.
• The ‘lower-right quadrant’ highlights government withdrawal from funding

and delivering extension. Authority for the service is shifted to the private
sector, where extension services are funded and delivered by a private entity,
or delegated to an NGO or farmer association, which then funds and delivers
the service.
49
Extension Education • The ‘central hexagon’ indicates that any combination of these approaches
to extension funding and delivery may be operative at any one time. Indeed,
in an institutionally pluralistic system several of these arrangements may be
operative at any one time.
3.5 PRIVATE EXTENSION INITIATIVES IN INDIA

Many of the private extension initiatives in India emerged without any active
state support. Quite often they emerged in response to deficiency in public
extension service provision. The private extension service providers in case of
agriculture extension include the following:
• input agencies (dealing with seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, equipments).
• large agri-business firms (involved in manufacture and sale of inputs and
purchase of outputs).
• farmer organisations and producer co-operatives.
• non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
• media (print, radio and television) and web based knowledge providers.
• financial agencies involved in rural credit delivery.
• consultancy services.
3.5.1 Input Agency Extension

Many agro-input companies perform some extension functions. This may also
be viewed as one function of marketing and often it is the marketing officers who
oversee the extension-related functions. Major categories of agro-input companies
include, those dealing with seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and agro-machinery. All
these agencies publicize their products through billboards, wall paintings, leaflets
and advertisements in newspapers, farm magazines and television channels. A
few of them also take up few demonstrations to publicize new products. These
companies generally do not provide any extension support to individual growers
or farmer groups as they employ only limited manpower in their target area.
Unlike the case of seed companies, the extension activities of fertiliser companies
are more visible and diverse, though it is difficult to fully differentiate market
promotion and extension activity. Indian Farmers Fertiliser Co-operative Limited
(IFFCO) and Krishak Bharati Co-operative (KRIBHCO), the two major fertiliser
co-operatives in the country are actively involved in organising several extension
activities. They conduct farmers meetings, organise crop seminars, arrange soil
testing facilities and also implement village adoption programmes. Though the
technical manpower available with them is limited, they arrange several
programmes in close collaboration with agriculture departments and state
agricultural universities.
KRIBHCO Initiated Gramin Vikas Trust

Gramin Vikas Trust (GVT) was established as an independent legal entity by
KRIBHCO, a premier fertiliser company of India, in the cooperative sector
under the Government of India. For the past one and a half decades, it has
managed and implemented programmes for enhancing sustainable livelihood
development and poverty reduction and empowering communities to manage
50
resources in rural and tribal areas, initially under direct control of KRIBHCO, Extension Services
and since 2000, independently. Initial funding was made available by the
UK Department for International Development (DFID-UK). GVT believes
that community participation in development programmes is crucial towards
ensuring peoples’ contributions, financial as also their physical energies and
innovative insights. The objectives of GVT are to:
• improve socio-economic conditions of the poor and the marginalized
• develop gender responsive participatory approaches
• establish village based institutions for sustaining change
• maintain partnerships with diverse stakeholders
• promote, coordinate and conduct applied research and
• create a centre for knowledge assimilation and sharing
The strength of GVT lies in their long experience in sustainable livelihoods
support in the rainfed and resources poor tribal areas and successful
participatory models in farming system development. GVT believes that
communities have the capacity to take decisions and implement them
effectively, if they have enough knowledge and their approach is based on
this belief. GVT engages in various aspects of development which include,
natural resources management; agriculture; sustainable livelihood
improvement; migrant labor support programme apart from different projects
of state and central governments on partnership basis. The GVT team
comprises of well-qualified, experienced, multidisciplinary and full-time
professionals - 165 in the Western region (Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and
Gujarat) and 64 in the Eastern region (Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal); 30%
of these professionals are women. The teams include specialists in the fields
of community development, gender, savings and credit, forestry, crops,
livestock, soil and water conservation, water resource development,
monitoring and impact assessment, development management and financial
management (Source: http://www.gvtindia.org).
Tata Chemicals Limited, an agro-chemical company has initiated Tata Kisan

Kendras (TTKs) in 1998 with the objective to provide the farmer with a package
of inputs and services. This model was subsequently expanded as Tata Kisan
Sansars (TKS) which is a network of nearly 600 farmer resource centres that
caters to more than 3.5 million farmers in 22000 villages in the northern and
eastern part of India.
Tata Kisan Sansar

The centres are one-stop solution shops that provide farmers access to a wide
range of agricultural inputs such as fertilizers, seeds, and pesticides along
with agricultural services such as soil testing, crop advisory and foliar
application services. The objective of the TKS network is to enable and
empower the farmer in creating and generating more value for farm produce
by providing information on new and improved agronomic practices and by
facilitating better and more efficient use of agricultural inputs. TKS functions
as a hub and spoke model. Each TKS centre is a franchised retail outlet and
solution provider that caters to about 30-40 villages in the surrounding area.
The centres are in turn serviced by about 30-odd resource centres (known as
51
Extension Education
Tata Krishi Vikas Kendras or TKVK), with each resource centre looking after
17-18 TKS centres. There are more than 60 agronomists available at the hubs
to provide advice on crops and farming issues. New services being explored
include financial services and IT enabled market information
3.5.2 Agri-business Firms

Major agri-business firms ITC and Pepsico during the last few years have initiated
innovative arrangements to provide farmers with integrated production and
marketing support.
Indian Tobacco Company (ITC) is a market leader in tobacco products, hotels,

and packaging, and its International Business Division is one of India’s largest
exporter of agricultural commodities. ITC’s extension effort revolves around e-
chaupals, which are village internet kiosks that enable access to information on
weather, market prices and scientific farm practices.
E-chaupals
Launched in June 2000, the ITC has so far established more than 6500 e-
chaupals covering 40,000 villages and serving over 4 million farmers.
Currently, the ‘e-Choupal’ website provides information to farmers across
the 10 States of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,
Rajasthan, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
The services reach more than 750,000 farmers growing soyabean, coffee,
wheat, rice, pulses and shrimp. Each kiosk is run by a local farmer (sanchalak),
selected from the village and provided with short training. The company
provides the infrastructure for the choupal, including a computer, a printer,
UPS system, solar panel and internet connectivity through VSAT. The
sanchalak provides the space and has to meet other operational expenditures
such as electricity charges. Producers could access information on cultivation
practices, daily information on prices prevailing in different markets and the
price offered by ITC, detailed district-specific weather information through
computers installed at the e-chaupal. It is a virtual market place where farmers
can transact directly with the processesor and can realize better value for
their produce. The sanchalak has a transaction-based income. Farmers are
free to use this facility and there is no fee or registration charge. ITC target to
cover 25 million farmers in 1 lakh villages by establishing 20,000 more e-
choupals in 15 states by 2010. (Source: http://www.itcportal.com/rural-
development/echoupal.htm)
3.5.3 Farmer Organisations and Producer Co-operatives

User groups, including farmer interest groups, farmer clubs, commodity groups,
women farmer groups, special interest groups’ etc play a very important role in
extension. Government is also keen on promoting farmer organizations as it could
create mechanism at the village level among farmer members to empower them
for their own problem solving. However, there are only very few functional farmer
organisations in India. One of the oldest and most successful farmer organisations
in India is the Grape Growers Association of Maharashtra (Maharashtra Rajya
Draksha Bagaitdar Sangh or MRDBS). MRDBS provides a wide range of services
to its member producers.
52
Extension by Farmer Association- a case of MRDBS Extension Services
The Maharashtra Rajya Draksha Bagaitdar Sangh (MRDBS) established in
1960, has been the main force behind the development of grape cultivation
in Mahrashtra. The Association is managed by elected representatives of the
growers. The association regularly conducts group discussions and seminars
at different locations for grape cultivators. It also publishes leaflets and
booklets covering different aspects of grapes cultivation. The association
has full-fledged independent R&D wing headed by competent scientist.
Evaluation of new varieties of grapes, pest controls are some of the subjects
researched upon. It also seeks the expertise of scientists in research centres
and universities and other experts on viticulture in India and abroad to support
grape farmers with technical support. The association had been instrumental
in the creation of MAHAGRAPES, a confederation of 16 grape grower
societies from Sangli, Solapur, Latur, Pune and Nasik areas of Maharashtra
in 1991. The main objective of Mahagrapes is to boost the export of grapes
for which facilities like pre-cooling and cold storages has been erected at
each grape grower co-operative society. Due to the concerted efforts of
‘Mahagrapes’ the brand of Maharashtra’s Grapes is well established in the
international market.
3.5.4 Non-Governmental (voluntary) Organisations (NGOs)

Estimates of the number of NGOs active in rural development in India range
from fewer than 10,000 to several hundred thousand depending on the type of
classification used. Some 15,000-20,000 are actively engaged in rural
development. India has a number of NGOs with varying levels of capacity,
implementing a wide range of programmes. Bharatiya Agro-Industries Federation
(BAIF), Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) and Action
for Food Production (AFPRO, Foundation for Ecological Security (FES) are some
of the important NGOs working in several states. Wide variation in density of
NGOs exists among states. Within states, certain districts have high density of
NGOs, which overlap and compete for clients, while in other areas, there are
hardly any NGOs active on the ground. The eighties saw a spurt in the growth of
rural development focused NGOs and several of them got actively involved in
watershed development. In the nineties, several NGOs got involved in promotion
of micro-credit through organising SHGs. Due to their effectiveness and flexible
operational mechanisms, governments are increasingly finding partnering with
NGOs attractive. Several Ministries of the Union Government have a separate
provision to fund NGOs for specific activities.
3.5.5 Media and Information Technology

The widespread availability and convergence of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) – computers, digital networks, telecommunication, television
etc in India in recent years have led to unprecedented capacity for dissemination
of knowledge and information to the rural population. Mass media and print
media have been traditionally linked with extension programmes in India. The
All India Radio and the Doordarshan (state run radio and television units
respectively) transmit programmes on different aspects of agriculture every day.
In the nineties, private TV channels like E-TV started telecasting daily programmes
on agriculture.
53
Extension Education The village knowledge centres initiated by the MS Swaminathan Research
Foundation (MSSRF) in Pondichery aims at building a model for the use of ICTs
in meeting the knowledge and information requirements of rural families by taking
into account the socio-economic context and gender dimension. In 2004, MSSRF,
IDRC, Microsoft, NASSCOM Foundation and ISRO initiated steps to extend
the Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs) to different parts of the country by creating
multi-stake holder partnership called “Mission 2007: Every Village a Knowledge
Centre”.
Village Knowledge Centres

Since 1992, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) – a non-profit
research organization has been implementing the Village Resource Centres
(VRCs) and Village Knowledge Centres (VKCs). Normally the VRC is located
at block level or commune level or mandal level or at the centre point of a
cluster of villages. VKCs are normally located among a cluster of villages or
panchayat level. Space and electricity for operationalising the VKC are
provided by the partners (elected village administration, traditional village
administration, farmers and fishermen associations, milk societies, youth
clubs, NGOs, religion based institutions such as temples and churches, village
development council, etc.).
Most of the operators and volunteers providing information are women.

Information provided in the village knowledge centres is locale specific. For
instance at Pondicherry, information provided include prices of agricultural inputs
(such as seeds, fertilisers, pesticides), outputs (rice, vegetables, sugarcane), market
entitlement (the multitude of schemes of the government), health care (availability
of doctors and paramedics in nearby hospitals, women’s diseases), cattle diseases,
transport (road conditions, cancellation of bus trips) and weather (appropriate
time for sowing, areas of abundant fish catch, wave heights in the sea). Most of
the information is collected and fed in by volunteers from the local community
itself. Much of the content has been developed in collaboration with the local
people. The volunteers were trained in PC operations and in using the data-cum
voice network.
3.5.6 Financial Institutions

Financial institutions lending to agricultural sector provide advice and consultancy
to potential borrowers on financial viability of their proposals. All banks involved
in agricultural lending organises farmer meetings and seminars every year.
Rural Lending and Livelihood Promotion- A Case of BASIX

The Holding Company of the BASIX Group is called Bhartiya Samruddhi
Investments and Consulting Services (BASICS) Ltd.) which started
operations in 1996 as India’s first “new generation livelihood promotion
institution” . BASIX works in 15 states - Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa,
Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Rajasthan, Bihar,
Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Assam. It is
currently working with over 1.5 million customers, over 90% being rural
poor households and about 10% urban slum dwellers. BASIX mission is to
54
promote a large number of sustainable livelihoods through the provision of Extension Services
financial services and technical assistance in an integrated manner.
BASIX strategy is to provide a comprehensive set of livelihood promotion

services to rural poor households under one umbrella and it operations are
guided by its “livelihood triad” strategy. The rationale behind the Livelihood
Triad strategy is as follows: Micro-credit by itself is helpful for the more
enterprising poor people in economically dynamic areas. Less enterprising
poor households need to start with savings and insurance before they can
benefit from micro-credit, because they need to cope with risk. However, in
backward regions, poor people, in addition to microfinance, need a whole
range of Agricultural/ Business Development Services (productivity
enhancement, risk mitigation, local value addition, and market linkages).
Agriculture and Business Development Services aim to strengthen the
livelihoods of the rural poor and women by identifying the sub sectors on
which a significant number of people are engaged and institutionalize the
services to work on the gaps identified. The services include productivity
enhancement, risk mitigation, facilitating input and output linkages and value
addition to ensure a fair return to the producer.
3.5.7 Consultancy
Farmers generally consult other relatively progressive farmers for information
and advice related to production, post harvest management and marketing.
Another major source of advice is the local input dealer. Some input firms such
as AGROCEL and Tata Kisan Kendras provide free consultancy services.
Emergence of paid extension services in agriculture is a relatively recent
phenomenon.
Agri-clinics and Agri-Business Centres

To tap the expertise of a large pool of agricultural graduates in the country,
the Ministry of Agriculture in association with NABARD and MANAGE is
implementing the Agri-Clinics and Agri-Business Centres (AC&ABC)
Scheme.
The objectives of this scheme are as follows.
• supplement the efforts of government extension system,
• make available supplementary sources of input supply and services to
needy farmers and
• to provide gainful employment to agricultural graduates in new emerging
areas in agricultural sector
Agricultural graduates are provided training in agri-business development
for two months through institutions in public/private sector. The entire cost
of training and handholding is being borne by the Government of India. The
trained graduates are expected to set up AC&ABCs with the help of bank
finance. By 2018, more than 54500 graduates have been trained resulting in
establishment of 23500 centres in various parts of the country spread across
36 categories of agri-ventures .
55
Extension Education
Activity 3: Watch the extension programmes broadcasted by different
television channels for farmers and entrepreneurs. Note the names and timings
of the programmes.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) List the private extension service providers in case of agriculture extension
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
3.6 GLOBAL EXPERIENCES AND LESSONS WITH

EXTENSION PRIVATIZATION
Extension systems in several countries have undergone drastic changes in the
last two decades. Many of these systems are still evolving. These changes have
been primarily in response to:
• increasing private sector involvement
• declining ability of central and state governments to fund extension,
• changing paradigms of rural development emphasizing decentralization and
greater client control and
• the overall interest in providing farmers with improved extension services.
Privatization Models in Different Countries
New Zealand : Complete commercialisation of public extension
The Netherlands : Cost-recovery from farmers
Germany : Many models in different states: completely
privatised, semi-privatised, subsidised farmer
association, voucher system
China : Contracting of subject-matter specialists by farmer
groups
Ecuador : Share cropping between farmers and extension staff
for a profit
56
Costa Rica : Voucher system, targeted as small-farmers to Extension Services
contract private extension
Chile : Sub-contracting and voucher system
Ethiopia : Privatised service centres
Turkey : Cost-sharing of advisors
Kenya : Extension associated with contract out-grower
schemes (Source: Kidd et al., 1988)
3.6.1 Lessons from Private Extension

Based on a review of private extension initiatives in India, Sulaiman (2003) has
identified the following lessons on private extension
• The private extension offers much scope for supplementing and
complementing public sector extension.
• Crop/commodity focussed extension of private sector though very useful, is
narrow in one sense as they do not engage with other related issues such as
farmer organisation development or those issues related to sustainability of
resource use.
• Remote areas and poor producers (especially those growing low value crops
and having little marketable surplus) are poorly served by both private as
well as public sector extension.
• While public funding would remain important, the delivery of all kinds of
services need not necessarily be though the public sector. Several of these
services could be either contracted by the public sector to other private
extension providers such as NGOs and private consultancy firms for
delivering specific services in select regions and client groups or jointly
funded and implemented by public and private agencies
• Public funds also could be utilised to fund farmer organisations to help them
contract services from other service providers including public sector.
However, efforts should be made to strengthen the capacity of farmer
organisations to prioritise, demand, contract and monitor services.
• Private extension is not a substitute for public extension and there is a need
for significant public funding for extension in the years to come.
• As farmers are also willing to pay for value-added services, the challenge is
to create quality services so that partial cost recovery can commence.
• Financial participation needs to be seen more as an accountability enhancing
mechanism and not purely as a mechanism to reduce costs.
3.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we discussed the different issues related to private extension and
privatisation of extension. We started with the rationale for promoting private
extension and discussed the different options for funding and delivering extension.
Later we examined the nature of functions performed by different types of private
extension service providers in India. This was followed by very brief discussion
on experiences of privatising extension world-wide and lessons learned. 57
Extension Education
3.8 KEYWORDS
Cost Recovery : Cost recovery is the means by which an organization
may choose to obtain funds or funding. Full cost
recovery attempts to recover all associated costs. In
most cases with public sector extension, the public
sector continues to fund the basic costs and operations
of the system, with the institution recovering partial
costs
Cost Sharing : Cost sharing refers to the sharing of extension costs
by sources other than the external funder, for instance
when companies, NGOs or farmer associations
contribute to extension to carry out a mutually useful
task.
Funding : Funding, in a general sense, means obtaining money
to carry out a project, or the way in which money for
a project is obtained – through grants, gifts, membership
contributions, loans and fees for services and/or
products.
Privatization : Privatization can range in scope from leaving the
provision of goods and services entirely to the free
operation of the market, to “public-private
partnerships” in which government and the private
sector cooperate to provide services or infrastructure.

Chandrashekhara, P. (2001). Private Extension in India: Myths, Realities,
Apprehensions and Approaches, MANAGE, Hyderabad.
Chandrashekhara, P. (2001). Private Extension: Indian Experiences, MANAGE,
Hyderabad.
FAO (2009). Agricultural Extension in Transition Worldwide: Policies and
Strategies for Reform, Training Manual, Food and Agricultural Organisation,
Rome
Advisory Services GFRAS ( Module 2 Extension Methods and Tools).
Katz, E. (2002). Innovative Approaches to financing extension for agricultural
and natural resource management-Conceptual considerations and analysis of
experience. Lindau: Swiss Centre for Agricultural Extension.
Kidd, A., John Lamers and Valker Hoffman (1988). Towards Pluralism in
Agricultural Extension-A growing challenge to the public and private sectors.
Agriculture + Rural Development Vol (1)
MANAGE (2018). Progress of Agriclinics and Agribusiness Centres Scheme,
58 MANAGE, Hyderabad.
Rivera, W.M. & Zijp, W. (2002). Contracting for Agricultural Extension: Private and Corporate
Extension Services
International Case Studies and Emerging Practices. Wallingford: CAB
International.
Sulaiman,V.R. and Gadewar, A.U. (1994). Privatisation of Extension Services-
Implications in the Indian Context, J Rural Reconstruction, 27(2).
Sulaiman,V.R. (2003). Agricultural Extension: Involvement of Private Sector,
Occasional Paper, National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development
(NABARD), Mumbai.

ANSWERS
1) (a). Private profit-oriented actors: Consulting enterprises; processing/

marketing enterprises. (b) Private not-for-profit organizations : NGOs and
religious organizations (c) Producer organizations : Farmer associations and
federations; Commodity grower associations.
2) The options for controlled privatization include contracting, franchise

agreements, vouchers, self-help and subsidy arrangements/grants.
1) The advantages of extension privatization includes: efficiency and cost

effectiveness; quick actions; high resources and use better technology; quality
and timely service at a lower cost.
2) The disadvantages of extension privatization includes: contradictory message

flow; negative impact on sustainability; sidelined educational role; lesser
contact between end users and extension; high cost of technologies, and
increase in regional imbalances.
1) The private extension service providers in case of agriculture extension are:

input agencies; large agri-business firms; farmer organisations and producer
co-operatives; NGOs,; media ; financial agencies and consultancy providers.
59
Notes
MDV-108
and Extension
Block
2
EXTENSION TEACHING METHODS AND AUDIO
VISUAL AIDS
UNIT 1
Teaching - Learning Process 5
UNIT 2
Extension Teaching Methods 23
UNIT 3
Audio-Visual Aids 58
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Units Writer: Editing and Proof Reading
Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar Prof. S.K. Bhati (Content Editor)
IGNOU, New Delhi (Units 1,2 & 3) Mr. Praveer Shukla (Language Editor)

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-73-9
BLOCK 2 EXTENSION TEACHING
METHODS AND AUDIO VISUAL
AIDS
Block 2 on ‘Extension Teaching Methods and Audio-Visual Aids’ with four

units discuss the interrelationship between the concepts of extension teaching -
learning process, teaching methods and audio-visual aids.
Unit 1 on ‘Teaching - Learning Process’ focuses on meaning of teaching and

learning in the context of extension and development. It describes the concepts
of learning experience, learning situation and learning principles. Later it discusses
the role of teaching-learning process in development.
Unit 2 on ‘Extension Teaching Methods’ discusses the meaning, functions, and

classification of extension teaching methods. It also describes the considerations
in the Selection of Extension teaching methods.
Unit 3 on “Audio Visual Aids’ discusses meaning, functions, and classification

of audio visual aids and describes factors influencing the selection of audio visual
aids.
.
Extension Teaching Methods

and Audio Visual Aids
4
Teaching - Learning Process
UNIT 1 TEACHING-LEARNING PROCESS
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Teaching in Extension
1.3 Learning in Extension
1.4 The Learning Experience
1.5 Learning Situation
1.6 The Principles of Learning
1.7 The Role of Teaching - Learning Process in Development
1.8 Let Us Sum Up
1.9 Keywords
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear learner, in the previous block, we discussed the meaning, components,
philosophy, objectives, functions, scope, and principles of extension education.
By studying these concepts, we understood that extension education is the process
of teaching people that facilitate overall development. Since teaching and learning
are always the keys to education, you must understand the basics of the teaching-
learning process and be able to apply them in your development work.
• Discuss the meaning, concepts, and steps in extension teaching.
• Describe the concepts of learning, learning experience, learning situations,
and principles of learning.
• Summarize the importance of the teaching-learning process with implications
related to extension and development work.
1.2 TEACHING IN EXTENSION

The development we aim for is based on what we know, what we think, what we
actually did, and, what we can do with our physical, technological, and human
resources. To make development progress, we must not stop at the present
conditions of living and we must take the necessary actions to improve them. In
this process, we must identify and perpetuate only the useful and successful
developmental initiatives from the past, exercise concern only for the promising
developmental ideas in the present, and focus on all of these practices on achieving
a better and sustainable development for the future. We gain our ability to substitute
the ‘good and new’ developmental ideas for the ‘old and outdated’ through
learning.
5
and Audio Visual Aids Learning is most effective when done under the influence of skilfully
organized teaching. The result of teaching and learning, if formal, is called
education for development, and, if informal, they are referred to as extension
education for development.
What is Extension Teaching?

Various psychologists defined teaching in different ways:
• Teaching is an intimate contact between a more mature personality, and a
less mature one, which is designed to further the education of the latter (H.C.
Morrison).
• Teaching is an interactive process primarily involving classroom talk, which
takes place between teacher and pupil, and occurs during certain definable
activities (Edmund Amidon) .
• Teaching is a task of a teacher, which is performed for the development of a
child (T.F. Greens).
Teaching in the context of extension and development can be thought of as

providing purposeful direction, and, the management of the learning process.
Note that extension teaching is not giving knowledge or skills to people or
communities; extension teaching is the process of providing opportunities
for people or communities to produce relatively permanent change through
their engagement in learning experiences that are provided by extension and
development workers.
1.2.1 Steps in Extension Teaching

The following steps are involved in the extension teaching process (Fig.1.1)
• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Conviction
• Action
• Satisfaction
Satisfaction
Action
Conviction
Desire
Interest
Attention
Fig. 1.1: Steps in Extension Teaching (Wilson and Gallup, 1955)

6
Attention : Your first task as an extension and development professional is to Teaching - Learning Process
attract the attention of people to new and better ideas for development. People
are to be made aware until their attention is focused on the desirable development
change. Therefore, attention is the starting point to arousal of the interest. Research
findings suggest that the attention of people is attracted by various senses in the
following proportions (Reddy, 1998):
• Seeing - 87.0%
• Hearing - 7.0%
• Smell - 3.5 %
• Touch - 1.5 %
• Taste - 1.0 %.
The famous extension saying is, ‘seeing is believing’. Thus, seeing and hearing
are the major senses involved to attract attention and increase learning.
Interest: Once attention is captured, extension and development professionals

can bring the audience’s attention to developmental needs and arouse their interest
in further consideration of ideas. Extension and development professionals should
make them understand how development contributes to the overall wellbeing of
the total community.
Desire: It concerns about the continuation of the audience’s interest in the

developmental ideas or better practices, until that interest becomes a desire, or, a
motivating force.
Conviction: In this step, people know what action is necessary and just how to
take that action. The extension worker also makes sure that people visualize the
action in terms of their own situation and acquire confidence in their own ability
to participate in the people-centred developmental initiatives.
Action: Unless this conviction is converted into action, the efforts of extension
for development will go unrewarded. It is the job of extension and development
agents to make it easy for the people to act. For example, if the adoption of a new
high yielding wheat variety is the action needed by farmers, that variety should
be available within the reach of farming communities, along with other
recommended package of practices. If the action does not quickly follow desire
and conviction, the new idea may fade away. Therefore, this phase should never
be ignored.
Satisfaction: Satisfaction is the end product of extension teaching process. Follow

up by extension and development workers helps people to learn and evaluate the
development progress. The saying, ‘a satisfied customer is the best advertisement’,
also applies to development work. Satisfaction helps the people to continue
development work with increased attention, interest, desire, conviction, and action.
Note that the six steps in teaching discussed above often blend with each other
and lose their clear cut identity. As an extension and development worker, you
need to arrange the learning situations in all the six teaching steps with the help
of suitable extension teaching methods and audiovisual aids. The different teaching
methods and audio-visual aids are not equally suited for every step in teaching.
Every method and aid under certain circumstances makes a contribution to each
7
Extension Teaching Methods step. It depends on the extension and development worker how (s)he handles the
situation.
Please refer to the other units of this block for details on extension teaching
methods and audio-visual aids.
Activity 1: Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by extension

teaching? Compare their views with those given in this unit, and identify the
common features.
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) What is the relationship between teaching, learning, and development?
......................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................
2) What do you mean by teaching, in the context of extension and development?
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3) Write the six steps in extension teaching.
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8
1.3 LEARNING IN EXTENSION
In the previous section, we discussed the concept of teaching in extension. The
concept of learning is closely associated with teaching. To learn means to gain or
acquire knowledge through experience. Learning refers to the change in a subject’s
behaviour, or, behaviour potential in a given situation brought about by the
subject’s repeated experiences in that situation, provided that the behaviour change
cannot be explained on the basis of the subject’s native response tendencies,
maturation, or temporary states.
What is Learning in Extension?
Various psychologists defined learning in different ways.
• Learning is modification of behaviour through experience (Gates).
• Learning involves the acquisition of habits, knowledge, and attitude (Crow
and Crow).
• Learning is a process of progressive behaviour adaptation (Skinner).
• Learning is a process by which a person becomes changed in his / her
behaviour through self activity (Leagans).
Learning vs. Extension and Development

Learning, in the context of extension and development, can be stated as the
relatively permanent change in the behaviour, or, behaviour potential of
people as a result of extension teaching efforts. This can be compared with
the other primary processes producing relatively permanent change viz.,
maturation, that results from biological growth and development. Therefore,
when we see a relatively permanent change in others, or ourselves, we know
that the primary cause was either maturation (biology) or learning
(experience). As extension and development workers, there is nothing we
can do to alter an individual’s biology; however, we can provide an
opportunity for individuals to engage in learning experiences that will lead
to relatively permanent change.
Activity 2: Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by learning? Compare
their views with those given in this unit, and identify the common features.
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1) What do you mean by learning in the context of extension and development?
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and Audio Visual Aids 1.4 THE LEARNING EXPERIENCE
In the previous two sections we learnt that through extension teaching and learning,
we can alter people’s behaviour by providing them opportunities to engage in
learning experiences that will lead to relatively permanent change. Therefore, the
crucial point in the process of teaching and learning, regardless of its content,
form, or objectives, is to enable learners to have an effective learning experience.
This is the criterion by which all teaching and learning must be judged.
What is a Learning Experience?

‘A learning experience is the mental and, or, physical reaction that a learner
makes to seeing, or, hearing, or, doing the things to be learned through which
s(he) gains meanings and understandings useful in solving new problems’
( Leagans).
An effective learning experience is one that results in a maximum of desirable

changes in behaviour on the part of the learner.
“Tell me and I will forget.
Show me and I may remember.
Involve me and I will understand.”
~ Chinese Proverb
You can infer from the above definition and proverb that an effective learning
experience involves far more than simply being physically present in a learning
situation, or placing oneself in a position to learn. It is what a learner does in the
learning situation that is the important aspect of learning. Learning therefore,
takes place through the experience which the learner has, i.e., through the reactions
s(he) makes to the content which is to be learned. Hence, it should be emphasized
again, that it is what the learner does, not what the instructor does, that is important
in a learning situation. A learning experience, then, is not the same as merely
attending a meeting, or, a class, or, a demonstration.
Different Learning Experiences

The learning experience can be demonstrated, for example, by activities such
as reading a book, attending a class, listening to an extension specialist, or
observing extension work. Undoubtedly, these activities constitute
experiences that offer opportunities for learning, but exposing oneself to
them does not ensure that learning will actually result. These actions are
usually not enough, by themselves. For example, while listening to an
extension specialist explain new research findings to village level workers,
two participants may have very different learning experiences, even though
they have an equal need for the material and an equal opportunity to learn.
Worker A gives undivided attention to the new facts as the specialist presents
to understand the relationship of the new facts to each other, to those (s)he
already knows about, and to the problems back in his/her village area. S(he)
asks questions to clarify points that are not clear. As a consequence of this
kind of mental action, this worker understands the new ideas and feels that
(s)he can help farmers. S(he) has high praise for both the content and method
used by the specialist and wants to find out even more about the subject. In
10
short, worker A clearly has an effective learning experience. In contrast,
worker B participates quite differently and, consequently, has a very different
reaction to the specialist’s presentation. Worker B allows his/her thoughts
to range widely over many subjects, giving the speaker only fleeting, and,
often, interrupted attention. Because of this, worker B learns very few of the
new facts presented and does not recognize their basic significance. S(he)
learns little or nothing (Source : Leagans, 1961) .
1.4.1 How to Make Effective Learning Experiences

From the foregoing discussion, we realized that a major problem in changing a
development programme into action is that of deciding on the kinds of learning
experiences that are effective and most likely to help the learner attain the
objectives specified for the extension teaching. Then how does one provide
effective learning experiences? There are several useful research-based guidelines
to make learning experiences effective, irrespective of methods employed by
extension and development workers. It is important, therefore, that the following
guidelines are be considered by extension and development workers like you, to
set up learning experiences.
i) Learners must have experiences that give them an opportunity to practice

the kinds of behaviour implied by the objective : when extension and
development programme objective imply either mental or manual skills, the
opportunity must be provided for learners to practice those skills, since
practice is the most effective way for effectively developing skills.
Example: The health extension specialist can teach a trainee health assistant
how to administer injections to patients, but only through continued practice
will the trainee become skilled in this.
ii) Learning experiences implied by an objective must be satisfying to the learner

when he, or, she carries them out.
Example: Not only is it important that people be asked to utilize the mass
transport system by explaining the benefits, viz., low cost, reduction of traffic
and pollution, but the people must find it satisfying in terms of convenience.
If they first try public mass transport system and find the experience
unsatisfying, the expected learning is not likely to take place, and the practice
is not likely to be continued.
iii) Outcomes expected from the learning experience should be within the range
of both mental and physical abilities of the learner: Extension teaching must
begin where the learner is. There must be time, opportunity, financial
resources, and necessary materials available for action by the learner. If the
learning experience involves the kind of action which the person is not yet
able to make, then it fails in its purpose. The extension teachers need to
know much about their learners’ economic, social, and physical situation to
avoid drawbacks.
iv) Many learning experiences can be used to attain the same educational
objective: There could be a number of experiences that could be used to
attain a good objective. This is one of the most fortunate aspects of the
educational process.
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Extension Teaching Methods v) A single learning experience can contribute to the attainment of more than
one objective: This fact also is fortunate for those who attempt to promote
learning.
Example: While collecting livestock census, a livestock extension worker

concurrently observes the socio-economic conditions of farmers, availability
of feed and fodder, health of the animals, and their interrelationships for
livestock development.
vi) Learning experiences must be such that the extension worker can provide
them effectively: If an instructor is unable to master his, or, her method, or,
technology, or teaching aids, s(he) is professionally incompetent to provide
an effective learning experience.
Example: if an extension worker attempts to use the campaign method to

disseminate family planning measures and is not successful as a campaign
leader, s(he) is not likely to provide an effective learning experience for the
learners.
By studying these guidelines and the discussion on learning experience in

this section, we can conclude that the process of selecting learning experiences
and providing them properly is not a mechanical, but a highly professional
and creative process.
Activity 3: Enquire about different learning experiences that your colleagues

have had in different learning situations. Compare them with your experiences.
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1) What do you mean by the term, learning experience?
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2) What are the guidelines for providing effective learning experiences?
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1.5 LEARNING SITUATION
In the previous section, we discussed that an effective learning experience can
only be gained in a well structured and skilfully executed learning situation.
Therefore, the essential role of the development worker is to create learning
situations that stimulate and guide learning activity. After the objectives of the
learning experiences have been decided, the problem, then, is to arrange a learning
situation which will provide the opportunity and stimulation that cause the desired
mental and physical action on the part of the learners. Arranging a learning situation
is the function of extension and development workers. The task is a highly
professional one that calls for deep insight into the extension educational process,
and great skills in teaching and the use of teaching methods. Teaching methods
must be wisely selected, properly combined, and skilfully executed in order to
convey the subject matter to learners in a way that they really learn. Please refer
to Unit 2 for a detailed discussion on extension teaching methods.
What is a Learning Situation?
A learning situation is a condition or, an environment in which all the elements
necessary for promoting learning are present (Fig. 1.2 and 1.3). These elements
are given below.
i) Learner (community / beneficiaries of development)
ii) Instructor (extension and development worker)
iii) Subject matter (development ideas useful to the community)
iv) Physical facilities (appropriate environment)
v) Teaching methods and aids ( instructional material)
As an instructor, the role of the extension and development worker is to manipulate
the other four elements so that the learners have an effective learning experience.
Subject
Instructor
Matter
Learner
Physical Teaching
Facilities Material
Fig. 1.2: Elements of Learning Situation

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Fig. 1.3: A Learning Situation in Health & Family Welfare Extension
1.5.1 Learner
From Fig.1.2, you can understand that the learner is the central element in the
learning situation, since the entire purpose is to make him or her learn. Learning
on the part of learner, therefore, becomes the objective, while the other four
elements become the means for achieving this end. Learning by learners depends
upon their:
• need for information
• interest
• level of aspiration
• nature and level of understanding
• capability to attach desired meanings
• ability to use information.
1.5.2 Instructor
The quality of the learning will depend upon the quality of the conditions created
by the instructor. A successful extension and development worker or instructor is
one who takes into account the following important considerations:
• selection of learning experiences that suit the abilities and needs of the
learners, and the needs of the community at large
• skill in the use of extension methods and aids
• understanding of learners, their needs and abilities
• ability to react appropriately to the feelings, emotions, and attitudes of learners
• ability to encourage the learners’ participation in the learning situation
• ability to arrange and manage the learning situation so as to prevent, or
minimize distractions within and outside the learning situation.
• good composure, sincerity, and human relations
14
• clear objectives, and knowledge of the subject matter Teaching - Learning Process
• good communication skills and democratic leadership.
Good Extension Worker / Instructor

A good extension worker is the one who has deep faith in people / community,
a broad and forward vision of extension educational process, a thorough and
current knowledge of useful technology, a willingness to serve people beyond
the minimum requirements and the one who is effective in bringing together
people, technology and teaching methods with optimum effect in promoting
development.
In short, the effective extension worker is the one who can create and manage
learning situations in which learners have effective learning experiences.
1.5.3 Subject Matter

The subject matter is the content of any teaching and learning process. The transfer
of the subject matter will be easy and effective if it fulfils the following:
• valid and correct, based on empirical facts
• applicable in practical development situations
• organized according to the needs, interests, and the level of understanding
of the learner
• timely and appropriate
• important and related to specific teaching objectives.
1.5.4 Teaching Material

Without the help of suitable teaching methods and aids, the subject matter cannot
be effectively transferred to learners. Proper selection and skilful handling of
teaching aids facilitate the creation of a desirable learning situation. Therefore,
the teaching methods and aids should be:
• simple and easy to handle
• suitable to the subject matter
• readily available
• in good working condition
• diversified, flexible, and suited to the environment and needs of the learners.
1.5.5 Physical Facilities

Physical facilities, viz., place, light, ventilation, seating arrangements, etc., must
be satisfying both to the instructor and learners. It is the responsibility of the
instructor to ensure that suitable physical facilities are available for creating good
learning situation.
Activity 4: Enquire about learning situations that have been created by your
colleagues, or in which they have participated. Compare them with your
experiences.
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and Audio Visual Aids Activity 5: Study the Fig. 1.3 under this section, identify and write the elements
of learning situation.
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1) Write what do you mean by the term, learning situation?
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2) What are the elements of a learning situation?
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3) What are the characteristics of good subject matter in a learning situation?
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4) What are examples of subject matter for different extension learning
situations?
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1.6 THE PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING
As an extension and development worker, you are expected to know the following
basic principles of learning which can be applied in extension and development
work.
i) The principle of association - Learning is continuous and therefore, you

must know the state of the learners’ minds and capacity, and begin teaching
at their level for better learning. New development ideas must be related to
those already known to the community, and, often, you must repeat new
ideas from time to time to emphasize their importance.
ii) The principle of clarity - learning should be purposeful, and, as extension

and development professionals, we deem that ‘seeing is believing’. So, your
clients will realize the importance, or value, of a practice only when they
can actually see the results in practice. Teach the community when there is
need for the knowledge, and then retention will be greater. Practice must be
continuously evaluated and redirected. Objectives must be clear to you, and
to the learner.
iii) The principle of self activity - learning engages the maximum number of
senses.
iv) The principle of rewards - learning must be challenging and satisfying.
v) The principle of practice - learning must result in functional understanding.
vi) The principle of nurturing environment - learning is affected by the physical
and social environment. Congenial environment creates a favourable
background for successful learning.
vii) The principle of variable learning ability - learning abilities varies widely
among individuals. Some may be slow learners, and some could be fast
learners. You should be skilled in different levels of communication, and
select your subject matter so as to suit the learning ability of learners.
viii) The principle of multiple exposure - learning is a gradual process and needs
multiple exposure for change to occur. You are aware that the ultimate aim
of learning is for people to adopt improved practices, or new developmental
ideas. No single attempt or method can carry information to all the people.
By using a combination of teaching methods, your teaching will have a
cumulative effect on the learners. The percentages of learning and adoption
will be higher with multiple exposures.
ix) The principle of learning capacity - the assumption on which extension

education programmes are based is that adults have the capacity to learn.
Learning ability, starting at the age of six, rapidly grows until the age of 20,
and then it begins to level off until around 50. The rate of learning declines
at the rate of about one percent a year after the age of 35. The main reasons
attributed for this decline is physical problems, low external motivation,
habits, and the impact of a particular ideology. Among the tools that create
suitable physical situations for adult learners are the good audio-visual aids,
clarity in teaching with an appropriate speed, step by step presentation of
topic, repetition, and, providing rewards and motivation.
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Extension Teaching Methods x) The principle of active process - to learn new skills, the learner must practice
them and relate them to each other, as well as to a particular problem. For
this purpose they should change their attitude as well. As an extension and
development worker, you can create an atmosphere for learning, but your
clients will have to learn by themselves. Hence, learning is an individual or
personal choice.
xi) The principle of theory and practice - the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of an idea are
explained by theory. Often, though the learner understands theory, (s)he
cannot use it in practice. Sometimes, (s)he knows how to do it, but does not
know the theory behind it. As an extension and development worker, you
should balance theory and practice for better learning by the learners.
xii) The principle of effective communication - as an extension and development

worker, you should have good communication skills in order to share your
knowledge with your clients, and bring about the desired change. You can
acquire this skill provided you have real interest in teaching. Better learning
can be achieved by integrating suitable audio visual aids in teaching-learning
process.
1.7 THE ROLE OF TEACHING - LEARNING

PROCESS IN DEVELOPMENT
The teaching - learning process is the heart of extension education, and the
fulfilment of the aims and objectives of development depends on it. It is the most
powerful instrument in education for bringing about desired changes in the people.
Teaching and learning are closely related terms, and, in the teaching - learning
process, the teacher (an extension and development worker, like you), the learner,
the curriculum (extension education content / subject matter), and other variables
(teaching methods, audio-visual aids, physical facilities, etc) are organized in a
systematic way to obtain pre-determined goals.
The great task of extension teaching is to help people gain a clear vision of
what can and should be done for development, and then, to assist them with
the ways and means of attaining people-centred development.
Extension and development professionals need to create opportunities and

situations in which people gain the abilities and the stimulation necessary for
successfully meeting their needs and interests in such a way that it is possible to
attain sustainable development. The great task of the extension teaching - learning
process is to help people gain a clear vision of what can and should be done for
development, and then, assist them with the ways and means of attaining
development. This requires opening the minds of people to great vistas of
development knowledge as well as the actions required to attain sustainable
development. As the extension teaching-learning process is made more effective,
development work becomes more successful in closing the gap between the
discoveries of knowledge through research, and using these findings for
development. Helping the all-round development of people, society, and country
as a whole, is the central challenge for extension and development workers.
Physical and economic accomplishments are sterile without the development of
people. These are only by products, or, a result of people’s development. Therefore,
18
the extension teaching-learning process must broaden the horizon of people, and Teaching - Learning Process
encourage them to participate in people centred development.
Teaching-Learning in Organized Forms are Most Educative

In recent years, a significant initiative in many developing and
underdeveloped countries is the implementation of organized extension and
development programmes. These programmes differ somewhat in name,
form, scope and emphasis on different sub-sectors of development, but, in
general, their purpose is the same – to help people to help themselves for
their development as well as, for the development of country as a whole.
Successful development programmes in democratic societies use the process
of extension education as the activating force. These programmes have
effectively used the principle of organized forms of promoting learning for
educating its stakeholders.
Examples: The Green Revolution programme and the Operation Flood
programme have used the principle of organized forms of promoting learning
in India. Similarly the micro credit movement in Bangladesh, promoted
organized micro credit learning experiences for development to millions of
poor people.

1) Write about the role of the organized teaching-learning process in
development.
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1.8 LET US SUM UP

Dear learner, in this unit we started by looking at the meaning of teaching in the
context of extension and development, and understood that extension teaching is
the process of providing opportunities for the people or community to produce
relatively permanent change through their engagement in learning experiences.
We discussed six steps in extension teaching, and learnt that we need to arrange
the learning situations in all the teaching steps with the help of suitable extension
teaching methods and audio-visual aids. We examined the concept of learning in
the context of extension and development, and understood it as the relatively
permanent change in the behaviour, or, behaviour potential of people as a result
of extension teaching efforts. We also studied the concepts of learning experience
and how to make effective learning experiences, and understood that an effective
learning experience is the one that results in a maximum of desirable change in
behaviour on the part of the learner. We discussed the concept and elements of
the learning situation and the principles of learning. In the end, we examined the 19
Extension Teaching Methods role of the teaching-learning process in development and concluded that the
fulfilment of the aims and objectives of extension education depends on the
teaching - learning process.
The overall objective of the unit on the teaching - learning process is to enable
you to create and manage learning situations that provide effective learning
experiences in extension and development work. Indeed, this task calls for a
totally professional approach on your part. Therefore, to become a professional
extension and development worker, you must constantly work at the tasks of
analyzing problems in development: knowing your audience, gaining new
development technologies to extend, gaining further understanding of the teaching-
learning process, and developing greater skill in selecting, combining, and using
the methods of extension education.
1.9 KEYWORDS
Teaching : Teaching is an intimate contact between a more
mature personality and a less mature one, which is
designed to further the education of the latter.
Extension Teaching : The process of providing opportunities for people to
produce relatively permanent change through the
engagement in learning experiences.
Learning : A process by which a person becomes changed in
his, or her behaviour through self activity.
Learning Experience : The mental, and, or, physical reaction a learner has
to seeing, or hearing, or doing the things to be learned
through which she, or he gains meaning and
understandings that are useful in solving new
problems.
Learning Situation : The condition, or environment in which all the
elements necessary for promoting learning are
present.
Teaching - Learning : In the teaching-learning process, the teacher
Process (extension and development worker), the learner
(people, or community), the curriculum (extension
education content / subject matter), and other
variables (teaching methods, audio visual aids,
physical facilities, etc.) are organized in a systematic
way to attain a pre-determined goal.

Dahama, O.P. and Bhatnagar, O.P. (2007). Education and Communication for
Development. Oxford & IBH Publishing Co.Pvt,Ltd., New Delhi.
20
Leagans, J.P. (1961). Characteristics of Teaching and Learning in Extension Teaching - Learning Process
Education. In: Extension Education in Community Development, Directorate of
Extension, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.
Reddy, Y.N. (1998). Audio-Visual Aids in Teaching Training and Extension.

Haritha Publishing House, Hyderabad.
Wilson, M.C. and Gallup, G. (1955). Extension Teaching Methods, Federal

Extension Service, USDA, Washington D.C.

ANSWERS
1) We gain our ability to substitute the ‘good and new’ developmental ideas for
the ‘old and outdated’ through learning. Learning is most effective when
done under the influence of skilfully organized teaching. The result of teaching
and learning, if formal, is called education for development, and, if informal,
they are referred to as extension education for development, globally.
2) Teaching, in the context of extension and development, is the process of

providing opportunities for the people to produce relatively permanent change
through their engagement in learning experiences.
3) The six steps in the extension teaching learning process are: attention, interest,
desire, conviction, action, and satisfaction.
1) Learning in the context of extension and development can be stated as the

relatively permanent change in the behaviour, or behaviour potential of people
as a result of extension teaching efforts.
1) A learning experience is the mental and, or, physical reaction a learner makes
to seeing, or hearing, or doing the things to be learned, which results in a
maximum of desirable change in behaviour.
2) The guidelines include : learners must have experiences that give them an
opportunity to practice the kinds of behaviour implied by the objective;
learning experiences implied by an objective must be satisfying to the learner
when (s)he carries them out; outcomes expected from the learning experience
should be within the range of both mental and physical abilities of the learner;
many learning experiences that can be used to attain the same educational
objective; a single learning experience can contribute to the attainment of
more than one objective; and, learning experiences must be such that the
extension worker can provide them effectively.
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Extension Teaching Methods Check Your Progress 4
1) A learning situation is a condition or environment in which all the elements
necessary for promoting learning are present.
2) The elements of learning situation are: learner, instructor, subject matter,

physical facilities, and teaching methods and aids.
3) The characteristics of good subject matter in a learning situation are: valid

and correct - based on facts; applicable in practical development situations;
well organized according to perceived needs, interests, and the level of
understanding of the learner; timely and appropriate; and, important and
related to a particular specific teaching objective.
4) Examples of subject matter for different extension learning situations are:

a) livestock extension: advantages of full-hand milking, benefits of artificial
insemination over natural service, etc.
b) agricultural extension: the system of rice intensification, integrated pest
management practices, etc.
c) home science extension: how to bathe babies, how to make nutritious
food with commonly available food ingredients, etc.
d) health extension: how to conduct the pulse polio programme on
campaign mode, benefits of family planning, etc.
e) primary education extension: benefits of the mid-day meal scheme to
reduce school drop outs, advantages of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
scheme, etc.
1) Successful development programmes in democratic societies use the process

of extension education as the activating force. These programmes have
effectively used the principle of organized forms of promoting learning for
educating its stakeholders. Examples include: the Green Revolution
programme for agriculture development and food security; the Operation
Flood programme for dairy development; the Pulse Polio programme to
eradicate Polio disease, etc.
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UNIT 2 EXTENSION TEACHING METHODS
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Meaning and Functions of Extension Teaching Methods
2.3 Classification of Extension Teaching Methods
2.4 Individual Contact Methods
2.5 Group Contact Methods
2.6 Mass, or Community Contact Methods
2.7 The Selection of Extension Teaching Methods
2.8 Considerations in the Selection of Extension Teaching Methods
2.9 Let Us Sum Up
2.10 Keywords
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit, we discussed development extension as an education process
aimed at bringing a desirable change in behaviour (opinions, knowledge, skills,
and attitudes) of all the stakeholders, so as to involve them actively in the process
of development. We also understood from the same unit that the purpose of
extension is to help people to help themselves. This help varies according to the
field of application in development.
Example : It can be a help in the application of a technology to improve agricultural

yield, or, it can be the transfer of information that helps in the prevention of a
communicable disease.
This planned, intentional help from development worker which is aimed at

providing a learning experience among the intended audience is often termed as
teaching. Teaching, in the context of extension and development, is providing
information and opportunities for people to bring relatively permanent change
through the engagement in learning experiences.
The provision of information / opportunities can happen, broadly, in three ways:
i) People, or communities coming to the extension and development worker
ii) The extension and development worker going to the people, or communities
iii) The extension and development worker sending information through some
media.
The extension worker may adopt one, or, a combination of these methods. All
these ways of providing information and opportunities to improve knowledge, or
skills are called extension teaching methods. A proper understanding of extension
teaching methods and their selection for a particular type of extension and
development programme is necessary. Keeping this in view, different extension
23
Extension Teaching Methods teaching methods are discussed in this unit for your understanding.
After studying this unit you should be able to
• Discuss the meaning and functions of extension teaching methods
• Classify extension teaching methods with examples
• Describe important individual, group, and mass extension teaching methods
• Select extension teaching methods for various teaching occasions.
2.2 THE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS OF

EXTENSION TEACHING METHODS
Extension is an educational process in which teaching has a pivotal role. An
extension worker can teach people about new varieties of rice, the right method
of milking a cow, the implications of export of sugar to a country, climate change
and environmental issues, applying the right fertilizers in appropriate quantities,
the importance of family planning, etc. The list can go on, depending on the field
of development. All this makes us understand that teaching helps in transferring
knowledge and skills. Teaching can also make differences in the attitude of a
learner. Extension teaching methods are used to improve extension teaching, i.e.,
to increase the concreteness, clarity, and effectiveness of the ideas and skills to be
transferred.
2.2.1 Meaning
Extension-teaching methods are the tools and techniques used to create situations
in which communication can take place between the extension workers and the
beneficiaries of development. These methods of extend new knowledge and skills
to the beneficiaries of the development by drawing their attention towards them,
arousing their interest, and helping them to have a successful new learning
experience and practice.
Useful Concepts
Dear learner,
Some useful concepts discussed in other units of this course that are related
to extension teaching methods are briefly given below for recapitulation
and reinforcement.
Extension Education: an applied science consisting of content derived from
research, accumulated field experiences, and relevant principles drawn from
the behavioural sciences, and synthesized with useful technology into a body
of philosophy, principles, content, and methods focused on the problems of
out of school education for adults and youth.
Development Extension: aimed at bringing about a desirable change in
behaviour (opinions, knowledge, skills, and attitudes) of all the stakeholders
of different sub sectors of development, so as to involve them actively in the
process of development.
Teaching: an intimate contact between a more mature personality and a less
mature one, which is designed to further the education of the later.
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Teaching in Extension: the process of providing opportunities for the people
or communities to produce relatively permanent change through their
engagement in learning experiences provided by the extension and
development workers.
Learning: Is the modification of behaviour through experience.
Learning in Extension: is the relatively permanent change in the behaviour,
or behaviour potential of people as a result of extension teaching efforts.
Learning Situation: a condition, or environment in which all the elements
necessary for promoting learning are present.
Elements of Learning Situation: learner (community / beneficiaries of
development); instructor (extension and development worker); subject matter
(development ideas); physical facilities (appropriate environment); and
teaching methods and aids.
Learning Experience: the mental, and, or physical reaction a learner makes
to seeing, or hearing, or doing the things to be learned.
Teaching Methods: the tools and techniques used to create situations in
which communication can take place between the extension workers and
people.
Audio Visual Aids: the instructional devices which are used to communicate
message more effectively through sound and visuals.
2.2.2 The Functions of Extension Teaching Methods

The major functions of extension teaching methods are
• to provide communication so that learner may see, hear, and do the things to
be learnt
• to provide stimulation that causes desired mental and physical action on the
part of the learner
• To take the learner through one, or more steps of the teaching–learning
process, viz., attention, interest, desire, conviction, action, and satisfaction.
Activity 1: Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by the extension
teaching methods? Compare their views with those given in this unit and
write features that common.
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1) What do you mean by extension teaching methods?
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2) Write the functions of extension teaching methods.
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2.3 CLASSIFICATION OF EXTENSION TEACHING

METHODS
The extension teaching methods can be classified under the following two heads.
• According to Use
• According to Form
2.3.1 Extension Teaching Methods According to Use

One way of classifying the extension methods is according to their use and the
nature of the contact. In other words, whether they are used for contacting people
individually, in groups, or, in masses. Based on this, they are divided into
a) individual contact methods
b) group contact methods
c) mass contact methods.
Let us look at the following three situations.
i) Example of the individual contact method: a farmer comes to the extension
worker and says that some parts of his paddy field looks scorched. The
extension worker usually asks a few questions, the answers to which will
help him, or her in arriving at the solution, which could be caused by an
insect, the Brown Plant Hopper. A solution to the problem will then be offered
- the farmer needs to apply appropriate insecticide for saving the crop.
ii) Example of the group contact method: the extension worker finds many
people coming to him, or her with a similar problem. Then, he, or she realises
that answering each individual will be time consuming. The worker may
26
think of calling groups of people who face this problem and explaining to Extension Teaching Methods
them the ways in which this problem can be solved.
iii) Example of the mass contact method: there is an outbreak of swine flu
affecting people in different regions of the country. The best way to reach
large numbers of people and to clear their concerns about this infection would
be to pass on information through internet, television, newspapers, or the
radio.
All of the above mentioned ways of reaching people are examples of extension
methods. The tasks in these three situations can be accomplished through the
skilful application of sound principles of teaching and learning, the use of extension
teaching methods, audio visual aids, and adult learning principles which are
discussed in the previous, present, and subsequent units in this block.
Important extension teaching methods under the individual, group, and mass
contact methods are listed in Table 2.1.
Table 2.1: Classification of extension teaching methods according to use
Individual contact Group contact Mass contact

• Farm and home visits • Method demonstration • Bulletins
• Office visits • Result demonstration • Leaflets
• Telephone calls • Leader training meetings • Circular letters
• Personal letters • Conferences • Radio
• Discussion meetings • Television
• Workshops • Exhibitions
• Field trips • Posters
2.3.2 Extension Teaching Methods According to Form

Extension teaching methods are also classified according to their form, as written,
spoken, and, objective or visual methods. Important methods under each of these
categories are given in Table 2.2.
Table 2.2: Classification of extension-teaching methods according to form
Written Spoken Objective or Visual

• Bulletins • Meetings • Result demonstration
• Leaflets • Farm and home visits • Posters
• Folders • Official calls • Motion picture or movies
• News articles • Telephone calls • Charts
• Personal letters • Radio • Television
• Circular letters • Slides
• Models
• Exhibits
27
and Audio Visual Aids Activity 2: Visit your nearest development department, and identify and write
the teaching methods they are using in extension work.
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1) Write the three types of extension teaching methods according to
i) Use : ............................................................
ii) Form : ............................................................
2) Write examples for
i) Individual contact methods : ............................................................
ii) Group contact methods : ............................................................
iii) Mass contact methods : ............................................................
iv) Written methods : ............................................................
v) Spoken methods : ............................................................
vi) Objective or visual methods : ............................................................
2.4 INDIVIDUAL CONTACT METHODS

Extension methods under this category provide opportunities for face-to-face or
person-to-person contact between people or the community and the extension
workers. These methods are very effective in teaching new skills and creating
goodwill between people and the extension workers.
Advantages
i) Helps the extension worker in building rapport with people.
ii) Facilitates firsthand knowledge of developmental problems.
iii) Helps in selecting administrators and local leaders.
iv) Helps in changing the attitude of the people.
v) Helps in teaching complex practices.
vi) Facilitates transfer of technology effectively.
Limitations
i) Time consuming and relatively expensive.
ii) Have low coverage of people due to time constraints.
iii) Extension worker may develop favouritism or bias towards some individual
beneficiaries of development.
28
2.4.1 Farm and Home Visit Extension Teaching Methods
What is it?
This is direct face-to-face contact by the extension worker with the people, or
members of their family at their home, farm, or work place for specific extension
work.
Objectives
• To get acquainted with and gain the confidence of people.
• To obtain, or to give first hand information on matters relating to
developmental initiatives.
• To advise and assist in solving specific problems.
• To teach skills.
• To arouse interest and motivate the people, for people-centred development.
Planning and Preparation
• The visit should be made with a definite purpose.
• Decide on the people and the objective of visit – whom to meet and for
what?
• Get adequate information about the topic – take good extension material
and the complete benefits of family planning.
• Punctuality should always be borne in mind.
• A schedule of visits should be worked out to save time.
• Remote and disadvantaged people should always be kept in view.
• This method should be used to reinforce other methods, or when other
methods cannot be used.
Implementation
• Visit on the scheduled date and time, or, according to convenience of the
people and when they are likely to listen.
• Create interest among the people and allow the individual to talk first.
• Talk in terms of their interest.
• Use natural and easy language; speak slowly, clearly and cheerfully.
• Be accurate and sincere in teaching, as well as learning.
• Avoid arguments.
• Let the people take credit for good developmental ideas.
Follow-up
• Keep records of your visits, their purpose, the accomplishments and
commitments.
• Send information, material, or relevant literature, or assist in getting further
help.
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Extension Teaching Methods For what jobs?
This method could be used:
• To teach skills – individualised teaching.
• To create the desire to adopt new developmental ideas and practices.
• To help people analyse their problems, and to prepare them for intelligent
action.
Examples: Some of the jobs that could be worked out by this method are: family
planning; solar energy utilization; water harvesting at the household level; child
care; vocational education activities; integrated pest management; soil testing;
green fodder cultivation, etc.
Fig. 2.1(a): Farm and Home Visit by Health & Family Welfare Extension
Worker for data on ICDS.
Fig. 2.1(b): Farm and Home Visit by Livestock Extension Worker for data on
30 Livestock Farming.
Advantages Extension Teaching Methods
• Firsthand knowledge of developmental problems is gained.

• Goodwill and confidence are acquired when development interventions work
out.
• Local influential leaders are identified for developmental activities.
• People who have not been reached by other methods can be contacted.
• Percentage of adoption (takes) to advices (exposures) rendered is high.
Limitations
• Only limited number of contacts may be made.
• Concentrated visits to responsive and progressive people might prejudice
other people against the extension workers.
• Time consuming and costly.
2.4.2 Office Visit

This is a visit made by people at the office, or workplace of the extension worker
to obtaining information, assistance, or to develop an acquaintance.
Objectives
• To get quick solutions to developmental problems.
• To enable people to discuss developmental issues with the extension worker
and other related officials.
Example: Construction of a community health centre.
• To enable people to bring live or model specimens for examination and to be
advised.
Example: Dead poultry birds for post mortem examination, or faecal sample for
parasite examination, or, soil sample for nutrient examination.
Fig. 2.2: IGNOU Students Visiting the Office of Regional Director for Project Work 31
Extension Teaching Methods Planning and Preparation
• Keep the office neat and clean with displays of information on extension
activities and development programmes.
• Remain present in the office on fixed days and hours, which have been
communicated to all concerned in advance.
• Make arrangements for providing information to visitors in your absence.
Implementation
• Allow the visitor to talk first and make the point.
• Discuss the problems and suggest solutions.
Example: Examine the dead birds, or faecal material, or soil sample, and suggest
solution. If necessary, take the visitor to a specialist.
Follow-up
• Record the call and material in the register, and give the entry details to the
visitor for future reference.
• If required, refer the problem to higher officials or research organizations
for solutions.
Advantages
• A number of contacts can be made.
• Time saving and economical.
• Enhances the credibility of the extension worker.
• Indicates the confidence reposed in the extension worker by the people.
Limitations
• Being away from the situation, it may be difficult for the extension worker
to understand the problem in its proper perspective.
• The extension worker may not be available all the time at the office or
workplace.
2.4.3 Personal Letter

This letter is written by the extension worker to a particular individual in
connection with development work. It is a substitute for personal contact.
Objectives
• To answer enquiries relating to common developmental problems.
Example: Communicating a polio vaccination schedule to school principals.
• To send information, or to seek cooperation on important extension activities.
Example: To invite experts for a focus group discussion on the community
radio programme.
• Send the letters in time, or, reply promptly if a letter has already been received.
• Content should be clear, complete and applicable to the individual’s own
situation.
32
Activity 3: Make an office visit to your nearest development department and
enquire about extension activities. Write your observations.
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1) Write any three advantages of individual contact methods.
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2.5 GROUP CONTACT METHODS

In this method, the extension agent communicates with the people in groups,
which usually consist of 20 to 25 persons. Group contact methods also involve a
face-to-face contact with the individual members of the group, and provide an
opportunity for deciding a future course of action.
Advantages
i) Enables face to face contact with a number of individuals at a time.
ii) Can reach a select target group of people for specific development work.
iii) Facilitates sharing of knowledge and experience and, thereby strengthens
learning by the group.
iv) Satisfies the basic urge of people for social contact.
v) Motivates individuals to accept a change due to group influence.
vi) Less expensive than individual methods because there is more coverage.
Limitations
i) Diversity in the interests of the group members may create a difficult learning
situation.
ii) Holding the meeting may be regarded as an objective in itself.
iii) Hidden interests, group dynamics and factions may hinder free interaction
and decision making.
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and Audio Visual Aids A group is an aggregate of a small number of people in reciprocal
communication and integration around common development interest.
Example: Women’s Self Help Groups, formed for livelihood security through
income generating activities.
2.5.1 Method Demonstration

Method demonstration is a relatively short-time demonstration given by extension
worker before a group of people to show how to carry out entirely new practice,
or, an old practice in a better way. This method is not concerned with proving the
worth of a practice, but with how to do something. It is essentially skill training,
where the emphasis is on effectively carrying out a job, which will improve the
result. It is not an experiment or a trial, but a teaching effort.
Example: Teaching how to bathe baby in a health and family welfare extension,
preparing a milk replacer, taking a dung sample for examination, etc.
Objectives
• To teach skills and stimulate individuals to action.
• To get rid of inefficient, or defective practices.
• Decide on the topic, target audience, and venue for demonstration.
• Select a topic which is important and needed by the group, for immediate
use.
Example:
Topic: Proper bathing of baby.
Target audience: House wives with small kids.
Venue: Any house in a village convenient to all.
Fig. 2.3: Health and Family Welfare Extension Worker Teaching Village Housewives
How to Bathe Baby Properly.
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Implementation Extension Teaching Methods
• Be at the venue early to check equipment and materials.

• Make physical arrangements, so that all participants can have a good look at
the demonstration and take part in discussions.
• Start the demonstration on the scheduled date and time, and conduct it step
by step, explaining clearly why and how it is being done.
• Encourage questions at each stage.
• Give an opportunity to individuals to practice the skill.
• Distribute literature related to the demonstration.
Follow-up
• Get the names of the participants and list those who are considering the
adoption of the practice. This helps in the follow up, and increases the number
of persons desiring the change.
• Assist the participants in getting the required materials and equipments.
For what jobs

Smokeless ovens in villages, soap making, sewing and knitting, fumigation of
poultry sheds, seed preservation, seed treatment, etc.
Advantages
• Effective in teaching skills.
• Stimulates action.
• Builds confidence.
• Serves publicity purpose.
• Increases the acquaintance of extension workers with the local people.
• Introduces change of practice at low cost.
Limitations
• Not suitable to all subject matter.
• Needs a great deal of preparation, equipment, and skill on the part of the
extension workers.
• Causes a set back to whole programme, if improperly implemented.
2.5.2 Result Demonstration

Result demonstration is a way of showing people the value of a new practice by
showing its distinctly superior result. The result demonstration may be for a single
recommended practice, or for a series of practices that come in sequence with
respect to a problem. It is an educational test to prove the advantages of
recommended developmental practices, and to demonstrate their applicability to
the local conditions. It is conducted by a member of the group under the direct
supervision of the extension worker. It is designed to teach others, in addition to
the person who conducts the demonstration. It helps the individuals to learn an
improved practice by seeing and doing. It is a very effective method for technology
transfer in a community.
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Extension Teaching Methods Objectives
• To show the advantages and applicability of a newly recommended practice
in an individual’s own situation.
• To motivate groups of individuals in a community to adopt a new practice
by showing its result.
• Discuss issues with the people and uncover their interests.
• Analyze individual situations and select relevant development ideas.
• Select a few responsible and cooperative individuals who have adequate
resources and facilities, with acceptance in the local community for
conducting the demonstration. This, however, does not mean that wealthy
and influential people are to be selected.
Implementation
• Explain the objectives and steps to the demonstrating individuals.
• Organize inputs and equipment necessary for conducting the demonstrations.
• Conduct the demonstration in the presence of the community.
Follow-up
• Encourage demonstrating individuals to share their experiences with others
in meetings and training programmes.
• Summarise, record, and establish proof of the practice.
• Use the result of the demonstrations in future extension work, and, pass the
results on to the mass media for further dissemination.
• Enlist other people into the new practice.
For what jobs
Improved kitchen, compost making, better livestock feeding practices, improved
fertilizer application methods, etc.
Advantages
• Helps in introducing a beneficial new practice.
• Convinces hesitant people and workers through the principle ‘seeing is
believing’.
• Provides factual data.
• With the experience, extension workers can recommend the practice with
greater conviction.
• Convince people that the extension workers are practical.
Limitations
• Finding a suitable individual who is willing for the demonstration is difficult.
• Need more time, energy, and funds.
• Unsuccessful demonstrations may cause some setbacks to extension work.
• Not suitable for all developmental ideas and practices.
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2.5.3 Group Meeting Extension Teaching Methods
This is a method of democratically arriving at certain decisions from a group of

individuals by taking into consideration all their points of view. Group meetings
and discussions aim at collective decision making and at improving individual
decision making by using the knowledge and experience of groups of people.
Fig. 2.4: Group Meetings
Objectives
• To prepare a favourable climate for discussion and to help better understand
the problem by pooling the knowledge and experience of a number of
individuals.
• To facilitate in depth discussion by involving a small number of people.
• Decide on the topic to be discussed and the individuals to be involved.
Example: Discussion on problems of contact farming.
• Collect relevant information.
• Contact researchers, if required.
Implementation
• Start the meeting on the scheduled date and time.
• Introduce the topic to the group and initiate discussion.
Follow-up
• Remind the people of the decisions, encourage and assist them to take action.
• Facilitate in obtaining the required inputs consistent with the decisions taken.
Limitations
• Requires skill and understanding of group dynamics on the part of the
extension worker.
• Group factions may hinder successful use of this method.

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2.5.4 Small Group Training
This is a technique for imparting specific skills to a group of people who need
them by creating appropriate learning situations. It is an effective method for the
transfer of technology.
Example: Two days training programme on implementation of NREGA.
Objectives
• To impart the needed skills to a small group of people.
• To motivate individuals to adopt new practices through skill training.
• Identify a technology for which there is a need.
• Decide on the time and duration of the training programme.
Implementation
• Start the training programme on the scheduled date and time.
• Distribute publications and materials for taking notes.
Follow-up
• Maintain contact with the trainees.
• Encourage and assist them to apply the new practice.
Limitations
• Only a small number of people can be trained at a time.
• Follow up requires more staff and time.
Fig. 2.5: Small Group Training

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2.5.5 Study Tours, or Exposure Visits Extension Teaching Methods
In a study tour, a group of interested people accompanied and guided by one, or

more extension agents, moves out of their neighbourhood to study and learn
significant improvements in other areas.
Example: Visit to a successful entrepreneur, or to a successful self help group

(SHG).
Fig. 2.6: Study Tour
Objectives
• To expose individuals to a new and different situation, and to help in changing
their outlook, and extend their mental horizon.
• To make them understand the gap in the adoption of recommended practices.
• Decide on the objective, number, and type of participants, duration, and places
of visit.
• Communicate, in advance, get confirmation of the programme, and other
logistics.
Implementation
• Keep the interests of the group uppermost in mind.
• Let everyone see, hear, discuss, and, if possible, participate in the activities
at the places of visit.
Follow-up
• Keep in contact with the participants.
• Encourage the adoption of practices by arranging necessary inputs.
Limitations
• Due to the limitations of funds and time, study tours cannot be held frequently.
• The possibility of sub-ordinating educational aspect to sight-seeing and
recreation.
39
1) Write any three advantages of group contact methods.
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2) Write the differences between method and result demonstrations.
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2.6 MASS, OR COMMUNITY CONTACT

METHODS
As an extension worker, you need to approach a large number of people for
disseminating new information and helping them to use it. This can be done
conveniently with mass contact methods. These methods are more useful for
making people aware of new practices or technology quickly by communicating
with a vast and heterogeneous mass of people, without taking into consideration
their individual or group identity. These methods are valid when large and widely
dispersed target audience are to be communicated with, in a short time. The size
of the audience may be a few hundreds in a mass meeting, a few thousands in
campaign, or a few lakhs in newspaper, radio and television.
Advantages
• Suitable for creating general awareness among the people about new practices.
• Helps in transferring knowledge and changing opinions.
• Facilitates quick communication in times of emergency.
• Large numbers of people are communicated with, in a short span of time.
Limitations
• Less intensive methods.
• Little scope for personal contact.
• Generalized recommendations hinder application by individuals.
• Little control over the responses of the audience.
• Difficulty in getting feedback information, and evaluating results.
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2.6.1 Publications Extension Teaching Methods
Publications are prepared by the extension workers in printed form with

development programme information. Publications are of various types such as
leaflet, folder, bulletin, newsletter, journal, and magazine. Publications may be
used singly or in combination with other extension methods.
Objectives
• To reach a large number of people quickly and simultaneously at a low cost.
• To provide accurate, motivating, credible, and distortion-free information.
• Select a topic of economic and practical importance, for which information
is needed by a community.
• Estimate the time required to prepare the manuscript, print, and dispatch the
publication so that it reaches people in time.
Implementation
• Collect relevant information on the topic from all available sources.
• Contact specialists relating to relevant disciplines.
Follow-up
• Arrange timely dispatch of the publication to the target people.
• Dispatch publications to media persons and others according to a mailing
list.
Limitations
• Cannot be widely used in areas of low level of literacy.
• May lose their significance if not carefully prepared and used.
Leaflet: A leaflet is a single sheet of paper used to present information on only
one developmental idea in a concise manner and simple language.
The preparation of leaflets
• select a suitable topic based on the felt needs of a community
• present one idea, technique, or practice in one leaflet
• collect all relevant information and select only most essential points
• use short, simple and familiar words, include relevant pictures and
illustrations, and refer to local situations wherever possible
• give the source or contact details for further information
• printing on yellow or pink paper attracts attention
• usually, a leaflet is 4" x 8", with 14-16 font size letters.
Folder: A folder is a single piece of paper folded once or twice, and, when opened,
the material presented is in sequence.
The preparation of a folder
• the points regarding leaflet preparation holds good for leaflet also
41
Extension Teaching Methods • in addition, consider making your folder attractive by using photographs,
line drawings, coloured paper, and inks
• the front page of the folder should contain a title, a single photograph, and
the details of your extension organization
• print the folder on heavier paper than the leaflet with 1:1½ size width to
length ratio.
Pamphlet: A pamphlet size varies from 2-12 pages. The first cover page should
be printed in 2-3 colours with some action pictures. In contrast to the leaflet and
folder, full information is presented about the topic in greater length in pamphlet.
Compared to leaflets and folders, a pamphlet serves to meet the needs of people
at different stages of extension and developmental programmes.
Bulletin: A bulletin contains a large amount of information and could have 12-
20 pages. Its primary objective is to give complete information which the intended
readers can apply to their own situations.
Booklet: when a large amount of extension material is published, and ranges

between 20 and 50 pages, then it is called a booklet.
Circular Letter: a circular letter is written by an extension worker and sent to

many people, periodically, or, on special occasions. The objective of the circular
letter is to maintain regular contact with extension beneficiaries, or to communicate
general information which could be put in the form of a letter.
(a ) Folder (b) Bulletin
42 Fig. 2.7: Extension Publications

2.6.2 Mass Meeting Extension Teaching Methods
Mass meetings are held to communicate interesting and useful information to a

large number of individuals at a time. The size of the audience for mass meeting
may be a few hundreds, and, at times, it may be a few thousand.
Objectives
• To focus the attention of people on some important topic.
• To create general awareness about a development programme or project,
and to announce its progress.
• Decide on the topic, occasion, and audience.
• Select a limited number of speakers, including one, or two local leaders.
Implementation
• Select a suitable chairperson.
• Start the meeting in time and cut down formalities to a minimum.
Follow-up
• Stay in contact with the interested audience.
• Sustain wider interest through mass media.
Limitations
• In depth discussion of the topic is not possible.
• Cannot be held frequently.
2.6.3 Campaign
A campaign is an intensive teaching activity that is undertaken at an opportune
moment for a brief period, focussing attention in a concerted manner towards a
particular problem to stimulate the widest possible interest in the community.
The duration of a campaign may be for a single day on a theme like ‘tree
plantation’, for a few days, as in ‘voter registration’, or, for several months at
fixed dates and times, as in the ‘pulse polio’ campaign.
Objectives
• To create mass awareness about an important problem, or felt need, and to
encourage people and organizations to solve it.
• To induce the emotional participation of the community as a whole, and to
create a conducive psychological climate for the adoption of a practice, or,
technology.
• Consult with the local leaders about important problems or needs of the
community.
• List out specialists and local leaders who could be involved in solving it.
• Train the required personnel.
• Select the time and venues suitable to the community, announce the dates
well in advance, and build up the enthusiasm of the people.
43
Extension Teaching Methods Implementation
• Carry out the campaign according to a set programme.
• Hold a group meeting with the community and discuss the origin and nature
of the problem.
• Suggest a practical and effective solution.
Follow up
• Contact participants and invite their reactions.
• Assess the extent of adoption of the practice.
Advantages
• Maximum number of people can be reached in a short time.
• Quick results at lower costs.
• Successful campaigns create an atmosphere that is conducive to popularising
other development methods.
• Builds up community confidence in the extension system.
• Useful for practices which are effective when only the entire community
adopts them.
Limitations
• Applicable only for topics and practices of interest to a community.
• Success depends on the cooperation of the community and local leaders.
• Cannot be adopted while advocating complicated technologies.
Fig. 2.8: Tree Plantation Campaign Fig. 2.9 : Exhibition
2.6.4 Exhibition
An exhibition is a systematic display of models, specimens, charts, photographs,
pictures, posters, information, etc., in a sequence around a development theme to
create awareness and interest among a community. This method is suitable for
reaching all types of people and can be held at the village, block, sub-division,
44
district, state, national, and international levels. Exhibitions cover three stages of Extension Teaching Methods
extension teaching steps, viz.,
i) arousing interest
ii) creating a desire to learn
iii) providing an opportunity to take a decision.
Objectives
• To promote visual literacy.
• To influence people to adopt better practices.
• To create interest in a wider range of people.
• To promote understanding and create goodwill towards extension work and
workers.
• Decide on the theme and the organizations to be involved.
• Give advance publicity.
• Make it simple and understandable, working upon one idea at a time, or,
place.
• Arrange the sequence and continuity of the exhibits.
• Use few rather than many objects, with adequate spacing, and providing eye
appeal.
• Label the exhibits legibly and briefly.
• Interpreters should be thoroughly informed and precise in their explanation.
Suggestions
• Use local material as far as possible, since specimens from the locality will
have greater significance.
• Take advantage of local festivals and fairs.
Implementation
• Organize the opening of the exhibition by a local leader, or a prominent
person.
• Arrange for a smooth flow of visitors.
Follow-up
• Meet some visitors personally and maintain a visitors’ book for feedback.
• Distribute relevant extension literature.
• Assess success and effectiveness of the exhibition by analysing attendance,
enquiries, and by making note of the suggestions.
For what jobs

An exhibition is broadly suitable for a wide range of topics such as: improved
home living, products of village industries, developments in agriculture, animal
husbandry, horticulture, industry, family healthcare, etc.
45
Extension Teaching Methods Advantages
• One of the best media to reach illiterates.
• Caters to the needs of mixed groups.
• Fits into festive occasions, and serves recreation purposes, as well.
Limitations
• Requires more funds and preparation.
• Cannot be held frequently.
2.6.5 Newspaper
A newspaper is a bunch of loose printed papers, properly folded, which contains
news, views, events, advertisements, etc., and is published at regular intervals,
particularly, daily, or, weekly. By establishing a good rapport with editors and
reporters, reasonable support for extension work may be obtained by extension
workers. Newspapers may support extension work by publishing news of
extension activities and achievements, extension recommendations, packages of
practices, success stories, news focusing on development problems and
interventions. A newspaper is a good medium of communication in times of crises
and in urgent situations.
Limitations
• Only literate people can take advantage of this medium.
• Increases in the price of newspapers may restrict their circulation.
2.6.6 Radio
A radio is a system of wireless communication with clear objectives to inform,
educate and entertain the masses. The radio is suitable for creating general
awareness among the people, helping to change their attitude and reinforce
learning. The medium is extremely convenient for communication in times of
crises and urgent situations. People with no education, or, very little education,
and those who are not in a position to attend extension programmes personally,
can take advantage of this medium and build up adequate knowledge. The radio
can be used in extension and development work for
i) announcements – meetings, demonstrations, etc.
ii) intimation, or information dissemination
iii) advice – weather, outbreak of diseases, seasonal hints, etc.
iv) news reviews
v) interviews, questions and answers, features, documentaries, short talks, etc.
Advantages
• Can reach more people faster than any other means of communication.
• Disseminate timely and emergent information at low cost.
• Can reach illiterates on par with literates.
• Builds enthusiasm and maintains interest.
Limitations
• Frequently loses the educational purpose to entertainment.
46
• Difficult to check results and impact. Extension Teaching Methods
• Influence limited to people who can listen intelligently.
Fig. 2.10: Community Radio Club
Fig. 2.11: Television ( Source: RAGACOVAS, Puducherry)
2.6.7 Television and Video

Among all the mass methods, television and video occupy special status due to
their potential to communicate to the two most important senses, i.e., sight and
hearing, simultaneously, and to be broadcast to a large audience. Now it is possible
to view programmes through an LCD projector, computer, or television monitor.
Video cassettes provide motion, colour, sound, and, in many cases, special effects
with advanced graphic and animation techniques. High quality, commercially
produced educational video cassettes are available on almost every subject.
47
Extension Teaching Methods Guidelines
i) Note that television and video presentations are not designed to replace the
instructor.
ii) Rehearse to determine the important points that should be stressed.
iii) Prepare learners by telling them what to watch carefully, what is important,
or possibly, what is incorrect.
iv) Make yourself available to summarize the presentation and answer any
questions.
Advantages
• The ability to easily stop, freeze, rewind, and replay is particularly helpful
for both, instructors and learners.
• Cost with associated equipment is fairly economical.
• Useful for purposes other than instructional.
Limitations
• Learners are often accustomed to dramatic, action packed films, or videos
that are designed as entertainment.
• Instructional television and video, in comparison to entertainment, are
normally perceived as less exciting and less stimulating. This, coupled with
a distracted viewing style, can diminish the instructional value of the
television or video.
Interactive Video
This solves one of the main problems of passive video in that it increases the
involvement of the learner in the learning process. Well-designed interactive
video, when properly used, is highly effective as an extension method.
Note: Radio, television, and video are basically extension teaching devices. They
can also be used as audio and /or visual aids as well, along with other teaching
methods, such as campaign and exhibition.
Activity 4: Visit a nearest development department, collect their extension

publications, and write your observations.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) Write any three advantages of mass contact methods.
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48
...................................................................................................................... Extension Teaching Methods
......................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................
2) Write what is meant by campaign with examples?
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2.7 THE SELECTION OF EXTENSION TEACHING

METHODS
One way of understanding the selection of extension teaching methods is by
recollecting the concept of steps in extension teaching. In Unit 1 on the ‘Teaching-
Learning Process’, we outlined the six steps in extension teaching: attention,
interest, desire, conviction, action, and satisfaction.
If we want people to adopt a new technology, or, a development idea, they have
to be taught about this. The first step in such a teaching is catching hold of their
attention. People have to be made attentive that there is something new. Once
they come to know that there is something new, the newness, or, probable
usefulness of the information develops an interest in them to understand more
about it. When they learn more about it and find its relevance in their situation,
there is a desire to use the information. At this stage, many who have desire are
hesitant to practice something unless they are convinced. The extension worker
has a crucial role to play in all these stages. Once people are convinced, they will
act. If this action provides the results that they were anticipating they get satisfied.
This satisfaction, in fact is a motivator for people to attend to further related
teachings. Dissatisfaction, at this level, has to be analysed well by the extension
worker and the people or community together, to find the reasons for the
dissatisfaction.
According to research findings and accumulated experience, certain extension

teaching methods contribute effectively to attain desirable action on the part of
the beneficiaries of development.
2.7.1 Methods for Getting Attention

To provide learning experiences for people, extension worker must get their
attention. This is the fundamental stage for successfully making the ideas enter
the minds of people, and requires planned and frequent use of a variety of teaching
methods, viz., pictures, demonstrations, news stories, survey results, slogans,
posters, radio talks, cartoons, displays, exhibits, etc.
49
2.7.2 Methods for Developing Interest
The amount and direction of developmental accomplishments of extension
teaching are largely determined by the interests of the people. Learning without
interest does not take place to any appreciable degree. People who are interested
in solving developmental problems acquire more information about them. Interest
usually represents the objectives or goals of an individual. Development means
comparatively little to people until they are able to connect it to their interests.
The factor of interests tends to control the influence of extension education,
because only those people who are interested will take part in developmental
activities. The methods that are useful in developing people’s interest are: meetings,
radio talks, publications, tours, result demonstrations, photographs, charts, etc.
Teaching Steps vs. Teaching Methods

Mass methods of extension are applied at the attention stage (and, to some
extent, in the interest stage) to create awareness about a practice or a technology.
Example: In the outbreak of Swine Flu, the precautions to be taken are best
communicated, in a short period, to large number of people through mass
media.
Group methods work out better in later stages, like interest and desire, since
the extension worker has direct contact with people, and can answer their
doubts and raise their motivation levels. Among the group methods some are
suited to specific stages.
Example: A result demonstration can help in the conviction stage and the
method demonstration in action stage.
2.7.3 Methods for Developing Confidence

Development and maintenance of confidence should be parallel to all other
changes in people’s attitudes and behaviour. Confidence is the key to achieving
results from extension education, because action taken by people is voluntary.
Confidence corresponds to the goodwill of the extension and development worker.
Once broken, confidence is difficult to restore, either in oneself, or, in the
community as a whole. It is, therefore, necessary for extension and development
workers to safeguard the factor of confidence in all the steps of teaching. In ideal
extension teaching, confidence should grow in intensity as desire is created and
followed by action and satisfaction. Methods that are useful in developing and
maintaining confidence are: economical and practical recommendations, readily
adoptable developmental practices, widely seen demonstrations, and personal
visits.
2.7.4 Methods for Creating Desire

Desire has a definite focus, unlike attitudes which are general, and interests which
are specific to the objects to which they are attached. Desire comes only when a
developmental idea, or intervention, suggested by extension worker is considered
favourable by people. Note that desire is an outgrowth of interest and confidence.
In creating desire, appeal to the feelings and emotions of people should be
employed to support the interest they already have. A desire is a want, and to
make that want felt and to satisfy the want, the right teaching methods must be
used to stimulate feeling and emotion, viz., exhibitions, demonstrations, pictures,
working models. For example: solar water heating devises, circulars suggesting
50
benefits, ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures that demonstrate development, and actual Extension Teaching Methods
development results presented in all possible ways.
2.7.5 Methods to Ensure Action

Action follows desire. If action does not follow soon after the desire has been
created, the desire soon fades away, and people continue as before. Consequently,
a variety of extension teaching methods must be planned and used to assure action
that results in development. The following methods are useful for promoting
action.
• Make action easy by: inputs and services for development available; removing
non-essential steps and delays; setting out clear cut and definite steps to be
taken.
• Use reminders.
• Ensure the participation of leaders in development work.
• Cooperative action.
• News stories and radio talks about, and, by people taking action.
2.7.6 Methods for Maintaining Satisfaction

Satisfaction depends upon the confidence, pride and success as a result of adoption
of developmental initiatives. After a developmental practice has been adopted by
people, it is important to remain in touch with them till they experience real
satisfaction and continue with the practice. Continuation of the practice and
recommendations to others is an indication of satisfaction. Methods that are
useful in maintaining satisfaction are: personal contact, whenever possible; timely
hints; showing the value of results; giving more information; and publicity in
media.
The six steps in extension teaching are the behaviour changes that we are aiming
for among people. In this process, they often overlap each other. Also, the extension
teaching methods complement and supplement each other with varying degree
of intensity in the attainment of the objectives of extension and development
programmes.
Less intensive to more intensive
Mass Contacts Group Contacts

News stories Individual Contacts
Meetings Objectives of
Radio Farm and home visits
Method demonstration Extention and
Bulletins Office calls
Result demonstration Development
Leaflets Personal letters
Tours Programme
Circular letters Lectures
Posters Discussions
Exhibits
Attainment of objective
Fig. 2.12: Extension Methods as per Intensity of Influence (Source: Leagans, 1961) 51
and Audio Visual Aids 2.8 CONSIDERATIONS IN THE SELECTION OF
EXTENSION TEACHING METHODS
The following guidelines are helpful in the selection of suitable extension teaching
methods.
i) Education level of the audience
• For illiterates - Personal visits.
• For educated - Written materials.
ii) Size of the audience.
• For less than 30 - Lecture, Group discussion.
• For more than 30- Mass methods.
iii) Teaching objective
• To bring awareness - Mass methods.
• To change attitude - Group discussion.
• To impart skill - Demonstration.
iv) Subject matter
• To prove value of a recommended practice - Result demonstration.
• To teach a new skill, or an old one in an improved way - Method
demonstration.
• To disseminate simple technology – News article.
• To teach a complex technology – Face-to-face contact with audio visual
aids.
v) Extension organization’s credibility
• New organization, yet to gain confidence of people – Result
demonstration.
• Well established organization with proven success- Circular letter.
vi) Size of extension staff
• Few staff members - Group and mass contact methods.
• Large number of staff - Individual contact methods.
vii) Availability of media
• For creating awareness and reinforcement of ideas – Television, radio,
newspaper.
viii) Time of dissemination
• Emergency for an individual – Phone call.
• Emergency for a group of people, or a large number of people – Radio,
52 television, public address system.
Combination of Extension Teaching Methods
Dear learner, from the foregoing discussion, it is clear that each teaching
method has its advantages and limitations and we cannot reach the entire
intended audience with a single method. One method supplements and
complements other methods, and, hence, more than one method is required
to communicate developmental messages. It is a cumulative effect, i.e.,
exposure to more methods during a given period of time that provides good
results. Skilful manipulation or handling of various methods by extension
workers will later determine the effectiveness of extension teaching.
Relative costs, the extension worker’s familiarity with teaching methods, the
needs of the people, the length of time the extension programme has been going
on in the area, availability of physical facilities, and weather conditions, are some
of the other factors to be considered while selecting extension teaching methods.
Activity 5: Visit your nearest development department and enquire about

different combinations of extension methods that they use in their work. Write
your observations.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) Write the teaching methods that are useful in the following teaching stages.
i) Attention : ..................................................................................
ii) Interest : ..................................................................................
iii) Desire : ..................................................................................
2) Write the factors to be considered while selecting extension teaching methods.
......................................................................................................................
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2.9 LET US SUM UP

Extension teaching methods are the instruments available to you as an extension
worker to direct the learning activity of the people, in the process of development.
The forgoing discussion, when properly understood and applied, should contribute
to your skill in the selection and use of extension teaching methods. In this unit
53
Extension Teaching Methods we started by looking at the meaning and functions of extension teaching methods
and understood that they are the tools and techniques used to create situations in
which communication can take place between the extension workers and the
people. We classified extension teaching methods and discussed important
methods under individual, group, and mass contact categories, along with their
merits and limitations. We also realized that a proper understanding of these
methods and their selection for a particular type of extension programme is
necessary in order to extend new knowledge and skills to the people by drawing
their attention, arousing their interest, and helping them to have a successful
experience of the new developmental practices and ideas. At the end, we discussed
the guidelines in the selection of suitable extension teaching methods.
2.10 KEYWORDS
Extension Teaching Methods:These are the tools and techniques used to create
situations in which communication can take place
between the extension workers and people.
Individual Contact Methods: They provide opportunities for face-to-face or

person-to-person contact between extension
workers and people.
Office Visit : This is a visit made by people at the office or

workplace of the extension worker for obtaining
information, assistance, or, to develop an
acquaintance with the worker.
Personal Letter : A letter written by the extension worker to a

particular individual, in connection with
development work.
Group Contact Methods : The methods used by the extension agent to

communicate with the people in groups of 20 to
25 persons.
Method Demonstration : A relatively short demonstration given before a

group of people to show how to carry out an
entirely new practice, or an old practice in a better
way.
Result Demonstration : A way of showing people the value of a new

practice by showing its distinctly superior result.
Group Meeting : A method of democratically arriving at certain

decisions from a group of individuals by taking
into consideration all their points of view.
Study Tour, or Exposure : In a study tour, a group of interested people,

Visits accompanied and guided by one or more
extension agents, moves out of their
neighbourhood to study and learn about
significant improvements.
54
Mass Contact Methods : In mass contact methods, the extension worker Extension Teaching Methods
communicates with a vast and heterogeneous
mass of people without taking into consideration
their individual or group identity.
Leaflet : A leaflet is a single sheet of paper used to present

information on only one developmental idea in
a concise manner, using simple language.
Folder : A folder is a single piece of paper folded once or

twice, and, when opened, the material is
presented in sequence.
Pamphlet : A pamphlet is a 2-12 page publication, printed

in 2-3 colours with some action pictures, giving
full information about a topic in greater length
than in a folders and leaflets.
Bulletin : A bulletin is a 12-20 page publication with the

primary objective of giving complete information
which the intended readers can apply to their own
situation.
Booklet : When the extension material is exceeds 20 pages

and is less than 50 pages, it is called booklet.
Circular Letter : This is a letter written by an extension worker,

and sent to many people periodically, or, on
special occasions.
Mass Meeting : This is held to communicate interesting and

useful information to a large number of
individuals at a time.
Campaign : A campaign is an intensive teaching activity

undertaken at an opportune moment for a brief
period, focussing attention in a concerted manner
towards a particular problem, so as to stimulate
the widest possible interest in the community.
Exhibition : An exhibition is a systematic display of models,

specimens, charts, photographs, pictures, posters,
information, etc., in a sequence around a
development theme to create awareness and
interest among a community.

55
Extension Teaching Methods for Extension Professionals. Lausanne, Switzerland, Global Forum for Rural
Advisory Services - GFRAS.
Leagans, J.P. (1961). Extension Teaching Methods. In: Extension Education in
Community Development, Directorate of Extension, Ministry of Food and
Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.
Mathialagan, P. (2007). Textbook of Animal Husbandry and Livestock Extension,
International Book Distributing Co, Lucknow.
Reddy, Y.N. (1998). Audio Visual Aids in Teaching Training and Extension.

ANSWERS
1) Extension teaching methods are the tools and techniques used to create
situations in which communication can take place between the extension
workers and people.
2) The major functions of extension teaching methods are: to provide

communication so that learner may see, hear, and do the things to be learnt;
to provide stimulation that causes the desired mental and physical action on
the part of the learner; and, to take the learner through one or more steps of
the teaching- learning process.

1) i) Extension teaching methods, according to use are: individual, group,
and mass contact methods.
ii) Extension teaching methods according to forms are: written, spoken,
and objective or visual methods.
2) Examples of teaching methods.
i) Individual contact methods : farm and home visits, office visit.
ii) Group contact methods : lecture, demonstrations.
iii) Mass contact methods : campaign, meetings.
iv) Written methods : leaflet, bulletin.
v) Spoken methods : meetings, radio.
vi) Objective / visual methods : result demonstration, pictures.
1) Individual contact methods help in building rapport with people, facilitate
gaining firsthand knowledge of developmental problems, help in selecting
administrators and local leaders, and help in changing the attitude of the
56 people.
Check Your Progress 4 Extension Teaching Methods
1) The advantages of group contact methods are: enable face-to-face contact

with a number of individuals at a time; can reach a select target group of
people; facilitate sharing of knowledge and experience, and thereby,
strengthen learning by the group; satisfy the basic urge of people for social
contact.
2) Result demonstration is an educational test to prove the advantages of

recommended practices, and to demonstrate their applicability to the local
condition. It is a method of motivating the people to adopt a new practice by
showing its distinctly superior result. It is conducted by an individual member
of a community under the direct supervision of an extension worker. Method
demonstration is relatively short demonstration given before a group of people
by extension worker to show how to carry out entirely new practice or an
old practice in a better way. It is essentially skill training, where the emphasis
is on effectively carrying out a job, which shall improve upon the result.
1) Mass contact methods facilitate quick communication, and are suitable for
creating general awareness, transferring knowledge, changing opinions.
2) A campaign is an intensive teaching activity undertaken at an opportune

moment for a brief period, focussing attention in a concerted manner towards
a particular problem so as to stimulate the widest possible interest in the
community. The duration of the campaign may be for a single day for, say,
‘tree plantation’, for a few days, as in ‘voter registration’, or, for several
months at fixed dates and time as in the ‘pulse polio’ campaign.
1) Teaching methods for: (i) attention stage -pictures, news stories (ii) interest
stage - meetings, radio talks (iii) desire stage - demonstrations, exhibitions.
2) Factors to be considered while selecting extension teaching methods are:

level of education and size of the audience; teaching objective; subject matter;
extension organization’s credibility; size of the extension staff; availability
of media, etc.
57
and Audio Visual Aids UNIT 3 AUDIO-VISUAL AIDS
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 The Meaning and Functions of Audio Visual Aids
3.3 Classification of Audio Visual Aids
3.4 Audio Aids
3.5 Non Projected Visual Aids
3.6 Projected Visual Aids
3.7 Audio Visual Aids
3.8 Factors Influencing the Selection of Audio Visual Aids
3.9 Let Us Sum Up
3.10 Keywords
3.1 INTRODUCTION
A common goal of extension and development workers is to make presentation
vital, alive, and memorable for their learners. This goal can be met most effectively
with the use of audio visual aids for communication of knowledge and teaching
of skills. In Unit 2 of this block, we discussed extension teaching methods as the
tools and techniques used to create situations in which communication of
knowledge and teaching of skills can take place between the extension workers
and the people. In the same way, audio visual aids also contribute directly in
improving the effectiveness of learning through communication of knowledge
and teaching of skills.
The major ways by which people learn are by seeing, hearing, and doing – looking,
listening, and acting. Audio visual aids offer the extension worker unique
opportunities to increase the effectiveness and clarity of developmental ideas
being transferred. They enable learners to see and hear, look and listen more
fully, and with greater understanding. To a large extent, the extension workers’
success and the degree of progress made by their learners will be determined by
their ability to communicate ideas. To achieve progress and development,
extension workers must communicate and their learners must understand. Audio
visual aids play a crucial role in this communication, so as to take the learners
through the steps in teaching learning process. Keeping this in view, important
audio visual aids that are helpful in extension teaching are discussed in this unit
for your understanding.
• Discuss the meaning and functions of audio visual aids
• Classify audio visual aids, with examples
• Describe important audio visual aids
58
• Select audio visual aids for various teaching occasions. Audio-Visual Aids
3.2 THE MEANING AND FUNCTIONS OF AUDIO

VISUAL AIDS
3.2.1 What are Audio Visual Aids?
We learnt from Unit 1 in the section on the Teaching Learning Process that the
attention of people is attracted by various senses in the proportions of : seeing -
87.0%; hearing - 7.0%; smell- 3.5 %; touch -1.5 % ; and, taste -1.0 %. Thus,
seeing and hearing are the major senses involved to attract attention and increase
learning.
“If I hear – I forget
If I see – I remember
If I do – I know”
- An old Chinese proverb
‘Seeing is believing’
- Famous extension quote
‘The best way to peoples’ heart is through their stomach, but the best way to their
brain is through their eyes and ears’
- An old proverb
Audio visual aids are instructional devices in which the message can be heard
and seen simultaneously
Examples: television, video films, documentary films, etc.
Audio visual aids help in stimulating the ears and eyes. Hence, in the strict sense
a teaching aid is any device that can be used to help reinforce new information or
skills. Instructional aids are devices that assist an instructor in the teaching-learning
process. Instructional aids are not self-supporting - they are supplementary teaching
devices.
What do the above proverbs, definitions, and discussion suggest to you? They
suggest that, hearing alone is not enough, in the learning process, to result in
action. The use of audio visual aids in extension teaching is based on the principle
that one must see and try to do, along with hearing, in order to go through all the
six steps in the extension teaching learning process.
7 Rs of Audio Visual aids

1. Right aid
2. Right place
3. Right way
4. Right time
5. Right people
6. Right message
7. Right extension worker
59
3.2.2 Functions of Audio Visual Aids
When properly used, audio visual aids contribute one or more of the following
functions.
i) Convey meaning clearly
ii) Capture attention, arouse and sustain interest
iii) Increase the correctness, clarity and effectiveness of the idea and skills being
transferred
iv) Help in learning more, faster, and with thoroughness
v) Help in remembering longer
vi) Reach more people, irrespective of their level of literacy, or language
vii) Save the instructor’s time
viii) Reduce the possibility of misinterpreting concepts
ix) Clarify the relationship between material objects and concepts
x) Supplement the spoken word – the combination of audio and visual stimuli
is particularly effective since the two most important senses are involved
xi) Highlight the main points of the message clearly.
Audio visual aids offer extension workers a fast, accurate, and direct approach
to understanding on the part of learners. They give the extension workers a
reliable assurance that they are making their:
Expression = Impression and Impression =Expression
3.2.3 Limitations of Audio Visual Aids

i) Learners may sometimes form distorted impressions, unless audio visual
aids are supplemented with required explanations
ii) They may tempt the extension worker to narrow down his teaching to only a
few big ideas, not giving the complete picture of a subject
iii) There is the possible risk of ‘spectatorism’ instead of the attitude of thoughtful
enquiry. Some extension workers acquire the mistaken idea that they have
little to do when audio visuals are used.
Activity 1: Visit a nearby development department and enquire about how

audio visual aids are helpful in their extension work. Write your observations.
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................

1) Write what you mean by audio visual aids.
60
...................................................................................................................... Audio-Visual Aids
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2) Write four functions of audio visual aids.
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3) Write two limitations of audio visual aids.
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3.3 CLASSIFICATION OF AUDIO VISUAL AIDS

There are many ways to classify audio visual aids
• according to progress
• according to sense involved
• according to projection, or show
Figure. 3.1, gives a general classification involving the above three types for
your comprehensive understanding.
3.3.1 According to Progress

First Generation: handmade charts, graphs, exhibits, models, etc.
Second Generation: printed or illustrated texts, printed graphics, workbooks, etc.
Third Generation: photographs, slides, films, radio, tape recorder, telecast, etc.
Fourth Generation: television, language laboratories, information communication
technology based aids like computers, multimedia, touch screen kiosks, mobiles,
etc.
3.3.2 According to Sense Involved

Audio Aids: instructional devices through which the message can only be heard
are known as audio aids. Examples: radio, tape recorder, CD player, etc.
Visual Aids: instructional devices through which the message can only be seen
are known as visual aids. Examples: posters, flashcards, charts, etc. 61
Extension Teaching Methods Audio Visual Aids: instructional devices through which message can be heard
and seen simultaneously. Examples: television, video film, documentary film,
etc.
3.3.3 According to Projection, or Show

Non projected Aids: Visual instructional devices which are simply presented
without any projection equipment are non projected aids. Examples: blackboard,
chart, etc.
Projected Aids: visual instructional devices which are shown with a projector are
called projected aids. Examples: slides, filmstrip, silent films, cartoons, etc.
projected through an opaque projector (epidiascope), or an over head projector.
Display Aids: visual aids which are spread before the audience for viewing
information, and instruction. Examples: poster, bulletin, board, models, exhibits,
etc.
Presentation Aids: visuals aids presented or projected before the audience for
viewing, and at the same time explain, or present the message of the visuals, so
that the audience get meaningful understanding of a subject. Examples: flashcards,
slides, filmstrips, etc.
Fig. 3.1: Classification of Audio Visual Aids
Activity 2: Visit a nearby development department, and identify and write

the audio visual aids they are using in the extension work.
........................................................................................................................
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62
Check Your Progress 2 Audio-Visual Aids

1) Write the three ways of classifying audio visual aids.
......................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2) Write examples for :
i) Audio aids : ...........................................................................
ii) Visual aids : ...........................................................................
iii) Audio visual aids : ...........................................................................
iv) Non projected aids : ...........................................................................
v) Projected aids : ...........................................................................
3.4 AUDIO AIDS

Audio aids are the instructional devices through which message can only be heard.
It is said that we spend more than 50% of our time in hearing. This shows the
importance of audio media in our life. Therefore, as an extension worker, it is
necessary for you to understand important audio aids and their application in
extension and development work.
Advantages
• Flexible, inexpensive, simple to use, and readily available.
• Recorded and used again and again - Editing and duplication is easy.
• Useful in individual, group, and mass teaching methods.
• Overcomes the illiteracy barrier.
• Audio messages are more dramatic than print messages.
• Portable and can be used in field situations.
Limitations
• The sequence of presentation is fixed.
• Comprehension of the presentation can be a constraint.
• The development of audio aids is time consuming.
• Storage and retrieval of audio tapes and records is tiresome.
Important audio aids that are useful for extension work, along with their specific
advantages and limitations, are discussed next for your understanding.
63
3.4.1 Tape Recorder
A tape recorder is suitable for extension work in meetings, training programmes,
campaigns, recording radio programmes, etc.
Advantages
• Facilitates on-the-spot recording of sound.
• Helps in duplication and dissemination of sound.
• Recorded tape can be immediately played back without any processing.
• Helps in synchronization of sound with picture.
• Easy to operate and preserve.
• Low operational cost, as the same tape may be used again.
3.4.2 Public Address System

A public address system amplifies sound so that it is audible to a large audience,
over a distance. It consists of three segments, viz., microphone, amplifier and
speaker. The microphone converts sounds into electrical waves which are fed
into an amplifier. The amplified electric current is fed into a speaker to convert
into sound waves, and the magnified sound is heard through speakers. It is very
useful in meetings and campaigns to disseminate information.
Fig.2 : Public Address System(Source : RAGACOVAS, Puducherry)
64 Fig. 3: COMBACCS(Source : RAGACOVAS, Puducherry)

3.4.3 Telephone and Mobile Audio-Visual Aids
The telephone allows people to talk to each other, from distant places. It provides
for instant interpersonal communication, in which the communicator and the
person who is communicated to change roles while giving and getting information.
This improves speed of communication and involves considerable saving of time,
money, and labour. Though, usually, only two persons can communicate at a time
through a telephone, the system serves many people in a given area if a speaker is
attached to it, like Cell Phone Operated Mobile Audio Communication and
Conference System (COMBACCS). This technology is seeing a phenomenal
growth in many developing countries. Short Message Service (SMS) and Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP) enabled cell phones with cameras can be effective
in offering ’always available extension‘ between experts and people. COMBACCS
can help community members at different locations build relationships and
understanding.
Kisan Call Centers for

Agriculture Development
The Ministry of Agriculture

and Farmers Welfare
launched Kisan Call Centers
on January 21, 2004 across the
country to deliver extension
services to the farming
community. The purpose of
these call centres is to respond
to issues raised by farmers,
instantly, in the local language.
There are call centres for every
state which are expected to
handle traffic from any part of
the country on the number
1800-180-1551. Queries
related to agriculture and allied
sectors have been addressed
through these call centers since
2004.
Fig. 3.4 : Kisan Call Center
3.4.4 Digital Audio Player

A digital audio player is sometimes referred to as an MP3 player, and has the
primary function of storing, organizing and playing audio files. Some digital
audio players are also referred to as portable media players as they have image-
viewing and/or video-playing support.
Example : iPod (fourth generation audio aid).

Digital audio players are playing a major role in Information and Communication
Technology based extension work in all development sectors due to their very
compact size, use of very little power, and extremely small designs with long
battery life.
65
and Audio Visual Aids Activity 3: Visit your nearby development department and enquire about the
audio aids that they use in extension and development activities. Write your
observations.
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1) Write any three advantages of audio aids.
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3.5 NON-PROJECTED VISUAL AIDS

Non projected visual aids are those aids which are used without projection.
Advantages
• Abundant and are easily obtainable.
• Requires no electricity and appropriate for low budget extension work.
• Not much artistic ability is required in the use of these visual aids.
• Useful in small group situations.
• Many of them can be converted into projected aids. For example, charts,
flannel graphs, and flash cards can be photographed or scanned and converted
into slides.
• Some of them can be projected through an opaque projector.
3.5.1 Chalkboard, or Blackboard

The chalkboard is probably the simplest, cheapest, most convenient, and widely
used non projected visual aid in extension teaching. A black wooden board is
mostly used, hence, it is also known as blackboard. However, ground glass, roll-
up materials, coloured in black, olive green, or blue may also be used. Roll-up
materials are made of heavy cloth canvas coated with chalkboard paint. For
extension teaching under field conditions, inward folding wooden boards or roll-
up materials are convenient. The chalkboard is suitable for use in lectures, training
programmes, group meetings, etc. As one of the oldest aids to teaching known
for the past four hundred years, the chalkboard is known for its ubiquitous presence
in classrooms. It is a vehicle for a variety of visual materials.
66
Purpose Audio-Visual Aids
• To write important points to support oral presentation.

• To put illustrations for visualization of facts.
• Serve as base for recording learner’s inputs and help them in practice.
• Serve as surface for displaying other non projected visuals such as
photographs, charts, graphs, diagrams, etc.
Fig. 3.5 : Chalkboard or Blackboard in Extension Teaching
Guidelines
• The letter size should be large enough so that viewers in the last row can see
the text clearly. The recommended letter sizes are
a) 3 cm tall can be read up to 10 meters distance from the board
b) 6 cm tall can be read up to 20 meters distance from the board
c) The thickness of the letters should be 1/5th of the height of the letter.
• Write slowly with even pressure on the chalk in a straight line.
• Don’t speak while writing on the board.
• The lower edge of the chalkboard should be at the level of the viewers’ eyes.
• The closest viewer should be about 3 meters from the chalkboard.
• No other teaching aid should be in front or beside thechalk board to avoid
distraction.
• Always clean the chalkboard when starting a new subject.
Advantages
• Step-by-step presentation of the topic creates a dramatic impact and sustains
audience interest.
• A colourful effect may be produced by using coloured chalk.
• Presentations may be adjusted according to the receptivity of the audience.
• Helps the audience to take notes. 67
Extension Teaching Methods • Helps in comprehension and retention of knowledge.
• Economic, simple to construct, use, and maintain.
Limitations
• Bad handwriting of a extension worker may confuse the audience.
• The blackboard communication is temporary.
3.5.2 White Board

Modern classrooms are equipped with boards, also called marker boards or
multipurpose boards. They can be used for more than one purpose. They are
dustless and hygienic. They are preferred around computers as dust can harm
computers. They require special erasable markers. A felt eraser is required to
erase the surface soon after use. Markers are available in different colours.
Purpose
• It can be used for the same purpose as a blackboard, with more clarity.
• A variety of colour markers can be used for effectiveness.
• It may be used as surface for projecting films, slides, and overhead
transparencies.
• A white board with a steel backing can be used as magnetic board for display.
3.5.3 Bulletin Board

A bulletin board displays message. It is a surface on which bulletins, news,
information, announcements, of specific or general interest can be displayed.
Bulletin boards are of different sizes with provisions to hold pins, books exhibits
and other materials. A bulletin board may be covered with soft insulation or
perforated masonite, and may or may not be covered with glass. Fixing,
dismantling and re-fixing message is very convenient on both types of boards.
The message on the bulletin board may be in the form of words, graphs, charts,
photographs, illustrations, publications, etc.
Purpose
• To decorate the office with photographs, pictures or tastefully selected
materials for the benefit of office visitors.
• To announce film shows, demonstrations, visits by extension workers.
• To remind people to get a inoculations, spray their houses, weed their crops.
• To make comparisons. Example: Photographs of well nourished and poorly
nourished children
Desirable Features for Bulletin Boards
• Writing should be legible from a distance.
• The materials should be related with the objectives.
• A combination of facts, pictures drawing and other materials can add variety.
• Decorative materials, such as coloured papers, tapes, pins, etc., should be
used to enhance the attractiveness of the board.
• Highlight the main theme with a catchy illustration, caption, or text, or it
may be the brightest or largest item on the board.
68
• Simplicity and brevity are keys to good arrangements. In addition, timeliness, Audio-Visual Aids
variety, continuity, order, colour, spacing and balance are important.
• Keep the bulletin board neat and clean; remove the old materials promptly
when no longer required.
Advantages
• Draws attention to important extension announcements.
• Facilitates the display of graphic and pictorial matter.
• Highlights current extension and development activities and achievements.
3.5.4 Pictures and Photographs

A picture is a representation made by drawing, painting, or photography which
gives an accurate idea of an object. A good picture may tell a story without using
a single word. Pictures may be in black and white, or in colour. Colour pictures
and enlarged photographs have more appeal. For extension photography, a good
quality 35 mm. single-lens reflex camera with some essential attachments like a
flash gun, lens hood, filters, close-up lens, etc. are useful. However, due to
processing and preservation problems of negatives, as well as with the
advancement of technology, now digital cameras are more popular.
Purpose/Uses
Pictures and photographs are used in various ways in extension work such as
training programmes, publication, campaign, exhibition, slide, filmstrip, motion
picture, television, newspaper and display etc. Photographs pasted with synthetic
adhesive on thick board and cut to shape by ferret machine can produce good
display material with 3 -dimensional effect.
3.5.5 Rope Board

Rope, wire, heavy string can be used to create a background for pictures or exhibit
materials. The rope can be stretched from floor to ceiling. Pictures mounted on
cardboard or three dimensional objects can be taped in place. A heavy wire screen
can also be used as a background.
Overall Food Production in India
Food Grains Vegetables Fruits

285 MT 179.9 MT 97.1 MT
(10.8 % growth rate (12 % growth rate (16 % growth rate
2013-18) 2013-18) 2013-18)
Fig. 3.6: Overall Food Production in India

69
3.5.6 Flannel Board and Flannel Graph
A flannel board is a visual aid in which messages are written or drawn on thick
paper and presented step-by-step by the extension worker to the audience to
synchronize with the talk. The board is a flannel covered flat surface. Flannel is
stretched and then glued to a piece of plywood or heavy cardboard.
The name of the board comes from the kind of cloth that coveres it:
• Flannel board- If covered with flannel cloth.
• Felt board – If covered with felt cloth.
• Khaddar board – If covered with khadi cloth, and so on.
Fig. 3.7 : Flannel Graph ( Source : RAGACOVAS, Puducherry)
Graphic materials like cut-out pictures, photographs writing on a piece of paper

and backed by sand paper or flannel cloth are known as flannel graphs. When
these flannel graphs are placed on a flannel board, they stick to the surface. Under
field conditions, a rough cloth, a bed sheet,/ old blanket, khaddar, or flannel can
be spread on any flat surface such as a chalk board, which also works like a
flannel board. By pasting strips either of flannel or sandpaper to the backs of
pictures, or to other instructional material, they can be made to cling to the flannel
board.
Purpose
The appeal of a flannel board demonstration is that a progressive story can be
unfolded before the learner’s eyes. The action of the moving parts attracts attention
and stimulates interest. It can be of particular interest to illiterates for telling
many kinds of educational stories. Clever extension workers can place interesting
pieces on the board, and keep the audience wondering how the story will end,
until the final piece is placed. Its capacity for building up suspense is the chief
advantage in using a flannel board or flannel graph.
Preparation
• The board should be at least 30 × 40 inches and much larger if needed.
70
• Flannel must be light in colour for most uses – light grey, light tan, or green Audio-Visual Aids
are good colours for the purpose.
• If the board is to be carried about, it should be cut into two and hinged at the
centre.
• Lean the board back slightly when in use so that materials stick easily to the
board and are less likely to fall.
• The title of the story should be in large letters at the top of the board.
• The story materials can be drawings, photographs, or printed illustrations
with sequence numbers.
• Keep the story simple.
• Use large and bold illustrations.
Advantages
• Facilitate presentation of the talk as important points are already noted.
• Helps in clarifying concepts.
• Helps in showing the cumulative process.
• Produces a dramatic effect on the audience.
• Helps in summarizing the talk.
• Saves time in the presentation of a talk.
Limitations
• Suitable for a small group.
• Requires some preparation and practice.
3.5.7 Flash Cards

Flash cards are brief visual messages on poster board cards flashed (turned over
at short intervals) before the audience to emphasize important points in a
presentation. Flash cards are held like a pack of cards and are flashed to the
audience, one at a time, in a sequence, along with the talk.
Preparation
• A simple flash card is prepared by writing, printing or drawing on a plain
sheet of white paper and pasting it to the cardboard.
• Limit the number of flashcards to 10 – 12.
• The size of the flash card should be:
o 22"×28" for the group of 30 – 50 audience
o 11"× 14" for small group.
• Letter size should be at least 1".
• Finish with a line drawing, or a cartoon.
• Brief notes about the contents of the first card should be written on the back
of the last card; notes about the second card should be on the back of 1 st
card; notes about the third card should be on the back of second card, and, so
on, till the end of all the cards.
71
Fig. 3.8: Flash Cards (Source : RAGACOVAS, Puducherry)
Presentation
• The complete story and parts of the story on each card should be familiar to
the presenter.
• Stack the cards in their proper order.
• Hold the card with one hand close to the chest against the body if the cards
are small. If they are large, they may be placed on a high table. In any case,
display the cards so that people can see them clearly.
• Flash the card in time along with the notes. For notes on the first card, you
may quietly look at the notes written on the back side of the last card, and
continue the sequence till the end.
• Slip the front card to the back of the set to change the card, or to illustrate the
new point.
• Expose the card long enough for comprehension, or a glance.
• After the story is completed, display the cards on a bulletin board, or pass
them on to the audience for glance.
• Use other teaching tools for comprehension.
Advantages
• Can be made easily and quickly.
• Very simple to use and carry.
• Helps the speaker to emphasize the main points using the notes on the back
of the cards.
3.5.8 Poster
A poster is displayed in a public place with the purpose of creating awareness
amongst the people. A poster is generally seen from a distance and the person
glancing at it seldom has the time or inclination to stop and read. The job of the
poster is to stop the persons hurrying past, thrust the message upon them. A poster
may contain a written message, diagram, map, picture, or a cartoon. A few hand
drawn posters may be used in extension training programme, group meeting, etc.
Printed posters may be used in large numbers in campaigns, exhibitions, etc.
72
Purpose Audio-Visual Aids
The purpose of poster is to make a public announcement of a special idea with a

few words and an illustration. A good poster is expected to take the learners
through the first two steps in extension teaching, i.e., attention and interest. It is
not expected to educate, but to stimulate action – either immediately or eventually.
This requires a forceful idea, strongly presented by the content of the poster. It
must be always a part of other teaching methods, viz., campaigns, meetings,
demonstrations, etc.
Kangaroo Method
For Care of New Born Baby
Benefits to Baby
* Maintain body temperature.
* Prevents low body temperature.
* Facilitates breastfeeding.
* Improves mother- infant bonding.
Fig. 3.9 : Poster on Newborn Care in Health Fig. 3.10: Poster on Crossbred Cow in
& Family Welfare Extension Livestock Extension
(Source: NIHFW, New Delhi) (Source: RAGACOVAS, Puducheery)
Preparation
While preparing posters consider the following points.
• Promote a single idea or message.
• Must be timely.
• Follow ABC principle – Attractive, Brevity, and Clarity.
• It must be able to attract attention. the persons hurrying past must be stopped
by some attractive feature in the poster to take a look at it. The design and
use of a poster as a visual aid in extension teaching is based on this principle.
• It must be brief enough to convey the message clearly. The wording must be
brief and illustrations easily understood, so that the message of the poster is
quickly absorbed.
• Use simple colours – not more than three.
• Must be large enough to be seen easily – 22" × 28", 28"× 44", etc.
Advantages
• Helps in making announcements.
• Facilitates the display of ideas to the audience. 73
Extension Teaching Methods • Quick communication of a message to a large number of people.
• Easy to prepare and present.
• Highly economical.
• Highly versatile in use.
Limitations
• Posters give only an initial idea and cannot furnish detailed information.
They need to be supported for further information by another aid or method,
e.g., leaflets and demonstration.
• The production of good posters is technical job and requires skill and time.
• Cannot be repeated – for each occasion a new poster has to be made.
Note: Remove the poster after the programme, or when they have served their
purpose.
3.5.9 Charts
A chart is a symbolized visual aid with pictures of relationships and changes
used to tabulate a large mass of information, or show a progression.
Purpose
Charts can help communicate difficult, often dull subject matter in an interesting
and effective way. They make facts and figures clear and interesting, show or
compare changes, show the size and placement of parts. They are also helpful in
summarizing information and presenting abstract ideas in visual form.
Types of Charts
There are many varieties of charts. Some common types of charts are briefly
discussed below for your understanding.
Bar Chart: Bar charts are made of a series of bars along a measured scale.
They are used to compare quantities at different times, or, under different
circumstances.
Pie Chart: Pie charts are in the shape of circles, and are used to show
proportions and percentages.
Tabular chart: Tabular charts are used to bring together mass related data in
compact form. Example: timetable.
Tree chart: Tree charts are used for showing development or growth of a
programme or project. The origin is shown in a single line, or as a tree trunk,
and various developments are shown as branches.
Flow Chart: Flow charts show organizational structure of departments,
institutions, resources with lines and arrows.
Pictorial Chart: A pictorial chart gives the viewer a vivid picture, and creates
a rapid association with the use of graphic messages, such as cartoons, and
illustrations. Each visualized symbol indicates quantities. This type of chart
is more useful for illiterate audience in extension work.
Overlay Chart: Overlay charts consist of a number of sheets which can be
placed, one over the other, conveniently. On each individual sheet a part of
74
Audio-Visual Aids
the whole is drawn. This enables the viewer to see not only the different parts,
but also how they appear when one is placed over the other. After the final
overlay is placed, it shows the full view of the whole picture. This type of
chart presentation is dramatic and effective.
Pull Chart: A pull chart consists of written messages on a large sheet. Messages
are hidden by strips of thick paper held in position by the slits provided on
either side. The messages can be shown to the viewer one after another, by
pulling out the concealing strips. The same strip can be replaced in the slits
after showing the message. This type of chart presentation is dramatic and
creates suspense for the viewer.
Strip Tease Chart: They are similar to the pull chart, however, messages are
concealed by strips of thin paper instead of thick paper. The ends of thin
paper strips are pinned or pasted at both ends of the message. Whenever the
message is to be exposed, one end of paper strip is stripped off. This has the
advantage of surprise and anticipation.
Flip Chart: A flip chart is a series of visuals drawn into large sheets of paper
or cardboard, fastened together at the top. These are turned over or flipped,
one at a time by the extension worker. This kind of chart exposes the audience
to segments of the subject in sequence, and holds attention remarkably well.
Window Chart: In this, flaps cover the messages and when the message is to
be shown, the presenter open the flaps like windows. It creates suspense in
the audience.
Preparation : While preparing any type of chart, consider the following points.
• Keep it simple.
• Promote a single idea or message with important details.
• Maintain logical order.
• Use symbols, words, or colours to explain the chart.
• Use lines and bars in only one dimension.
• Compare units and avoid comparing unrelated units.
• The chart title must emphasize certain parts of diagrams. The title for 8"x
10½” sheet should be about ½” height, and for 30" x 40" charts, the height
should be about 2½”.
Activity 4: Visit your nearby development department and observe their

bulletin board and some of the posters prepared by them. Compare their
features with those given in this unit. Write your observations.
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75
1) What do you mean by non projected visual aids?
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2) Write any three advantages of non projected visual aids.
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3) Write the salient points to be considered while preparing a poster.
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4) Write the names any four types of charts.
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3.6 PROJECTED VISUAL AIDS

Any visual aid which is used for magnification of image on a screen in dark or
semi-dark conditions can be called a projected visual aid. There are three important
methods of projection:
• Direct projection - slide and film projectors
• Indirect projection – overhead projector
• Reflected projection – opaque projector, epidioscope.
76
Advantages Audio-Visual Aids
• Very effective aids to classroom teaching with a characteristic appeal of their

own for influencing learners.
• When combined with audio aids or on the spot commentary, they prove to
be very useful.
Limitations
• Require special equipment for display.
• The equipment is costly, needs meticulous care and training for operation.
• Electricity/backup power is required for operation.
• The transportation and storage of equipment needs special attention.
• The quality of projection depends on the kind of screen, placement of the
audience in relation to the screen, and, the size of the image, and its brightness.
However, the above limitations don’t lessen the importance of using these visuals
wherever suitable, due to their specific and definite advantages in extension and
development work.
3.6.1 Slides
A slide is a transparent mounted picture which is projected by focusing light
through it. The projection may be made on a screen or on a white wall. Slides of
35mm films, mounted on individual cardboard or plastic frames are common,
and are extensively used in extension work during training programmes, seminars,
workshops, group meetings, campaigns, exhibitions, etc.
3.6.2 Overhead Projector

The overhead projector projects the picture over the head of the speaker on the
screen. Drawings, diagrams, letterings, etc., are made on transparent sheets and
are put on the glass platform of the overhead projector, through which a strong
light is passed. The rays of light are made to converge with a lens, and are reflected
by a mirror held at an angle on the screen at the back. The instructional items may
be written or drawn by hand on transparent sheets, transparent cellophane, or
polythene rolls with a special marker pen, in colour or in black and white.
Transparencies can also be made through photographic, xerox, or electronic
processes as well. Overhead projection is used in training programmes, group
meeting, seminar, symposium, workshop, etc.
Fig. 3.11 : Overhead Projector

(Source: RAGACOVAS, Puducheery)
77
Extension Teaching Methods Advantages
• Projection may be synchronized with the talk by facing the audience and
observing their reaction.
• The presenter can also write, make sketches, and erase while projecting.
• Covering a portion of the transparency with a sheet of paper and making
progressive disclosure, and superimposing diagrams may be achieved
effectively.
• Makes the talk dynamic and sustains audience interest.
• Complex ideas may be clearly presented.
• Saves time in presenting the talk.
• Easy to prepare and project the instructional materials.
• Materials for transparencies are cheap and easily available.
3.6.3 Handheld Projector

The handheld projector is also known as a pocket projector, or a mobile projector,
or a pico- projector. It is an emerging technology that applies the use of a projector
in a handheld device. It is a response to the emergence of compact portable devices
such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants and digital cameras, which
have sufficient storage capacity to handle presentation materials with an attached
display screen. Handheld projectors involve miniaturized hardware and software
that can project digital images on to any nearby viewing surface, such as a wall or
screen. A handheld projector has the ability to project a clear image, regardless of
the physical characteristics of the viewing surface.
1) Write what you mean by projected visual aids.
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2) Write about different methods of projection, and give an example under
each projection.
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78
3) Write the principle involved in the operation of an overhead projector. Audio-Visual Aids
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3.7 AUDIO VISUAL AIDS

Audio visual aids are those devices through which messages can be seen as well
as heard, simultaneously. Synchronization of these two important senses leads to
more learning and more retention when compared to the use of visual and audio
senses separately. We learnt from the previous section that the two senses, sight
and hearing, together, attracts 94 % of audience attention. This is clear cut evidence
that audio visual aids can play an important role in extension teaching.
Advantages
• Convey meaning clearly in a condensed form and clarify ideas better.
• Supplement spoken word.
• Supply a concrete basis for conceptual thinking.
• Attract the attention, arouse, as well as sustain, the interest of the audience.
• Make learning more permanent.
• Overcome limitations of space, time, and distance.
• Develop continuity of thought with motion pictures.
• Stimulate self activity, and motivate people for action.
3.7.1 Motion Pictures

Motion pictures are extremely useful in motivating and teaching any learner. Yet
educational films are not being widely used by extension educators in many
development sub sectors. The reasons usually given are:
• The expense of films and projectors.
• Non availability of suitable films.
• Transportation and maintenance of films and projectors.
• Dominance of entertainment over educative function of films.
• Lack of skills, on the part of extension workers, to operate projectors.
Seating Arrangements for a Motion Picture Show

The farthest seat from the screen should not be more than 6 times the width
of the picture on the screen. Don’t seat learners closer to the screen than
twice the width of the picture. With a canvas/matte screen, the viewing
angle should not exceed 300, and with a beaded screen the angle should not
exceed 250. The bottom of the screen should be about one foot above the
heads of the audience.
79
Extension Teaching Methods Preparation
• See the preview of the educational film and assure yourself that it is suitable
for the planned extension activity and intended audience.
• Note down important teaching points and difficult words that audience might
not understand.
• Compose a few questions which are answered in the film.
• Make sure that the projector and film are in good condition and that there is
sufficient darkness in the presentation area, before the arrival of the audience.
Presentation
• Make your audience aware that the purpose of the film is educational and
not entertainment, and that they will be expected to learn the messages from
it.
• Tell them the title of the film and say, generally, what the film is about.
• Explain why this film is important and relate it to their own self interests.
• Write the questions that you composed on the chalkboard and inform them
that these questions will be answered by the film.
• Try to show the film without any breaks or distractions.
• Immediately after film screening, encourage the audience to discuss it, freely.
• Distribute relevant literature, and provide contact addresses for further
information.
• Demonstrate the skill, if any, showed in the film.
• If required show the film again.
Advantages
• Combines sound and sight, acting on two senses at the same time.
• Attracts and holds attention due to illuminated screen in semidarkness.
• Overcomes the barrier of illiteracy – it communicates extension ideas to
anyone who can see and hear.
• Audiences identify themselves with the story on the screen, thus producing
highly emotional responses.
• Brings audiences closer to the objects, places, and situations that they cannot
ordinarily see in their daily lives.
Limitations
• Requires a lot of planning and preparation on part of extension workers.
• The audiences’ focus may be on entertainment rather than education.
• With the advent of television, video, and digital technology, the importance
of motion pictures has been reduced.
80
Audio-Visual Aids
Educational Film on Family Planning
When a family planning educational film is shown in the villages, the intended
audience should be adults, not children. The important teaching points and
questions could be (i) What is family planning? (ii) What are different methods
of family planning? What are the advantages of family planning? How to get
the family planning operations and where to get? What are the schemes /
incentives of family planning given by the Government etc.
3.7.2 Video Projector

A video projector is also known as a Digital Projector, now popular for many
applications for extension and development. All video projectors use a very bright
light to project the image. Projected image size is important because the total
amount of light does not change - as size increases, brightness decreases. They
are widely used with, or without a connection to an interactive white board for
presentations, training, demonstrations, etc. CRT projector that uses cathode ray
tubes is the oldest system still in regular use, but falling out of favour largely
because of the bulky cabinet. An LCD projector using LCD light gates is the
simplest system, making it one of the most common and affordable, currently.
3.7.3 Interactive White Board

An interactive white board is a large interactive display that connects to a computer
and projector. A projector projects the computer’s desktop onto the board’s surface,
where users control the computer using a pen, finger, or other device. The board
is typically mounted to a wall, or on a floor stand.
Purpose
• It is a replacement for a whiteboard, flipchart, or video, or, othern media
system, such as a DVD player and TV combination.
• Can interact with online information from anywhere.
• Captures notes written on the whiteboard for later distribution.
• Some interactive whiteboards allow recording the instruction as digital video
files for review – a very effective instructional strategy for learners who
benefit from repetition, for those who need to see the material presented
again, those who are absent, for struggling learners, and, for future review.
• With its integrated audience response system, presenters can get feedback.
• Helps to teach abstract, difficult concepts and complex ideas – visual tools
help learners concentrate for longer and understand more fully.
• Technology has the capability of bringing lessons to life and making the
lessons much more enjoyable for the learner.
Limitations
• Can be useful in the classroom situation with advanced facilities, but not
under field conditions.
• Permanent markers, for example, can create problems on some interactive
whiteboard surfaces. (Punctures, dents and other damage to surfaces are a
risk, but do not typically occur in the normal course of classroom use).
81
Extension Teaching Methods • The technology was initially welcomed by learners, however, it seems that
any boost in their motivation is short-lived.
• It is possible that learners focus more on the new technology rather than on
what they should be learning.
• In lower ability groups, it could actually slow the pace of learning of the
whole class, as individual learners take turns at the board.
3.7.4 Multimedia and Multiple Media

Multimedia is a combination of more than one media, but it could include several
forms of media - audio, text, still images, animation, graphics, video, and film.
The use of more than one aid is increasingly common. Even earlier, multiple
media presentations were assembled with the available traditional audio visual
aids resources.
Example: Combinations of overhead projectors, flipcharts and slide projectors.

Multimedia in a more current context generally implies a computer based media.
The term, computer based multimedia, has become very popular. Interactive video
is one form of computer based multimedia. With computer based multimedia,
information access is simplified. Sophisticated databases can organize vast
amounts of information which can be quickly sorted, searched, found, and cross
indexed.
Example: Through information kiosks, a lot of developmental information is

being accessed in remote and rural areas.
Fig. 3.13 : A Rural Women Livestock Farmer

Fig. 3.12: Interactive Information Kiosk with Interactive Information Kiosk
(Source: RAGACOVAS, Puducheery) (Source: RAGACOVAS, Puducheery)
The advantage of using multiple media is that it can greatly increase the impact
of presentation. It can also lead to a confused presentation, if not planned very
82 carefully. The best advice is to use multiple media only if needed.
Audio-Visual Aids
Activity 5: Visit the nearest development department and collect the titles
and educational objectives of films, multimedia if any.
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................

1) Write few examples of audio visual aids.
......................................................................................................................
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2) Write what you mean by multimedia and provide an example.
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3.8 FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE

SELECTION OF AUDIO VISUAL AIDS
Audio Visual aids will supplement the extension and development worker but
cannot replace them. All aids cannot be used for all occasions, but for every
occasion, there are aids which should be carefully selected and properly used. No
single rule-of-thumb can be given for the selection and use of various audio visual
aids to ensure effectiveness in all situations. In order to get the most effective
results, the extension worker should:
• select the appropriate aids
• have a suitable combination of the selected aids
• use them in proper sequence.
Extension Worker vs Effectiveness of AV Aids
The extension worker and audio visual aids are considered as ‘1’ and ‘0’ and
if they are properly associated as ‘1’ followed by ‘0’ (10), the effectiveness of
extension worker increases 10 – fold. If they are improperly associated like
‘0’ followed by ‘1’ (01), then, there is no effect. 83
Extension Teaching Methods Audio visual aids are used singly, or, in combination, taking into consideration
the following factors
Nature of Audience: Printed media are for literate people, whereas exhibits,
pictures and symbols are for less literate people.
Size of Audience: A video show or white board cannot be used effectively when
the number of participants exceeds 30; leaflets, bulletins, or handouts can be
used for a single reader at a time, while a public address system, or messages via
the internet can be used for large audiences.
Teaching Objective / Expected Nature of Change: Select the audio visual aids
based on the objective of extension teaching, i.e., to bring about a change in
• thinking or knowledge?
• attitude or feeling?
• actions or skill?
Example : if you want merely to inform, or, to influence a large number of people
slightly, use mass media such as radio or television.
Nature of Subject Matter: where the new practice is simple, or familiar (i.e.,
similar to those already being followed) a news article, radio message, or, circular
letter will be effective, whereas complex, or, unfamiliar practices will require
audio visual aids.
Availability of Aids: media such as newspapers, telephones, radio, etc., will also
have a direct bearing on the extent to which these methods can be used.
Relative Cost: effective aids need not be necessarily costly. The amount expended
on audio visual aids, in relation to the extent of effectiveness, is also an important
consideration in their selection and use.
Extension Worker’s Familiarity: familiarity of the extension worker with the

use of audio visual aids, skill in selection, preparation, and use of aids will also
influence the selection and use of the aids.
Questions for Evaluation of Audio Visual Aids

• Do the aids give a true picture of the idea they present?
• Do they contribute meaningful content to the topic under study?
• Is the aid appropriate for the age, intelligence, and experience of the
learner?
• Is the physical condition of the aid satisfactory?
• Do they make the learners better thinkers, critical minded?
• Is the material worth the time and effort involved?
3.8.1 Audio Visual Aids for Different Extension Teaching

Methods
The extension and development worker’s main job is to communicate information
to people. How well they do their job is indicated not by the number of people
84
they reach, but by the amount of change they produce in those they reach. From Audio-Visual Aids
the discussion presented in Unit 2 on ‘Extension Teaching Methods’, we
understood that most effective extension work can be done by the individual
contact method. We all know that the personal approach is an effective way of
solving problems, since the solution can be clearly planned to meet the needs of
individuals. However, urgent development needs in different sectors in rural and
urban areas demand that extension workers reach and influence many more people
than can possibly be reached by the individual contacts. Many kinds of
developmental problems can be solved well in a group situation, too. Group
methods bring together a number of persons with common problems and suggest
solution. Personal and group methods cannot reach everyone who wants and
needs information. So, mass methods must be used to reach a large number of
people quickly. Audio visual aids have a vital place in each of these three methods.
Audio Visuals in Individual Contact Methods: models, specimens, mock-ups,

objects, animation pictures, etc., work well in individual contacts
Audio Visuals in Group Contact Methods: chalk board, flannel graphs, flash cards,
motion pictures, film strips, overhead projector, etc., can be used well in group
methods.
Audio Visuals in Mass Contact Methods: television, radio, public address system,
all printed publications, photographs on bulletin board, posters, etc., can be used
well in mass methods.
Combination of Aids
Dear learner, from the discussion presented in this unit it is clear that when a
larger number of sensory organs are engaged in the learning process, the greater
will be its effectiveness. Hence, more than one form of aids will have more
influence on learners. Extension work plans must include aids that enable
them to see, hear and do the thing to be learned. The use of various aids needs
to be arranged in proper sequence to get effective results in the teaching-
learning process. For instance, a personal contact is made through a telephone.
The meeting is advertised by circular letters. A news story is written on the
results and is broadcast over the radio. Pictures are taken and a slide story is
shown at a meeting. One aid helps another, and many of them are used in
combination and sequence to repeat the story.
Activity 6: Visit your nearby development department and enquire about the
different combinations of audio visual aids that they use in their work. Write
your observations.
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
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85
1) Write the audio visual aids useful in the following teaching methods.
i) Individual contact method : .........................................................
ii) Group contact method : .........................................................
iii) Mass contact method : .........................................................
2) Write the factors to be considered while selecting audio visual aids.
......................................................................................................................
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......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
3.9 LET US SUM UP

In the preceding pages, a wide variety of audio visual aids and their use in extension
and development work were discussed. From this discussion, we understood that
the preparation and use of audio visual aids for extension teaching is not an easy
way, but it does make learning more effective, interesting and permanent. The
forgoing discussion, when properly understood and applied by you, along with
suitable teaching methods, should take your learners through the steps in teaching–
learning process. In this unit, we started by looking at the meaning, functions,
and limitations of audio visual aids and understood that they will supplement the
extension and development worker, but cannot replace the development worker.
Later, we classified and discussed important audio visual aids along with their
preparation, merits, and limitations. At the end, we discussed the factors
influencing the selection of aids, and aids suitable for different extension teaching
methods. Overall, from this discussion, we realized that all aids cannot be used
for all occasions, but for every occasion, there are aids which may be carefully
selected and properly used.
3.10 KEYWORDS
Audio Aids : instructional devices through which message
can only be heard.
Visual Aids : instructional devices through which message
can only be seen.
Audio Visual Aids : instructional devices in which the message can
be heard and seen simultaneously.
Non projected Aids : visual instructional devices which are simply
presented without any projection equipment.
Projected Aids : visual instructional devices which are projected
and magnified by focusing light.
86
Display Aids : visual aids which are spread before the audience Audio-Visual Aids
for viewing, who get the message by looking at
them.
Presentation Aids : visuals aids, presented or projected before the
audience for viewing, which explain, or present
the message of the visuals, so that the audience
understands of them.
Chalkboard/ Blackboard : probably the simplest, cheapest, most
convenient, and widely used non projected
visual aid in extension teaching.
White Board : modern class rooms are equipped with white
boards which are also called as marker boards,
or multi-purpose boards.
Bulletin Board : a board for displaying messages.
Flannel Board : a visual aid in which messages are written or
drawn on thick paper and presented step-by-step
by the extension agent to the audience and are
synchronized with the talk.
Flash Cards : brief visual messages on poster board cards
flashed (turned over at short intervals) before
the audience to emphasize important points in
a presentation.
Poster : a printed message displayed in a public place
with the purpose of creating awareness amongst
the people.
Charts : a symbolized visual aid with pictures of
relationships and changes used to tabulate a
large mass of information, or to show a
progression.
Multimedia : a combination of more than one media, but it
could include several forms of media and audio,
text, still images, animation, graphics, video,
and film.

Advisory Services - GFRAS.
Leagans, J.P. (1961). Extension Teaching Methods. In: Extension Education in
Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi. 87
Extension Teaching Methods Mathialagan, P. (2007). Textbook of Animal Husbandry and Livestock Extension,
International Book Distributing Co, Lucknow.
Reddy, Y.N. (1998). Audio Visual Aids in Teaching Training and Extension.
3.12 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS - POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
1) Audio visual aids are instructional devices with which the messages can be
heard and seen simultaneously. Examples: video film, documentary film,
etc.
2) The functions of audio visual aids include: helps to convey meaning clearly;
capture audience attention and arouse their interest; increase the correctness,
clarity, and effectiveness of an idea and skills being transferred; helps to
sustain the interest of the learners, etc.
3) The limitations of AV aids include: learners may sometimes form distorted

impressions unless audio visual aids are supplemented with required
explanation; temptation for the extension worker to narrow down his teaching
to only a few big ideas, not giving the complete picture of a subject, and;
possible risk of ‘spectatorism’ instead of the attitude of thoughtful enquiry.
1) The three ways to classify audio visual aids are according to evolution, sense
involved, and projection.
2) (i) Audio aids: radio, tape recorder (ii) visual aids: posters, flashcards, charts
(iii) audio visual aids: television, video (iv) Non projected aids: black board,
chart (v) projected aids : overhead projector, slides
1) The advantages of audio aids include: recorded, so that it can be used again
and again; flexible; editing and duplication is easy; inexpensive; and, readily
available.
1) Non projected visual aids are those aids which are directly used as they are
without projection.
2) The advantages of non projected visual aids are : abundant and easily
obtainable; very useful in places where there is no electricity, and in low
budget situations; not much artistic ability on part of extension workers is
required; useful in small group situations; and, many non projected aids can
88 be converted into projected aids.
3) While preparing a poster consider: promotion of single idea or message; Audio-Visual Aids
ABC principle - attractive, brevity and clarity; ability to attract attention;
use simple colours – not more than three, and; must be large enough to be
seen easily.
4) Different types of charts are bar, pie, tabular, tree, flow, pictorial, overlay,
flip, strip tease, pull, and window charts.
1) Any visual aid which is used for magnification of an image on a screen in

the dark, or in semi-dark conditions can be called a projected visual aid.
2) Different methods of projection includes: direct projection - slides and film

projectors; indirect projection – overhead projector ; and, reflected projection
– opaque projector, epidioscope.
3) In overhead projection, the rays of light are converged by a lens and reflected
by a mirror held at an angle on the screen at the back.
1) Motion pictures, video, interactive whiteboard, and multimedia are a few

examples of AV aids.
2) Multimedia is a combination of more than one media, but it could include

several forms of media-audio, text, still images, animation, graphics, video
/ film. Examples: combinations of overhead projectors, flipcharts and slide
projectors. In recent years, the terms computer based multimedia, have
become very popular. Interactive video is one form of computer based
multimedia.
1) Individual Contact Methods: models, specimens, mock-ups, objects,

animation pictures; Group Contact Methods: chalk board, flannel graphs,
flash cards, overhead projector; Mass Contact Methods: television, radio,
public address system, all printed publications.
2) The factors to be considered include: The nature and size of audience; teaching
objective; nature of subject matter; availability and relative cost of aids,
and; extension worker’s familiarity with aids.
89
Notes
Notes
Notes
MDV-108
and Extension
Block
3
COMMUNICATION IN EXTENSION AND
DEVELOPMENT
UNIT 1
Communication: An Overview 5
UNIT 2
Communication Channels 25
UNIT 3
Theories and Models of Communication 46
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Unit Writers: Editors:
Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar Prof. S.V.N.Rao, RAGACOVAS, Puducherry
IGNOU, New Delhi (Units 1 & 3) Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi
Prof. Gita Bamezai Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi
Indian Institute of Mass Communication Prof. Nehal A. Farooquee, IGNOU, New Delhi
New Delhi (Unit 2)

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-74-6
BLOCK 3 COMMUNICATION IN EXTENSION
AND DEVELOPMENT
Development communication is the act of getting an extension worker (sender)

and people (receiver) tuned together for a particular message or a series of
messages related to development work. Therefore, the purpose of this block is
to make you understand the basic concepts of development communication,
important models and theories of communication.
Unit 1, Communication: An Overview focuses on meaning and phases of

communication, scope and functions of communication, communication process,
elements of communication process and participatory communication in extension.
Unit 2, ‘Communication Channels’ deals with different types of channels,

inter-personal communication channels, criteria for selecting channels and some
innovations in use of channels.
Unit 3, Theories and Models of Communication, deals with important models

and theories of communication.
Communication in Extension
and Development
4
Communication: An Overview
UNIT 1 COMMUNICATION: AN OVERVIEW
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Meaning and Phases of Communication
1.3 Scope and Functions of Communication
1.4 Communication Process
1.5 Elements of Communication Process
1.6 Participatory Communication in Development
1.7 Let Us Sum Up
1.8 Keywords
1.9 References / Selected Readings
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Learner,
As a development worker, you meet, talk, write and interact with people all the
time. Is it not? But the questions are:
• How well do you communicate?
• If you communicate well, ask yourself, what are the benefits?
Good communicators are not always born - you can learn to be a good
communicator, because many of the development problems occur due to poor
communication. Communication plays a key role in acquiring knowledge on
different aspects of development and encourages participating in development
process. Therefore, as a development worker, you have a serious and moving
responsibility; serious in the sense that the welfare of people by conceiving and
executing effective development programmes; moving in the sense that you are
part of great development movement to help people to improve their overall
economic status. So in this unit, the meaning, phases, scope, functions and
elements of communication process are discussed with suitable examples.
• Explain the nature, importance and functions of communication in
development work.
• Describe the communication process, elements of communication, mass
communication, feedback and barriers.
1.2 MEANING AND PHASES OF COMMUNICATION

In Latin the word communicate means to share. This forms a base for words such
as commune, communion, community, communism, each of which offers the
concept of sharing and participation. The word communication was defined by
various authors. The most comprehensive and simple definition was given by
5
Communication in Extension Gibson and Hodgets (1986) who stated communication as the transfer of meaning
and Development
between sender and receiver (Gibson & Hodgetts, 1986).
Communication is the process by which two or more people exchange ideas,

facts, feelings or impressions in ways that each gains a common understanding
of the meaning, intent and use of messages. Thus, each episode of communication
has at least three phases:
• Expression
• Interpretation
• Response
If the expression by extension worker is clear, the interpretation by people will
be accurate and the response will be proper. In short, it is easy to control what
extensionist expresses, say or mean, but difficult to control how people interpret
and respond. Therefore, in extension work nothing is more important than the
transfer of accurate information to people through communication.
The success of any communication effort (visual, written or spoken) depends

upon the skill of the communicator to stimulate the audience thinking and to
persuade them to action.
As applied to development, communication is the act of getting an development
worker (sender) and people (receiver) tuned together for a particular message
or a series of messages related to development work.The process of
development communication involves:
i) the sender who wish to send a development message
ii) encoding, putting the message into some form
iii) transmission of the messageiv ) message which must be received
iv ) decoding interpretation of the message by the receiver
v ) understanding of the message, and
vi) the receiver who receives the message and provide feedback, if necessary.
All these operate in an environment which may include ‘noise’ which means
anything that interferes with the content of the message being transmitted or
received.
In recent past, the purposeful application of communication support has assumed
an increasingly important role in many facets of development – popularly referred
to as development support communication or development communication.
Development support communication is broadly defined as “the application of
existing communication technologies and media to the problems of development”.
Therefore, the prevailing challenge for development to extension worker like
you is to have ideas useful to people, to make their meaning clear, to get them
accepted, and to motivate them to adopt and practice developmental interventions.
Development Support Communication Vs. Extension

In the context of extension, development support communication is the
systematic utilization of appropriate communication channels and techniques
to increase people’s participation in development and to inform, motivate, and
train them mainly at the grassroots level.
6
Activity 1 : Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by communication
? Compare their views with the one given in this unit and identify the common
features.
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1) Write the three phases in communication.
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2) Write the meaning of development communication.
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1.3 SCOPE AND FUNCTIONS OF

COMMUNICATION
1.3.1 Scope
You are well aware that for thousands of years, human beings have been using
different ways of communication to connect and convey the ideas, and to develop
relationships. You are also aware that communication is a double-edged sword -
it can either build or destroy any situation. The clear concise and effective
communication promotes openness and enables to move forward and enhances
relationship. Conversely, poor, unclear or vague communication leads to
dysfunction, low morale and costly blunders. Therefore, communication ability
of extension and development professional is the first footstep of the ladder for
the success of any development programme. Those who lack communication
skills find difficulty in transfer of innovative developmental interventions for
bringing socio-economic change through development among the target audience.
7
Communication in Extension Communication without getting feedback from the end-users is often a waste of
and Development
time. It implies a mutual reciprocation of sending and receiving message.
Therefore, effective communication is an essential component of extension
programme success whether it is interpersonal, inter-group, intra-group, inter-
organizational, or intra-organizational.
Routine Communication Ways

Extension worker communicates on many levels, for many reasons, with many
people and in many ways. A typical extension worker like you, on an average
day/ normal day, may communicate in the following ways:
• You reach your workplace and see letters delivered - a written
communication.
• You receive people in office who convey progress of some development
work / problem - a spoken communication.
• You enter your superior’s room, greet first and submit some data or
report - both spoken and written communication.
• Along with your colleagues and people, you participate in a meeting
called by higher official to review the progress of development work – a
group communication.
Excellence in communication in modern era requires much more than simply

being able to write correctly and speak clearly. Understanding of body language,
voice, tone, facial expression, perception, mood and many other factors affect
communication, and equally we need to understand how they influence the
message received by others in a communication situation. Effective
communication skills are essential for success. Words written, spoken, mailed
and telexed are the modern day communication media of choice, thus
communicating well is increasingly becoming a challenge. Words sometimes are
subject to massive interpretations, errors and therefore are highly effective as a
communication tool. Extension professionals typically spend over 75% of their
time in an interpersonal situation; thus it is no surprise to find that at the root of
a large number of problems is the poor communication skills. Once learned,
these communication skills become an integral part of your day to day
communication at work place and field situations.
Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Verbal Communication: On an average, a person spends about 75 per cent
of active time on communicating verbally- listening, speaking, reading and
writing. In other words, as an extension worker, you spend about 10 or 11 hrs
a day on verbal communication.
Non-verbal Communication: It includes the gestures, facial expressions,
and movements etc., which make our communication more effective. It is
also referred to as body language.
1.3.2 Functions
Overall the main function / purpose of communication is to change or guide
other people’s behaviour. The basic functions of communication may be
categorized as under.
8
i) Control – communication acts to control member behavior in several ways. Communication: An Overview
Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that
employees are required to follow.
ii) Motivation – communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees
what is to be done, how well they are doing, and what can be done to improve
performance.
iii) Emotional expression – communication provides a release for the emotional
expression of feelings and for fulfillment of social needs.
iv) Information – it provides the information that individuals and groups need
to make decisions by transmitting the data to identify and evaluate alternative
choices.
1) Do you agree that communication plays an important role in development
programmes? Support your answer.
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......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
2) Give examples for the following
a) Written Communication :
..................................................................
b) Spoken communication : ..................................................................
d) Group communication : ..................................................................
3) Differentiate between communication and development communication.

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1.4 COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Dear learners, communication process involve interdependent and interrelated
elements together to achieve a desired outcome of development. Development
9
Communication in Extension workers as communicators and researchers work ultimately for the betterment of
and Development
people / society. You have to interpret the developmental invention / intervention
and play mediator role between people and researcher. The researcher advances
the knowledge; the development worker advances the progress. Effective
communication process links the knowledge and translates it into the language
of people in a way acceptable to them. Therefore you have to combine the
knowledge of development work with the knowledge of the needs, aspirations
and limitations of people / beneficiaries of development.
1.4.1 Key Problems and Critical Factors in Communication

Process
As mentioned earlier, communication is a process. Process is an act of proceeding
– a series of actions or operations definitely leading to a desired end. In a continuing
relationship with people, successive cycles of communication have a cumulative
meaning and effect. Your relationship with every person under your jurisdiction
is always in a state of change – better or worse. Unfortunately, all change is not
necessarily progress. Progress results only when the change is in desirable
direction. You are aware that, there are some powerful forces that tend to slow
down changes in people’s behavior in desirable direction. To overcome these
forces, a powerful communication effort by extension workers must be constantly
exerted.
From the above discussion, emerge some key problems and critical factors of
communication in programmes for development. Fortunately for the development
workers, there are things known about communication that when understood
will help them communicate more effectively. Some of these are described briefly
under the following sub-sections:
i) Communication is Limited by One’s Concept of the Communication

Process: A common mistake committed in communication is identification
of the part with the whole, or the parts in a misleading notion. Successful
communication for development is not a single unit act. It requires of unit
acts planned assuring effective sequence and integration.
ii) Communication is a Two - Way Process: Communication is a two way

process always involving interaction between those who are aspiring to
communicate (extension worker) and the receiver (people).
Two- Way Communication Process

It is not enough just to tell or demonstrate to a livestock farmer or group of
farmers how deworming / artificial insemination should be done or why
they are important. You must make them understand clearly:
• What is to be learned about deworming / artificial insemination?
• What they should do in order to get maximum benefits of livestock
farming?
Questions and comments by the farmers (feedback) and observations by
you on their response are good ways to know how well you have
communicated. Direct questioning by you, establishing a friendly
environment, and a permissive climate whenever you are communicating
are the other methods among many for making communication a two-way
process.
10
iii) One Must Have Ideas Before Communicating with Others: You must Communication: An Overview
communicate to people about things that exist, that are real, and people see
them. You must remember that, what people think is true is true to them.
And they will act accordingly until what they think true is disapproved and
real truth is accepted by them.
iv) Use of Symbols: Practically all communication especially that involving

complex and abstract ideas, is done by the use of symbols, which are
substitutes for real objects. Example : The qualities of a good buffalo could
be best communicated by having presented the real object - a high quality
Murrah buffalo. But to make clear the concept of overall development of a
village, would require more visual symbols in one or other form ( pictures,
models etc).
v) Cultural Values and the Social Organizations: Cultural values and the
social organizations are also important determinants of extension
communication. Hence, knowledge of ideas and action which the value
system will accept, and which it will be likely to reject, along with channels
of communication by the particular social organization are essential to
effective communication.
vi) Environment Influence: The environment created by communicators

influences their effectiveness. The physical facilities, air of friendliness,
respect for peoples’ views, recognition of their accomplishments, and rapport
in general are all important ingredients of environment conducive to effective
communication.
vii) Specific Forms or Patterns: To make sense, the communication efforts

must be organized according to some specific form or pattern. It may be
formal communication like a lecture on MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) or informal communication with
a villager while walking like conversation about the health and welfare of
village people. Other common forms are telling a success story of a
development intervention from an adjoining village, a debate about merits
and demerits of a scheme, a poster about pulse polio vaccination camp etc.
viii) Cooperation, Participation and Involvement: You are aware that

communication is a two way process which takes place between two or more
people. It s not just speaking or writing to people, but they must cooperate,
participate and involve in listening and respond accordingly.
ix) Evaluation: Extension functionaries need to know if their expressions were

effective, if they were interpreted clearly and what kinds and amounts of
response resulted. This is possible by taking frequent feedbacks on their
communication to evaluate and improve further.
Communication Evaluation
After explaining the importance of getting polio vaccination to kids / benefits
of ICDS centre as part of health and family welfare extension, you can obtain
the information on its practice by villagers either informally or formally.
Informal checks may be made through direct questions and conversation.
Formal evaluation may be made by household visits.
11
Communication in Extension Check Your Progress 3
and Development
1) Identify and write important factors governing communication in extension
work.
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......................................................................................................................
2) Do you agree that communication is a two way process? Support your answer.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
1.5 ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Successful communication requires a skilful communicator sending a useful
message through proper channel, effectively treated to an appropriate audience
that responds as desired.
Elements of Communication Process
1) Communicator / Sender
2) Message / Content
3) Channel
4) Treatment of message
5) Audience / Receiver
6) Response of the audience (Feedback)
1.5.1 The Communicator

As a development worker, you are the communicator /source of message and
initiate the process of communication for development. You give expression to
message or series of messages intended to reach people in a manner that results
in correct interpretation and desirable response.
Examples for communicators: ICDS functionary, livestock assistant or Veterinary
surgeon , agricultural extension worker etc.
A key factor influencing the effectiveness of communication is credibility of
communicator. People pose several questions in perceiving your credibility as
12 communicator viz.,
• Who are you? Communication: An Overview
• What are your motives?

• What do you know about development and Government programmes /
schemes related knowledge?
• What are your attitudes and skills?
• How do you look like?
• How do you act, speak and write?
• Is your purpose to really help or exhibit your knowledge?
Therefore:
Development worker should know
• The objectives specifically defined
• The people, their needs, interests, abilities, predispositions
• The message- its content, validity, usefulness and importance
• The channels that will reach the people and their usefulness
Development worker is interested in
• The audience and their welfare
• The results of communication and their evaluation
• The communication channels, their use and limitations
• How to improve further his communication
Development worker prepares
• A plan for communication
• Communication materials and equipment
• A plan for evaluation of results
Development worker has skill in
• Selecting messages
• Treating messages
• Expressing messages - verbal and written
• Selection and use of channels
• Understanding audience
• Collecting evidence of results
1.5.2 Message / Content

Messages are the content aspects of educational change that is assumed to be
desirable in development. Effective communication is assumed to be a matter of
promoting learning. Learning cannot go on in a vacuum. It requires messages /
subject-matter. Something must be learned when learning takes place. Extension
communication therefore must have a message to convey to the beneficiaries. A
message is the information, you wish your audience to receive, understand, accept
and act upon. Messages for example consist of statements of scientific facts about
developmental programme.
13
Communication in Extension Example for messages:
and Development
• Benefits of community health centre
• Benefits of scientific livestock farming
• Benefits of public transport
• Reasons why pulse polio vaccination is good for kids etc.
Activity 2: Visit your nearest development department and identify some

developmental messages. Write two of them here.
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
........................................................................................................................
1.5.3 Channels of Communication

You, as a development worker and the people as beneficiaries of development
programmes must be connected or tuned with each other for a message or series
of messages. For this purpose, channels of communication are necessary. Channels
are the physical bridges between you and your beneficiaries. A channel may be
anything used by senders of message to connect them with intended receivers.
Many obstructions can enter in channels. They are often called as noise- i.e. some
obstruction that prevents the message from being heard by or carried over clearly
to the audience. Noises emerge from a wide range of sources and causes viz:
• Failure on the part of a communicator to handle channels skillfully.
• Failure to select channels appropriate to the objectives of development.
• Failure to use channels in accordance with audience abilities.
• Failure to avoid physical distraction.
• Failure of audience to listen or read carefully.
• Failure to use enough channels in parallel.
• Use of too many channels in a series.
To become a successful communicator you should prevent the blockage / noise
affecting channels of communication that emerge from one or more of the above
conditions.
Barriers / Noises in Communication Channel

• Written material – Many people especially in rural areas cannot read
• Meetings -All people may not attend the meeting
• Radio / Television / Internet - All people may not have access to them
Please refer Unit 2 under this block for a detailed discussion on communication
channels.
1.5.4 Treatment of the Message

The treatment aspect of the message deals with how to send the message through
14 channels with maximum probability of reaching their intended destination
effectively. Treatment has to do with the way a message is handled to get the Communication: An Overview
information across to an audience. It relates to the technique or details of procedure
or manner of performance essential to have expertise in presenting message.
Treatment deals with design of methods for presenting messages. The purpose of
the treatment is to make the message clear, understandable and realistic to the
audience. The following are the three categories of bases useful for varying
treatment:
• Matters of general dealing: Example - Repetition or frequency of mention

of ideas and concepts; contrast of ideas; chronological- compared to logical,
compared to psychological.
• Matters of speaking and acting: Example - Limit the scope of message to

few basic ideas and to the time available.
• Matters of symbol variation and devices for representing ideas : Example

- Real objects; models; specimens; photographs; charts etc.
1.5.5 The Audience

Audiences (people) are the intended beneficiaries of the developmental messages
and assumed to be in a position to gain economically, socially or in other ways by
responding to the message in particular ways. The more homogeneous an audience,
the greater the chances of successful communication. In the attempts to identify
audience, it is useful to find out the:
i) Potential audience
ii) Available audience and
iii) Active audience – physical and psychological.
At the primary level there are only two audiences viz:
i) Intended audience
ii) Unintended audience
In the intended audience, there are usually four groups viz.,
i) Listeners or attenders who act on the message
ii) Listeners or attenders who don’t act
iii) Listeners and attenders and
iv) Non-listeners and non-attenders
1.5.6 Response of the Audience / Feedback

Goal of feedback is to get confirmation of your massage. This is the terminating
element in the communication process. Response by audience to messages
received is in the form of action to some degree, mentally or physically. Action,
therefore, should be dealt with as an end, not as means. Consequently, the five
elements we have just analyzed are intended to be viewed as an organized scheme
(means) for attaining the desired action (end) on the part of intended audience in
the process of development. Action taken by the intended audience that can be
attributed to a given communication act by you may properly assume to be a
result of the degree to which these elements have been effective.
15
and Development Extension Teaching
Methods
According to Use According to Form
Individual contact Written

methods
Spoken
Group contact methods

Visual
Mass contact methods Audio Visual
GROUP CONTACT MASS CONTACT

INDIVIDUAL METHODS METHODS
CONTACT Demonstration meetings;
METHODS Trainings; Lecture; Printed materials;
Conferences; Tours; Radio; TV; Posters
Farm &home visits;
Workshop; Symposium; Brain ;Campaigns;
Office calls;
storming; Debate; Panel; Buzz Exhibitions ; Motion
Telephone calls ; session ; Filed day; Filed trip; pictures; Farmers’ fairs;
Personal letters Seminar; Role play Public Address system
SPOKEN VISUAL
WRITTEN
Farm and Home Exhibitions, Flash cards,
News paper, Circular
Visits, Hospital/ Flannel graphs, Flip books,
letters, Advisory
Office Calls, Posters, Charts, Slides,
letter, Leaflets,
Telephone ///calls, Photographs, Black board,
Folders, Pamphlets, Result demonstration, Slide
Bulletins, Meetings, Radio,
Tape recordings projectors, OHP
Newsletters
PROJECTED NON-PROJECTED VISUAL AIDS AUDIO VISUAL

AIDS Photography and Flash pictures, Posters Method
Movie films, and wall news sheets , Flash cards, Flip demonstration, /
Film-strips, charts and Strip charts, Blackboards and Result
Slides, Over- Magnetic boards, Flannel graphs, and Demonstration,
Head Projector Felt boards, Diagrams, illustrations and Television, Motion
Opaque Graphs, Specimens, samples and Models, pictures,Campaign,
Displays, Display boards and Bulletins, Multimedia
Projector
projector, puppet
material, Exhibits, Illustrated booklets, Folders,
shows, drama/
material and Pamphlets and Cartoon pictures.
songs
LCD projector.
16 Fig. 1.1 Classification of Extension Teaching Methods and Aids
After receiving a message, it may be generally expected that audience response Communication: An Overview
will be widely varied. The following gives an idea of possible variety in response
that may result:
• Understanding vs. Knowledge
• Acceptance vs. Rejection
• Remembering vs. Forgetting
• Mental vs. Physical action
• Right vs. Wrong
From these propositions, it may be recognized that response or action resulting
from a communication is a complicated phenomenon and has to be considered
with care and delicacy. The ultimate question that may be asked about the elements
of communication, therefore, is: Who communicates what, to whom, for what
purpose by which media, with what results.
The classification of extension teaching methods and aids commonly used in
development communication are given in Fig. 1.1
1) Write the importance of the following elements of communication in
extension work.
i) Communicator
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
ii) Message / content
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
iii) Channels of communication
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
17
Communication in Extension iv) Treatment of message
and Development
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
v) Feedback
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................
2) Identify the elements of communication involved in delivering a lecture on
NREGA.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
3) Communication process is incomplete without audience response. Justify
this statement.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
4) Based on your understanding, identify the barriers that come in the way of
communication.
i) Physical barriers : .............................................................
ii) Mechanical barriers : .............................................................
iii) Psychological barriers : .............................................................
iv) Cultural or linguistic barriers: .............................................................
1.6 PARTICIPATORY COMMUNICATION IN

DEVELOPMENT
Communication when defined in day to day context is an activity or a process of
giving information to other people by using signals like speech and /or body
18
movements. It is an important component in extension where the extension Communication: An Overview
workers interact with people. More important, it has a central place in participatory
extension process where peoples’ preferences and priorities are the driving force.
In a simple model of communication, there is a communicator, (extension worker)
receiver (people) and a message (information). The message is encoded by
communicator and decoded by receiver for the comprehension to be achieved.
Then communication is said to be taking place. Every time when two or more
individuals ‘talk’ to one another, it is not necessary that communication is taking
place. While there are many factors that govern the effectiveness of
communication, a common perception is a necessary precondition for meaningful
communication between individuals. What is perception? What is it all about?
For example, when we look at a thing or a person or at a scene, our mind picks up
only a part of what we see, colors it in the light of experience and interprets it for
us. Then we take (perceive) it. So what we often see is a subjective world, not an
objective reality. Looking at the same thing, you and people might perceive it
differently and therefore react very differently. Perception is such a funny thing
that it makes you see what you ‘want’ to see. You may hear what you ‘want’ to
hear. It is said that “ meanings are in people but not in words ( Berlo). Perception
is a tricky mental phenomenon. Cultural, ethnic and family background largely
influences ones perception. In extension process, when the extension workers do
not share a common perception with people, it is likely that either of them get
wrong signals from the other. This leads to biased understanding and prevention
of any fruitful communication to take place. There is, therefore, a strong need to
share peoples’ perception to appreciate problems from their point of view by
approaching them. To understand this phenomenon, an example from animal
husbandry extension is given in the following Box
Dung Animal Vs Milk Animal - A Case in Farmers’ Perception

Not long ago there was an animal production specialist who visited a dry
place. He surveyed the local dairy situation and felt that promoting crossbred
cows would be a suitable activity for the development of small farmers for
whom crop agriculture was not a paying proposition. He reasoned that even
half an acre of land put to fodder production will help the farmers raise two
milch animals. His on-station research in the past has shown him that fodder
ensured, good cows give about 7-8 liters milk a day. He then set out to sell
his idea to the farmers in the area. In a farmers event meet, he spoke and
claimed that improved cow would give ten times the milk of their local
buffalo. Then, came the question from the farmers, “Sir will your improved
cow give ten times the dung of my local buffalo?” The specialist was
speechless.
Implications: Given their dry farming situation, for farmers manure is more
important than milk, without manure their food production and survival are
threatened. They have a good dung animal - local buffalo and they felt it is
risky to replace it with a milch animal - improved cow.
Source: ISPA, Animal Husbandry Department, Hyderabad.
1.6.1 Open Ended Questions

Because of the professional training as a development worker, you are likely to
air out your opinions and advices more, than eliciting peoples’ raw experiences.
19
Communication in Extension This discourages them to come out with their natural response and there is a
and Development
possibility that communication may stop. To obtain information, we use three
types of questions in our routine life:
• Leading questions
• Open questions
• Direct questions
Leading questions are those that are suggestive of the answers to be given. These
are mostly used in personal life and do not yield information beyond ‘yes’ and
‘no’.
Open ended questions do not give a lead, therefore are likely to elicit more and
unbiased information from others.
Direct questions are those which you ask to get information from people on
specific points like: How many houses have electricity connection in this village?
During discussions with people you must as much as possible, enquire open ended.
Conventionally, extension training programmes and people directed events end
up as platforms for development functionaries to disseminate developmental
interventions. By practicing active listening, probing and open ended
communication, you successfully achieve a dialogue with the people. Otherwise
it tends to be a monologue which does no good to anybody.
To make you understand the difference between leading and open ended questions,
a small example from livestock development sector is given in the following
Box
Open Ended Communication

A farmer purchased a dairy animal and you happened to visit him. The farmer
has shown his animal to you with enthusiasm. If you were asked to select a
milch animal, may be you would consider the udder size, animal condition,
scientific scorecard etc., as criterion. Now you want to know how the farmer
has selected this animal. How do you ask him? If you ask him’ “the udder
size impressed you, is it not?” It is a leading question and is likely to lead the
farmer to talk of the udder while it may not be the basis for selection. More
than that, certain farmers have the tendency to conform to your ideas when
asked in a leading style. Therefore the safe bet will be to ask “on what basis
you have selected the cow”? (Open-ended). Then you would stand to gain
by knowing about farmers’ expertise or criteria in selecting a cow.
Implications: Through open ended questions, actual reasons behind a
practice are likely to emerge as feedback. Further, open end questions can be
used in interviews or conversations with people irrespective of the topic of
discussion.
Source: ISPA, Animal Husbandry Department, Hyderabad.
Activity 3 : Visit your nearest development department and observe how

development workers communicate to people in a participatory way. Write
your observations.
........................................................................................................................
20
Check Your Progress 5 Communication: An Overview

1) Based on your understanding of the above section, write three open ended
questions related to any development work.
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
......................................................................................................................
1.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we started by looking at the meaning, nature, functions and process
of communication and understood that through communication two or more people
exchange ideas, facts, feelings, impressions, and the like in a manner that the
receiver gains a clear understanding of the meaning, intent and use of the message.
We also examined the key problems and critical factors in communication and
realized that communication is a two way process. Later, we examined in detail
the basic elements of the communication process and participatory communication
and noticed that, the success of development programmes directly depends on
the transfer of helpful information using different elements of communication
process to the people.
1.8 KEY WORDS

Communication : Exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by
two or more persons in ways that each gains a
common understanding of the meaning, intent and
use of messages.
Communicator : The source of message and initiates the process of
communication.
Message : Content aspects of educational change that is
assumed to be desirable in development.
Channels : Physical bridges / transmission lines used for
carrying messages.
Treatment : The treatment aspect of the message deals with how
to send the message through channels with
maximum probability of reaching their intended
destination effectively.
Audience : Audiences are the intended end-users / beneficiaries
of the messages.
Feedback : Is the indication how well your massage has been
received in a way you intended.
21
Communication in Extension Mass Communication : Various means by which individuals and entities
and Development
relay information to large segments of the population
all at once through mass media.
Barriers/Noise : Anything that distorts meaning including language
and perceptual differences as well as physical
interference during communication.
1.9 REFERENCES / SELECTED READINGS

Dhama, O.P. and Bhatnagar, O.P. Education and Communication for Development.
2007. Oxford and IBH Pub.Co.Pvt. Ltd
ISPA - Indo Swiss Project Andhra Pradesh ( Year) , Learning Material, Directorate
of Animal Husbandry, Hyderabad.
Leagans, J.P. 1961. The Communication Process. In: Extension Education in
Agriculture, Government of India, New Delhi.
Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Edition, Free Press, New
York.
Roling, Niels (1988). Extension Science - Information Systems in Agricultural
Development, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
Van den Ban, A.W and Hawkins, H.W. (1996). Agricultural Extension, 2nd
Edition, Blackwell Science, London.

ANSWERS
1) The three phases in communication are: expression, interpretation and
response.
2) Development support communication is the systematic utilization of
appropriate communication channels and techniques to increase people’s
participation in development and to inform, motivate, and train them mainly
at the grassroots level.

1) Yes. Communication plays a key role in acquiring knowledge by extension
beneficiaries. Overall communication serves information, command /
22 instruction, influence / persuasive and integrative functions in development.
2) a) Written Communication : Reply letter from an extension worker Communication: An Overview
b) Spoken communication : Talk / lecture in a training programme

c) Group communication : Demonstration in a training programme
to a group of participants
3) Communication is the process by which two or more people exchange ideas,
facts, feelings or impressions in ways that each gains a common understanding
of the meaning, intent and use of messages. Development communication is
the application of existing communication technologies and media to the
problems of development.
1) The important factors are: Communication is limited by one’s concept of

the communication process; Communication is a two way process; One must
have ideas before communicating with others; Use of symbols; Cultural
values and the social organization are determinants of communication;
Environment influence and; Evaluation is necessary to improve
communication.
2) Yes. I agree that communication is a two way process always involving

interaction between those who are aspiring to communicate (extension
worker) and the receiver (people).

1) i) Communicator – Source and sender of message and initiates the process
of communication.
ii) Message / content - Information, you wish your audience to receive,
understand, accept and act upon.
iii) Channels of communication - Transmission lines used for carrying
messages to their destination.
iv) Treatment of message - Deals with how to send the message through
channels with maximum probability of reaching their intended
destination effectively.
2) While you are giving a lecture on MNREGA the following elements are
involved
i) Communicator - Rural development extension worker
ii) Message / content - Importance of Grama sabha in
identifying works under MGNREGA
iii) Channels of communication- Direct lecture with audio-visual aids
iv) Treatment of message - Minimizing technical words, giving
examples from their own settings etc.
v) The audience - Members of village panchayat
vi. Response of the audience - Questions from the panchayat members
on division of MNREGA funds for
various works, labour charges etc.
23
Communication in Extension 3) Goal of audience response is to get confirmation of message. This is the
and Development
terminal element in the communication process. Response by audience to
messages received is in the form of action to some degree, mentally or
physically. Action, therefore, should be dealt with as an end, not as means.
In communication, feedback is more difficult and yet it is very important
because effective communication includes feedback. It is an indication how
well your massage has been received in a way you intended.
4) Barriers come in the way of communication.

i) Physical barriers : loud noise from a near by factory
ii) Psychological barriers: pre-conceived attitudes on developmental
programmes
iii) Cultural or linguistic barriers: language
iv) Mechanical barriers: whistling microphone, and loudspeakers
1) i) On what basis you have selected the MGNREGA works in the village?
ii) What are the constraints in implementing MGNREGA programme?
iii) What suggestions do you offer to District Panchayat Officer on effective
implementation of MGNREGA?
24
UNIT 2 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Communication Channels
2.3 Types of Channels
2.4 Inter-Personal Communication Channels
2.5 Criteria for Selecting Channels
2.6 Some Innovations in Use of Channels
2.7 Let Us Sum Up
2.8 Keywords
2.1 INTRODUCTION
In any development process, exchange of information between the development
agency and the people is of crucial importance. In today’s world speedy exchange
of information between two points has been facilitated by the use of information
technology. Every civilization has evolved from one level of progress to another
which has been marked by simultaneous improvement in the use of the channels
of communication. In earlier times, commonly used channels of communication
ranged from quaint message service in the form of pigeons, drum beats, runners
who would carry messages from one post to another, and more routine and
everyday channels in the form of face to face interpersonal contacts, use of opinion
leaders and peer contacts to traditional theatre and art in a rural setting. The use
of traditional media and interpersonal means of communication have remained
with us from centuries, passing from one generation to another as a legacy of the
oral culture. These have been enriched with the entry of modern and mass channels
of communication like radio, print media, television, films and outdoor media.
Today, leapfrog changes in the technology, especially in the use of digitized means
of communication, and consequent changes in the volume and speed of
information exchanged have made it possible to connect with people at any time
and anywhere in the world.
The use of modern means of communication has enabled fast pace and greater
flow of information. This is radically different and revolutionary from the days
of beating of drums and using pigeons as channels of communication and as
messengers! The use of such gadgets, as mobile telephony, laptops and digital
cameras has changed the way we communicate today. If on one hand, internet
has changed our lives by giving us control over what messages we can send and
receive; it has also created a digital divide between those with access and without
access to the new media. In this unit, we will be largely focusing on both face to
face and modern means of channels of communication which have been used in
promoting health, literacy, use of new agricultural practices and scientific attitude.
Simultaneously, this unit will also allow you to explore possibilities the new
25
Communication in Extension media offers in bringing up-do-date information knowledge and skills to transform
and Development
lives of the people living in rural areas or in urban slums.
• Describe the importance and different types of communication channels.
• Explain the importance of inter personal channels in extension and
development work.
• Discuss few innovative uses of channels for extension and development
work.
2.2 COMMUNICATION CHANNELS

In unit 1 on ‘Communication: An Overview’ we discussed that any act of
communication between two persons, or a development agency and the
community, the presence of four elements is essential. These elements are: (1)
Sender, (2) Message, (3) Channel and (4) Receiver.
The binding element between the sender and the receiver in the communication
process is the Channel. The channel can also be used by the receiver to send
feedback to the sender. Hence, dependency of both sender and receiver is greatly
dependent on the channel’s capacity for transmission of messages. It may be
clarified here that audience or the recipient of development messages may not
have access to modern channels, like radio, TV, newspaper to send their feedback
to the sender since these channels provide for one way transmission, unlike a
telephone where instant feedback is possible. This situation does not allow the
receiver to provide the feedback consistently and continuously which leads to
breakdown in communication between the sender and the receiver. We will be
discussing this aspect of people’s limited access to channel little later in this unit.
Channel as Truck and Match-boxes

To illustrate the meaning of Channel, we can draw parallel with the process
of ferrying of goods from one place to another by using a truck as a ‘carrier’.
Just as the truck is loaded with material to be transported to another
destination, channel carries ideas, information and meaning to the destination.
Without the aid of the truck, the goods/material will not be able to reach its
destination. The speed of the truck and its carrying capacity will be able to
determine how much load it can carry and the time taken to deliver goods
without incurring any loss, either of the material or delay in transporting it.
Children are often seen playing the mock-telephone game in which match-
stick boxes linked with a string at both ends are used as two instruments
between two players for carrying messages between them. In such a situation
the match-boxes adapt the role of a carrier or the channel. This brings us to
the issue of efficiency, time taken and capacity of the channel to carry
information.
2.2.1 Elements in Selection of the Channel

i) Quality or efficiency: Efficiency of the channel is determined by the quality
of the message received as intended, without distortion and noise. An FM
radio is able to broadcast noise-free programmes unlike the short-wave radio.
26
ii) Time taken in transmission of message: Speed is an important element in Communication Channels
the choice of a channel. For example, television in comparison to a newspaper
is able to take the viewer to the site of the event or an accident and show
events as they happen without any time-lag. A newspaper will bring the
news of the same event next day! The details which the TV may not be able
to provide, but the newspaper can provide an in-depth account of the same
story. So each channel is special and has its own advantages and
disadvantages.
iii) Load capacity: A poster or a bill-board has scarce capacity since limited
message can be displayed as compared to channels like radio or a street
theatre. An attempt to fill a poster with additional information will create
clutter in the limited space. In comparison, a magazine can carry more
information. A meeting or group discussion organized in a village by the
Panchayat to provide information to the members about conservation of
forests and measures to prevent water logging to avoid breeding of mosquitoes
and spread of Malaria can become one-way transmission of instruction by
the technical expert and can overload the capacity of listeners to follow the
directions for action.
These above-mentioned factors determine the decision to make a choice of

selecting one channel over another channel on the basis of its capacity and
efficiency. To understand the selection of channels in any development programme,
we can look at the process of communication i.e. the way the act of communication
works and what important elements are required to achieve the aim of
communication.
In the context of extension work, channel assumes a significant role in transporting

messages of development from the development agencies to the people/
beneficiaries and their concerns and views back to the development agencies.
Channels Can Be Both Human and a Machine

Channels can be both human and a machine. Seems a discordant statement?
To explain it further, it will be logical to speak about the medieval times
when human beings were dependent on sign or oral language to convey
information, ideas and meaning while communicating with family and the
community members. Language played an important role and each civilization
and community of people adapted a language and later a script to match its
ability to communicate with their own and with others. With the advent of
the printing press in England in the late 15th century, the printed word became
a carrier of God’s word to its people. The printing of Bible and subsequently
printing of Church edicts and orders of the state helped to reach larger
population. The earlier practice was to go from place to place to make
announcements. The printing press made it possible to overcome the
limitations of time and space since the printed word in the form of books,
pamphlets and posters could be read by people at different times and reach
distances far and wide as well.
2.2.2 Classification of Channels of Communication

A channel is the means by which a message travels from a source to a receiver. It
acts as a physical bridge between the sender and the receiver in sending the message
27
Communication in Extension from one end to the other. It is one of the key elements of communication process
and Development
which determines the effectiveness of the communication.
The communication methods were classified into various ways on the basis of
A) Existence of feed back
i) One way
ii) Two way
B) Form
i) Written
ii) Oral
C) Direction
i) Upward
ii) Downward
iii) Horizontal
iv) Grapevine
A) The communication can be classified as one way or two way depending
upon the absence or presence of feed back.
One way communication
It includes any face to face communication where there is no opportunity for
the immediate feed back. All written communication also comes under this
category.
Example: Lecture / meeting without discussion; Radio and TV; Written
communications
Sender Receiver
Through this is considered as least effective (as it does not provide the receiver
an opportunity to clarify the message from the sender through proper feed
back) it has some advantages.
Advantages:
o Takes less time
o Creates an air of efficiency
o Offers security to the sender
Disadvantages:
o Scope for error
o Lower the confidence of receiver
o Give rise to feelings of frustration
Two way communication
It allows for constant feed back and the roles of the sender and receiver will
be interchanging.
Example: Question-answer sessions, discussions and meetings.
28
Communication Channels
Sender Receiver
Advantages:
o Scope to understand the message accurately
o The participants can feel confident that the message is understood
o In view of high confidence, the degree of frustration and irritation is
less
Disadvantages:
o Requires more time
o Lack of control on the part of communicator
o Inhibits people to raise questions in presence of others
While selecting these methods the communicator must weight the advantages
and disadvantages of these methods in relation to
o his purpose
o his own communication skills and
o time at his disposal
Though the selection of methods depends upon the above criteria, two way
communication is more likely to overcome many of the communication
barriers provided the communicator has the confidence and willingness to
cope.
B) Written or oral
The most common way of classifying the communication methods on t h e
basis of form is written or oral.
Advantages:
Written Oral
Better for facts and opinions Better for feelings and emotions
Better for difficult or complicated More personal and individual
messages can be reviewed
Useful when a written record is Provides for greater interaction and
required for reference purposes feed back
Can be both written and read when Can make more impact
individuals are in the right mood
Can be carefully planned and Generally less costly
considered before transmission
Errors can be removed before Allows you to correct and adjust your
transmission message in the light of feed back and
non verbal cues.
29
Communication in Extension Disadvantages:
and Development
Written Oral
More time consuming and costly More difficult to think
Feed back is either non existent or Something once said cannot be erased
delayed
Lacks non verbal cues which help Ephemeral
interpretation
Some people can’t read or don’t Difficult to refer back to or record
like reading
You can never be sure the More difficult to think
message is read
Lacks warmth and individuality Something once said cannot be erased
C) Direction
In organizations the communication has been classified as upward, downward
and horizontal depending upon the direction in which it follows.
Upward Communication
When the communication is from the subordinates to the superiors, it is considered
as upward communication. It is essential to encourage upward communication in
the organization because the top management requires information to make the
best decisions and plans for the organization.
Purposes of upwards communication

For managers who want to listen, upward channels provide a wealth of
information. The main benefits include:
i) Feed back regarding employee attitudes and feelings
ii) Suggestions for improved procedures and techniques as well as for new
ideas.
iii) Feed back regarding how well the downward communication system is
working
iv) Information about production and goal attainment
v) Requests from subordinates for supplies, assistance, and/or support
vi) Surfacing of employee grievances
vii) Stronger involvement of employees with the organization and with their
jobs
Though, there are many advantages of upward communication as an information
source and a form of employee motivation, not all organizations uses them to the
extent necessary. The reasons for this are:
i) The channels are time consuming
ii) Few managers really know how to get and keep these channels open
iii) Many employees find it difficult to engage in upward communication, as
30 they are accustomed to receiving information not generating it.
iv) The subordinates believe that it they admit their real opinions, feelings and Communication Channels
difficulties, their superiors may penalize them in some way.
Downward Communication
When the communication is from the superior to subordinates it is referred to as
downward communication.
Purposes: the five most important purposes of downward communication are:
i) to provide specific job instructions about the duties of the job and how to
perform them.
ii) to provide employees with the rationale for doing a particular job and an
understanding about how that job relates to other jobs.
iii) to provide necessary data regarding the procedures, policies and practices of
the organization
iv) to provide performance feed back to the employees regarding how they are
doing and
v) to provide information that will convey a sense of mission and an
understanding of organization’s goals.
The two basic methods for processing information downward are i) written
and ii) oral. Oral communication offers immediacy whereas written
communication offers formality.
Horizontal Communication
Two kinds of communication take place between people at the same level in an
organization.
i) Formal contact, connected with the actual operation of the organization
ii) Informal contact, for social reasons or reasons of solidarity.
The formal and informal communication systems: a comparison
Formal Informal
Slow Rapid
Deliberate, planned Spontaneous
Largely written Largely oral
On-the-record Off-the-record
Oriented toward routine events Oriented toward out-of the ordinary events
Things oriented People oriented
Management controlled Employee controlled
Management motivating Employee serving
Purposes of horizontal communication:
i) Coordinates efforts between interdependent units and departments.
ii) Builds the social support system of the organization.
iii) Primary method of sharing of information very fast by avoiding time
consuming vertical channels.
31
Communication in Extension iv) Facilitates problem solving of all sorts.
and Development
v) Prevents interdependent conflict due to misconceptions, communication
distortion and lack of understanding.
Grapevine Communication
The grapevine is a term used to describe the informal organizational
communication system. It refers to any communication taking place outside of
the prescribed formal channels.
Characteristics
The grapevine flourishes in every organization because of the following important
characteristics.
i) It transmits messages fast.
ii) It is predominantly oral.
iii) It is geared toward handling out-of the ordinary events
iv) It is people-oriented, rather than thing-oriented.
v) It is controlled and fed mainly by the workers.
vi) It is employee-motivating
vii) It can not be switched off.
viii) It is old but immortal.
ix) It has high degree of distortion but has high credibility
x) It exaggerates.

1) What do you mean by communication channel?
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2) Name the elements to be considered while selecting communication channel.
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32
3) Channels can be both human and a machine. Do you agree with this Communication Channels
statement? Support your answer.
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2.3 TYPES OF CHANNELS

Channels are of various types. The use of different technologies has enhanced
their functions from a low level of just transmission of messages to storage and
retrieval at the convenience of the user. But essentially channels have retained
their inherent character of carrier of messages in spite of up-gradation of the type
of technology used.
Features of Channel / Medium

• It can multiply a message ( many times)
• It can amplify the message
• It can break all barriers viz., physical, psychological and sociological
• It requires availability of technology, policy and skilled manpower to
operate
Channels : Traditional , Modern and Digital

Mass Media Folk Media
• Radio • Folk Theatre
• Television • Songs
• Films • Puppetry
• Press • Ballads
Outdoor Media New Media
• Banners • Satellites
• Bill Boards • World Wide Web ( Internet)
• Posters • Computers
• Mobiles
i) Mass Media
The mass media in the form of Print media (newspapers, magazines,
pamphlets, newsletters) Radio, TV and films have the advantage of reaching
a large number of people, all at the same time, with a common message. The
use of such channels provide a vantage position of influencing large number
of people simultaneously by bringing knowledge at their door-steps which
can change their skills and improve the conduction of their businesses,
33
Communication in Extension agricultural practices or work-system. Mass-media has been extensively used
and Development
since the time of independence primarily to carry information about the
development works taken up by the government under the five–year plans.
We all are very familiar with the Krishi Darshan programme on the
Doordarshan which pioneered the promotion of use of improved farm
practices among the farmers. It brought into focus the achievement of green
revolution and mechanization achieved in Punjab and Haryana to other
farmers in India. The Farm and Home Units of All India Radio have
demonstrated the success of radio in bringing awareness about government
initiatives and schemes to the rural areas and about reproductive health and
child-care to many remote and inaccessible areas in the country.
ii) Out-door Media

The exhibitions, bill-boards, banners, wall paintings, posters mounted on
walls are some of the examples of outdoor-media. These media categories
are used in the public areas and at strategic and defined spaces to draw the
attention of the public who visit these sites. The examples of such media
and their use can be explained if you can recall the election times. During
the election period different political parties contesting seats for either the
Lok Sabha or the state assemblies use communication tools and methods to
influence the electorates and win elections. The use of outdoor media by
each party contesting the election in the form of posters, banners and bill-
boards provides important information regarding the party, about the
candidates vying for the attention of different groups in the community. The
use of various channels creates a festive atmosphere, drawing attention of
electorates to various choices of political candidates and convincingly
motivating each to cast the vote for the right candidate. The use of outdoor
media in villages is prominently found in wall writings, posters, buntings
and streamers during the occasion of Polio Ravivar campaign. During the
Literacy drive, outdoor media was used extensively to remind villagers about
benefits of literacy and the need to send their children to school. The recent
schemes of the government, especially MGNREGA (Mahatama Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and Sarva Shisksha Abhiyan
have used such outdoor media to consistently remind the people about the
benefits of the schemes. The use of visuals and logos in the banners and
posters help rural folks to comprehend and remind them about the scheme
all the time since the access to radio and TV is dependent on the availability
of electricity and time to listen and watch the programmes.
iii) New Media

The new media are those channels of communication which are characterized
by computer-assisted facilities in the form of internet. It has revolutionized
the way we use information from other sources to tailor-make it for our
benefit. Internet has opened new possibilities for netizens i.e. the community
of people who are connected to each other through the World Wide Web
(www). The new media has transformed the mass media as well since the
internet has enabled people to source e-edition of newspapers, radio and TV
programmes and films instantly from any part of the world. This offers huge
potential for the user to benefit from a large pool of news, views,
entertainment and information with just a click of a mouse or a button! The
blogs, twitter, facebook, provide an opportunity to express and connect with
34
various groups and community who share similar work and opinion. This Communication Channels
unlimited and 24x7 supply of information has received a flip from the mobile
telephony with 3G application. All such facilities which are available on the
internet are now possible on the mobile itself! Slowly the mediascape is
changing in rural India as well but in a dramatic way: Those who have had
restricted accesses to mass media have discovered the utility of mobile
telephone in using it as a radio, sending text messages, receiving messages
instantly and connecting with anyone anywhere and at any time.
In the extension work the new media, especially internet, provides access to
various sources of updated information regarding various development
agencies, their works and success stories. It is a storehouse of expertise
which can be used both by the extension workers and the community in
learning to work together. The credibility and availability of information
through the internet can be successfully used to cut the barriers of suspicion,
myths and misconception which people in rural areas may harbour for want
of any authentic sources of communication. To set up such computer-based
facilities is becoming a reality with the government trying to initiate e-
governance and in helping setting up broad-band facilities through panchayats
in villages.
iv) Mid-Media
The mid-media comprises of those channels of communication which
combine a mix of face-to-face channels and mass media like video and audio
cassette player, community radio station, wall newspaper, use of a projector
etc. in a community setting. For example, when the politician addresses a
large gathering with the help of a microphone, it would be a good case of
using mid-media in combination with face to face communication. The use
of mid-media can be easy and does not tell upon your limited financial
resources since it is low-cost and the technology on hire is available in the
villages. Some innovations can also be made in use of mid-media in drawing
the attention and interest of the reluctant participants in a development-related
work. People can be involved in creating their own material by operating
such channels which would create interest and curiosity as well. Most of the
women and adolescent girls may not have the time or access to listen and
watch TV and radio in the rural areas since the time and place of viewing is
restricted and limited. Audio cassette player/recorder and video-cassette
player can be used as alternative channels to stimulate discussion on salient
issues related to nutrition, hygiene and rights of girls to education.
v) Traditional Media
The traditional media in our country is still a very vibrant media which
provides wholesome entertainment and sustains the cultural heritage of the
region. It provides continuity and a cultural context for communicating with
the people in rural areas. The traditional media can be classified mainly
into three categories: (1) theatre, (2) folk songs and (3) folk dance. Each
region and state has their own folk media though some of them are loosing
their patronage and popularity because of television. Some of the famous
folk forms and the states/regions to which they belong are given in
Table 2.1.
35
Communication in Extension Table 2.1: States and major folk theatre forms
and Development
Andhra Pradesh Burra Katha, Veedhi Bhagwatam, Yakshagan – Bayal
Natakam, Kuchipudi
Assam Ankiya Nat (Bhawanas), Kritania Natak, Ojapalli
Bihar Bidesia, Serikela Chhau, Jat-jatni, Bidapad
(Northeast), Ramkhelia (Ram leela)
Gujarat Bhavai
Haryana Sang (Sangeetaka), Naqqal (mono performance)
Himachal Pradesh Kariyala, Bhagat, Ras, Jhanki, Harnatra – Haran or
Harin (Masak dance)
Jammu & Kashmir Bhand Pathar, Bhand Jashna, Vatal Dhamali
Karnataka Yakshagana, Sannata, Doddata-Bayalata, Tala
Maddle or Prasang, Dasarata, Radhna,
Kerala Koodiyattam , Mudiata,, Therayattam, Chavittu
Natakam
Madhya Pradesh Maanch, Nacha
Maharashtra Tamasha, Lalit, Bharud, Gondhal, Dashavatar
Orissa Pala Jatra, Daskathai, Chhau Mayurbhanj, Magal Ras,
Sowang
Punjab Nautanki, Naqal, Swang
Rajasthan Khyal, Rasdhari, rammat, Turra Kilangi, Gauri,
Nautanki, Jhamatra
Uttar Pradesh Ramleela, Nautanki, Bhagat, Sang – Swang or
Sangeetaka, Jhanki, Naqqal and Bhand (different
from Bhand of Kashmir)
West Bengal Jatra, Purulia Chhau, Pala, Gambhira, Kabigan
Goa Dashvata, Tiyatra
The traditional art forms have always played a notable role in our country in
providing entertainment, fostering a sense of values and conveying specific
messages and even information. With the coming of technology-based media,
the traditional forms have been under pressure. Traditional performing arts can
be divided into three major categories on the basis of their form, content and
performance-situation:
a) Ritual
b) Traditional
c) Functional
a) Ritual: The traditional art forms belonging to this category are in the form
of rituals performed on the occasion of a religious ceremony. These are part
of the cultural life of the community and hence cannot be tinkered with
easily. But such occasions can be used to provide sanctity to the development
36 programme being implemented in that area. In such situations, the use of
religious leaders can be of great value. During the Maha Kumbh Mela, the Communication Channels
congregation of devotees provides an opportunity to bring awareness about
ecological changes and need to conserve water, tap solar energy, conserve
forest and similar such changes in the community and family routine.
b) Traditional: These types of art forms have passed on from generation to
generation and provide a platform to present ideas of conservation or
communal harmony through familiar performances like Ramlila in northern
and Jatra in eastern parts of the country.
c) Functional: These are the art forms which have lot of flexibility and are
used for entertainment purposes by the people in rural areas. The use of
puppetry, nautanki, tamasha etc. can easily provide opportunity to mix new
knowledge with a traditional format. This helps in internalizing the new
messages by rural communities about immunization or about prevention of
HIV/AIDS and use of disposable syringes to avoid infection.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Channels

Use of Mass Media : Mass media as channels of communication have many
advantages
• Important to raise awareness and knowledge.
• These have massive reach.
• Stimulate social networks and peer conversation.
• Mobilize those predisposed to engage in desired behaviors
Use of New Media
• Use of computer-based information and easy access to internet is limited
in India compared to the size of our population.
• The internet and email service and social networking sites hold out a
promise of working with niche groups or using pressure groups to build
constituencies of support on a large scale for any extension work if done
with honesty and integrity.
• Use of Mobile can bridge the gap between poor and rich by giving the
‘man on the street’ easy access to personal, business and other information
and as well to FM radio through a hand-held device (mobile).
Interpersonal Communication Channels are situated in the immediate
social and cultural context of the communities. Hence, these channels are
more personal and direct.
• Decisive for behavior change.
• Works through community-based link persons
• Immediate feedback available
• Informal and available to suit the convenience of the beneficiaries
Traditional Media are actively sought by people living in rural areas since
they are home-grown channels of communication.
• These forms are known to people and are part of cultural traditions of
communities.
• Less costly to use.
• Effective in conveying the message to all sections of the community.
• Disadvantages ?
37
and Development
1) Name different types of communication channels.
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2) Name four features of communication channel.
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3) Write the advantages of mass media channels.
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2.4 INTER-PERSONAL COMMUNICATION

CHANNELS
Face to face contact is considered the most credible and personal medium among
all the channels we have discussed so far. Within this type of communication
channel or medium there are many other Inter Personal Channels (IPC) categories
which can be used to elicit people’s participation and create an understanding
about development issues. Most of the development sector programmes which
require mass mobilization and also changes in the social values require face to
face communication using community-based approaches, home-visiting,
involvement of opinion leaders and community participation. During IPC use
the following elements become part of the channel in easy transfer of message
and its meaning. These are: Language, Body language, Emotions; Special
Messengers like a postman, who provides information through letters, opinion
leaders of the villages who become harbinger of new knowledge for others; use
of formal and informal networks like a Meeting, Group Discussion and even
rumour which channelize information to different members of the community.
38
The IPC Channels are of great value today since these enhance the credibility of Communication Channels
source and provide immediate feedback and an opportunity for redressal of any
misgiving or misconception. An example of multiple ways IPC channels have
been used in a community setting can be drawn from HIV/AIDS programme
which works with vulnerable communities of migrant workers in urban areas,
youth and women in the reproductive age living in rural areas. The extension
approach used in the HIV/AIDS programme has largely focused on using counselor
for counseling session at the ICTCs (Integrated Counseling and Testing Centres)
and peer to peer communication, as IPC channels to bring informed choices to
young people about high risk behavior and motivate them to adopt safe behavior.
This model comes from the agriculture sector where the extension strategy used
progressive farmers in motivating other farmers about farm mechanization,
improved seeds, improving the yield and rationale use of water.
It has been proved that representatives of the communities like Panchayat

members, Block Development Officials and school teachers can elicit cooperation
of communities to participate in the development activity. Networks in the form
of Mahila Swathya Sangh, Self-help-Groups ( SHGs) and link persons from the
community like ASHA, Anganwadi Worker and ANM have become effective
channels that facilitate awareness and motivate women in the community to
practice new behaviours that give them more control over their resources, assets,
health and care of their children. Such facilitation by these community-based
channels has also resulted in organizing women to undertake social mobilization
for literacy, pulse polio, micro-credit facilities and their empowerment. However,
choice of one over the other channel is never a proposition for those who work in
the development sector since a combination of channels is required to bring the
desired change in the attitudes and behaviours.
Table 2.2 : Main Characteristics of Mass media and IPC Channels

Characteristics Mass Media IPC
Spread to cover large Rapid Slow
Population
Accuracy and Lack of High Accuracy Easily Distorted
Distortion
Ability to select Difficult to Select Can be highly selective
particular Audience Audience
Direction One-way) Two-way
Ability to respond to Only provides Can fit local Needs
Local Needs non-specific information
Feed-back (No scope for immediate Direct feedback possible
feedback) from surveys
Only indirect feedback
Main Effect Increased/knowledge Changes in Attitude &
Awareness Behaviour

39
Communication in Extension 1) Write the importance of inter personal channels in extension and
and Development
development.
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2) Name four differences between mass media and inter personal channels.
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2.5 CRITERIA FOR SELECTING CHANNELS

i) Based on Your Learning objectives
Do you need to convey simple facts, complex information, problem-solving
skills, practical manual (‘psycho-motor) skills, attitudes and behaviour
change? Channel selection can be made on what you are setting out to do.
In a development project, clear idea of what you intend to set out to do is a
primary task. This will enable you to match your tasks with the selection of
channels. Attention needs to be paid to selection of channels and appropriate
use of channels is the key to achieving your objectives. If you wish to transfer
a message for bringing about awareness to a large number of people in a
short time you may have to select mass media channels. Whereas if your
purpose is to bring about change in the attitudes may be you have to think of
interpersonal channels.
ii) Characteristics of Audience

What are the characteristics of the audience that will affect choice of channels
or methods of communication? Age, experience of life, education and literacy
level, previous exposure, ownership of media like radio or TV, listening,
watching habits, traditional media already in use are some of the issues which
need to be evaluated in selection of the channel.
iii) Characteristics of different media/Channel

There is nothing like a best channel which fits into all the situations, because
every channel has its own advantages and disadvantages. The reach and
effectiveness of the channel in a given setting may vary from place to place
depending on its availability. Some channels may depend on more centralized
operations like newspaper, radio and TV which can provide an indirect
support through coverage of issues related to your project but will require
facilitation through IPC channels if the electricity is not available and local
edition of the newspaper is not available for people to read.
40
iv) Easy Familiarity in use of the Channel/media Communication Channels
Channels which are part of the everyday life of the people become more
reliable in transmitting knowledge. The use of expensive and technology
dependent channels have at times failed to draw people’s interests in
development-related programmes. The use of folk-media by the government
has helped in bridging the gap in knowledge since the language and characters
used in these forms are known to people. Rural fairs and haats are also such
channels which provide easy access to information and allow people to watch
use of products and services which can change their lives.
v) Costs Involved
How much the media/channel will cost either directly or indirectly if you
are trying to source airtime on radio for your programme, or use of spots on
TV, cost of using different channels. You may create your set of methods
from an array of print media like posters, leaflets or and a set of manuals
which would require sensible costing since this material can only be used
for training your extension workers but would have limited value if working
with neo literates in a rural set-up. The cost of mounting outdoor media like
banners, street theatre and group meetings can have an instant impact but
would enhance costing to provide for manpower and skills, cost and
maintenance of equipments? In general the mass media channels are
expensive ( high initial cost ) but the cost per person reached may be low.
On the contrary the interpersonal channels like farm and home visit will be
very expensive as the coverage per extension worker is low. As an extension
worker you need to balance the cost with effectiveness of the channel.
2.6 SOME INNOVATIONS IN USE OF CHANNELS

Some examples of how different media/channels of communication were used
successfully to focus on development and community participation are given
below for your understanding.
2.6.1 Use of Television

Mass media has been regarded as the simplest and cheapest way to reach out to a
large population at one time. NFHS- I data revealed that women who were exposed
to television and family planning messages on television or radio were more
likely to approve of family planning than women without mass media exposure.
The Development Communication Division of Doordarshan (DD), broadcasts
30- minute weekly program ‘Kalyani’ which was launched in 2002. It was aired
in the nine most populous states of the country- Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Uttaranchal, Assam, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. The
Kalyani TV programme was developed to create awareness and offer a platform
for discussion on issues of health such as tuberculosis (TB), cancer, HIV/AIDS,
malaria, iodine deficiency, misuse of tobacco and water-borne diseases. It takes
on a ‘reality show’ format in which a team of doctors visit rural areas to interact
with the community. Interaction is developed through ‘phone-in’, newsletters,
quizzes, weekly question competitions, and a monthly slogan prize to encourage
viewer participation. It features multiple segments like music, dance, health tips,
and letters from the audience are interspersed with more serious information,
making viewing both educative and entertaining.
41
and Development
2.6.2 Use of Mid-Media
Nalamdana is an NGO based in Chennai uses street theatre to spread information
on HIV-AIDS and MCH issues. The theatre troupe has been successful in learning
from the audiences they perform for (Singhal and Rogers, 2003). Nalamdana
illustrates how with audience interaction BCC (Behaviour Change
Communication) strategies can be adapted to the perceptions and cultural norms
of the community. Communication is a dialogue in which community participation,
dialogue and feedback can be effective in bringing about change.
2.6.3 Use of IPC

The use of peer to peer interaction in establishing consistent and continuous
communication has been widely recognized in changing behaviour of people in
disadvantageous settings. The Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) program
under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) has been able to provide 4, 00,
000 ASHAs per 1,000 population. ASHA is selected from the local community
and acts as a bridge between the community and the Anganwadi Worker (AWW)
and the Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM). ASHA forms a part of the ‘Intra-
Communication’ component formed under NRHM.
2.6.4 Use of Satellite Channel

The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) which was conducted
for a year from 1 August 1975 was the first occasion on which the Government
concerned itself not only with the production of rural-interest TV programmes
and their transmission, but also with their social consumption. Programmes were
designed for rural audiences in remote and backward villages with the premise
that TV would provide an opportunity to view first-hand the development-related
changes. The structured programming was followed for the children and adult
audiences to provide skills about their work and improving their capacities. Two
types of programmes were prepared for broadcasting: educational television (ETV)
and instructional television (ITV). ETV programmes for school children brought
the experience of learning through interesting educational programmes. The ITV
programmes for adult audiences covered various issues related to health, family
planning, nutrition, new and successful practices in agriculture.
2.6.5 Folk Media

The Song and Drama Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
was set-up in 1954 has build over the years a large repertoire of folk arts and
performing groups. The division was established with the objective of creating
awareness and motivating changes in archaic and outdated practices whether in
agriculture, health, social-life and promote education, healthy life-style and social
change. Today Song and Drama Division has established itself as a frontier
organization in taking schemes and programmes of the government and creating
a new and progressive culture in the rural community. Their programmes range
from use of new seeds, family planning, HIV/AIDS, literacy to consumer
awareness.
42
1) Write the important criteria to be considered while selecting communication Communication Channels
channel.
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2.7 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we have looked at the major channels of communication which carry
information to the audience with efficiency and authenticity. This will help you
to appreciate the importance of each channel and identify when and where these
can be utilized to bring development close to the doorsteps of those disadvantaged
by lack of access to opportunities. We also examined the role of inter personal
channels in communication and discussed the important differences between mass
media and IPCs. Later, we discussed important criteria for selecting channels and
examined some innovations in use of channels.
2.8 KEY WORDS

Communication Channel : It is the binding element between the sender and the
receiver in the communication process.
Mass Media : Mass media is in the form of print media (newspapers,
magazines, pamphlets, newsletters) Radio, TV and
films which have the advantage of reaching a large
number of people, all at the same time, with a
common message.
Out-door Media : The exhibitions, bill-boards, banners, wall paintings,
posters mounted on walls are some of the forms of
outdoor-media which are used in the public areas and
at strategic and defined spaces to draw the attention
of the publics who visit these sites.
New Media : The new media are those channels of communication
which are characterized by computer-assisted
facilities in the form of internet.
Mid-Media : The mid-media comprises of those channels of
communication which combine a mix of face-to-face
channels and mass media like video and audio
cassette player, community radio station, wall
newspaper, use of a projector in a community setting.
Traditional Media : The traditional media is a very vibrant media which
provides wholesome entertainment and sustains the
cultural heritage of the region. It provides continuity
and a cultural context for communicating with the
people in rural areas. They include theatre, folk songs
and folk dance.
43
and Development 2.9 REFERENCES / SELECTED READINGS
Chander, Romesh; Karnik, Kiran (1976) (PDF). Planning for Satellite
Broadcasting: The Indian Instructional TV experiment. UNESCO Press. ISBN
92-3-101 392-0. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0002/000200/020099eo.pdf.
Communication and Traditional Media: Proceedings of Seminar organised by
IIMC and FTII. 1981. Indian Institute of Mass Communication; IIMC Press: Delhi.
Hubley, J. 1993. Communicating Health: An Action Guide to Health Education
and Health Promotion, Macmillan: Hongkong.
Kotler, P. and E. Roberto. 1989. Social Marketing: Strategies for Changing Public
Behavior, Free Press, New York.
Malhan, P.N. 1992. Communication Media : Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow;
Ministry of I&B: Delhi.
McQuail, D. 1987. Mass Communication Theory, Sage, London.
Piotrow, P.T. Kincaid D.L. Rimon II, J.G. and Rinehart W. 1997. Health
Communication; Lessons from Family Planning and reproductive Health. John
Hopkins School of Public Health, Centre for Communication Programme; Praeger:
USA.
Ranganath, H.K. 1980. Using Folk Entertainers to Promote National
Development. New York: UNESCO.
Rogers, E.M. (2003) Diffusion of Innovactions, 5th Edition, Free Press, New
York.
Singhal, A. and E.M. Rogers. 1989. Prosocial Television for Development in
India. In R.E. Rice and C.K. Atkin (eds.), Public Communication Campaigns
2nd ed. Newbury Park, Sage, CA.

ANSWERS
1) Communication channel is the binding element between the sender and the
receiver in the communication process. The channel can also be used by the
receiver to send feedback to the sender. Hence, dependency of both sender
and receiver is greatly dependent on the channel’s capacity for transmission
of messages.
2) Important elements to be considered while selecting communication channel

are: quality or efficiency; time taken in transmission of message and load
capacity.
3) Yes. Channels can be both human and a machine. In medieval times, when
human beings were dependent on sign or oral language to convey information.
Language played an important role and each civilization and community of
people adapted a language and later a script to match its ability to
communicate with their own and with other. With the advent of the printing
44
press, it overcame the limitations of time and space since the printed word Communication Channels
in the form of books, pamphlets and posters could be read by people at
different times and reach distances far and wide as well. Hence, the channels
can be both human and a machine.
1) Communication channels can be broadly classified into traditional, modern

and digital which includes mass media, folk media, outdoor media and new
media.
2) The four desirable features of communication channel are: it should multiply

a message ( many times); it should amplify the message; it should break all
barriers viz., physical, psychological and sociological and it should be able
to use technology, policy and skilled manpower to operate.
3) The advantages of mass media channels include; they raise awareness and
knowledge; have massive reach; they stimulate social networks and peer
conversation and mobilize those predisposed to engage in desired behaviors.
1) Inter Personal Channels (IPC) can be used to elicit people’s participation

and create an understanding about development issues. Most of the
development sector programmes which require mass mobilization and also
changes in the social values require face to face inter personal communication
using community-based approaches, home-visiting, involvement of opinion
leaders and community participation. The IPC Channels are of great value
since these enhance the credibility of source and provide immediate feedback
and an opportunity for redressal of any misgiving or misconception.
2) Spread to cover large population is rapid by mass media while it is slow in

IPCs. Ability to select particular audience is difficult in mass media while
IPCs are highly selective. Mass media only provides non-specific information
while IPC provides specific information fit to to the local needs. Indirect
feed back is possible in mass media while the feed back is direct in IPC.
1) The important criterion to be considered while selecting communication

channel are: based on learning objectives; characteristics of audience;
characteristics of different media/channel; easy familiarity in use of the
channel/media and; costs involved.
45
and Development UNIT 3 THEORIES AND MODELS OF
COMMUNICATION
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Models of Communication
3.3 Theories of Communication
3.4 Let Us Sum Up
3.5 Keywords
3.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Learner, you may be aware that a model provides a simplified view of
complex object, phenomenon, or process, so that fundamental properties or
characteristics can be high-lighted and examined. Models highlight some features
that their designers believe are particularly critical, and there is less focus on
other features. Thus, by examining models, one learns not only about the object,
situation, or process, but also about the perspective of the designer. Similarly,
theories are analytical tools for understanding, explaining, and making predictions
about a given subject matter. As with other subject areas, models and theories of
communication also provide important insights into the various perspectives of
the communication. Keeping this in view, the important models and theories of
communication are discussed in this unit with suitable examples.
• Explain the important models of communication.
• Describe the important theories of communication.
3.2 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

A model is a systematic representation of an object or event in idealized and
abstract form. Models are somewhat subjective by their nature. The act of
abstracting eliminates certain details to focus on essential factors. However the
key to the usefulness of a model is the degree to which it conforms—in point-by-
point correspondence—to the underlying determinants of communicative
behavior.
In the Information and Communication Technology era, the field of

communication has changed considerably. Yet the models used in the introductory
chapters of recent communication textbooks are the same models that were used
forty years ago. This is, in some sense, a testament to their enduring value.
3.2.1 General Communication Model

You are well aware that communication takes place when the sender selects a
46 certain message and gives it a special treatment for transmission over a selected
channel to a receiver who interprets the message before taking the desired action. Theories and Models of
Communication
This can be represented through a diagram as follows (Fig. 3.1)
Sender Message Treatment Channel Receiver
Fig. 3.1: General Communication Model
If you recall the contents of the first unit, the above figure represents the elements
of communication process.
Sender : We may call sender as communicator / speaker / source. In the context

of extension and development, you are the sender of the messages. You decide
what messages to send, how to treat it, which channel to use so that your audience
can receive and follow it. If you make poor choice, your communication is likely
to fail.
Message : Message is the information package or technical know how of extension

and development programmes. It may be a single line of message with a picture
as in a poster or complete information through pamphlet / booklet.
Treatment : It refers to the ways in which the message is handled before it is

placed on the channel. Its purpose is to make the message clear, understandable
and realistic to the audience.
Channel: It is the path of the communication. Examples for channels include,

news paper, radio television etc.
Receiver: The receiver may be a single person when we write a letter, it may be
a group of people who read a circular letter / news letter or it may be the masses
that listen to radio programme / see television or read a news paper. The more
homogenous the receivers are, the greater the chances of effective communication.
In any model of communication, we can find few or all of the above elements of
communication process.
3.2.2 Aristotle’s Model

Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) was the first to give the earliest basic persuasive
communication model. His explanation includes three communication elements
viz.,
• Speaker
• Subject
• Audience
Aristotle was of the opinion that these three elements are essential for a meaningful
communication and that we can organize our study of communication process
under the three headings: i) the person who speaks, ii) the speech that he/she
produces, and iii) the person who listens.
As per ancient times, five processes are involved in the study of communication,
namely invention, organization, language, memory and delivery. From Aristotle’s
view, generation of message involves invention (finding the content), arrangement
(organizing the material in logical sequence), language or style (to reach the
audience), memory and delivery (the practice of actual presentation).
47
and Development
Speaker Speech Listener
 Invention Setting
 Organization
 Language
 Memory
 Delivery
Fig. 3.2: Aristotle’s Communication Model
Aristotle Vs. Persuasive Communication

Aristotle was of the opinion that persuasion was a result of the influence that
a speaker makes. He used ‘discovery of the available means of persuasion’
for defining the whole art of persuasive communication. Aristotle’s
communication model formed a basis for other earlier communication models.
Though Aristotle’s model was one of the pioneering models, his theory laid
emphasis that persuasive communication as a one-way process transpiring
from the communicator to the receiver. The important role of feedback from
the receiver was not included as a part of process of persuasion.
3.2.3 Lasswell’s Model

Lasswell put forth one of the basic but significant communication models with
social scientific background in 1948. This model includes the sequence namely
i) who says ii) what, iii) in which channel, iv) to Whom, v) under what
circumstances, and vi) with what effects.
This model provides explanation for linear, one-way communication. This model
gives importance to the communicator and his message but like in Aristotle’s
model, the element of feedback was not included. However, this model had helped
improving the understanding about communication among social scientists
engaged in communication theories. This model was useful in political
communication, propaganda and political symbolism. The model also assumes
the communicator wishes to influence the receiver and, therefore, sees
communication as a persuasive process.
1) What do you mean by communication model?
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48 ......................................................................................................................
2) Name the five elements in general communication model. Theories and Models of
Communication
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3) What is the major limitation in Aristotle’s and Lasswell’s communication
models?
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3.2.4 Stimulus-Response Model

Stimulus- Response (S-R) model is one of the basic interpersonal communication
models (Fig 3.3). Person ‘A’ communicates something to person ‘B’ with X
effect [A àB = X ]. However, according to Newcomb (1958), the expression ‘A’
communicates something to ‘B’ comprises a number of sub-categories, such as
when, how, in what medium, under what circumstances etc.
A1 B2
S1-2
=X
B1 A2
Fig. 3.3 : Stimulus-Response Communication Model
Limitation of Stimulus – Response Model

• The Stimulus- Response (A - B) does not fit into the facts. A may say
something to B, but what B hears and interprets depends upon B and not
of A. Also what A says may be a necessary condition of B’s subsequent
behavior, but the sufficient condition is how B processes A’s statements
(s).
• It is possible that A’s saying does not fall into a temporarily off mind.
Whereas, A’s saying may be meaningful to B, only to the extent, (a) B’s
mind is active and (b) B’s level of comprehension to understand A’s
statement in the context in which it occurs.
• Neither A nor B, nor even X in this model is independent of any of the
conditions of, when, how, in what medium, and under what circumstances
etc. So describing communication in linear form is too simplistic
assumption. Rather communication is a complex system of elements and
their interactions.
49
and Development
3.2.5 Schramm’s Model
As per Schramm model of communication (1964), there is a source, who encodes
a signal, and there is a receiver, who decodes the signal. The sender and receiver
must be tuned together and maximum output from communication can be achieved
based on the common field experience of both the source-encoder and the decoder-
receiver (Fig. 3.4).
Sourceee Encoder Signal Decoder Receiver
Fig. 3.4 Schramm’s Model of Communication
Role of Field of Experience in Schramm’s Communication Model

As per this model, both an encoder and a decoder receive and transmit. A
person will decode a message, interpret based on past filed experience and
wisdom, and then encode a response accordingly (Fig 3.5). Thus each one is
constantly communicating back to the other and the return process is termed
as feedback (Fig. 3.6). This model focused on organic nature of communication
rather than mere mechanical transfer of message. Schramm (1964) emphasized
that communication process is continuous.
Field of experience Field of experience
Source Encoder Signal Decoder Destination
Fig. 3.5 Role of Field of Experience in Schramm’s Model of Communication
Message
Decoder Decoder
Interpreter Interpreter
Encoder Encoder
Message
50 Fig. 3.6 Feedback in Schramm’s Communication Model

Theories and Models of
Merits and Limitations of Schramm’s Communication Model Communication
Merits
• Field of experience: Schramm provided the additional notion of field of
experience which refers to the type of orientation or attitudes which sender
and receiver maintain towards each other.
• Feedback: Communication is reciprocal, two-way, even though the
feedback may be delayed.
• Context: A message may have different meanings, depending upon the
specific context or setting.
• Culture: A message may have different meanings associated with it
depending upon the culture or society, Communication systems; thus,
operate within the confines of cultural rules and expectations to which
we all have been educated.
Limitations
• Schramm’s model, while less linear, still accounts for only bilateral
communication between two parties.
• The complex, multiple levels of communication between several sources
was not explained by this model.
3.2.6 Intermediary Model

This model also sometimes referred to as the gatekeeper model or two-step flow
model (Katz, 1957). This model focuses on several important intermediaries who
play an important role in the communication process (Fig.3.7). Many of these
intermediaries have the ability to decide what messages others see, the context in
which they are seen, and when they see them. They often have the ability, moreover,
to change messages or to prevent them from reaching an audience (destination).
In extreme variations we refer to such gatekeepers as censors.
Speaker Gatekeeper Audience
Fig. 3.7 Katz’s Intermediary Model of Communication
Role of Intermediaries / Gatekeepers in Communication

In mass communication media, editors / associate editors decide what stories
will fit in a newspaper or news broadcast, with the intermediary or gatekeeper
role. Under the more normal conditions of mass media, in which publications
choose some content in preference to other potential content based on an
editorial policy, we refer to them as editors (most mass media), moderators
(Internet discussion groups), reviewers (peer-reviewed publications), or
aggregators (clipping services), among other titles.
3.2.7 Shannon and Weaver’s Model

Shannon and Weaver (1949) provided a visual mode of communication system
in relation to electronic media popularly referred to as Shannon and Weaver model
of communication or ‘Mathematical model of communication’ (Fig. 3.8). This
model includes:
51
Communication in Extension • An information source, which produces a desired message out of a set of
and Development
possible messages, written or spoken words, pictures, music etc
• A transmitter which changes this message into signals suitable for
transmission
• A channel, which carries signals from the transmitter which transfers to the
receiver
• A receiver, a sort of inverse transmitter which transfers the transmitted signals
back into a message, and
• A destination, the final consumer of the message.
The three levels of problems in the communication of information indicated in
the model are
• Technical – problems related to the accuracy of transferring information
from sender to the receiver, through signals.
• Semantic - problems related to the interpretation of meaning by the receiver
as that of intended meaning of the sender
• Influential - problems concerned with the success with which the meanings
are conveyed to the receiver and the subsequent desired behavior on his
part.
Receiver Destination
Source Transmitter
Signal Received Message
Message
Signal
Noise Source
Fig. 3.8. Shannon and Weaver’s Communication Model
While transmitting signals, there is a possibility that some unwanted disturbances

such as sound in the case of radio, telephone called ‘noise’, are also likely to be
added. This model attempted to explain how to overcome noise and how much
redundancy is necessary so that the receiver can successfully receive the signal
and in turn the right messages.
Important Concepts in Shannon and Weaver’s Model

Information: The information is viewed as a measure of one’s freedom of
choice when one selects a message.
Entropy: The information can be measured by entropy i.e one’s degree of
freedom of choice to select a message. The ratio of the actual to the maximum
entropy is called relative entropy.
Redundancy: The amount of information that can be eliminated or added in
a noiseless channel, so that the message would still have meaning.
Channel capacity: The amount of information that can be transmitted per
unit of time. Beyond optimum level of information would lead to errors.
Noise: Any unwanted sound, distortion that may be added into the channel
which are beyond the control of the transmitter or receiver. However, the
52
efficiency of a communication system can be increased by reducing the noise, Communication
or by increasing the band width or by increasing the signal power.
Coding process: Whenever we produce or receive a message we use codes.
Efficient coding involves best matching the statistical characteristics of the
information source and the channel.
Shannon and Weaver’s model mainly deals with problems of communication at
the technical, semantics and effectiveness levels. From this model, we can learn
that for reducing the uncertainty and minimizing the effects of noise by considering
the capacity of the sender to encode and that of the receiver to decode messages.
Though the model attempts to explain further the process of communication, it is
a linear, one-way communication model without any emphasis on feedback. In
this model communication is presented as a linear, one-way process. Shannon
and Weaver make a distinction between source and transmitter, and receiver and
destination i.e. there are two functions at the transmitting end and two at the
receiving end.
1) Write any two limitations of stimulus – response model of communication.
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2) Write the examples for intermediaries / gatekeepers in mass communication.
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3) What do you mean by entropy?
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4) Write the three levels of problems in the communication of information as
per Shannon and Weaver model.
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53
and Development
3.2.8 Berlo’s Model
Berlo’s (1960) model includes the following elements in a communication process
(Fig. 3.9).
• Source
• Encoder
• Message
• Channel
• Decoder and
• Communication receiver
As per this model, any communication has some source. The source has ideas,
needs, intentions, information, and a purpose for communicating. The purpose is
expressed in terms of message. So, there is an encoder. The encoder codifies
ideas into meaningful message. This message is to be carried through an effective
medium termed as channel. The source can manage the effectiveness of
communication by appropriately choosing the channel. The source chooses the
appropriate channel and sends the message by encoding it. On the other side, the
target of communication the receiver decodes the message and places in a form
so that he can understand its meaning.
Factors Influencing Communication Elements in Berlo’s Model

In Berlo’s model, each element - source, message, channel and receiver is
influenced by some factors ( Also see Fig 3.9).
Source and Receiver: Influenced by communication skills, attitudes,
knowledge and social and cultural systems.
Channel : Influenced by the form of senses viz., seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling and tasting.
Message : Influenced by structure, elements, content, code, and treatment
S M C R
Source Message Channel Receiver
Communication Seeing Communication

Elements Structures
skills Skills
C Hearing
Attitudes C Attitudes
O O
N D Touching
Knowledge Knowledge
T Treat E
E ment Smelling
Social Social
system N system
T Tasting
Culture Culture
Fig. 3.9: Berlo’s Communication Model

54
Significance of Berlo’s Model Communication
This model is improved one over the earlier models because:
• It considers behavioral theory and as a result the model was widely quoted
among scholars in communication research.
• It views the communication process as continuous two-way process /
activity between the source and receiver and the noise is minimized by
appropriate feedback.
• The flow of feedback between source and receiver allows the interchange
of roles wherein the source may play a role of receiver and vice versa.
• Because of inclusion of feedback in the model and the variables explaining
the performance of elements the model is quite popular in communication
research.
Strengths
i) The idea of ‘source’ was flexible enough to include oral, written, electronic,
or any other kind of “symbolic” generator-of-messages.
ii) ‘Message’ was made the central element, stressing the transmission of ideas
iii) The model recognized that receivers were important to communication, for
they were the targets.
iv) The notions of ‘encoding’ and ‘decoding’ emphasized the problems we all
have (psycho-linguistically) in translating our own thoughts into words or
other symbols and in deciphering the words or symbols of others into terms
we ourselves can understand.
Weaknesses
i) Tends to stress the manipulation of the message—the encoding and decoding
processes.
ii) It implies that human communication is like machine communication, like
signal-sending in telephone, television, computer, and radar systems.
iii) It even seems to stress that most problems in human communication can be
solved by technical accuracy by choosing the ‘right’ symbols, preventing
interference, and sending efficient messages. But even with the ‘right’
symbols, people misunderstand each other. “Problems in “meaning” or
“meaningfulness” often aren’t a matter of comprehension, but of reaction,
of agreement, of shared concepts, beliefs, attitudes, values.
3.2.9 Leagan’s Model

In Unit 1 of this block, we discussed the communication definition by Leagans
(1961). According to him, communication is a process by which two or more
people exchange ideas, facts, feelings, impressions in ways that each gains a
clear understanding of the meaning, intent and use of the message. Thus the
elements in the communication model by Leagans are:
• Communicator
• Message or content
55
Communication in Extension • Channels of communication
and Development
• Treatment of message
• Audience and
• Audience response / Feedback.
In this model, greater thrust is placed on treatment of message and audience
response (Feedback). This model is more popular in agricultural extension,
wherein, the focus is on transferring the technology to farmers and bringing desired
behavior and therefore, the communicators fine tune their communication based
on feedback.
Activity 1 : Study the communication models given in the above section.

Identify the common elements and write them.
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1) Name various communication models.
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2) Write the factors influencing communication in Berlo’s Model.
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3) Write the elements in Leagan’s communication model.
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56
3.3 THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION Communication
Theories about any phenomenon in general will highlight the key concepts
involved in it.
Thus, theories of communication will be useful for a person who is trying to

understand a given communication event by way of providing a framework which
suggests what he/she should look for.
The theories of communication can be broadly classified into three groups namely:
i) Theories of interpersonal communications
Ex : Linguistic theory of communication
ii) Theories of mass communication (message flow models)
Ex : Theories of Mass Media Effects
iii) Theories of communication distortion
Ex : Theory of communication distortion and & Theory of communication
distortion in transit
3.3.1 Linguistic Theory of Communication

The description of language systems is dealt in linguistic theory of communication.
The bottom-line of linguistic theory is social interaction. A system of symbols
(words/vocabulary) and appropriate methods of combination of words (syntax)
is the basis for any language. Each language has its own symbols to convey
meaning and has evolved over a period. In spite of prevalence of various languages,
there is common thread of principle of interpretation, response and reward that
governs all learning and communication.
When we use a language, we are not transmitting the meaning but people tend to
get the meaning from our spoken words based on their own experiences and the
rules of the concerned languages. When we write words, they are basically linear
or one-dimensional. However, they become multidimensional when we speak
because of facial expressions, body movements and gestures and also vary
according to the context in which we speak. How we choose the words determine
the effectiveness of communication. Appropriate syntax would be useful in placing
structural relationship among words indicating certain objects for the reader or
receiver. When we use words to convey denotative meanings along with careful
structuring, the accuracy increases.
System of symbolization in human communication is explained in this theory.

The process is explained as:
i) A message starts a meaning in the mind of source
ii) The message is encoded into linguistic form
iii) Linguistic forms are coded into physical signals
iv) Signals are transmitted through channels as physical signals
v) The receiver transforms the physical signals into linguistic form
vi) Linguistic forms are decoded into messages
vii) Messages are interpreted, screened and acted upon by the receiver. 57
Communication in Extension Williams (1975) mentioned two dimensions of this theory.
and Development
a) Psycholinguistic Theory: This theory deals with the psychological basis of
using the language by any individual in other words the coding behavior.
The cognitive psycholinguistic approaches were of the assumption that the
human brain has the potential to diversify the coding processes in any
communication and also in developing language skills. The individual
expertise or good exposure to a given language enables him to better perform
in life and manage situations.
b) Sociolinguistic Theory: In a society, the process of communication involves

both personal factors and social factors or social context. The sociolinguistics
is concerned with the relationship between variations in using language
according to personal as well as contextual situations. In the sociolinguistics,
any individual using a language must count on not only his knowledge of
language competence, but also the pragmatic use of language in relation to
varying characteristics of communication situations within cultural contexts.
Hymes (1972) termed this approach as communication competence.
How we speak a language (modes of speech) is important concept of

sociolinguistic theory that helps to have better knowledge about the relations
between communication and language.
Language and the way we use it differs across situations and different people and
this form a patterns of features. In other words, the linguistic theory also portrays
patterns of variation in language across different people, stimuli, relationships,
context and competence. If a person is having the ability to use a code, he needs
to have a lot of knowledge and additional consideration of factors so as to be
sensitive to social demands on patterns of communication.
3.3.2 Theories of Mass Media Effects

With the advancements in information technologies, there is expansion in use of
mass media in the society. The social impact of mass media is gaining importance
in social science especially Sociology and Social Psychology. There are a few
theoretical frameworks which explain the variation in the effects of mass media.
a) Theory of Individual Differences: Defleur (1966) was of the opinion that

audience of a given medium is not aggregated group who perceives in a
similar fashion to whatever content is directed towards it. The principle of
selective perception is important aspect. This would explain the varying
communication behavior of a mass media audience. The psychological
framework of the concerned person influences any individual response to a
mass media message. In brief, we can say that individual differences in
psychological structure causing the variation in effects of mass media from
person to person.
b) Psychodynamic Model of Persuasion Process: It has been realized that

the mass media has tremendous persuasion effects. The basis of persuasion
depends upon modifying the internal psychological structure of the individual.
Such influence helps in moderating the psychodynamic relationship between
internal processes and manifestation of overt behavior. This will ultimately
lead to actions/ behavioral change intended by the persuader. DeFleur (1966),
had proposed psychodynamic process of the persuasion as shown in Fig.
58
3.10. In addition to the external actions which have been intended by Theories and Models of
Communication
persuasive message, there are other kinds of effects also. That is, people
comprehend ideas and practices sometimes beyond message even it may
include non-intended or opposite effects also. The variations may be due to
individual differences as well as environmental factors.
Persuasive Alter latent Achieve change in

message psychological overt behavior
process
Fig. 3.10. Psychological Persuasion Process
c) Theory of Social Categories: As per this theory similar to individual

differences in responses to a given stimuli, behavior of broad social categories
of people remain to be almost uniform/common to given stimulus. The theory
assumes that though there exists heterogeneity among people in a society,
people with more or less similar characteristics or background are likely to
exhibit similar behavior, leading to uniform response to mass media. Both
the individual differences and social categories theories are extended forms
of Stimulus-Response model. In this, the combination of psychological
processes, normative patterns within social categories and their interactive
influence in communication process in the form of stimulus and response is
explained.
d) Theory of Social Relationships: Theory of social relationships to some

extent, deal the communication in the form of two stage processes. In a
mass media communication, there is possibility that well-informed
individuals first attend to mass communication and receive the information.
Later, this information is passed on through interpersonal channels to
individuals who had less access to the mass media. Opinion leaders/
gatekeepers would have direct access to mass media in a given society. Those
individuals apart from giving information would usually add their attitudes
and interpretations to the content as per their value system to the other
members in the society. Sometimes, these opinion leaders even persuade the
other members to behave in a particular pattern. Between the stimulus and
the response in the mass communication process, the informal social
relationship prevailing in the society functions as intervening variables.
3.3.3 Theories of Communication Distortion

The important theories under this category are :
a) Theory of communication distortion and
b) Theory of communication distortion in transit.
The first one states that larger the volume of communication, larger would be the
communication distortion. Increasing the volume of communication, increases
more chances for misunderstanding, mis-interpretation, less concentration and
low priorities. The second one emphasizes that messages pass through many
layers in an organization. Therefore, repetition and reproduction of the same
message is multiplied into many which reduces the efficiency of communication.
59
and Development
1) Name the three categories of communication theories.
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2) Differentiate between Psycholinguistic and Sociolinguistic concepts.
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3.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we started by looking at the meaning of models and theories of
communication. We studied the general communication model and Aristotle’s,
Lasswell’s, Stimulus-Response, Schramm’s, Intermediary, Shannon and Weaver’s,
Berlo’s and Leagan’s Communication models along with the communication
elements in each model. In the second part of the unit, we discussed different
theories of interpersonal communication, mass communication and
communication distortion.
The overview of communication models and theories suggests that communication

can be described in terms of networks, which gives the observer some indication
of who is communicating with whom and it can also be described in terms of the
types of interactions which are occurring among communicators. Further, it can
be described in terms of message transactions, which indicate how the elements
of communication combine to produce a unique unrepeatable event. It can be
also viewed from the point of view an individual gathering information as he
passes through his environment.
3.5 KEY WORDS

Sender : We may call sender as communicator / speaker
/ source of message. Sender decides what
messages to send, how to treat it, which channel
so that his/ her audience can receive and follow
it.
Message : Message is the information package or technical
know how of extension and development
60
programmes. It may be a single line of message Theories and Models of
Communication
with a picture as in a poster or complete
information through pamphlet / booklet.
Treatment : It refers to the ways in which the message is
handled before it is placed on the channel. Its
purpose is to make the message clear,
understandable and realistic to the audience/
receiver.
Channel : It is the path of the communication.
Receiver : The receiver may be a single person when we
write a letter, it may be a group of people who
read a circular letter / news letter or it may be
the masses that listen to radio programme / see
television.
Entropy : The information can be measured by entropy
i.e one’s degree of freedom of choice to select
a message. The ratio of the actual to the
maximum entropy is called relative entropy.
Redundancy : The amount of information that can be
eliminated or added in a noiseless channel, so
that the message would still have meaning.
Channel capacity : The amount of information that can be
transmitted per unit of time.
Noise : Any unwanted sound, distortion that may be
added into the channel which are beyond the
control of the transmitter or receiver.
Psycholinguistic Theory : This theory deals with the psychological basis
of using the language by any individual in other
words the coding behavior.
Sociolinguistic Theory : The sociolinguistics is concerned with the
relationship between variations in using
language according to personal as well as
contextual situations.

Dhama, O.P. and Bhatnagar, O.P. (2007). Education and Communication for
Development. Oxford and IBH Pub.Co.Pvt. Ltd.
Berlo, D K. (1960). The process of communication. Holt Rinechart and Winston,
New York.
Kaplan, A. (1964). The Conduct of Inquiry: Methodology for Behavioral Science,
Chandler, San Francisco.
Ray, G L. (1991). Extension Communication and management, Naya Prokash,
Calcutta.
Samanta, R K. (1990). Development communication for agriculture. B R
Publishing Corporation, Delhi.
61
and Development 3.7 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – POSSIBLE
ANSWERS
1) A communication model is a systematic representation of elements of
communication process in an abstract form.
2) The five elements in a general communication model are : sender, message,
treatment, channel and receiver.
3) The important role of feedback from the receiver was not included in
Aristotle’s and Lasswell’s communication models.
1) The Stimulus- Response (A - B) does not fit into the facts. A may say
something to B, but what B hears and interprets depends upon B and not of
A. Also what A says may be a necessary condition of B’s subsequent behavior,
but the sufficient condition is how B processes A’s statements (s). It is possible
that A’s saying does not fall into a temporarily off mind. Whereas, A’s saying
may be meaningful to B, only to the extent, (a) B’s mind is active and (b) B’s
comprehensive level to understand A’s statement in the context in which it
occurs.
2) Intermediaries / gatekeepers in mass communication includes editors, sub-
editors, reviewers etc.
3) Entropy is one’s degree of freedom of choice to select a message.
4) The three levels of problems in the communication of information as per
Shannon and Weaver model are : technical, semantic and influential.
1) Various communication models are : Aristotle’s, Lasswell’s, Stimulus-
Response, Schramm’s, Intermediary, Shannon and Weaver’s, Berlo’s and
Leagan’s .
2) In Berlo’s model, each element - source, message, channel and receiver is
influenced by some factors. Source and receiver are influenced by
communication skills, attitudes, knowledge and social and cultural systems.
Channel is influenced by the form of senses viz., seeing, hearing, touching,
smelling and tasting. Message is influenced by structure, elements, content,
code, and treatment.
3) The elements in Leagan’s communication model are ; Communicator,
Message or content, Channels of communication, Treatment of message,
Audience and Audience response / Feedback.
1) The three categories of communication theories are : Theories of interpersonal
communications; Theories of mass communication (message flow models)
and ; Theories of communication distortion.
2) Psycholinguistic theory deals with the psychological basis of using the
language by any individual in other words the coding behavior. Whereas,
Sociolinguistic theory is concerned with the relationship between variations
in using language according to personal as well as contextual situations.
62
Notes
Notes
MDV-108
and Extension
Block
4
ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT
UNIT 1
ICT for Development: An Overview 5
UNIT 2
e-Governance in Rural and Urban Development 24
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Prof. B.K. Pattanaik Prof. S.V.N.Rao, RAGACOVAS,
IGNOU, New Delhi (Unit 1) Puducherry (Content & Language Editor)
Dr. Debolina Kundu
NIUA, New Delhi (Unit 2) Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-75-3
BLOCK 4 ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for Development is a general

term referring to the application of ICT within the fields of various sub-sectors
of development. ICTs can be applied either in the direct sense, wherein their use
directly benefits the development process, or in an indirect sense, wherein the
ICTs assist aid organisations, or non-governmental organizations, or governments,
or businesses in order to improve general socio-economic development. The
purpose of this block is to make you understand the basic concepts of ICT and
ICT applications in urban and rural developments.
Unit 1, ICT for Development: An Overview focuses on meaning and attributes

of ICT, interface between ICT and development of various sectors and e-
development strategies.
Unit 2, e-Governance in Rural and Urban Development deals with importance

of e-governance in rural and urban development, National e-Governance Plan,
international and national initiatives of e-governance in development and
challenges in e-governance.
.
ICT for Development
4
ICT for Development: An
UNIT 1 ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT: AN Overview
OVERVIEW
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 ICT: Meaning and Attributes
1.3 ICT and Development Interface
1.4 ICT and Sectoral Development
1.5 e-Development and its Strategies
1.6 Let Us Sum Up
1.7 References and Suggested Readings
1.1 INTRODUCTION
It is an established fact that use of Information and Communication Technology
(ICT) in development by the developed nations is more as compared to developing
nations. In this unit, you will read about the role of ICT in development. After
reading this unit, you should be able to:
• Define the meaning and explain attributes of ICT
• Explain ICT and development interface
• Narrate the role of ICT in development of various sectors
• Comprehend e-Development strategies
1.2 ICT: MEANING AND ATTRIBUTES

1.2.1 Meaning of ICT
Customarily, ICT refers to information, communication and technology. Generally
we seek information and communicate them to others who may also be interested
to know about its value through technology. The technology plays an important
role in the effective transaction and communication of knowledge or information
to its seekers. ICTs include hardware, processes and systems that are used for
storing and managing communications and sharing of information. These tools
can be either manual or computerized. ICT is defined by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) as, “ICTs are basically information handling
tools, a varied set of goods, applications and services that are used to produce,
store, process, distribute and exchange information. They include the ‘old’ ICTs
of radio, television and telephone, and the ‘new’ ICTs of computers, satellite and
wireless technology and the Internet. These different tools are now able to work
together, and combine to form our ‘networked world’ – a massive infrastructure
of interconnected telephone services, standardized computing hardware, the
Internet, radio and television, which reaches into every corner of the globe”. The
ICT has enabled ICT using nations to become an Information Economy. The
UNDP document defines Information Economy as “a new global electronic
5
ICT for Development structure where in the production of information goods and services dominates
wealth and job creation and is underpinned by the use of information and
communication technologies (ICT) and the global infrastructure”. The OECD
member countries define the ICT sector as a combination of manufacturing and
services industries that capture, transmit and display data and information
electronically. Some commonly used ICT tools are described:
i) Mobile phones: An electronic, portable and wireless communication device

that is available in different shapes, sizes and models. Mobile phones connect
to a wireless communication network through radio waves or satellite
transmissions. According to business dictionary “Mobile Phone is a portable
device that does not require the use of landlines. It utilizes frequencies
transmitted by cellular tower to connect the calls between two devices”.
Mobile phones are capable of communicating via voice calls, e-mails, text
messages, video, picture messages, blue tooth, infra-red and fax.
ii) Video Conferencing: According to the BSNL, video conferencing services

allow multiple participants to converse with each other regardless of their
location through the video end-points. It enables new ways for
communication and collaboration between people at almost any location
within the world. It involves the transmission of visuals and sounds to two
or more separate locations through the use of cameras, monitors, speakers
and microphones. Multiple video-conferencing enables three or more
individuals to sit in a virtual conference room and communicate as if they
were sitting right next to each other.
iii) Radio: The radio is the wireless transmission through space of

electromagnetic waves in the approximate frequency range from 10 kilohertz
to 300,000 megahertz. Radio is a user friendly and cost effective technology.
It is an effective communication and knowledge sharing tool.
iv) Internet: Internet is a global network and is a revolution in IT which is

connecting millions of computers. The Internet has become a public,
cooperative and self-sustaining facility available and accessible to millions
of people, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), offices, civil society
organizations, private corporate sectors, etc., Worldwide. The Internet carries
a vast array of information resources and services, most notably the inter-
linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the
infrastructure to support electronic mail (e-mail), in addition to popular
services such as video on demand, online shopping, online gaming, exchange
of information from one-to-many or many-to-many by online chat, online
social networking, online publishing, file transfer, file sharing and Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or teleconferencing, tele-presence, person-
to-person communication via voice and video.
v) Television: It is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting

and receiving static and moving images usually accompanied by sound.
Televisions are available in different sizes and also in colour and black &
white sets. Use of cable television and remote control is in recent use.
The ICT has established that there is an inherent relationship between information,
communication and technology. The synergistic relationship between information,
6 communication and technology is described in Fig. 1.1.
Information is Overview
Information is Information
transmitted in exchanged through a
various forms using fluid and continuous
technology as an communication of
enabler ideas
Technology Communication
Technology is an
enabler or vehicle to
disseminate
knowledge
Fig. 1.1 Synergistic Relationship between Information, Communication andTechnology
1.2.2 Attributes of ICT

After knowing the meaning of ICT, it is essential to know about its attributes.
Some of the important attributes of ICT are:
i) Knowledge Revolution: ICT has dramatic power to organize information.

This has also accelerated the pace of learning, innovation and knowledge
creation and dissemination. It has helped knowledge power in a great way.
The transfer of knowledge has been faster after the advent of ICT. ICT and
the growth of knowledge society have become almost synonymous.
ii) Productivity Revolution: The ICT has impacted the ICT using industries
and services in raising the overall productivity. The economically advanced
country USA, which has effectively used ICT for enhancing the productivity
across various sectors of the economy, is one of the illustrious examples. In
India also, sectors that are using ICT effectively are able to raise productivity
much faster than their counterparts. ICT in most of the service sectors has
reduced cost and enhanced productivity and output.
iii) Learning Revolution: According to World Bank, ICT has created a learning
revolution that has given rise to lifelong learning. According to Resnick,
ICT empowers the students becoming more active and independent learners.
ICT has made the people to be less dependent on class room teaching.
iv) Promoting Connections: ICT has promoted connections among people,

NGOs, enterprises and communities. ICT gives rise to empowerment,
participation, coordination, decentralization, social learning, connecting
communities of practice, mobilizing social capital and globalizing civil
society concerns. ICTs have been increasingly described as technologies of
freedom. ICT is empowering people to connect, mobilize, organize,
overcome their isolation and share their experiences and idiosyncratic
information.
v) Innovation-Driven Economy: The ICT is an enabler to transform the nation

from investment-driven economy to innovation-driven economy which is
7
ICT for Development more efficient and productive. ICT has fastened the innovation process in
scientific societies.
vi) Globalization booster: ICTs have been a key engine for the performance
and growth of economies since the early 1970s, becoming of course the
main technological enablers of economic globalization. The global
information has become easily accessible through ICT. It is one of the
important energizers of globalization and has made the world a global
village.
vii) Promoter of Human Development: The United Nations has long

recognized the need for timely and relevant information as a fundamental
element of human development. It has emphasised on universal access to
information and communication services as a basic need for human
development. The human development is effected by digital divide.
viii) Contribution to Research and Development: ICT has contributed greatly

to research and development. Research guides and scholars are using ICTs
as tools for acquiring information and knowledge. The research and
development activities of various sectors and institutions have been
benefited immensely by the ICT revolution.
1) What do you mean by ICT?
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2) How internet is useful in carrying a vast array of information resources and
services?
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1.3 ICT AND DEVELOPMENT INTERFACE

Since the early 1970s the pace of ICT has been recognized as a key engine for
enhancing development and accelerating growth of economies. ICTs have the
potential to not only improve the delivery system of government services but
also enhance development outcomes through greater transparency, ease of access,
8
people’s participation and cost reduction. While encouraging the role of ICT in ICT for Development: An
Overview
development Kofi Anan, the former Director General of UNO said, “A
technological revolution is transforming society in a profound way. If harnessed
and directed properly, ICTs have the potential to improve all aspects of our social,
economic and cultural life. ICTs can serve as an engine for development in the
21st century”. The UN has recognized the need for timely and relevant information
as a fundamental element of human development and has called for universal
access to information and communication services as a basic development need.
While delineating the role of ICT, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has
emphasized that “ICT for development is not about computers, mobile phones
and the internet, but about help, support and training people in linking them and
communities for communication, learning and services. This will lead to improved
well-being, increased work productivity, support for innovation and impetus for
inclusive growth”. The thrust areas of ICT strategies for development as envisaged
by ADB is to create an enabling environment by fostering the development of
innovative sector policies, strengthening public institutions and developing ICT
facilities and related infrastructure and network. World Bank states “Information
and communication technologies are a key input for economic development and
growth. They offer opportunities for global integration while retaining the identity
of traditional societies. ICT can increase the economic and social well-being of
poor people and empower individuals and communities. Finally, ICT can enhance
the effectiveness, efficiency and transparency of the public sector including the
delivery of social services”. The ICT for development need to emphasize the
following dimensions of ICT:
i) Information-centric: Focusing more on information and data and less on

technology. In the knowledge society, information and knowledge is
considered to be more powerful and is an important tool for empowerment.
The Right To Information (RTI) Act in India empowers common citizens
to get official information and play a pro-active role in governance.
ii) Chain-centric: The ICTs need to provide the connected data relating to the
main problem. For example, if health status of a village is low, the ICT
need to provide data on infant mortality rate (IMR), institutional delivery,
immunization status, disease prevalence, etc., which are the determinants
of health status. Sporadic information is dangerous and will cause more
harm than benefit. It will not help the decision maker to take appropriate
decisions.
iii) Society-centric: The ICTs need to provide data on social aspects such as
health, education, status of women, role of youth in development, etc. Partial
information is always dangerous and can not be helpful to take corrective
measures.
iv) Economy-centric: The ICTs not only provide data and information about
economic development but also enable new or more productive income
generating activities. For example in Bangladesh, through the national phone
operators, villagers purchased their phones as members of the Grameen
Bank, get accessible pay-phone services. The information about various
development schemes, welfare programmes, and successful projects can
be communicated to the rural people through ICT.
9
ICT for Development v) Development-centric: ICT in order to promote development should be
development centric. The ADB is helping its member countries in integrating
ICT components in sector development strategies especially in education,
health and agriculture. The focus is on improving public administration
and finance management, as well as providing various electronic services
to citizens and businesses. The ICT should provide information about
performance of various sectors of development and different programmes
of development.
vi) Manpower-Centric: ICT plays an important role in manpower

development. A study claims that ICT diffusion accounts for up to 90 percent
increase in Human Development Index of some of the nations. Therefore,
most of the ICT proponents suggest that ICT should focus more on people
rather than just human efficiency and ultimately raise their knowledge and
productivity. For this, at first the requirement of the people who are to be
benefited from ICT needs to be understood and the ways in which ICT can
be helpful must be chalked out.
The ICT enabled “Information Chain” for development is given in Fig.1.2
Data Result
→ Information → Decision → Action → Impact →
Resources
Fig. 1.2. ICT Information Chain
The three types of ICT enabled development are:

i) Direct Development
ii) Networked Development
iii) Grassroots Development
i) Direct Development: In this model, the ICTs deliver resources and services
directly to the beneficiaries without any interventions of other development
actors like NGOs, PRIs and SHGs, etc. The direct telecast of many
development programmes of the government through ICT is a direct
development endeavour.
ii) Networked Development: In this model, instead of directly providing

information or data to the beneficiaries, the state or private agencies act
through other actors or institutions that are connected and can effectively
act through ICTs. Here the main source is inter-connected. These
intermediaries are not only inter-connected with the main sources but also
inter-connected among themselves.
iii) Grassroots Development: In the grassroots development model, the main

development agency, for example, government takes the help of NGOs
and other civil society organizations to reach to the beneficiaries. Now a
days, the state as an actor of development gradually receding its onus to the
community level organization or civil society organizations. There are
several successful examples of community development models. It is a
democratic way of pursuing development.
10
Check Your Progress 2 ICT for Development: An
Overview
1) ICT should be Development centric-Justify?
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2) Write short note on ICT enabled grass roots model?
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1.4 ICT AND SECTORAL DEVELOPMENT

ICTs play an important role in enabling the nation to achieve the objective of
Millennium Development Goals. The economic, social and human development
needs of the developing nations in particular cannot be met in timely and effective
manner without the innovative and strategic use of new technologies. The digital
divide is also one of the reasons for differences in the percentage of achievements
in various development indicators in both rural and urban areas. It is remarked
that the digital divide is really a reflection of existing disparities between the
haves and have nots. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD), “The digital divide is a symptom of existing economic
and social divide, which will widen even in future, if developing countries are
not helped to take advantage of ICT in tackling economic and social problems
and are denied access to markets that are becoming increasingly ICT-dependent
as a part of globalization”. United Nations have developed an ICT Development
Index given in Table 1.1. in which Iceland occupies the first rank.
Table 1.1. Ranking of Nations on ICT Development Index, 2017
Rank Countries Value

1. Iceland 8.98
2. South Korea 8.85
3. Switzerland 8.74
4. Denmark 8.71
5. United Kingdom 8.65
Contd... 11
ICT for Development
10 Japan 8.43
14 Australia 8.24
16 USA 8.18
18 Singapore 8.05
29 Canada 7.77
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICT_Development_Index( accessed on 10/9/2018)
The discrepancy in urban and rural development is a cause of concern for many
developing countries. One of such discrepancies is higher literacy rates in urban
areas as compared to rural areas. E-Development, therefore should aim at
harnessing the ongoing technological revolution to achieve Millennium
Development Goals, one of which is certainly of raising literacy and educational
status. E-Development would systematically address the opportunities to use
ICT for the competitiveness of developing economies and to expand employment
and earning opportunities, to access market information and lower transaction
costs for the poor, women, marginalized communities, farmers, traders and
artisans. It will be used to achieve higher agricultural and industrial growth rate
and enhance literacy and health status of the country’s population. However, it is
observed that many of the developing countries are still lagging in the use of
ICTs in various sectors of development. One of the findings on the ICT role in
development reveals that the technological information infrastructure has failed
to link the growing awareness of the importance of knowledge for development
to the key actors and the information seekers who can carry forward the
development actions bridging ICT. The optimal and innovative use of ICT tools
will have a decisive bearing on the success or failure of development. This decisive
role that ICT plays in facilitating successful implementation of development
objective is clearly spelt out in the declaration of principles of the World Summit
on Information Society. The role of ICT in development of various sectors is
narrated as under:
1.4.1 ICT and Poverty Reduction

ICTs play an important role in poverty reduction strategies adopted by various
countries. One of the main opportunities for using ICT in poverty reduction is to
provide information and knowledge to rural populations and to empower local
development agents to serve the poor. Lack of knowledge regarding various
poverty alleviation schemes and their procedures of implementation are important
reasons for poor implementation of governmental programmes particularly, the
rural development programmes. The illiterate people have poor access to
information and therefore, are unable to tap the benefits meant for their upliftment.
To sight a few examples, the Chile’s electronic rural information system has
enabled development actors such as NGOs, municipalities and extension agencies
in transmitting information on prices, markets, inputs, weather, social services,
and credit facilities at a cost 40 percent less than that using traditional methods.
Another example, the land record computerization in Karnataka, India has enabled
the agencies to deliver land certificates within 15 minutes instead of 20–30 days
and in the process, has reduced transaction costs and corruption, created a viable
land market and enhanced the quality of life of the common man.
12
The tele-centre or the community information and communication centres play ICT for Development: An
Overview
important role in transacting information about various development initiative
programmes of the government to the common men. These centres also have
enabled rural community to carryout local dialogue, share practical locally relevant
information and support community problem solving. According to M. Fontaine,
digital literacy centres in Benin and Ghana have become an important instrument
of empowerment of low-income communities, enhancing employability,
increasing capabilities and extending learning opportunities beyond those
available in education institutions. While justifying the role of ICTs, Mohammed
Yunus (See Chhavi, 2008), the architect of microfinance in Bangladesh remarked
that “there is an on-going view that IT is totally irrelevant for the poor who are
generally illiterate; IT is too expensive for them to reach out; the poor do not
need fancy IT, they need food. These are the voices of the sceptics. Now in three
years, there are more than 5000 telephone ladies in Bangladesh villages doing
roaring business in selling telephone services.” Some of the lessons learned from
the use of ICTs for poverty reduction are:
i) Technologies used must be adequate to the skills of the poor in order to
exploit their potential effectively, in other words it must be user friendly
and pro-poor;
ii) Content should receive as much attention as connectivity and it must be
people-centred, demand-driven and in local languages; and
iii) Ownership by the local communities, partnership and networking is key to
effective poverty reduction programme. The local NGOs and civil society
organizations are required to be adequately involved through ICT for the
poverty reduction at the grassroots level.
1.4.2 ICT and Agriculture

Agriculture is the primary sector of development. ICT in agriculture is an emerging
field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural productivity and growth rate.
The technological revolution could benefit the agriculture sector through increased
flow of information, transfer of capital and inputs and quality of various services
provided to agriculture sector. The role of ICT to enhance food security and
support rural livelihoods is increasingly recognized and was officially endorsed
at the World Summit on the Information services (WSIS, 2003–05). The ICT
can potentially help the farming community in the following ways:
i) Meet the information, technical and input needs of the farmer more
efficiently;
ii) Improve access of knowledge and technology among farmers and farmers
linked institutions;
iii) Strengthen dialogue between and among farmers and farm-linked
institutions;
iv) Promote interactive learning among the farmers and other local based
organizations such as panchayats, milk cooperative societies WSHGs and
village farmers groups.
All these will lead to increase in farm outputs or greater value addition of farm
products, resulting in increase in household incomes and quality of life of the
13
ICT for Development farmers. Further, ICTs can promote trade and competitiveness of agricultural
products and broaden markets for agro-products leading to increase in domestic
GDP. The FAO’s e-Agriculture initiative aims at ensuring systematic
dissemination of information using ICTs on agriculture, animal husbandry,
fisheries, forestry and food, in order to provide ready access to comprehensive
up-to-date and detailed knowledge and information, particularly in rural areas.
The ICTs nowadays play an important role in the promotion of public private
partnership(PPP) in the area of ICTs for Agriculture Development .The four types
of partnership which are desirable for agricultural development are:
i) Providing affordable ICT access and connectivity to farmers and farm-linked
institutions;
ii) Providing relevant contents to the experts, trainees and extension agents;
iii) Training and capacity building;
iv) Projecting the locally available good practices;
v) Promotion of contract farming through public-private partnership.
vi) Enhancing farmer to farmer contact.
There is a need to understand as to how far the ICT initiatives are able to address
the farmers’ needs as far as agriculture development is concerned.
1.4.3 ICT and Education

ICT is a powerful tool for extending educational opportunities both formal and
non-formal to all sections of the society particularly to the unserved sections of
population. The International Institute for Communication and Development
(IICD) has emphasized that ICT can be used to improve the quality of education
by enhancing educational content development, supporting administrative
processes in schools and other educational establishment and increasing access
to education for both teachers and pupils via distance learning. As far as use of
ICT in education is concerned, two concepts such as e-learning and blended
learning are recently used to fortify the role of ICT in education. According to
Tinio (see Gunjan, 2014) “e-learning encompasses learning at all levels, both
formal and non-formal that uses an information net-work-the internet; an intranet
(LAN) or extranet (WAN) – whether wholly or in part, of course delivery,
interaction and/or facilitation”. Others prefer the term on-line learning, web-
based learning in a subset of e-learning and refer to learning by using an internet
browser. The other term used in educational technology is blended learning. It
refers to learning models that combine traditional classroom practice with e-
learning solutions. For example, students in a traditional class can be assigned
both print-based and online materials; have online mentoring sessions with their
teachers through chats and subscribed to a class email list. UNESCO recognizes
that “These technologies have great potential for knowledge dissemination,
effective learning, and the development of more efficient education services”.
In India satellite based teleconferencing (one-way video and two way audio)
non-formal education has been operational since 1992 at national and regional
levels. The ICT mission for school education in India aims to devise, catalyse,
support and sustain ICT and ICT enabled activities and processes in order to
improve access quality and efficiency in the school system.
14
According to UNESCO, ICTs can be used in education to: ICT for Development: An
Overview
• Improve administrative efficiency
• Disseminate teaching learning materials to teachers and students
• Improve the ICT skills of teachers and students
• Allow teachers and students access to sources of information from around
the world
• Share ideas on education and learning
• Collaborate on joint prospects
• Conduct lessons from a remote location
The six focus areas of ICT in education programme as emphasized by the
UNESCO are policy, teacher training, teaching and learning, non-formal
education, monitoring and measuring, research and knowledge sharing. The
international institutions as well as experts involved in communication and
development believe that ICTs in education will be of great help to achieve the
Millennium Development Goals of universal primary education through following
ways:
i) Teacher Training: Increase the supply of trained pre-service teachers
through ICT-enhanced training and by creating teacher networks. Teacher
training programme through ICT will be more effective and even can be
conducted in a faster pace as compared to traditional methods.
ii) Teaching and learning in the class room: The capacity development of
teachers to empower them to use ICT in the classroom and the development
of curricula and support materials/resources through ICT. The teaching-
learning through ICT will not only improve the process but also raise the
student attendance rate. It will enable both the teacher as well as students
to use ICTs in their current as well as future teaching learning processes.
iii) Management and administration: Improve the efficiency and effectiveness
of Ministries of Education and related bodies through the use of ICTs for
management and educational information. The department can use ICTs in
procuring the record of the educational institutions, teacher and students
and other lost and expenditure aspects relating to education. The on-line
admission and on-line examination have fastened the educational
administration and makes the administrative process cost-effective.
iv) Policy and strategy: Establish an enabling environment and improve the
overall strategic development of education by integrating ICT’s policies
and strategies into the education policies. The ICTs have also enabled the
educational planners to make available educational policies, plans and
strategies accessible to the teachers, students, administrators, and
researchers. The feedback mechanisms have become easier with the advent
of ICTs.
1.4.4 ICT and Health

The health care services will be improved and the quality increased by the
coordinated induction of information technology in all segments of the health
care action chain; local, regional and national health network will strengthen
15
ICT for Development cooperation and resource management in the health care sector. According to the
World Health Organization (WHO) “Technology is the backbone of the services
to prevent, diagnose and treat illness and disease. ICTs are only one category of
the vast array of technologies that may be used. Given the right policies,
organization, resources and institution, ICTs can be powerful tools in the hands
of those working to improve health”.
According to WHO, the use of ICTs in the health sector is not merely about
technology, but a means to reach a series of desired outcomes such as:
i) Health workers making better treatment decisions;
ii) Hospitals providing higher quality and safer care;
iii) People making better choices about their own health;
iv) Governments becoming more responsive to health needs;
v) National and local information systems supporting the development of
effective, efficient and equitable health systems;
vi) Policy makers and the public aware of health risks and
vii) People having better access to information and knowledge they need for
better health.
The use of ICT in health care has become an important aspect of health
development. Health care solutions provided by ICTs are popularly known as e-
health. The tools and services which contribute to e-health provide better and
more efficient health care services for all. The use of e-health technologies allows
a mutually beneficial collaboration and involvement of patients and medical
professionals in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.
In Peru, Egypt and Uganda effective use of ICTs has prevented avoidable maternal
deaths. In South Africa, the use of mobile phones has enabled patients to receive
timely reminders to take their medication. In Cambodia, Rwanda, South Africa
and Nicaragua, multimedia communication programmes are increasing awareness
of how to strengthen community response to HIV and AIDS.
Last but not the least, e-learning development strategies may target ICT as a core
technological competency in view of its need and its potential as a tool for
competitiveness. According to Sidharthan and Lal (2003) targeting technologies
with substantial potential and spill over effects is shown to have greater benefits
on economy.
Accurate, relevant and up-to-date information is essential to health service
managers, if they are to recognize weakness in health service provisions and
take action that will improve service delivery. Therefore, the development of
effective information system is a necessary precursor to managerial improvement
in health care system. The major elements of opportunities for ICT in primary
health care are telemedicine and health services, health care data management,
information systems, appropriate data collection devices and analysis tools,
appropriate and affordable bio-medical equipment for grass root deployment,
video/multi-model conferencing and e-connectivity and appropriate legal and
administrative framework.
The ICT intervention in health development can be broadly categorized in to the
16 following areas:
i) Telemedicine: According to International Telecommunication Union, ICT for Development: An
Overview
telemedicine is a powerful tool for empowering health care delivery.
According to WHO, telemedicine is dealing of health care services where
distance is a critical factor by health care professionals using information
and communication technologies for the exchange of vital information for
diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases and injuries, research and
evaluation and for the continuing education of health care providers, all in
the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.
The e-health is the use of emerging information and communication
technology, especially the internet, to improve or enable health and health
care.
ii) Health Management Information System (HMIS): ICTs nowadays play

an important role in most of the countries in maintaining medical records
system, district, block and village health status records, disease surveillance
system and health services delivery and recording system.
iii) E-learning and capacity building: ICTs nowadays are being used for the
capacity building of health and health related personnel by training
institutions and NGOs involved in the health sector developmental activities.
The training organizations are providing access to internet and other
materials to the trainees on recent development in health education.
iv) IEC on community-based health care delivery: Information Education

and Communication (IEC) is one of the important components of
community health care strategies. Many studies have found that use of ICT
materials in the community orientation training on health has better impact
on knowledge, attitude and behaviour. Some of the organizations dealing
with health sector development are laying emphasis on local information
access and telemedicine with a local indigenous knowledge base.
v) Health Research: The role of ICTs in health research is undoubtedly one

of the important components of ICT in health development. The
bibliographies in health give a number of useful references that focus on
the utility of ICT in health research. It also emphasized on the use of
electronic journals and online medical journals and the use of ICTs for
networking among health researchers.
vi) Health Campaigns: ICTs nowadays are being used in large scale health
campaigns. Most of the African countries are using ICTs for the health
campaigns of HIV/AIDS. USAID of South Africa seeks development of
innovative public-private partnership that uses ICT to reduce the impact of
HIV/AIDS in South Africa. The ICTs which are largely in use are mobile/
cellular technology, computer-based technology, radio, video television,
web and social networking.
Media Lab Asia, 2005 recommendations on use of ICT in different levels of

primary health care system are:
i) The ICTs requirements for sub centre are handheld computer devices for
data collection and compilation,. the ICTs enabled digital camera, digital
stethoscope, digital glucometer, portable digital weighting machine, e-mail
facility, and multi-media facility for training.
17
ICT for Development ii) The ICTs requirements for the PHCs are a PC with printer and web camera,
digital weighing machine, digital stethoscope, digital ECG machine, digital
glucometer, diagnostic test kits, pulse oximeter, digital x-ray, digital
microscope, digital ultra sound etc
iii) ICTs requirement for Community Health Centre (CHC) will be all the
requirements at PHC and diagnostic kits, cardiac monitor, ICT augmented
operation theatre, good communication and connectivity facilities like email,
fax and video conferencing and good telemedicine facilities.
It is rightly remarked that continuous development in ICTs has resulted in

increasing use of those technologies in the practise of medicine and in the
provision of medical care.
1.4.5 ICT and Women Empowerment

ICT can play a vital role in promoting women empowerment in developing
countries. There are many examples where women have used the new technologies
to improve their business, create new business or find new employment
opportunities. However, a large majority of women particularly those who are
residing in rural and semi-urban areas are still excluded from the digital economy.
Women need to become active promoters of the use of ICT and e-commerce and
enhance their capacities in IT training and skills. Further, women also need to
become more involved in ICT policy making and development to ensure that
women’s needs are incorporated in policies related to the infrastructure, access,
training and education. ICTs can be a powerful catalyst for political and social
empowerment of women. June Lennie (2002) citing the Australian case said that
many women in rural Australia are taking leadership in community and economic
development activities and are often extremely reliant on a range of
communication technologies for personal, family, business and networking
purpose. The UNESCO intends to overcome gender divide by providing
opportunities to women in the knowledge societies through the development of
ICTs. The UESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and Pacific) emphasized on closing gender divide through gender-responsive
ICT capacity development for women’s organization and enhanced women’s
access to the benefits of ICT so that ICT becomes a central tool for women’s
empowerment and promotion of gender equality. The state of Kerala had initiated
gender-focused approaches to ICTs and gender empowerment through
Kudumbashree’s ICT-based enterprise.
Kudumbashree ICT Unit
Techno world Digital Technologies (TDT) is a Kudumbashree ICT unit

initiated in 1999 by 10 women from below-poverty-line families who
provided US$300 of their own money, which was matched by a US$3,000
bank loan and a US$2,500 local government subsidy used to purchase a
basic computing set up. Their total asset base had risen five-fold by 2004 to
a system of 22 computers plus computing peripherals worth US$ 30,000.
The unit mainly undertakes data entry work for state government departments
under the government’s digitization programme. It has undertaken work
such as CD rewriting and some web site maintenance, and it also provides
IT training to a number of government schools. Work patterns are based on
18
two main shifts (7.30 AM to 1.00 PM, and 1.00 PM to 6.30 PM), and 40 Overview
additional staff have been employed over and above the original 10 women
members, including a number of men.
Note: Kudumbashree which means “Prosperity of the family” is an initiative

of the Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission (SPEM) which was launched
on 1st April 1999 as a women oriented participatory and integrated approach
to fight poverty.
Source: https://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/97901/1/di_wp20.pdf(accessed on 10/

9/2018).
1.5 E-DEVELOPMENT AND ITS STRATEGIES

E-development is a process of development that makes use of ICTs or ICT
applications to provide information and knowledge services necessary to enhance
productivity, efficiency and quality of life. The International Institute for
Communication and Development (IICD) considered e-development as that
development by which ‘e’ means effective; ‘e’ means efficient and ‘e’ means
empowering. It uses ICTs to increase people’s opportunities to empower poor
people and to counter insecurity and vulnerability. ICT has a far reaching role to
play in the development of a nation both urban as well as rural. Many of the
developed nations have grasped the advantages of ICT which has contributed
immensely to their socio-economic development. The e-development has
occupied important place in the paradigm of development. Therefore, an efficient
e-development strategy is sine-qua-non for development. It is emphasized that
the measure of success of ICT in development will not focus on the spread of
technology but on overall progress towards economic growth, and ultimately
towards the Millennium Development Goals (Dutta et al., 2004).
Some of the strategies to be followed for e-development are as follows:
i) Raising awareness: An intensive campaign in propagating the role of ICT

in development is very much required. All the stakeholders at the national,
regional, state and even at the grassroots level needed to be awarded about
the role that ICT would play in development. It should clarify the ICT
options available for development and those that should be taken and used
for development. The role of public, private sector, NGOs and even civil
societies be harnessed which will go a long way to promote awareness on
role of ICT in development.
ii) Building coalition: e-development strategies in order to become successful

need a coalition framework in which both the public and private sector
should work shoulder to shoulder. A successful public-private-partnership
model is very much required for the knowledge-based global economy.
iii) Clarifying roles and responsibilities: A national strategy should help to

clarify the roles and responsibilities of various actors of development such
as government, private and civil society. The government need to take the
lead by setting the policy and institutional environment in promoting ICT
industry development. However, it should not be viewed as a government-
only strategy. 19
ICT for Development iv) Scaling up: Scaling up intra and inter ICT sectors is required. Therefore,
reform and innovations are required to be made within the ICT sector.
Besides, the intra-sector scaling up of the ICT to other development sectors
like health, education, rural development, urban development, etc is also
essential for the holistic development of a nation. Appropriate policy,
institutional reforms and change in management practices are required
during the scaling up commitment and knowledge about processes to diffuse
and scale up best practices.
v) Leveraging ICT: The role of e-development strategy can also be stated in

terms of the three options for leveraging ICT such as an industry or sector
in its own right, as a general purpose technology to be applied across sectors
and an enabling infrastructure for empowerment and service delivery. To
reduce the risks and improve the impact of targeting the ICT industry for
promotion and focused efforts, governments should work with the private
sector to identify target market opportunities, match specific niches to
comparative advantage, systematically assess current constraints and jointly
devise the policies and programmes to develop the industry and exploit
market niches.
1) What do you mean by e-Development?
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2) ICTs are useful for development of Health? Comment.
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1.6 LET US SUM UP

ICT in this era of globalization is considered as one of the important tools for
development. Many of the developed countries have already reaped the benefits
of ICTs and have successfully utilized it in their process of development. This
unit describes in detail the meaning of ICT and its role in development of different
sectors such as education, health, agriculture, industry, and poverty alleviation
and women empowerment. Besides it also deals with the concept of development
20 and various strategies of e-development.
1.7 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS Overview
Sharon YP Lin, http://www.undp.org.my/upload/ict4d.pdf.

UNDP-Asia Pacific Development Information Programme, UN Service Building,
Thailand.
Health Link worldwide (2006) “Improving health connections people: The role
of ICTs in the health sector of developing countries” www.healthlink.org.uk.
Media Lab Asia(2005). ICT for primary Health Care, A Report (Excerpts of the
Report), New Delhi, www.medialabasia.in.
IT Committee of the Secretary of State (1996), Den Norske. IT-veien bit for bit,
ISBN 82-7452-016-5.
WHO (2001), e-Health for Health Care Delivery: Strategy 2004–2007, Geneva.
Dutta, S., B. Lanvin and F. Pana (eds) (2004), Global Information Technology
Report 2003-04, Oxford University Press, http://www.weforum.org
Neto,1,C.Kenny, S.Janakiram and C.Watt(2004), “Look before you leap: the
Bumpy Road to E-Development”, in Robert Schware (ed), e-Development form
Excitement to Effectiveness.
Siddharthan, N. S., & Lal, K. (2003), Liberalization and growth of firms in India.
Economic and Political Weekly, 38(20), 1983–1988.
Chhavi (2008), “ICT as a tool for poverty reduction” see https://bvicam.ac.in/
news/INDIACom%202008%20Proceedings/pdfs/papers/119.pdf(accessed on 10/
9/2019).
World Bank Global Information & Communication Technologies Department,
World Bank, Washington, DC.
Gunjan N (2014), “ICT based education: A paradigm, shift in India”, Techo
LEARN, 4 (1), pp 15-26.
IICD, “ICT for Education impact and lessons learned from IICD-supported
activities”, International Institute for communication and development, The
Hague, Netherlands,Source: http://e-space.openrepository.com/e-space/bits
ICT for Poverty Reducation, http://www.gersterconsulting.ch/docs/ICT4D_BO.
Lunne L (2002), “Rural women’s empowerment in a communication technology
project: Some contradictory effects”, Rural Society, Issue 12(3), pp 224-245.
Website Referred
http://www.asksource.info/pdf/framework2.polf
http://www.iidc.org/articles/IICDnews.import1757
http://web.undp.org/evaluation/documents/essentials_5.pdf UNDP “Information
Communications Technology for Development” Evaluation Office, No.5,
September, 2001(accessed on 10/9/2018).
https://www.medialabasia.in/downloads/mlasia-ict-hc-rep-excerpts.pdf(accessed
on 10/9/2019).
21
ICT for Development http://www.infodev.org/infodev-files/resource/InfodevDocuments_84.
pdf(accessed on 10/9/2019).
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001295/129538e.pdf(accessed on 10/9/
2019).
http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/170610/16/16_chapter%208.
pdf(accessed on 10/9/2018).
1.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS-POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress-1
1) ICT refers to ‘information’, ‘communication’ and ‘technology’. Generally

we seek information and communicate them to others through technology
who may also be interested to know about its value. The ‘technology’ plays
an important role in the effective transaction and communication of
knowledge information to its seekers. ICT includes hardware, processes
and systems that are used for storing and managing communications and
sharing of information.
2) The Internet carries a vast array of information resources and services, most
notably the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web
(WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail, in addition to
popular services such as video on demand, online shopping, online gaming,
exchange of information from one-to-many or many-to-many by online
chat, online social networking, online publishing, file transfer, file sharing
and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) or teleconferencing, tele-presence
person-to-person communication via voice and video.
1) ICT in order to promote development should be development centric. Asian

Development Bank is helping its member countries in integrating ICT
components in sector development strategies especially in education, health
and agriculture. The focus is on improving public administration and finance
management, as well as providing various electronic services to citizens
and businesses. The ICT should provide information about performance of
various sectors of development and different programmes of development.
2) ICT is effectively utilized for the development of rural areas at the grassroots
levels by transacting the information about various developmental projects
and programmes to the countryside masses.
1) The e-development is a process of development that makes use of ICTs or

ICT applications to provide information and knowledge services necessary
to enhance productivity efficiency and quality of life “The International
Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), considered e-
development is that development by which ‘e’ means effective; ‘e’ mean
efficient and ‘e’ means empowering.
22
2) The use of ICT in health care has become an important aspect of health ICT for Development: An
Overview
development. Health care solutions provided by information and
communication technology (ICT) are popularly known as “e-health”. The
tools and services which contribute to e-health provide better and more
efficient health care services for all. The use of e-health technologies allows
a mutually beneficial collaboration and involvement of patients and medical
professionals in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases.
23
ICT for Development
UNIT 2 e-GOVERNANCE IN RURAL AND
URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 National E-Governance Plan ( NeGP)
2.3 Importance of e-Governance in Rural and Urban Development
2.4 Initiatives of e-Governance: International Experiences
2.5 Initiatives of e-Governance: National Experiences
2.6 Challenges in e-Governance
2.7 Let Us Sum Up
2.8 Keywords
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Generally speaking, e-governance or electronic governance in rural / urban
development is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT)
in the operation and maintenance of rural / urban services, respectively. ICT
helps to introduce a wide range of ways for improving collaboration and
cooperation between ministries; making government services more transparent,
efficient and effective for the public by sharing accurate and up-to-date
information and improving people’s access to government services; boosting
public sector accountability, transparency, efficiency and effectiveness. E-
governance can also help streamline activities, cut costs and paperwork and help
the city governments make more informed development decisions.
The initiative of the use of information technology (IT) in urban governance

started in the late nineties, especially after the adoption of the 74th Constitutional
Amendment Act (CAA) in 1994, when urban local bodies (ULBs) became
constitutional entities of local governance. Prior to this, local governance was
the mandate of the state governments where the ULBs were supposed to perform
certain functions mandated to them by the state governments. The passage of the
74th CAA resulted in the increased role of the ULBs in local governance. Further,
the central government launched the programme of Jawaharlal Nehru National
Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2005 where adoption of reform in e-
governance became mandatory for all the 65 Mission cities (all State capitals, all
million plus (population) cities and cities of historical interest). The use of ICT
is expected to help the ULBs and state governments to curb corruption, reduce
time for the provision of civic services and bring about transparency in urban
management. Therefore, development professionals working in urban areas are
expected to know about role of ICTs in urban development.
24
After studying this unit you should be able to: ICT for Development: An
Overview
• Discuss the meaning, concept and importance of e-governance in rural and
urban development.
• Describe various initiatives of e-Governance in different development sub-
sectors in rural and urban areas with the help of examples/case studies.
2.2 NATIONAL e-GOVERNANCE PLAN ( NeGP)

The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), takes a holistic view of e-Governance
initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision, a shared
cause. Around this idea, a massive countrywide infrastructure reaching down to
the remotest of villages is evolving, and large-scale digitization of records is
taking place to enable easy, reliable access over the internet. The ultimate objective
is to bring public services closer home to citizens.
NeGP Vision : Make all Government services accessible to the common man in
his locality, through common service delivery outlets, and ensure efficiency,
transparency, and reliability of such services at affordable costs to realise the
basic needs of the common man.
Strategy to Realize Vision
• Centralized Initiative, Decentralized Implementation
• Focus on Services & Service levels
• Ownership and Central Role of Line Ministries/State
• Governments
• Emphasis on Public Private Partnerships (PPP)
The Government approved the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), comprising
of 27 Mission Mode Projects and 8 components in 2006. In the year 2011, 4
projects - Health, Education, PDS and Posts were introduced to make the list of
27 MMPs to 31Mission Mode Projects (MMPs). The Government has accorded
approval to the vision, approach, strategy, key components, implementation
methodology, and management structure for NeGP.
In order to promote e-Governance in a holistic manner, various policy initiatives

and projects have been undertaken to develop core and support infrastructure.
The major core infrastructure components are :
• State Data Centres (SDCs)
o State of art Data Centers in all States/UTs
o Housing all applications and databases
o e-Delivery of G2G, G2C and G2B services
o State Portals, State Service Delivery Gateways
• State Wide Area Networks (SWAN)
o Secured network for Government work
o Connecting State HQs ,District HQs, Blocks HQs
o Minimum 2 Mbps Broadband Connectivity
25
ICT for Development • Common Services Centres (CSCs)
o More than100,000 tele-centers in 600,000 villages.
o Broad band internet enabled connectivity
o Implementation through PPP
• National e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (NSDG)
• State e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (SSDG)
• Mobile e-Governance Service Delivery Gateway (MSDG)
The important support components include Core policies and guidelines on
Security, HR, Citizen Engagement, Social Media as well as Standards related to
Metadata, Interoperability, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security etc. New
initiatives include a framework for authentication, viz. e-Pramaan and G-I cloud,
an initiative which will ensure benefits of cloud computing for e-Governance
projects (Source : Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, 2018)
2.3 IMPORTANCE OF e-GOVERNANCE IN RIRAL

AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
2.3.1 Importance of e-Governance in Rural Development
E-Governance which is a short form for electronic governance, also known as
digital governance or online governance refers to the use of ICT to provide and
improve government services, transactions and interactions with citizens,
businesses, and other arms of government. While e-governance is often thought
of as online governance or Internet-based governance, many non-Internet
electronic technologies can be used in this context, like telephone, fax, wireless
networks and services etc.
As per the latest census, about 69 per cent of people live in rural areas. Therefore,
focusing on the all round wellbeing of villages has been the principal objective
of various government policies over the years. As part of e-governance for rural
development, government has opened common service centers (CSCs) at village
level across India under National e-Governance Plan (NeGP). As a follow-up to
the e-governance initiative of the Union government, many state governments
have provided the necessary information to the people in villages. The e-
governance measure has enabled people to access government services easily
and in a cost-effective way to address their grievances.
e-Panchayat as Tool of Rural Development

Because of the large size and diversity of the country, public services delivery
becomes a tough challenge in remote rural areas. The NeGP envisages the
establishment of e-Panchayts. The e-Panchayats for the villages aim to provide
numerous basic services for the rural population across the country.
Objectives : The objective of e-Panchayat is to effectively tackle the tasks that

confront rural villages in general. The challenges include lack of reliable
communication infrastructure, inordinate delays in delivery of the services, little
revenue realization at Gram Panchayat level, and absence of a meaningful
monitoring system.
26
Benefits : e-Panchayat yields various benefits where adopted. The benefits include e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
the following:
1) Efficiency: Public services delivery has improved because of the adoption

of e-governance. It has led to easy access for people at minimal cost and
delays. Processing of payment of property tax, user charges (water,
electricity, etc.), getting license grievances addressed etc has become easier
and cost effective. It would make services delivery transparent, and free
from abuses and corruption.
2) Better financial management: The 73rd Amendment to the Constitution

provides special financial powers to Panchayat bodies. Under the new rules,
Panchayats are empowered to levy, collect and expend tax revenue, tolls,
fees and the like. A software application, is being deployed to process the
financial transaction of e-Panchayats. The software application would help
in the collection of revenues and enable the authorities to track the
expenditure by funding authorities.
3) Monitoring the programs: Evaluating and monitoring the various

development programs constitutes a significant task for the authorities. e-
Panchayats help the authorities use ICT to do the job efficiently and in a
timely manner. Further, it helps create a database of all development
programs.
4) Disseminating information: e-Panchayat leads to easy access to

information with respect to the function of Panchayats and other services.
Citizens can access the internal tasks done by e-panchayats, such as meetings
for agenda setting, voting on proposals, the decisions taken and so on.
Further, information pertaining to Pensions, BPL food grains, Census data
can be provided and also be accessed. Further, it makes dissemination of
information faster among all levels within the Panchayats and government
departments.
5) More participatory: e-Panchayat makes the village local bodies more

participatory – women and weaker sections get the opportunity to join in
the economic growth process. This leads to equitable and inclusive growth.
Information becomes available to all with respect to social services/schemes
without bureaucratic interference.
2.3.2 Importance of e-Governance in Urban Development

E-Governance has become an essential tool for urban development by involving
the use of IT in:
• Improving transparency;
• Providing information to the citizen speedily;
• Improving administrative efficiency;
• Improving public service such as transportation, power, health, water,
security and panchayat / municipal services.
One of the important components of e-Governance solution is the Geographical
Information System (GIS). The GIS has helped in systematic mapping of four
aspects: 27
ICT for Development  Revenue mapping – showing details of all taxes and charges like property
tax levied on various assets. This will help the officials by improving
assessment and thereby increasing collection of revenues.
 Infrastructure mapping – showing the details of infrastructure like roads,
solid waste management system, streetlight, housing, etc.
 Resource and assets mapping – showing specifically the assets for
optimum utilization and hence providing better services to the citizens.
 Poverty mapping– showing socio-economic attributes of the poor
households. This will help in targeting the correct citizens for the correct
services.
Urban areas are currently the largest contributors to global energy consumption
and climate change. The world’s 20 largest cities alone – each with a population
exceeding 10 million – are responsible for 75 percent of the planet’s energy use.
Added to this is the rapid development of metropolitan areas around the globe as
well as the need to renew outdated 20th century infrastructures in cities. The
scope of ICT in addressing these urban challenges is tremendous.
The further development of the information/knowledge/network society is now

a common goal of many authorities round the world. Modern telecommunications
can be seen not only as a new way of working but also as a new form of urban
management. Delivery and management of urban services can be better done by
e-governance. This may be true for property tax collection; vehicle tracking or
efficient transport services. The quality and diversity of conventional
transportation networks and services are important locational factors for many
industries and activities. Therefore, analogously, one may suppose that ICT and
its applications will, over the course of time, similarly come to affect spatial
development and thus one may argue that with this in mind, ICT should already
now be taken into account in all future spatial planning processes. In the policies
and plans for sustainability and eco responsibility in cities, much attention has
been directed to three sectors: the built environment, energy, and mobility. At
the commencement of the 21st century, it is obvious that a fourth, equally
important element must be addressed: ICT.
This era is the start of a dialogue about how cities can create coherent, long term
policies and plans to manage the environmental impacts of ICT and utilize ICT
strategically to create sustainable 21st century cities. ICT products and systems
are a significant and rapidly growing part of the environmental footprint of modern
urban life. They are resource intensive in manufacturing and distribution,
consuming ever greater amounts of energy while in use, and producing escalating
volumes of solid and toxic waste.
ICT products, systems and networks are the essential drivers of productivity
improvements and innovation for the 21st century. They will be the enablers of
sustainability solutions in all networks of urban life: buildings, energy production
and use, mobility, water and sewage, open spaces, education, and public health
and safety. ICT innovation is also the catalyst for changes in personal, work and
community life that will be a fundamental requirement for sustainable economic
development.
Until now, little attention has been given to measuring the eco footprint of ICT
28 in cities, or to clearly understand its role in enabling other sustainability initiatives.
Because ICT systems and products are literally everywhere in modern life, it is e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
difficult to see and understand that each device is part of a whole system globally
linked by networks to create, manipulate, store, move and present information
for humans and machines. To successfully manage the ICT environmental
footprint and realize the benefits for enabling sustainability, a city must have a
vision and strategy for ICT that encompasses all organizations and constituencies.
ICT helps develop an innovative combination of advanced technologies that

meet the unique needs and vision for each urban area. Some of these technologies
include:
• Vehicle tracking/identification systems;
• Dynamic congestion-charging programmes;
• Video communication solutions;
• Integrated transportation management systems;
• Global positioning system (GPS), radio frequency identification (RFID)
and other sensor technologies;
• Broadband, wireless and intelligent infrastructures;
• Collaboration technologies in the creation of innovative work environments;
A study about the relationship between the quality of local e-government services
and the levels of Internet access in the 12 regions of the United Kingdom reveals
that lower quality of local e-government services correlate with low levels of
Internet access. In Taiwan, electronic tax-filing systems, the implications of
technology acceptance and perceived credibility of the systems are positive factors
that influence adoption of e-government services. Whether e-government in the
future will be a method for including more citizens in a government or excluding
less technologically educated citizens remains a concern. Many information policy
issues are likely to present significant challenges to the development of e-
government. These are:
• Ensuring ability to use required technologies;
• Educating citizens about the value of e-government;
• Ensuring access to useful information and services;
• Coordinating local, regional and national e-government initiatives;
• Developing methods and performance indicators to assess the services and
standards of e-government;
• Providing consistent and reliable electricity, telecommunications, and
Internet access;
• Addressing issues of language and communication;
• Preventing e-government from lessening responsiveness of government
officials; including individuals with disabilities in e-government.
Akshaya e-Literacy Project in Kerala

The e-literacy project in Kerala is the only initiative that aims to make
ordinary citizens e-literate in India. The project aimed at making at least
one member in each of the families e-literate. The pilot project started in
29
ICT for Development
Mallapuram in 2002 and has been extended to other districts like Kollam,
Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kasargodu. Total e-literacy was achieved in eight
districts in Phase I and the project has been a great success. The Akshaya
project has three distinct phases. The first phase enables the masses with
the basic skill in computer operations and familiarising them with the
internet, besides, hand on skill in operating a computer. The e-literacy
initiative in Kerala have been recognised and appreciated globally.
Source: http://www.akshaya.kerala.gov.in/index.php/e-literacy, 2017
2.4 INITIATIVES OF E-GOVERNANCE:

INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Examples of e-Governance practices followed in some of the developed countries
are given below:
2.4.1 Automated Building Plan Approval: Case of Singapore

Singapore is a key hub in the development of the global information and
knowledge economy. Part of the developing e-Business capability in Singapore
is the Construction and Real Estate Network project (CORENET). This world’s
leading initiative has changed the entire perception of building planning in
Singapore. Key to the success of CORENET is Automated Code Checking, which
allows automated approval of building plans over the Internet. Received data is
stored and checked within EXPRESS Data Manager software.
CORENET is a major IT initiative undertaken by the Singapore Ministry of

National Development to re-engineer the business processes of the construction
industry and achieve a quantum leap in turnaround time, productivity and quality.
CORENET centres on developing IT systems to integrate the four major processes
of a building project life cycle, supported by key infrastructures, to provide a
One-Stop Submission Centre (OSSC) to facilitate electronic submission,
processing and approval of building project documents over the Internet.
The specific objectives of CORENET are:
• To speed up the business planning and project evaluation processes in the
building industry by making all relevant information readily available to
all players in the industry.
• To streamline the design-related processes by having all industry
professionals work with one common set of electronic plans instead of
separate paper and electronic plans presently used.
• To evaluate the compliance of building design to statutory requirements
with minimal intervention and guidance from the regulatory authorities.
• To move towards common procurement procedures and document standards.
• Integrated Building Plan and Building Services System (IBP/IBS).
One of the major projects in CORENET is the IBP/IBS which is an expert system
that automatically performs checks on digital plans for compliance with building
plan and building services regulatory requirements. The design checking and
30
approval process using the manual approach is time-consuming and inefficient. e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
Automating this process eliminates potential delays as well as avoids
inconsistencies in code interpretation.
One-Stop Plan Submission of Building Plans:

It is a virtual submission centre to facilitate round the clock electronic submission
and approval of digital building plans. It will be an advanced e-government
solution for industry professionals such as architects, structural, mechanical and
electrical engineers. Automated compliance checks are performed on the relevant
parameters of the proposed building against the building codes and compliance
regulations. Payment of fees is electronic. The system saves the industry travelling
time to the 13 regulatory agencies and brings about significant manpower and
cost savings to both industry and agencies.
2.4.2 Smart Work Centers: Amsterdam

This network of Smart Work Centers (SWC) is part of collaboration between
Cisco and the City of Amsterdam under the Connected Urban Development
program (CUD), which serves to address modern urban challenges including
mobility, climate, energy and sustainable ways of urban management. The Double
U Smartwork aims at a one stop shop for location providers, individual users,
independent professionals and corporate users, where all SWCs can be booked
directly by a central booking tool.
SWCs comprise a regional network of neighbourhood professional work and

community centres supporting travel virtualization and enabling mobile working
practices. SWCs offer a professional work environment near residential areas to
lower energy use and carbon emissions. Estimates revealed that users have saved
on an average of 66 minutes of commuting time per day.
An SWC is a physical facility where high quality workplace solutions are offered
to professional workers in a neutral, centrally located and easily accessible
environment. To minimize traffic, an SWC is located in the vicinity of roads,
traffic junctions, stations and residential areas. Currently, there are several
providers of SWC-like facilities in he Netherlands. The Double U Smartwork
Foundation serves as a coordinating platform for SWC providers and aims to
develop a national network. Users, regardless of where they live or reside, should
have access to a good workplace within biking distance. Until recently, existing
SWCs were too fragmented and locally focused, therefore, employers operating
on national level were not interested in offering their employees an alternative
working spot. Double U links a network of over 50 open and SWCs, with the
plan to extend to 100 national centres.
Smart Work Centers are well equipped and go beyond providing a workplace.
The services and facilities are not only meant to facilitate work itself, but also to
provide work related services as day-care and catering facilities.
Anyone can use the facilities offered by one simple online booking system.
Through the portal, users can quickly find the nearest location with the right
facilities, whether they are on the road or at their workplace. The available
providers are automatically displayed.
31
ICT for Development 2.4.3 An Energy Efficient City: Madrid
Madrid is one of the first pilot projects carried out in Spain within the Connected
Urban Development program (CUD), in which companies and cities partner to
contribute to the development of sustainable, efficient and innovative cities
through the use of connectivity and new technologies. Promoted by the Municipal
Company for Housing and Lands of Madrid; Cisco and technology partner
Telvent, have deployed network infrastructure, connectivity and control systems
in a pilot, apartment building in the city. The development is intended as temporary
housing on a rental basis to young people in Madrid.
The Energy Efficiency Manager installed in homes can, at any time and in real
time, manage energy consumption, controlling emissions of carbon dioxide and
make decisions about the way in which residents make use of energy both at the
individual apartment level and throughout the building. In the future, this is
intended to extend across the urban community. The solution, which allows
consumers to set limits and comparisons of weekly, monthly or yearly
consumption, provides to citizens and municipal managers, daily tips to improve
efficiency and be more environmentally responsible.
Urban Eco-Map is part of the global Urban Services Platform approach toward
which visionary cities and the ICT industry are moving. Urban Eco-Map provides
real-time environmental intelligence to enable citizens, communities, cities,
countries and businesses alike to make smart ecological decisions and to develop
policies that improve the sustainability of cities. Through this comprehensive
view of eco-data, we can now take a global pulse of the eco-health of our planet.
2.4.4 Urban Eco Map: San Francisco

Urban Eco-Map: A pilot co-developed with the City and County of San Francisco,
Urban Eco-Map provides cities with relevant data regarding primary greenhouse
gas contributors – transportation, waste and energy – to help city residents take
action to reduce their emissions.
2.4.5 Personal Travel Assistant: Seoul

Personal Travel Assistant (PTA): PTA is a Web-based service that allows residents
in Seoul and Amsterdam to make on-the-go travel decisions based on time, cost
and carbon impact. It offers virtual assistant features that provide transit guidance
based on user preferences via any Web-enabled device, from any location.
1) What do you mean by e-governance?
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2) Explain the importance of e-governance and how e- governance has helped e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
urban management across countries with examples.
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2.5 INITIATIVES OF E-GOVERNANCE:

NATIONAL EXPERIENCES
Examples of e-Governance practices in some of the Indian states are narrated
below:
2.5.1 Computer-Aided Registration of Deeds and Stamp Duties:

An initiative of the Andhra Pradesh Government
E-governance has helped the state revenue departments to register properties in
less time, store information scientifically and bring about transparency in the
system. Such an initiative was taken in Andhra Pradesh in the late eighties, where
the Computer-aided Administration of Registration Department (CARD) project
has brought about computerized counters at land registration offices throughout
Andhra Pradesh. The project aimed at altering the antiquated procedures that
had governed the registration system of the state, which included the laborious
copying and indexing of documents as well as their unscientific space-consuming
preservation in ill-maintained backrooms. The state had a flourishing business
of brokers and middlemen who exploited citizens selling or buying property.
The CARD project is an attempt to reform this system through the use of IT 1.
With the introduction of CARD, citizens now complete registration formalities
within a few hours. The CARD project illustrates some of the key implementation
issues the state and national governments may face in their efforts to use IT to
improve citizen-government interfaces and serves as a best practice to be
replicated by them (Satyanarayana, 2002).
The idea of introducing computers originated in 1988 in Andhra Pradesh when a

project was initiated to computerize the process of issuing Encumbrance
Certificates. A 386 server operating with 14 terminals was set up at a cost of
about $31,000 (Rs 1.33 million). Data entry of index registers of the twin cities
of Hyderabad and Secunderabad (now in Telangana) was initiated. The National
Informatics Centre (NIC) provided the technical assistance. The entry of 15
years of data went on until 1995 when a pilot scheme for issuing computerized
Encumbrance Certificates was launched in one of the city offices. The feasibility
of taking up a comprehensive Registration Department computerization project
to address other registration formalities and problems was established in a study
conducted by J. Satyanarayana2 in August 1996. The study brought out methods
1
The CARD project was funded entirely by the government of Andhra Pradesh. The original
outlay was about US$3 million (Rs.130 million).
2
Commissioner & Inspector General of Registration and Stamps C.T. & Excise Complex, M.J.
Road, Nampally, Hyderabad 33
ICT for Development by which the various registration services could be delivered electronically across
the counter in an integrated manner and showed a road map as to how the process
of valuation could be consigned to the computer and also introduced the concept
of electronic document management as an essential part of computerizing the
registration process.
Objectives of the CARD Project

CARD is a major IT project designed to eliminate the maladies affecting the
system of registration through electronic delivery of all the registration services.
It was based on the primary objectives outlined below.
• Demystify the registration process;
• Introduce a transparent system of valuation of properties, easily accessible
to citizens;
• Bring in speed, efficiency, consistency and reliability;
• Replace the manual system of copying and filing of documents with a
sophisticated document management system that uses imaging technology;
• Replace the manual system of indexing, accounting and reporting;
• Introduce electronic document writing; and
• Substantially improved the citizen interface.
Benefits of CARD
The CARD project aims at providing improved quality of the services at the
registration department by providing a computer interface between citizens and
government. The tedious procedures that took weeks have been replaced by a
system that can be accomplished in just a few minutes. The market value assistance
and issuing of the Encumbrance Certificate (EC) takes five minutes each. The
sale of stamp papers, document writing and registration of the documents takes
ten minutes, thirty minutes and one hour respectively. The positive impact of the
CARD project on the efficiency of registration operations can be gauged from
the following table:
Quantitative Benefits of CARD
Description of Registration Time Taken in Time Taken in

Service Manual System CARD System
Encumbrance Certificate 1 to 5 Days 10 Minutes
Valuation of Properties 1 Hr 10 Minutes
Sale of stamp paper 30 Minutes 10 Minutes
Document writing 1 Day 30 Minutes
Registration 1 to 7 days 1 Hr
Certified copies of documents 1 to 3 days 10 Minutes
(registration under CARD)
Source: Based on CARD (Satyanarayana, 2002)
34
2.5.2 KAVERI in Karnataka (Karnataka Valuation and e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
e-Registration Project)
KAVERI Online service is a web based application of Department of Stamps &
Registration, Government of Karnataka that provides interface to the citizen to
enter details and book appointment for document registration and also provides
facility to search for required Index and registered copies. These services enable
citizen to download Index (List of transactions on the searched property) and
copy of the document. Citizens can also book appointment for registering
documents. This will help citizen to check the present owners of the properties,
helps citizen in checking the authenticity of the registered document and also
helps citizens to book appointment for document registration (Department of
Stamps & Registration, Government of Karnataka, 2018).
For the last five decades, the process of registration of documents was done
manually and involved the following steps:
• Stamping,
• Presentation,
• Admission of execution,
• Identification by witnesses and
• Registration, as prescribed in Karnataka Stamp Act, 1957 and Registration
Act, 1908
Features of KAVERI
Automated Kiosks with touch screen operation facility were installed in every
Sub-Registrar’s Office, through which public can have access to the following
information in Kannada and English.
• Market value of land in all villages, owns and cities in the state.
• Model formats of commonly used deeds and forms required for Registration
of Marriage.
• Model byelaws of Societies and Associations.
• Frequently asked questions and exhaustive answers.
• Fee for Registration of documents/Registration of Societies/Firms/
Marriages.
• Acts and Rules bearing on registration of documents.
(Source: Department of Stamps & Registration, Government of Karnataka, 2018)
Under the manual registration process, the documents registered were copied
manually in specified books. After that, they were verified with the original
documents, and the hand written documents were authenticated by Registering
Officers. The registered book would serve as a public document. Since the manual
procedure involved writing each document that was to be registered, the time
taken for the entire registration procedure was anywhere between two to three
months. Moreover, it also meant 2–3 trips to the registration office to check if
the document was ready. The solution lay in finding an alternative procedure
that would meet the statutory requirements and also speed up the process while
preserving the accuracy of the manual procedure. Computerization was the way 35
ICT for Development forward. The Department of Stamps & Registration, Government of Karnataka
set up automated registration process in the state in the year 2002. More than
200 Sub-Registrar Offices in Karnataka came under computerization under an
outsourced model whereby the vendor could complete the registration process
within 30 minutes. The software was aptly called KAVERI, after the river Cavery3
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune (C-DAC) provided the

technical support in developing suitable software to cover the following aspects
of registration: Registration of properties, Valuation of properties, Scanning and
Archival of Documents, Reports, Vendor management system, Utilities, Website,
Societies, Firms and Marriage Registration and Data Transmission.
After the introduction of KAVERI the department has registered documents and
returned the same to the parties concerned within 30 minutes of its presentation.
There was a significant growth in the revenue to the state exchequer after the
introduction of KAVERI in spite of reduction in stamp duty and registration fee.
Case Study: E-governance in Land Administration – Karnataka

(Source: Manasi, et al., 2015)
The E-governance initiative in land administration has brought in a paradigm

shift over the traditional practices through the usage of electronic systems.
The new system of information availability has made service delivery and
the governing process simpler and translucent. All the services are available
in a single window to the citizens for better office and record management.
E-governance initiatives for land administration began with the
computerisation of land records and registration for creating a system of
spatial record followed by the establishment of linkages between different
wings of land record management agencies. The first E-governance initiative
undertaken is ‘Bhoomi’ followed by ‘KAVERI’ (Karnataka Valuation and
e-registration Project), ‘Mojini and Bhoomi-KAVERI-Mojini integration’.
The Bhoomi-KAVERI-Mojini, regarded as ‘three pillars’ of Karnataka Land

Revenue administration, reveals the intricacies involved in the policy
formulation and implementation of these mechanisms.
• Bhoomi, implemented at the taluk level since the late 1990s, has enabled
the availability of Record of Rights, Cropping and Tenancy (RTCs) in a
digital form as against the physical format.
• KAVERI, an initiative undertaken in the Registration Department, in
the year 2004-05, is intended for computerising land registration system
with separate software. Along with this, the documents available in the
Sub- Registrar’s Office (SROs) have also been digitised.
• Mojini, initiated in 2008-09, aims to computerise the functioning of the
Survey Department.
3
Centre for Development of Advanced Computing, Pune (C-DAC) provided the technical support
in developing suitable software to cover the following aspects of registration: Registration of
properties, Valuation of properties, Scanning and Archival of Documents, Reports, Vendor
management system, Utilities, Website, Societies, Firms and Marriage Registration and Data
Transmission.
36
e-Governance in Rural and
• Integration of Bhoomi, KAVERI and Mojini, since September, 2011, Urban Development
aims to bridge the crucial gap between the textual and spatial data in
terms of addressing mismatches, if any, with regard to boundary disputes
among joint owners or adjoining properties.
• ‘Nemmadi Kendra’ - kiosks is a public-private partnership initiative to
support the dispensation of various services
Key Outcomes
Bhoomi: With respect to Bhoomi, disposal of applications were fast, there
was significant improvement in the Bhoomi operation. Disposal of
applications related to land transactions indicated an improved performance
during post integration phase. It indicated that land administration system
in the state showed a visible improvement in service delivery. Besides, there
were Minimal Delays in Mutation Process. Bhoomi operator receives and
processes a complete list of mutation details on a daily basis obtained from
the Village Accountant. However, the processes need further streamlining
in utilisation of Bhoomi/Nemmadi Kendra services. Consequent upon setting
up of computerised land record kiosks - both Bhoomi and Nemmadi kendras,
80 to 83% of clients utilised the services. The present model of Bhoomi
kiosk and method of operation are satisfactory in terms of accuracy,
transparency, convenience besides time and cost saving. Also there was
minimal time taken for issuing RTC and Mutation copies besides ensuring
safety and transparency.
KAVERI: Computerised registration system is better than manual process

and was evident. Majority of the clients managed to complete registration
process with one visit. Further, registration of documents took less time as
compared to obtaining Encumbrance Certificate (EC). However, there were
some issues pertaining to outsourcing for maintaining quality control. With
respect to availability of Kiosks and usage of services at SRO, more than
75% of clients were satisfied with services. However, there were complaints
about lack of infrastructure, advanced computers, spacious buildings and
basic facilities.
Mojini: Pendency status is a matter of concern. Demand for land has

increased due to recent developments resulting in high sales transactions;
hence, pendency level as a percentage of average monthly receipt of
applications is higher. The notice-period for issuing 11-E sketches is limited
to 45 days, about 58% of applicants could get their 11-E sketches within 1-
2 months in Tiptur indicating fair service delivery while in Gulbarga and
Navalgunda 47% of applicants waited for up to 3 months indicating
insufficient number of licensed surveyors and well established infrastructure
facilities. Survey and Work quality of licensed surveyors was good. Tatkal
system aided in reducing pendency in respect of Phodi cases. At present,
though digitisation of survey records data was in progress the level of
achievements varied. Damaged original survey sketches and poor quality
papers made it complex and varied across the districts and ranged from
20% to 50%. Also, inadequate Monitoring process caused pendency and
delays in disposal of applications.
37
ICT for Development
BKM Integration: This enabled faster service besides verification of
property details easily, safety of documents and improvement in access.
First-in-First-Out (FIFO) is working well and prevented misuse. However,
integration process of Bhoomi and Mojini data needs improvements by better
coordination between Bhoomi and KAVERI, improve data access problem
during registration of documents. Speed money remains an issue as
middlemen still play a major role in the processing of documents; however,
the introduction of ID system for potential applicants has reduced their role
considerably. To sum up, the extension of Bhoomi, Kaveri, Mojini Integration
makes it further remarkable in putting the land records in place. To reach
the stage of perfection, process constraints are to be addressed and evolved
to make it more effective and efficient.
2.5.3 E-Suvidha – e-Governance Initiatives of Pimpri

Chinchwad Municipal Corporation
The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) has introduced an
integrated e-Governance Programme to ensure improved transparency to build
citizen centric governance. The implementation of e-governance gave new set
of responsibilities to PCMC’s employees. This project has involved around 11
corporation departments, which are computerized. Citizen Facilitation Centre
(CFC) is the most successful project, which provides services to citizens with
more than 99% efficiency. Another Innovative project is PCMC@home, which
provides services of corporation directly at home through PCMC personnel.
The initiative under E-Suvidha has considerably reduced the hassles faced by
the citizens. Citizens take minimum time and cost for availing the civic services.
Citizens avail the facility on a mouse click from home or office or any remote
location-avoiding visit to Corporation office or division office. Payment of charges
and taxes directly online through payment gateway facilities reduces the travelling
cost and valuable time. Citizens save about 3–4 hours of time through availing
E-Suvidha facilities and in some cases citizens save days by availing the online
facilities of the PCMC.
Kiosks set up in different wards, zonal offices and other public places have helped
the citizens who are not proficient with net banking and who are not able to avail
web based facilities. Visit to Kiosks at the nearest point helps the citizens to
avail the facilities, services and payment of different charges, taxes and bills.
The web based application helps the citizens to locate their properties for
assessment details and for payment of taxes online. The utility mapping has
helped the PCMC to monitor the delivery of essential services such as water
supply, drainage lines, roads, streetlights, garbage bins, etc. This has increased
the overall service delivery improvement to provide services and identify the
areas which do not avail these services and utilities.
The following section provides details of the services provided under E-Suvidha
initiative:
• Property and water revenue management: The property assessment
details and water charges are available online, with online payment facility.
This has reduced number of visits by the citizens to the corporation office.
38
• e-Tendering: PCMC has initiated the online tendering system for all projects e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
and procurements to be taken up for the development works under its limits.
Submission of tenders and documents can be done online.
• Dashboard for works management: Dashboard of work management is
an integrated web based software for monitoring and tracking the progress
of work. This module is also integrated with financial data like budget
approved for works, cost incurred and other information, which helps in
keeping a track of the projects undertaken by PCMC. Necessary decisions
are taken from time to time depending upon the progress of projects and
works.
• Citizens Facilitation Centre (CFC): PCMC’s Citizens Facilitation Centre
(CFC) provides 79 different citizen centric services for 12 departments of
the Corporation. The CFCs work on single window basis to provide one
stop service to the citizens for PCMC. CFCs also provide services of the
District Collectorate like caste certificates, domicile certificate, ration card,
and also provides value added services of Road Transport Office like
issuance of learning licenses and collection of Maharashtra State Electricity
Board bills, collection of BSNL bills, collection of insurance premiums
and railway ticket booking.
• SMS-based complaint monitoring system: To reduce the difficulties of
citizens and to send a complaint to PCMC, a SMS based complaint system
has been initiated. A citizen can send a complaint by SMS and scrutiny of
received complaints takes place through PCMC administration. An SMS
as well as an email immediately goes to the related officer for addressing
the complaint. This has reduced PCMC’s response time considerably.
• Solid waste management with vehicle tracking PCMC has also started
GPS vehicle tracking system. This GPS system has been integrated with an
interface, which will assign waste pick up job and duty management. The
system also monitors and registers the auto job picks adherence via geo
reference and stop at pick up bin location. Vehicles trip/job report gets
generated for number of trips per vehicle per driver and as well as contractor.
Pick up adherence report; exception report on missed bins also gets generated
for the authority to monitor the collection of solid waste from bins. Tracking
report, stoppage, over-speed reports, detention reports etc., are getting
generated for continuous monitoring of collection and transportation of
vehicles.
• Geographical Information System: PCMC has a GIS mapping of 182 sq.
km area. This has been done through geo-referencing of the Quick Bird
satellite map of 0.6 m resolution map. This mapping has been developed
for GISDA by Science and Technology Park (STP) and on terms of
integration with various databases and application services. GISDA runs
from a centrally located system, which can be accessed through web. GISDA
provides core web technology and a GIS platform that is used by all other
applications to provide Web-GIS based Citizen Centric Services.
• Property and water revenue management: Through this service:
 Citizens can view their bills online;
 Taxes can be paid online from home;
 High level of transparency is achieved;
39
ICT for Development  Strong MIS and administration control;
 Citizens can pay or use any office of corporation;
 Easy Property Registration for tax assessment;
 Ability to create/copy rate profile for different tax years;
 Property Tax calculations;
 Self-Assessment of Property Tax;
 Provisional Tax and Notice generation.
• e-Tendering: This facility helps:
 All the departments publish tenders online;
 Bidders can view/download tenders online;
 Bidders pay fees online;
 Bidders bid online using digital signature;
 Bidding is controlled through parameters like bidding capacity;
 Tenders only opened by Tender committee using digital signatures
online;
 Lowest financial bids are published online to all bidders;
 The Bidder registration is one time process;
 Tender-Committee can be defined per tender;
 Department wise Bidder Registration as well as common bidders;
 Bidding Capacity and Tender limits are configurable with Rate
Contracts;
 Integration with Accounting;
 Generation of comparative statement;
 Facility to define multiple manufacturers for single item and bidders
can bid for multiple manufacturers for single item;
 The comparative statement is generated for all manufacturers;
 The EMD and Tender Fees are auto-calculated based on Tendering
Rules;
 Bidders can pay the EMD and Tender Fees online through online
payment gateway.
• Building permission management: The broad uses of the building
permission management system are:
 Creation of new projects for the developed drawings and project
attributes;
 The Auto DCR system reads the drawing and extracts the geometrical
information of layouts and building plans;
 Single window to get all N.O.C. The application is integrated internally
with all departments;
 Integrated with digital signature key – the applicant signs the
application digitally and then it is encrypted;
40
Based on the project attributes the graphical object information is e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
mapped to the relevant development control rules.
 Final detailed rules verification report is produced, indicating passed/
failed status for each rule;
 Reduces the architect’s/authority’s effort for drawing and calculations;
 Permission status is available online to the applicant;
 Eliminates the human errors and manipulation and produces accurate
reports;
 Tremendously reduced the time cycle of approval;
 Alerts on unnecessary delays;
 Standardizes the drawing process;
 Detailed user friendly dynamic reports.
• Dashboard for Works Management: This facility offers following
services:
 Every work has unique identification number generated by the system
to be used for all purposes;
 Budget is loaded in the system;
 The workflow of various stages of the work is configured in the system;
 At every stage the person who is in charge of that work needs to update
its status;
 It is linked to e-tendering application;
 The work flows through various stages of approval. Once it is approved
and work order is issued the work can be commenced;
 Work in progress can be tracked for its completion, bills raised,
payments made and funds allocated.
• Solid waste management with vehicle tracking: The system includes
benefits like:
 Bin wise service efficiency report;
 Business specific alerts via SMS/email;
 Vehicle being dispatched to trip;
 Vehicle reaching assigned waste bins locations;
 Unloading at land fill site;
 Vehicle stoppage time in various locations and breakdown.
Activity 1: Visit a near by corporation / municipal office and find out whether
e-governance has been introduced in your city/town. If yes, what are the
civic services, which are delivered through e-governance?
........................................................................................................................
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........................................................................................................................
41
ICT for Development Check Your Progress 2
1) Taking Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation as a case study, name
various initiatives of e-Governance taken in different development sub-
sectors in the city.
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2.6 CHALLENGES IN E-GOVERNANCE

Though this unit has presented discussions of interesting and innovative e-
government initiatives, e-government still faces many challenges as it continues
to develop. In designing and implementing e-government sites, a government
must consider elements of policy, including regulatory issues, economic issues,
and the rights of users.
The major challenges to e-governance as per Anil Kumar Vaddiraju and Manasi,
(2017) are :
Economic inequality: Economic inequality is a major barrier to access e-

governance. Unless the equipment used in e-governance becomes cheaper,
economic inequality can enable some to access e-governance better than others.
This is partly also a problem of digital-divide. The inequality in access to economic
resources also translates into digital divide and non-economic sources of
inequality add to this.
Inequality other than economic: Inequality in India is complex and multi-
dimensional. There are social inequality, educational inequality, inequality of
literacy; inequality of regions and places and inequality among various socio-
economic groups owing to all these which in turn affect equal access to e-
governance. Ironically, information is supposed to level these inequalities so far
as governance and delivery of public services is concerned. Information society
is supposed to be a ‘flat society’ without the hierarchies of the social order coming
in the way of reach of information to individuals. However, how far this is true
in a society, like that of India, is open to question.
Resistance from traditional bureaucracy: There is often resistance from
bureaucracy which does not appreciate transparency. In an unequal society
information too is a privilege. Bureaucracy feels insecure with increasing
digitisation and likely to fear either retrenchment or reduced recruitment. It is
indeed true that the governments want a thinner bureaucracy and less of state
bureaucracy than earlier times.
Lack of regulation of e-governance: Electronic governance also requires
vigilance. Cyber crimes are a reality. With increasing online transactions, trade
42
and commerce taking place via electronic means, the vulnerability of ordinary e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
citizens to cyber crimes too has become a reality. This is the major reason why
electronic governance needs cyber security.
Lack of privacy laws: When electronic governance is introduced, strict privacy

laws for protecting individual from the overreach of the state and non-state entities
too is necessary. Mostly, it appears that developing countries are introducing
Electronic governance enthusiastically but commensurate privacy laws are either
missing or still in the preparation. This dimension of governance is important as
much as the protection of individual dignity and rights is concerned.
Other challenges to implementing e-governance are:
• Sustaining committed executive leadership
• Building effective e-governance business cases
• Maintaining a citizen focus
• Protecting personal privacy
• Implementing appropriate security controls
• Maintaining electronic records
• Maintaining a robust technical infrastructure
• Addressing IT human capital concerns, and
• Ensuring uniform service to the public.
2.7 LET US SUM UP

E- governance or electronic governance in urban development is the use of ICT
in the operation and maintenance of urban services. This initiative of the use of
information technology (IT) in rural and urban governance started in the late
nineties, especially after the adoption of the 73rd and 74th Constitutional
Amendment Acts, when rural and urban local bodies became constitutional
entities of local governance. The Government of India has launched the National
e-Governance Plan (NeGP) with the intent to support the growth of e-governance
within the country. The introduction of e-governance has facilitated the state and
local governments in the country in successfully delivering rural and urban
services to its citizens in a transparent and efficient manner.
2.8 KEY WORDS

E-governance : E- governance or electronic governance in urban
development is the use of information and
communication technologies (ICT) in the
operation and maintenance of urban services.
JNNURM : Launched in 2005, Jawaharlal Nehru National

Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is a central
government reform linked programme wherein
adoption of reform in e-governance is mandatory
for all the 65 Mission cities (all State capitals, all
million plus cities and cities of historical interest).
43
ICT for Development CARD : The CARD is a project aimed at altering the
antiquated procedures that had governed the
registration system of the state of Andhra Pradesh,
which included the laborious copying, and
indexing of documents as well as their unscientific
space-consuming preservation in ill-maintained
backrooms. The state had a flourishing business
of brokers and middlemen who exploited citizens
selling or buying property. The CARD project is
an attempt to reform this system through the use
of IT.
KAVERI : The Department of Stamps & Registration,

Government of Karnataka set up automated
registration process in the state in the year 2002,
wherein 202 Sub-Registrar Offices in Karnataka
came under computerization whereby the vendor
could complete the registration process within 30
minutes. The software was aptly called KAVERI,
after the river Cavery.
E-Stamping : To prevent fraudulent practices in stamp paper

based transactions and registrations, e-stamping
has been introduced in some states where the entire
exercise of stamp duty payment and generation
of stamp duty certificate takes less than 3 minutes.
It offers a secure and reliable stamp duty collection
mechanism, and stores information in secured
electronic form and builds up a central data
repository to facilitate easy verification.
E-Suvidha : Development of an integrated e-Governance

programme to ensure improved, transparent and
efficient way of building citizen centric
governance.

Anil Kumar Vaddiraju and Manasi, S. (2017). From e-Governance to Digitisation:
Some Reflections and Concerns. Working Paper 404, The Institute for Social
and Economic Change, Bangalore.
Manasi, S, Hemalatha, B R, Sivanna, N, Chengappa, P G and Nadadur, R G

(2015). Land Policy and Administration in Karnataka: Bhoomi-KAVERI-Mojini
Integration – An Analysis. ISEC Monograph No. 42 (ISBN 81-7791-141-4),
The Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore.
JNNRUM programme, Ministry of UD, GOI, www. urbanindia.nic.in
Municipal e-Design Document, Ministry of UD, GOI, www. urbanindia.nic.in
NeGP, Department of IT, Ministry of Communication & IT, GOI, www.mit.gov.in
NISG Knowledge Center, www.nisg.org
44
http://www.egovonline.net/ e-Governance in Rural and
Urban Development
http://egovernance.in/news/e-governance-rural-development/

ANSWERS
1) E- governance or electronic governance in urban development is the use of

information and communication technologies (ICT) in the operation and
maintenance of urban services.
2) Two examples of the use of IT in the field of property registration are CARD
in Andhra Pradesh and KAVERI in Karnataka. The CARD is a project
aimed at altering the antiquated procedures that had governed the registration
system of the state of Andhra Pradesh, which included the laborious copying,
and indexing of documents as well as their unscientific space-consuming
preservation in ill-maintained backrooms.
1) Property and water revenue management; e-Tendering; Dashboard for works

management; Citizens Facilitation Centre (CFC); SMS-based complaint
monitoring system; Solid waste management with vehicle tracking;
Geographical Information System; Property and water revenue management;
e-Tendering; Building permission management.
45
Notes
Notes
Notes
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Prof. B.K. Pattanaik Prof. S.V.N.Rao, RAGACOVAS,
IGNOU, New Delhi (Unit 1) Puducherry (Content & Language Editor)
Dr. Debolina Kundu
NIUA, New Delhi (Unit 2) Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-75-3
MDV-108
and Extension
Block
5
DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
UNIT 1
Diffusion of Innovation: An Overview 5
UNIT 2
Innovation Process for Development 18
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar Prof. S.V.N.Rao, RAGACOVAS,
IGNOU, New Delhi Puducherry (Content & Language Editor)
(Unit 1 & 2) Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-76-0
BLOCK 5 DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS
FOR DEVELOPMENT
Dear Learner,
One or more of the following questions often pose challenge to development
workers:
• There is lag between what is known and what is done for development by
most people. Why?
• Where do most people get their new developmental ideas?
• In some areas, people seem to accept new developmental ideas quickly and
in others, nearly all the people are slow to take to new things. Why?
• Some developmental programmes are more popular and readily accepted
by people, while some are a big failure. Why?
• Some people accept new developmental ideas and put them into practice
faster than others. Why?
• Some new developmental ideas and practices are accepted quickly and with
little apparent efforts, while others are accepted only after years of effort
put forth by development agencies. Why?
Understanding of the Block 5 on ‘Diffusion of Innovations for Development’
shall help the development workers like you to answer the above questions and
accelerate the adoption of the innovations for development.
Unit 1 on ‘Diffusion of Innovations: An Overview’ discusses meaning of

diffusion of development innovations and adoption. It also discusses the elements
in the diffusion of innovations viz., innovation, communication channel, time
and social system.
Unit 2 on ‘Innovation Process for Development’ focus is on Innovation

Development Process – meaning, concept and steps - recognizing need, research,
development, commercialization, diffusion & adoption and consequences (With
examples / case studies). Innovation Decision Process – knowledge, persuasion,
decision, implementation and confirmation stages (With examples / case studies).
.
Diffusion of Innovations for
Development
4
Diffusion of Innovation:
UNIT 1 DIFFUSION OF INNOVATIONS: AN An Overview
OVERVIEW
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Diffusion Adoption Process
1.3 Elements in the Diffusion of Innovations
1.4 Let Us Sum Up
1.5 Keywords
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Learner,
In the Block 3 of this course, we discussed that development is a widely
participatory process of directed social change in a society, intended to bring
about both social and material advancement for the majority of the people in the
social system. We also discussed that, such widespread behaviour change could
only be attained by effective utilization of communication for development. One
among the difficult tasks in development work is communicating new
developmental ideas for widespread adoption even when they have
understandable advantages to the social system. A common problem for many
development workers is how to speed up the rate of diffusion of developmental
ideas / innovations. So in this unit, we discussed an overview of how innovations
are diffused and what are the elements in the diffusion of innovations with suitable
examples.
• Explain the concept and meaning of diffusion of innovations and adoption.
• Describe the elements in the diffusion of innovations.
1.2 DIFFUSION - ADOPTION PROCESS

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what
rate new developmental ideas, practices and technology spread through the social
system. The concept was first studied by the French sociologist Gabriel Tarde
(1890) and by German and Austrian anthropologists such as Friedrich Ratzel
and Leo Frobenius. Its basic epidemiological or internal-influence form was
formulated by H. Earl Pemberton, who provided examples of institutional
diffusion such as postage stamps and compulsory school laws. In 1962 Everett
Rogers, a professor of Rural Sociology published a book ‘Diffusion of
Innovations’. In the book, Rogers synthesized research from over 508 diffusion
studies and proposed a theory for the adoption of innovations among individuals
and organizations.
5
Development
1.2.1 Diffusion
Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain
channels over time among the members of a social system. From the fist unit of
block 3 under this course, we learnt that, communication is the act of getting a
development worker (sender) and people (receiver) tuned together for a particular
message or a series of messages related to development work. Here both the
sender and receiver should reach a mutual understanding so as to call
communication as a two way process.
Diffusion is a special type of communication, in that the messages are concerned

with new ideas. It is this ‘newness’ of the idea in the message content of
communication that gives diffusion its special character. The diffusion of
innovations is essentially a social process in which subjectively perceived
information about a new idea is communicated. The new idea means that some
degree of uncertainty is involved in diffusion. However, a technology based
innovation or need based developmental idea / practice embodies information
that reduces uncertainty about cause – effect relationship in solving a
developmental problem. Diffusion of innovations also brings in social change –
defined as the process by which alteration occurs in the structure and function of
a social system. When new ideas are invented, diffused, and adopted or rejected
leads to certain consequences which bring in social change.
1.2.2 Diffusion Process

Diffusion of innovations refers to the spread of the developmental innovations
through a population, and is simply the result of a host of individual adoption
decisions (Fig. 1.1). If individual adoption decisions are, to an extent, predictable,
then the larger diffusion process is also predictable. It follows a pattern, and that
element of predictability has substantial implications. Therefore as per Rogers,
diffusion process is “the spread of a new idea from its source of invention or
creation to its ultimate use of adopters”. The diffusion of innovations is essentially
a social process in which subjectively perceived information about a new idea is
communicated.
100
Fast diffusion
Typical diffusion
Percentage of total
group adopting
innovation
Slow diffusion
0
Time
Fig. 1.1 The diffusion process

6
1.2.3 Adoption and Adoption Process Diffusion of Innovation:
An Overview
Adoption is a decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course of
action available. An innovation diffuses within a social system through its
adoption by individuals and groups. The decision to adopt an innovation, however,
“is not normally a single, instantaneous act”, it involves as a process. The
“adoption process” is a decision-making process goes through a number of mental
stages before making a final decision to adopt an innovation. In their pioneering
work of diffusion of hybrid corn seed in two Iowa’s communities in the United
States, Ryan and Gross (1943) first drew attention to the existence of a sequence
of stages in the process of adoption:
• awareness of the existence of an innovation
• conviction of its usefulness
• acceptance in the sense of willingness to try the innovations
• complete adoption
Please refer unit 2 of this block for detailed discussion on these stages.
1) Write the meaning of diffusion and diffusion process.
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2) What do you mean by adoption of innovation?
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3) What is adoption process?
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7
Development 1.3 ELEMENTS IN THE DIFFUSION OF
INNOVATIONS
In the above section we defined diffusion as the process by which an innovation
is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a
social system. Thus the four main elements that influence the spread of a new
idea are:
i) Innovation
ii) Communication channels
iii) Time, and
iv) Social system.
Key Elements in Diffusion Process
Element Meaning
Innovation Rogers defines an innovation as an idea, practice,
or object that is perceived as new by an
individual or other unit of adoption.
Communication channel A communication channel is the means by which
messages get from one individual to another.
Time The innovation-decision period is the length of
time required to pass through the innovation-
decision process.
Social system A social system is defined as a set of interrelated
units that are engaged in joint problem solving
to accomplish a common goal.
1.3.1 Innovation
An innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new or an
improvement over the existing one by the individual or members of a social
system. If the idea seems new, it is an innovation. As the innovation may represent
a slight modification of, or a significant departure from, the existing idea or
practice. The ‘idea’ constitutes the central element of an innovation which often
manifests itself in a material or behavioural form.
Examples for Material Form : Improved transport system like Metro, improved
agricultural implements, high-yielding and disease resistant seeds, bio-fertilizers,
pesticides and herbicides.
Examples for Behavioral Form: Improved cultural practices.

An innovation do not diffuse at the same rate. An innovation which represents
only a slight modification of an existing idea or practice will obviously diffuse
at a faster rate than the one which represents a significant departure from it.
Some of the important attributes of an innovation which influence the rate of

adoption are:
i) Relative advantage
8
ii) Compatibility Diffusion of Innovation:
An Overview
iii) Complexity
iv) Trialability
v) Observability.
These traits are a matter of perception to the users rather than being inherent
qualities of an innovation. The perceived qualities of an innovation vary for
individual and social system as a whole. However, in general innovations that
are perceived by individuals as having greater relative advantage, compatibility,
trialability and observability and less complexity will be adopted more rapidly
than other innovations. These five qualities are the most important characteristics
of innovations in explaining the rate of adoption.
Please refer Unit 1 of Block 6 of this course for a detailed discussion on attributes
of innovation.
Types of Innovations
There are three main types of innovations that are diffused in different ways:
Continuous Innovation: This type of innovation is a simple changing or
improving of an already existing product where the adopter still uses the
product in the same fashion as they had before.
Example of a continuous innovation: Automobile industry as it continues to
change and develop models / variants.
Dynamically Continuous Innovation: Here the innovation can either be a
creation of a new product or a radical change to an existing one. Here the
consumption patterns of people are altered some.
Example: Compact discs.
Discontinuous Innovation: This is a totally new product in the market.
This is the big idea innovation. In this situation, because the product has
never been seen before, there are total changes to consumers buying and
using patterns.
Most of the new ideas are technological innovations and we often use the word
“innovation” and “technology” as synonyms. A technology is a design for
instrumental action that reduces the uncertainty in the cause-effect relationships
involved in advising and desired outcome”. A technology usually has two
components:
i) A hardware aspect, consisting of the tool that embodies the technology as a

material or physical object, and
ii) A software aspect, consisting of the information base for the tool.
Example: Computer hardware consisting of semiconductors, transistors, electrical

connections, and the metal frame to protect these electronic components. The
software consisting of the coded commands, instructions, and other information
aspects of the tool that allow us to use to extend human capabilities in solving
certain problems.
9
Diffusion of Innovations for Some innovations only have a software component, which means they have a
Development
relatively lower degree of observability and thus a slower rate of innovation and
their spread is relatively difficult to trace. Even through the software component
of a technology is often not so easy to observe, we should not forget that
technology always represents a mixture of hardware and software aspects.
Technology / developmental innovations are a means of uncertainty reduction

that is made possible by information about the cause-effect relationships on which
the technology /developmental innovations are based. A technological /
developmental innovation has at least some degree of benefit for its potential
adopters. This advantage provides the motivation that impels force an individuals
to exert effort in order to learn about the innovation. This learning reduce the
uncertainty and leads to a decision concerning adoption or rejection. Thus, the
innovation decision process is essentially an information – seeking and
information – processing activity in which the individual is motivated to reduce
uncertainly about the advantages and disadvantages of the innovation.
1.3.2 Communication Channels

A communication channel is the means by which messages get from one
individual to another.
Examples: Mass media channels, Interpersonal channels.

Mass media channels are all those means of transmitting messages that involve
a mass medium such as radio, television, newspapers and so on, which enable a
source of one or a few individuals to reach an audience of many.
Interpersonal channels involve a face-to-face exchange between two or more

individuals. Interpersonal channels are more effective in persuading an individual
to accept a new idea, especially if the interpersonal channel links two or more
individuals who are similar in socio-economic status, and education.
Communication Model Vs Elements of Diffusion

According to Rogers (1996), diffusion refers to “the process by which an
innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the
members of a social system. An Innovation is an idea, practice or object
perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption. The diffusion of
innovations involves both mass media and interpersonal communication
channels. That is, by sharing communication channels such as interpersonal
communication or mass communication, people can get information of an
innovation and perceive its innovation as useful. Lasswell (1948) presented
a well-known model of communication that is analyzed as five parts, S-M-
C-R-E ( Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver-Effect). Rogers (1995)
mentioned, “this S-M-C-R-E communication model corresponds closely to
the elements of diffusion”. Specifically:
i) Sender can be inventors or opinion leaders
ii) Message can be a new idea or product
iii) Channels can be interpersonal or mass communication
iv) Receivers can be members of a social system, and
v) Effect can be individual’s adoption or social change.
10
Most individuals do not evaluate an innovation on the basis of scientific studies Diffusion of Innovation:
An Overview
of its consequences, although such objective evaluations are not entirely irrelevant,
especially to the very first individuals who adopt. Instead most people depend
mainly on subjective evaluation of an innovation, conveyed to them from
individuals like themselves who have previously adopted the innovations. This
dependence on the experience of near peers indicates that diffusion is a social
process and the heart of diffusion process consists of the modeling and imitation
by potential adopters of their network partners who have adopted previously.
More effective communication occurs when two or more individuals belong to
the same groups, live or work near each other, and share the same interests.
More effective communication occurs in such homophilous condition in terms
of knowledge gain, attitude formation and overt behaviour change.
One of the most distinctive problems in the diffusion of innovations is that the
participants are usually quite heterophilous. This difference frequently leads to
ineffective communication as the participants do not talk the same language. In
fact, when two individuals are identical regarding their technical grasp of an
innovation, no diffusion can occur as there is no new information to exchange.
The very nature of diffusion demands that at least some degree of heterophily be
present between two participants.
Heterophily and Homophily Vis – a Vis Communication Channels

Homophily is the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar
in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status, and the like.
When given the choice, individuals usually choose to interact with someone
similar to him or herself. Furthermore, homophilous individuals engage in
more effective communication because their similarities lead to greater
knowledge gain as well as attitude or behavior change. However, most
participants in the diffusion of innovations are heterophilous, meaning they
speak different languages, so to speak. The problem is that diffusion requires
a certain degree of heterophily; if two individuals are identical, no diffusion
occurs because no new information can be exchanged. Therefore, an ideal
situation would involve two individuals who are homophilous in every way,
except in knowledge of the innovation.
1.3.3 Time
Time which is the is the 3rd element in diffusion process is involved in:
i) Innovation – decision process
ii) Innovativeness, and
iii) Rate of adoption of innovation
Innovation-Decision Process : It is the mental process through which as
individual or other decision making unit passes from first knowledge of an
innovation to forming an attitude towards the innovation, to a decision to adopt
or reject, to implementation of the new idea, and to confirmation of this decision.
We conceptualize five stages in this process viz.,
i) Knowledge
ii) Persuasion
11
Diffusion of Innovations for iii) Decision
Development
iv) Implementation, and
v) Confirmation
Please refer unit 2 of this block for a detailed discussion on the above stages.
An individual seeks information at various stages in the innovation – decision
process in order to decrease uncertainty about innovation’s expected
consequences. The decision stage leads to adoption, a decision to make full use
of an innovation as the best course of action available, or to rejection, a decision
not to adopt an innovation.
Types of Innovation-Decisions
Two factors determine what type a particular decision is:
i) Whether the decision is made freely and implemented voluntarily,
ii) Who makes the decision.Based on these considerations, three types of
innovation-decisions have been identified within diffusion of
innovations.
Type Meaning
Optional Innovation-Decision This decision is made by an individual who
is in some way distinguished from others
in a social system
Collective Innovation- This decision is made collectively by all
Decision individuals of a social system.
Authority Innovation- This decision is made for the entire social
Decision system by few individuals in positions of
influence or power.
Innovativeness: It is the degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption

is relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a social system.
Based on innovativeness, the adopters can be classified into five categories viz.,
i) Innovators
ii) Early adopters
iii) Early majority
iv) Late majority, and
v) Laggards.
Please refer unit 2 under block 6 of this course for a detailed discussion on the
adopter categories and their characteristics.
Rate of Adoption: It is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted

by members of a social system. The rate of adoption is usually measured by the
length of time required for a certain percentage of the members of a system to
adopt an innovation. It is a system perspective rather than an individual as a unit
of analysis. There are differences in the rate of adoption for the same innovation
in different social systems.
12
1.3.4 Social System Diffusion of Innovation:
An Overview
A social system is defined as a set of interrelated units that are engaged in joint
problem solving to accomplish a common goal. The members or units can be
individuals, informal groups, organizations, or sub systems. The sharing of
common objective binds the system together.
Diffusion occurs within a social system. The social structure of the system
influence how and what information is disseminated. Knowledge of social
structure is important to consider while studying diffusion.
Example 1 : A village as a social system is made up of a variety of individuals

and groups with distinctive roles, norms and goals all of which, at least in ideal
terms, functionally relate to each other to attain its major goals and objectives.
The structure of a social system constitutes a set of boundaries within which
innovation diffuse. The differences in the adoption of innovations at the village
level can often to explained in terms of their differences in structural
characteristics. The degree to which a village is structurally homogeneous or
heterogeneous, unitary or highly stratified, affects the rate of diffusion of
innovations within its boundaries. The information can be distributed through
formal (Government) and informed communication structures (peers, groups
etc.).
Example 2 : In a village ‘A’ the rate of adoption of an innovation was 57 percent

and only 26 percent in village B. This indicates that social and communication
structures of these two villages are quite different ‘regarding the diffusion of
innovation, even though these innovations had promoted equally in both villages
by Government agency. We can predict that in village ‘A’ the friends, neighbours
are more likely to encouraging others to adopt since they themselves have adopted,
and the village leaders in village ‘A’ are specially committed to adoption of an
innovation, while in village ‘B’ they are not. This example shows how a system’s
structure can effect the diffusion and adoption of innovations, over and above
the effect of such variables as the individual characteristics of the members of
the system. Also individual innovativeness is affected by individuals’
characteristics and by the nature of the social system in which individuals are
members.
Diffusion of a Medical Drug Among Doctors

According to Rogers, the diffusion theory became more widely accepted after
Coleman et al. (1966) conducted a study on the diffusion of Tetracycline, a
new medical drug, in 1966. The drug company who invented this successful
new drug wanted to investigate the effectiveness of their Tetracycline
advertisements, which were placed in medical journals. The company asked
three professors at Columbia University to find out how physicians adopted
the new innovation and how mass communication influenced this adoption
process. They conducted a survey to gather accurate and reliable data. Different
with previous diffusion research that relied on respondents’ recall of how
they adopted new technology, this study gathered data both from physicians’
responses and pharmacies’ prescription. In addition to this, Coleman et al.,
(1966) asked their respondents to list their interpersonal connections in order
to investigate the effect of interpersonal network links with the new drug
adoption. The result shows that the percentage of adoption of the new drug
13
Development followed an S-shaped curve, but that the rate of tetracycline adoption was
faster than the rate of adoption of other innovations. The researchers also
found that doctors who are cosmopolite were likely to adopt the new drug.
One of the most important findings was that doctors who had more
interpersonal networks adopted the new medical drug more quickly than those
that did not. This meant that interpersonal communication channels with
peers had a strong influence on the adoption process. Rogers noted that this
Columbia University study is “one of the most influential diffusion studies
in showing that the diffusion of an innovation is essentially a social process
that occurs through interpersonal networks”. In fact, Rogers mentioned that
the Columbia University Drug Study made a contribution to identify the
importance of social networks in the diffusion process.

1) Name the four elements of diffusion process
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2) What do you mean by social system?
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3) Knowledge of social structure is important to consider while studying
diffusion. Do you agree with this statement? Support your answer.
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4) How heterophily or homophily influence diffusion of innovation?
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14
1.4 LET US SUM UP An Overview
A common constraint for many development workers is how to speed up the rate
of diffusion of developmental ideas / innovations. So in this unit, we discussed
an overview of how innovations are diffused and what are the elements in the
diffusion of innovations with suitable examples. We started with a brief history
on the research on the diffusion of innovations and understood that it is a theory
that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new developmental ideas,
practices and technology spread through the social system. The concept of
diffusion process is discussed and concluded that it is essentially a social process
in which subjectively perceived information about a new idea is communicated.
Later we conversed about adoption process and understood it as a decision-
making process which goes through a number of mental stages before making a
final decision to adopt an innovation. Later with examples the four main elements
that influence the spread of a new idea are discussed viz., innovation,
communication channels, time, and social system.
1.5 KEYWORDS
Diffusion of Innovations : It is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and
Theory at what rate new developmental ideas, practices
and technology spread through the social system.
Diffusion : Diffusion is the process by which an innovation
is communicated through certain channels over
time among the members of a social system.
Diffusion Process : Diffusion process is the spread of a new idea
from its source of invention or creation to its
ultimate use of adopters.
Adoption : It is a decision to make full use of an innovation
as the best course of action available.
Adoption Process : It is a decision-making process goes through a
number of mental stages before making a final
decision to adopt an innovation.
Elements in Diffusion of : The four main elements that influence the spread
Innovations of a new idea are: innovation; communication
channels; time, and; social system.
Innovation : Innovation is an idea, practice, or object that is
perceived as new by an individual or other unit
of adoption.
Communication channel : A communication channel is the means by which
messages get from one individual to another.
Time : The innovation-decision period is the length of
time required to pass through the innovation-
decision process.
Social System : A social system is defined as a set of interrelated
15
Diffusion of Innovations for units that are engaged in joint problem solving
Development
to accomplish a common goal.
Homophily : It is the degree to which pairs of individuals
who interact are similar in certain attributes, such
as beliefs, education, social status, and the like.
Innovation-Decision Process: It is the mental process through which as individual
or other decision making unit passes from first
knowledge of an innovation to forming an
attitude towards the innovation, to a decision to
adopt or reject, to implementation of the new
idea, and to confirmation of this decision.
Optional Innovation- Decision:This decision is made by an individual who is in
some way distinguished from others in a social
system
Collective Innovation-Decision: This decision is made collectively by all individuals
of a social system.
Authority Innovation-Decision: This decision is made for the entire social system
by few individuals in positions of influence or
power.

Coleman, J. S., Katz, E., & Mentzel, H. (1966). Medical innovation: Diffusion
of a medical drug among doctors. Indianapolis, MN: Bobbs-Merrill.
Rogers, E.M. (1976). New product adoption and diffusion. Journal of Consumer
Research, 2, 290–301.
Rogers, E.M. (1994). A history of communication study: A biographical approach.

New York: Free Press.
Rogers, E.M.(1995). Diffusion of Innovations (4th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Rogers, E., & Singhal, A. (1996). Diffusion of innovations. In Salwen and Stacks,
op. cit., (pp. 409-420).
Sulaiman, R. V. and Davis, K. (2012). The “New Extensionist”: Roles, Strategies,

16
1.7 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – POSSIBLE An Overview
ANSWERS
1) Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through

certain channels over time among the members of a social system. Diffusion
process is the spread of a new idea from its source of invention or creation
to its ultimate use of adopters.
2) Adoption is a decision to make full use of an innovation as the best course

of action available.
3) The adoption process is a decision-making process goes through a number

of mental stages (awareness of the existence of an innovation ; conviction
of its usefulness; acceptance in the sense of willingness to try the innovations
and ; complete adoption) before making a final decision to adopt an
innovation.
1) The four elements of diffusion process are: innovation; communication

channels; time, and; social system.
2) A social system is defined as a set of interrelated units that are engaged in

joint problem solving to accomplish a common goal.
3) The social structure of the system influence how and what information is
disseminated. The structure of a social system constitutes a set of boundaries
within which innovation diffuse. The differences in the adoption of
innovations at the village level can often to explained in terms of their
differences in structural characteristics. The degree to which a village is
structurally homogeneous or heterogeneous, unitary or highly stratified,
affects the rate of diffusion of innovations within its boundaries.
Homophily is the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are similar
in certain attributes, such as beliefs, education, social status, and the like.
When given the choice, individuals usually choose to interact with someone
similar to him or herself. Furthermore, homophilous individuals engage in
more effective communication because their similarities lead to greater
knowledge gain as well as attitude or behavior change. However, most
participants in the diffusion of innovations are heterophilous, meaning they
speak different languages, so to speak. The problem is that diffusion requires
a certain degree of heterophily; if two individuals are identical, no diffusion
occurs because no new information can be exchanged. Therefore, an ideal
situation would involve two individuals who are homophilous in every way,
except in knowledge of the innovation.
17
Development UNIT 2 INNOVATION PROCESS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
Structure
2.1 Introductions
2.2 Innovation Development Process
2.3 Innovation - Decision Process
2.4 Innovation - Decision Process Model
2.5 Let Us Sum Up
2.6 Keywords
2.1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Learner,
In the previous unit we discussed the innovation as an idea, practice, or object
that is perceived as new or an improvement over the existing one by the individual
or members of a social system. As a student of development studies, the following
questions may come into your mind.
• Where do development innovations come from?
• What are the factors influencing their origin?
• How does their origin influence later their diffusion and consequences?
In the unit 2 of block 6 under this course, we discussed that adoption of an
innovation usually follows a normal, S shaped curve when plotted over time on
a frequency basis. Past research studies on diffusion and adoption of innovations
have typically began at the point left hand tail of the S shaped curve, i.e., with
the very first adopters of any innovation. However, decisions and events occurring
previous to this point lead to development of an innovation. Therefore, those
decisions and events have strong influence on the diffusion and adoption of
innovations.
• Explain the concept and meaning of innovation development and decision
processes.
• Describe the innovation - decision process model
2.2 INNOVATION DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

The innovation development process consist of all the decisions, activities, and
their impacts that occur from recognition of a need or a problem, through research,
development, and commercialization of an innovation, through diffusion and
adoption of the innovation by users, to its consequences. From this definition we
can identify the following six main stages in the innovation – development
18 process.
i) Need / problem recognition Innovation Process for
Development
ii) Basic / applied research
iii) Development
iv) Commercialization
v) Diffusion and adoption
vi) Consequences
These six stages are somewhat arbitrary in that they don’t always occur in exactly
the order shown above, and some stages may be skipped in the case of certain
innovations.
2.2.1 Need / Problem Recognition

Need / problem recognition is usually the first stage in the innovation development
process. Identification of need / problem stimulates research and development
activities to solve the problem and address the need.
Efforts to promote change through extension and development programmes are

successful only to the extent they are focused on the important needs of the
people and are effective in helping people meet these needs. In extension and
development programmes, people adopt the developmental innovation only when
they think that the innovation is valuable to them in meeting personal, family,
group or community needs which they themselves recognize. The element of
need and need identification therefore, should be the fundamental concern in
innovation development process. In short people concern themselves with
extension and development innovations only on the basis of needs as they see
them, not planners view them. Hence, a clear understanding of the nature and
role of people’s developmental needs is essential in innovation development
process.
2.2.2 Basic / Applied Research

Most of the innovations that have been studied in diffusion research have been
technological innovations. Therefore, the term ‘technology’ is often used as a
synonym for innovation. Most technological innovations are created by scientific
research as well as interplay of research and practical problems. The knowledge
base for technology usually derives from basic research. Scientific knowledge is
put into practice as an innovation that will solve a perceived need / problem.
Applied researchers are the main users of basic research. Thus an innovation /
invention may result from a sequence of (a) basic research, followed by (b) applied
research, leading to (c) development.
Basic vs. Applied Research

Basic Research : Original investigations for the advancement of scientific
knowledge and that don’t have a specific objective of applying this knowledge
to practical problems.
Applied Research: It consists of scientific investigations that are intended
to solve practical problems.
Lead Users: Innovations are not always developed by researchers or

manufacturers. In some fields lead users develop innovations and then convince 19
Diffusion of Innovations for the manufacturing company to produce and sell the innovation, often after a lead
Development
user has created a prototype of the innovations. Typically the lead user develops
the innovation before the beginning of the S shaped diffusion curve.
In development work also, innovation(s) occurs as community talk, when

information is exchanged about needs / problems and possible indigenous
solutions to them.
2.2.3 Development
The research & development (R&D) are always closely related and usually
research precedes development. But in the context of innovation development
process, we argue that conceptually research and development are two distinct
phases. Development of an innovation is the process of putting a new idea in a
form that is expected to meet the needs of the potential adopters. This phase
usually occurs after research as part of creation of an innovation. The developer
of innovations must anticipate the problems of potential adopters in adopting
the innovation. In addition several other internal and external factors including
government policies may all affect the success of an innovation. Information
exchange about an innovation is thus, a crucial component affecting the innovation
development process. R&D workers devote much effort to obtaining and using
information which includes:
a) Data about the performance of the innovation they are creating and marketing
b) Inputs they are using into the innovation
c) Information about similar innovations evolving
d) Existing government policies that affect both innovation’s development and
its diffusion
e) Constraints of adopters in using the innovation to solve their problems
From the above discussion we may conclude that, innovation development process
is mostly driven by the exchange of technical information in the face of a high
degree of uncertainty.
Activity 1: Read the following case study on factors shaping the innovation
and answer the question.
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The Social Shaping of Technology

Every household refrigerator has a motor that drives a compressor that
condenses a liquid, releasing heat into the surrounding environment that the
liquid had previously absorbed inside the refrigerator when the liquid
vaporized. A superior alternative is the gas refrigerator, in which the ammonia
refrigerant is vaporized by heating it with a gas flame. Later, the refrigerant
dissolves in water, thus cooling the refrigerator box. The gas refrigerator has
20
Innovation Process for
no moving parts and hence is unlikely to breakdown. It also does not make Development
any noise. By about 1930, prototype refrigerators of both types were
developed, and one might expect that the gas refrigerator would have captured
the market because of its overwhelming advantages. It did not.
The main reason was the extensive R&D investment in the electric refrigerator
by General Electric, General Motors, Kelvinator, and Westing House. These
corporations decided that larger profits could be made from the electric
refrigerator, so they poured huge amounts of R&D funding into electric
refrigerator and aggressively promoted this product. Several smaller
companies that marketed gas refrigerators could not compete with their larger
opponents. So the good technology available to the consumers was shaped
by considerations of corporate profitability rather than by consumer choice
in the market place. As a result, the product that diffused was the refrigerator
with a hum (Source: Cowan, 1985).
Implications for Development

Technological determinism is the belief that technology causes changes in
society. This viewpoint implies that technology is somehow autonomous (that
is outside of society). Obviously, it is not. An opposite viewpoint, called
social determinism or the social construction of technology, argues that
technology is shaped by social factors. Technology is a product of society,
and is influenced by the norms and values of the social system. In the above
case, the technology selected was one that offered the greatest profits to the
corporate companies rather than most advantages to the consumers. So in
this case, economic factors such as potential profitability shaped the
technological innovation that was diffused to the public.
Many developmental innovations / programmes are shaped by various factors,

often beyond the needs / problems of the community.
Question: “Diffusion researchers sometimes devote disproportionate attention

to the effects of technology on society, and ignore the more fundamental
question of what shapes technology in the first place”. Do you agree with
this statement after reading the above case? Support your answer.
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2.2.4 Commercialization
Commercialization is the production, manufacturing, packaging, marketing, and
distribution of a product that embodies an innovation. Commercialization is the
conversion of an idea from research into a product or service for sale in the
market place.
Many innovations result from research activities. However, all innovations don’t
come from R&D. They may instead arise from practice or by lead users as
discussed in section 2.2.2 above.
21
Diffusion of Innovations for Sometimes two are more technologies are packed together to facilitate their
Development
diffusion because they have a functional interrelatedness, or at least they are so
perceived by potential adopters. A technology cluster or innovation package
consists of one or more distinguishable elements of technology that are perceived
as being interrelated closely. The basic argument in favor of clustering innovations
in a package is that more rapid diffusion results.
2.2.5 Diffusion and Adoption

One of the most crucial choices in the entire innovation development process is
the decision to begin diffusing an innovation to potential adopters. On the one
hand, there is usually pressure to approve an innovation for diffusion as soon as
possible, especially when the social problem or need that it seeks to solve has a
high priority. On the other hand, a change agent reputation and credibility in the
eyes of its clients rests on only recommending innovations that will have beneficial
consequences for adopters. R&D workers become very cautious when it comes
time to translate their scientific findings into practice.
Innovation gate keeping – controlling whether or not an innovation is diffused

to potential adopters – can occur in a variety of ways.
Examples : Quality control units - in Medical diffusion
On-farm trails - in Agriculture & allied research diffusion
Content & Language editing – in distance learning material
development
2.2.6 Consequences
Consequences are the changes that occur in an individual or a social system as a
result of the adoption or rejection of an innovation (Please refer Unit 4 under
Block 6 in this course for more discussion on consequences of innovations).
This is the final phase in the innovation – development process.
We may conclude that, the six stages in the innovation development process
occur in the linear sequence in which they were discussed. However, in many
cases they may not take place in that sequence or some phases may be skipped.
However, the knowledge about these stages is useful for understanding where
innovations come from.
1) Name the six stages in innovation development process.
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22
2) What is the difference between basic and applied research? Innovation Process for
Development
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3) What do you mean by lead users?
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2.3 INNOVATION - DECISION PROCESS

According to Rogers, the innovation -decision process is the process through
which an individual or other decision making unit passes from gaining initial
knowledge of an innovation , to forming an attitude toward the innovation, to
making a decision to adopt or reject, to implementation of the new idea, and to
confirmation of this decision. This process consists of a series of choices and
actions over time through which an individual or a system evaluates a new idea
and decides whether or not to incorporate the innovation into ongoing practice.
Uncertainty and Newness of Innovation

The uncertainty and perceived newness associated with new innovation /
idea are the distinctive aspects of innovation decision making compared to
other types of decision making
2.3.1 Stages in Adoption Process

Ryan and Gross ( 1943) first drew attention to the existence of a sequence of
stages in the process of adoption viz.,
i) ‘Awareness’ of the existence of an innovation
ii) ‘Conviction’ of usefulness
iii) ‘Acceptance’ in the sense of willingness to try the innovation, and
iv) ‘Complete adoption’
According to Wilkening (1953) adoption of an innovation is a process composed
of learning, deciding, and acting over a period of time. That means the adoption
of specific practices is not the result of a single decision to act but series of
actions and thought decisions. He identified four adoption stages:
i) Awareness
ii) Obtaining information
23
Diffusion of Innovations for iii) Conviction and trial, and
Development
iv) Adoption
It indicates that initial knowledge of a practice, its mental acceptance as a good
idea, its use on a trial basis and finally its full adoption. Wilkening’s first two
stages were later extended into three and the resulting five stages identified by
the North Central Rural Sociology Sub Committee for the study of Diffusion of
Farm practices (1955) are widely accepted and received world wide attention.
The five stages of adoption process are :
i) Awareness
ii) Interest
iii) Evaluation
iv) Trial
v) Adoption
Stages
Awareness - the individual is exposed to the Awareness
innovation but lacks complete information
about it
Interest - the individual becomes interested in Interest

the new idea and seeks additional information
about it
Evaluation - individual mentally applies the Evaluation

innovation to his present and anticipated future
situation, and then decides whether or not to
try it
Trial
Trial - the individual makes full use of the
innovation
Adoption - the individual decides to continue Adoption

the full use of the innovation
Let us briefly discus about these five stages.
Awareness Stage
This is the starting stage wherein the individual comes to know the existence of
the new idea but (s)he doesn’t have full information about the idea. At this stage
individual is aware of the idea, but lacks detailed information about it.
Example : Individuals may know MGNREGA only the name and may not
know what MGNREGA is, its role in rural employment generation and
development.
Interest Stage
The individual develops interest in the innovation / idea / practice and seeks
additional information about it either from extension officer or from fellow
24
community members or from any source, which he feels credible. That means Innovation Process for
Development
the individuals at the interest stage acquires more information about an innovation
or idea. They wants to know, what the innovation/idea is, how it works and
what its potentialities are.
Evaluation Stage
The individual here makes mental application of the new idea in the present and
anticipated future situations and decides whether or not to try it. The individual
at this stage judges the utility of the innovation. (S)he makes an assessment
whether the idea is applicable to own situation and if applied what would be the
result.
Example: Individual after acquiring more information about MGNREGA at the

interest stage, (s)he mentally judge MGNREGA’s contribution to his / her
employment and livelihood security.
Trial Stage
At the first instance, people may not take up any new idea / an innovation right
away on a large scale because (s)he doesn’t want to take risk even though the
potential of the idea has been proved. They actually applies the new idea on a
small scale in order to determine its utility or feasibility or applicability in own
situation. Even though, people takes a decision to try the idea by virtue of its
plus points or merits, generally the effectiveness of the idea is tested by taking it
on a small scale.
Adoption Stage
Being satisfied with the performance of the new idea tested on small scale in
their own situation, the people uses the new idea continuously on a full scale.
Trial may be considered as the practical evaluation of an innovation. Based on
feedback from trial, people take final decision and applies the innovation in a
scale appropriate to own situation on a continued basis.
The above five stages of adoption are dynamic and not static. The same five
stages do not occur with all the adopters and sequence is not always the same.
Some times one stage appears more than once. In some cases some stages are so
short as to be imperceptible, and in other cases some stages seem to be skipped.
If the people have confidence in the extension and development worker and
their recommendation, they may jump from evaluation to adoption stage. There
are no clear-cut differences and some times the whole process is capsule and
looks like a unit act.
2.3.2 Adoption Period

The time taken to pass from the awareness of an innovation to its adoption is
called the “adoption period”. The major aim of extension and development
workers is to shorten the length of the adoption period of an individual so that an
innovation will diffuse rapidly within a social system. They try to attain this goal
by making individuals aware of the innovation as quickly as possible and
persuading them to move rapidly through the stages of the adoption process and
adopt the innovations.
25
Diffusion of Innovations for Check Your Progress 2
Development
1) Name the five stages in adoption process.
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2) The five stages of adoption are dynamic and not static. Do you agree with
this statement? Support your answer.
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3) Name the two distinctive aspects of innovation decision making compared
to a normal decision making.
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4) What do you understand by the term ‘adoption period’?
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2.4 INNOVATION - DECISION PROCESS MODEL

The conceptualization of the five stages in adoption process has been highly
favored by diffusion researchers in the past. But the limitations of this model
are:
i) It implies that process always ends in adoption decisions, whereas in reality

rejection may also be a likely outcome. Therefore, a term more general than
“adoption process” is needed that allows for either adoption or rejection.
26
ii) The five stages described above do not always occur in the specified order, Innovation Process for
Development
and some of them may be skipped, especially the trial stage. Evaluation
actually occurs throughout the process, rather than just at one of the five
stages.
iii) The process seldom ends with adoption, as further information seeking may
occur to confirm or reinforce the decision, or the individual may later switch
from adoption to rejection (discontinuance).
Rogers has come up with a model of Innovation-Decision Process (Fig. 2.1) to

overcome the above limitations.
Prior Conditions
1. Pervious practice
2. Felt needs/problems
3. Innovativeness
4. Norms of the social systems Communication Channels
I. Knoweldge II. Persuation III. Decision IV. Implementation V. Confirmation
Percieved 1. Adoption Continued Adoption

Characteristics of the Characteristics of
Decision- 2. Rejection Laster Adoption
Innovation
Making unit Discontinuance
1. Relative advantage
1. Socio-economics 2. Compatibility
Characteristics 3. Complexity
2. Personality 4. Trialability
3. Communication 5. Observability
Continued Rejection
Fig.2.1:Innovation-Decision Process Model with Five Stages (Source : Rogers, 2003)
The model consists of essentially the five functions / stages viz.,

i) Knowledge
ii) Persuasion
iii) Decision
iv) Implementation
v) Confirmation
The model contains three major divisions viz.,
i) Antecedents
ii) Process
iii) Consequences
Antecedents are those variables present in the situation prior to the introduction
of an innovation which consist of:
i) Personality characteristics of individuals, like general attitude toward change
ii) Social characteristics of individuals, like cosmopoliteness 27
Diffusion of Innovations for iii) Strength of individual’s perceived need for the innovation.
Development
Communication sources and channels provide stimuli to the individual during
the innovation-decision process. The typical individual gains initial knowledge
of the innovation mainly from cosmopolite and mass media channels. At the
persuasion function, the individual forms his perception the innovation from
more localite and interpersonal channels. An innovation may be adopted at the
decision stage in the process and be used continuously or rejected at a later date
(a discontinuation).
Discontinuance may be due to the innovation’s replacement by an improved

idea or to disenchantment (disappointment) with the innovation. The new idea
may be rejected at the end of the process but adopted at a later date due to changes
in how the individual perceives the innovation. Continued information seeking
often occurs throughout the confirmation function, because the individual seeks
to reinforce his decision. Sometimes, however, contradictory (to the innovation-
decision) messages reach the individual, and this leads to discontinuance or later
adoption.
2.4.1 Knowledge Stage

Innovation-decision process begins with knowledge stage, which commences
when the individual is exposed to the innovation’s existence and gains some
understanding of how it functions. Knowledge function is mainly cognitive or
knowing. Knowledge seeking is initiated by an individual and is greatly influenced
by one’s predispositions.
Selective Exposure vs. Selective Perception

Individuals tend to expose themselves to ideas which are in accord with their
interests, needs, or existing attitudes. The tendency is called ‘selective
exposure’. Hassinger (1959) argues that individuals will seldom expose
themselves to messages about an innovation unless they first feel a need for
the innovation, and that even if such individuals are exposed to such innovation
messages, there will be little effect of such exposures unless the individual
perceives the innovation as relevant to his needs and as consistent with his
existing attitudes and beliefs. This tendency is called ‘selective perception’.
Example : We are all exposed daily to hundreds of mass media messages about
new products. But few of these only register on our minds.
Selective exposure and selective perception act as tight shutters on the windows
of our minds in the case of innovation messages, because such ideas are new.
We can scarcely have consistent and favourable attitudes and beliefs about
ideas which we have not previously encountered. There is, then, much in the
ideas of selective exposure and selective perception to support Hassinger’s
viewpoint that need for an innovation must usually precede awareness-
knowledge.
A need is a state of dissatisfaction or frustration that occurs when one’s desires

outweigh one’s actualities. An individual may develop a need when he learnt
that an improved method, an innovation, exists. Therefore, innovations can lead
to needs, as well as vice versa. Some change agents use this approach to change
by creating needs among their clients through pointing out the desirable
28
consequences of new idea. Thus, knowledge of innovations can create motivation Innovation Process for
Development
for their adoption.
Example : A farmer is used to practice low yielding crop varieties for years.
After hearing to the hybrid varieties and their high yielding potential, the farmer
would feel it as a need for his situation to adopt it.
A need can motivate an individual to seek information about an innovation and

the knowledge of a innovation may develop the need. Questions such as ‘what is
the innovation?’ ‘How does it work?’ and ‘Why does it work?’ are the main
concerns of an individual about an innovation.
Types of Knowledge
There are three types of knowledge related to innovation viz.,
i) Awareness-knowledge
ii) How-to-knowledge
iii) Principles’ knowledge
Awareness-knowledge : Awareness-knowledge - is information that an
innovation exists which motivates an individual to seek ‘how-to-knowledge and
‘principles’ knowledge. This type of information-seeking is concentrated at the
knowledge stage, but it may also occur at the persuasion and decision stages.
How-to-knowledge : How-to knowledge consists of information necessary to

use an innovation properly. The adopter must understand what quantity of an
innovation to secure, how to use it correctly, and so on. In the case of innovations
that are relatively more complex, the amount of how-to knowledge needed for
proper adoption is much greater than in the case of less complex ideas. When an
adequate level of how-to knowledge is not obtained prior to the trial and adoption
of an innovation, rejection and discontinuance are likely to result.
Principles’ knowledge : Principles-knowledge consists of information dealing

with the functioning principles underlying how the innovation works.
Examples : Functioning of vaccinations; Functioning of fertilizer and its relation

to plant biology
Extension Worker vs Types of Knowledge

It is usually possible to adopt an innovation without principle-knowledge,
but the danger of misusing the new idea is greater, and discontinuance may
result. The competence of individuals to decide whether or not to adopt an
innovation is facilitated by principles know-how. If a problem occurs in an
individual’s use of an innovation, principles-knowledge may be essential in
solving it. Most of the extension and development workers seem to
concentrate their efforts on creating awareness knowledge, although this goal
can be achieved more efficiently by mass media channels. Extension workers
/change agents could perhaps play their most distinctive and important role
in the innovation-decision process if they concentrate on “how-to-knowledge,
which is probably most essential to clients at the trial and decision function
in the process. Most extension workers perceive that creation of principle-
knowledge is outside the purview of their responsibilities and is a more
29
Development appropriate task for formal schooling and general education. It is admittedly
difficult for extension workers to teach basic understanding of principles.
But, when such understanding is lacking, the change agent’s long-run task
remains very difficult.
Knowledge about Innovation vs. Attitude

Knowing about an innovation is often quite a different matter from using the
idea. Most individuals know about many innovations which they have not
adopted. Why? One reason is because the individual knows about the new
idea but does not regard it as relevant to his situation, as potentially useful.
Therefore, attitudes toward an innovation frequently intervene between the
knowledge and decision functions. In other words, the individual’s attitudes
or beliefs about the innovation have much to say about his passage through
the decision process. Consideration of a new idea does not pass beyond the
knowledge function if the individual does not define the information as
relevant to him or if he does not seek sufficient knowledge to become
adequately informed so that persuasion can take place.
2.4.2 Persuasion Stage

The individual forms a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards the innovation
at the persuasion stage in the innovation-decision process. Whereas the mental
activity at the knowledge stage was mainly cognitive (or knowing), the main
type of thinking at the persuasion stage is affective (or feeling). At the persuasion
stage the individual becomes more psychologically involved with the innovation
and actively seeks information about the idea. Personality of individual as well
as the norms of the social system may affect information seeking behaviour and
its interpretation. Thus, selective perception is important in determining the
receiver’s communication behaviour at the attitude formation stage. At the
persuasion stage, a general perception of the innovation is developed. Such
perceived attributes of an innovation as its relative advantage, compatibility,
and complexity are especially important at this stage.
In developing a favourable or unfavourable attitude toward the innovation, the

individual may mentally apply the new idea to present or anticipated future
situation before deciding whether or not to try it. This might be thought of as a
vicarious trial. The ability to think hypothetically and counter-factually and to
project into the future, is an important mental capacity at the persuasion stage
where forward planning is involved.
Types of Attitudes
Like three levels of knowledge about an innovation, there are at least two levels
of attitudes:
i) Specific attitude toward the innovation
ii) General attitude toward change.
Specific attitude toward the innovation is our main concern at the persuasion
stage in the innovation-decision process. It consists essentially of a favourable
or unfavourable belief in the usefulness of the new idea for the users. Such a
specific attitude, however, has carryover from one innovation to another. A
30 previous positive experience with the adoption of innovation creates favourable
attitude to change that facilitates the development of a favourable evaluation of Innovation Process for
Development
the next innovation considered by an individual. On the contrary, a negative
experience from an innovation that is perceived
as a failure leads to resistance to future new ideas. Extension workers should

therefore begin their activities in a particular client system with an innovation
that possesses a high degree of relative advantage, that is compatible with existing
beliefs, and that has a very high likelihood of success. This will help create a
general, positive set toward change and paves the way for later ideas that may be
introduced.
Persuasion vs. Attitude

The main outcome of the persuasion function in the decision process is either
a favourable or unfavourable attitude toward the innovation. It is assumed
that such persuasion will lead to a subsequent change in overt behaviour (i.e.
adoption or rejection) consistent with the attitude held. But there is little
evidence that attitude and overt behaviour are always consistent, and we know
of many cases in which attitudes and actions are quite disparate.
Example: Individuals in urban areas may have positive attitude towards mass
transport system, but they may resort to individual vehicles in practice.
Hence, attitudes and actions are different. We should remember that formation
of a favourable or unfavourable attitude toward an innovation does not always
lead directly or immediately to an adoption or rejection decision. Nevertheless,
there is a tendency in this direction, that is, for attitudes and behaviour to
become more consistent.
2.4.3 Decision Stage

Individual engages in activities which lead to a choice to adopt or reject the
innovation at the decision stage in innovation-decision process.
Choices at Each Stage of Innovation Decision Process

The entire innovation-decision process is a series of choices at each stage.
Knowledge Stage : The individual must decide which innovation messages
to attend to and which ones to disregard.
Persuasion Stage : The individual must decide to seek certain messages
and to ignore others.
Decision Stage : The individual must decide between two alternatives, to
adopt or reject a new idea.
This decision involves an immediate consideration of whether or not to try the

innovation, if it is trialable. Most individuals will not adopt an innovtion without
trying it first on a pilot basis to determine its utility in their own situation. The
small-scale trial is often part of the decision to adopt, and is important as a
means to decrease the perceived risk of the innovation for the adopter. In some
cases innovation cannot be divided for trial, and so it must be adopted or rejected
in total. Innovations, which can be divided for trial use, are generally adopted
more rapidly. If the innovation has a certain degree of relative advantage in the
trial stage, then individual move to an adoption decision. 31
Diffusion of Innovations for 2.4.4 Implementation Stage
Development
Implementation occurs when an individual or other decision making unit puts
an innovation into use. At this stage the individual is generally concerned with
where to get the innovation, how to use it and what operational problems will be
faced and how these could be solved. Implementation may involve changes in
management of the enterprise and/or modification in the innovation, to suit more
closely to the specific needs of the particular person who adopts it.
Re-invention vs. Social Construction

Re-invention often occurs at the implementation stage. Re-invention is the
degree to which an innovation is changed or modified by a user in the process
of its adoption and implementation. Re-invention often is beneficial to the
adopters of an innovation. It reduce mistakes and encourage customization of
the innovation to fit it more appropriately to local situations or changing
conditions. As a result of re-invention, an innovation may be more appropriate
in matching an adopter’s preexisting problems and more responsive to new
problems that arise during the innovation-decision process.
Recognition of the existence of re-invention brings into focus a different view
of adoption behaviour – instead of simply accepting or rejecting an innovation
as a fixed idea, potential adopters on many occasions are active participants in
the adoption and diffusion process, to give their own unique meaning to the
innovation as it is applied in their local context. Adoption of an innovation is
thus a process of social construction.
2.4.5 Confirmation Stage

A decision to adopt or reject is not the terminal stage in the innovation-decision
process. Human mind is in a dynamic state and an individual constantly evaluates
the situation. If the individual perceives that the innovation is consistently giving
satisfactory or unsatisfactory results the person may continue to adopt or reject
the innovation as the case may be.
Rejection of an Innovation
Rejection is decision not to adopt an innovation. This may be of two types:
Active rejection : When an individual rejects after adopting the innovation
including even its trial is called active rejection
Passive rejection : A simple non- adoption is called passive rejection.
At the confirmation function the individual seeks reinforcement for the

innovation-decision made, but may reverse the previous decision if exposed to
conflicting message about the innovation. The confirmation stage continues after
the decision to adopt or reject for an indefinite period in time. Throughout the
confirmation function the individual seeks to avoid a state of internal
disequilibrium or dissonance or to reduce it if it occurs.
Dissonance : It is an uncomfortable state of mind that the individual seeks to

reduce or eliminate. When an individual feels dissonant, he will ordinarily be
motivated to reduce this condition by changing his knowledge, attitude, or actions.
In the case of innovative behaviour, this may occur in the following three methods
32 of dissonance reduction:
i) When the individual becomes aware of a felt need or problem and seeks Innovation Process for
Development
information about some means such as an innovation to meet this need.
Hence, a receiver’s knowledge of a need for innovation can motivate
information-seeking activity about the innovation. This occurs at the
knowledge stage in the innovation-decision process.
ii) When individual becomes aware of a new idea for which he has a favourable
regard, then the individual is motivated to adopt the innovation by the
dissonance between what he believes and what he is doing. This behaviour
occurs at the decision stage in the innovation-decision process.
iii) After the innovation-decision to adoption, the individual may secure further
information which persuades him that he should not have adopted. This
dissonance may be reduced by discontinuing the innovation. Or if he
originally decided to reject the innovation, the individual may become
exposed to pro-innovation messages, causing a state of dissonance which
can be reduced by adoption. These types of behaviour (discontinuance or
later adoption) occur during the confirmation function in the innovation-
decision process.
These three methods of dissonance reduction consist of changing behaviour so

that attitudes and actions are more in line.
Selective Exposure vs. Dissonance

Individuals frequently try to avoid becoming dissonant by seeking only that
information which they expect will support or confirm a decision already
made. This is an illustration of selective exposure. During the confirmation
stage the individual wants supportive messages that will prevent dissonance
from occurring. The adoption of the confirmation function to the innovation-
decision process suggests a new role for the extension worker. Whereas
development workers have in the past primarily been interested in achieving
adoption decision, the new model gives them the additional responsibility
for providing supporting messages to individuals who have previously
adopted. Probably one of the reasons for the relatively high rate of
discontinuance of some innovations is that extension workers assume that
once adoption is secured, it will continue. But without continued effort there
is no assurance against discontinuance, because negative messages about an
innovation exist in more client systems.
Discontinuance : Discontinuance is a decision to reject as innovation after

having previously adopted it. Discontinuance also may take three forms.
i) Replacement discontinuance : It is a decision to reject an idea in order to

adopt a better idea that supersedes.
Example: Hybrid variety over normal variety.
ii) Disenchantment discontinuance: It is a decision to reject an idea as a result
of dissatisfaction with the performance.
Example : Crop varieties generally deteriorate after number of years. They

are then replaced by superior varieties, if available, or may not be cultivated
at all.
33
Diffusion of Innovations for iii) Forced Discontinuance : Individuals are forced to discontinue the existing
Development
practices because of Government Policies.
Example : The Government has banned the use of chemicals like D.D.T.
and B.H.C.
Other Important Concepts in Innovation - Decision Process

Over Adoption : If people continue to adopt an innovation, rather vigorously,
when extension workers feel that it should not be so done is over adoption.
Over adoption produces negative effect and may cause distortion or
deterioration of the related systems. Inadequate knowledge about an
innovation and inability to predict its consequences generally leads to over
adoption.
Example 1. Indiscriminate sinking of shallow tube wells in a limited area,
which may result in lowering of the water table, ultimately making the
irrigation system ineffective.
Example 2: Excessive use of pesticides.
As a change agent, your role is to prevent the excessive adoption of the
innovation by providing adequate knowledge about the innovation through
training and communication.
Active Adoption : It is the process by which the individual who takes up an
innovation influences others to do so.
Example : An individual not only adopts a particular method of family
planning, but also but also influences others to do the practice
Passive Adoption : If the individual who adopts the practice do not influence
the other individuals to do the practice, the innovation is confined to the
individual who has adopted.
In the active adoption, diffusion effect is more compared to passive adoption.
Innovation – Decision Period : It is the length of time required to pass
through the innovation – decision process. The time elapsing from awareness-
knowledge of an innovation to decision for an individual is measured in
days, months, or years. This period is thus a gestation period in which a new
idea is fermenting in the individual’s mind. Earlier adopters have a shorter
innovation – decision period than later adopter

1) Why Rogers has come up with a model of Innovation-Decision Process?
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34
2) Name the stages in Innovation – Decision Process. Innovation Process for
Development
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3) What are the three types of knowledge related to innovation? How they
play their role in the functioning of extension workers.
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4) What do you mean by active and passive rejections?
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5) Name the three forms of discontinuance of innovation.
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2.5 LET US SUM UP

We started with the following questions to understand this unit:
• Where do development innovations come from?
• What are the factors influencing their origin?
• How does their origin influence later their diffusion and consequences?
In this unit, we have tried to answer these questions by understanding that,
decisions and events occurring previous to innovation development have strong
influence on the diffusion and adoption of innovations. At the outset, we discussed
the innovation development process and understood that, it consist of six main
stages viz., need / problem recognition; basic / applied research; development; 35
Diffusion of Innovations for commercialization; diffusion and adoption and; consequences. Later we discussed
Development
the innovation -decision process as the process through which an individual or
other decision making unit passes from gaining initial knowledge of an innovation
, to forming an attitude toward the innovation, to making a decision to adopt or
reject, to implementation of the new idea, and to confirmation of this decision.
At the end we also discussed the Roger’s model of innovation-decision process.
2.6 KEYWORDS
Innovation Development : It consists of all the decisions, activities, and their
Process impacts that occur from recognition of a need or
a problem, through research, development, and
commercialization of an innovation, through
diffusion and adoption of the innovation by users,
to its consequences.
Basic Research : Original investigations for the advancement of

scientific knowledge and that don’t have a
specific objective of applying this knowledge to
practical problems.
Applied Research : It consists of scientific investigations that are

intended to solve practical problems
Consequences : Consequences are the changes that occur in an

individual or a social system as a result of the
adoption or rejection of an innovation. This is
the final phase in the innovation – development
process.
Innovation-decision Process: It is the process through which an individual or

other decision making unit passes from gaining
initial knowledge of an innovation, to forming
an attitude toward the innovation, to making a
decision to adopt or reject, to implementation of
the new idea, and to confirmation of this decision.
Awareness Stage : In this stage, the individual is exposed to the

innovation but lacks complete information about
it.
Interest Stage : In this stage, the individual becomes interested

in the new idea and seeks additional information
about it.
Evaluation Stage : In this stage, the individual mentally applies the

innovation to his present and anticipated future
situation, and then decides whether or not to try
it.
Trial Stage : In this stage, the individual makes full use of the
innovation.
36
Adoption Stage : In this stage, the individual decides to continue Innovation Process for
Development
the full use of the innovation.
Adoption Period : The time taken to pass from the awareness of an

innovation to its adoption is called the adoption
period.
Awareness-knowledge : Awareness-knowledge - is information that an

innovation exists which motivates an individual
to seek ‘how-to-knowledge and ‘principles’
knowledge.
How-to-knowledge : How-to knowledge consists of information

necessary to use an innovation properly.
Principles’ knowledge : Principles-knowledge consists of information

dealing with the functioning principles
underlying how the innovation works.
Re-invention : It is the degree to which an innovation is changed

or modified by a user in the process of its
adoption and implementation.
Rejection : It is the decision not to adopt an innovation.
Active rejection : When an individual rejects after adopting the

innovation including even its trial is called active
rejection.
Passive rejection : A simple non- adoption is called passive

rejection.
Dissonance : It is an uncomfortable state of mind that the

individual seeks to reduce or eliminate in the
adoption process.
Discontinuance : Discontinuance is a decision to reject as

innovation after having previously adopted it.
Replacement Discontinuance: It is a decision to reject an idea in order to adopt

a better idea that supersedes.
Disenchantment Discontinuance: It is a decision to reject an idea as a result of

dissatisfaction with the performance.
Forced Discontinuance : Individuals are forced to discontinue the existing

practices because of Government Policies.
Over Adoption : If people continue to adopt an innovation, rather

vigorously, when extension workers feel that it
should not be so done is over adoption.
Active Adoption : It is the process by which the individual who takes

up an innovation influences others to do so.
37
Diffusion of Innovations for Passive Adoption : If the individual who adopts the practice do not
Development
influence the other individuals to do the practice,
the innovation is confined to the individual who
has adopted.
Innovation – Decision Period: It is the length of time required to pass through

the innovation – decision process.

Coleman, J. S., Katz, E., & Mentzel, H. 1966. Medical innovation: Diffusion of
a medical drug among doctors. Indianapolis, MN: Bobbs-Merrill.
Rogers, E.M. 1976. New product adoption and diffusion. Journal of Consumer
Research, 2, 290–301.
Rogers, E.M. 1994. A history of communication study: A biographical approach.

New York: Free Press.
Rogers, E.M.1995. Diffusion of Innovations (4th ed.). New York: Free Press.
Rogers, E., & Singhal, A. 1996. Diffusion of innovations. In Salwen and Stacks,
op. cit., (pp. 409-420).
Sulaiman, R. V. and Davis, K. (2012). The “New Extensionist”: Roles, Strategies,

Suvedi M., and Kaplowitz M.D. (2016). Process Skills and Competency Tools
– What Every Extension Worker Should Know – Core Competency Handbook.

ANSWERS
1) The six stages in innovation development process are : need / problem
recognition; basic / applied research; development; commercialization;
diffusion and adoption, and; consequences.
2) Basic research is the original investigations for the advancement of scientific
knowledge and that don’t have a specific objective of applying this
knowledge to practical problems. Whereas, applied research consists of
scientific investigations that are intended to solve practical problems.
3) Lead users develop innovations and then convince the manufacturing
company to produce and sell the innovation, often after a lead user has
38
created a prototype of the innovations. Typically the lead user develops the Innovation Process for
Development
innovation before the beginning of the S shaped diffusion curve.
1) The five stages in adoption process are : awareness; interest; evaluation;

trial, and ; adoption stages.
2) Yes. I agree with the statement that, the five stages of adoption are dynamic
and not static. The same five stages do not occur with all the adopters and
sequence is not always the same. Sometimes one stage appears more than
once. In some cases some stages are so short as to be imperceptible, and in
other cases some stages seem to be skipped. If the people have confidence
in the extension and development worker and their recommendation, they
may jump from evaluation to adoption stage. There are no clear-cut
differences and sometimes the whole process is capsule and looks like a
unit act.
3) The uncertainty and perceived newness associated with new innovation /

idea are the distinctive aspects of innovation decision making compared to
other types of decision making.
4) The time taken to pass from the awareness of an innovation to its adoption
is called the adoption period.
1) Rogers has come up with a model of Innovation-Decision Process to address

the following limitations in the five stages of adoption process. (i) It implies
that process always ends in adoption decisions, whereas in reality rejection
may also be a likely outcome. Therefore, a term more general than “adoption
process” is needed that allows for either adoption or rejection (ii) The five
stages described in the adoption process do not always occur in the specified
order, and some of them may be skipped, especially the trial stage (ii) The
process seldom ends with adoption, as further information seeking may
occur to confirm or reinforce the decision, or the individual may later switch
from adoption to rejection (discontinuance).
2) The stages in Innovation – Decision Process are: Knowledge; Persuasion;

Decision; Implementation, and; Confirmation stages.
3) The three types of knowledge related to innovation are: awareness-

knowledge; how-to-knowledge, and ; principles’ knowledge. Extension
workers /change agents could perhaps play their most distinctive and
important role in the innovation-decision process if they concentrate on
“how-to-knowledge, which is probably most essential to clients at the trial
and decision function in the process. Most extension workers perceive that
creation of principle-knowledge is outside the purview of their
responsibilities and is a more appropriate task for formal schooling and
general education. It is admittedly difficult for extension workers to teach
basic understanding of principles. But, when such understanding is lacking,
the change agent’s long-run task remains very difficult.
39
Diffusion of Innovations for 4) When an individual rejects after adopting the innovation including even its
Development
trial is called active rejection. Whereas, a simple non- adoption is called
passive rejection.
5) The three forms of discontinuance of innovation are: replacement

discontinuance ; disenchantment discontinuance, and; forced discontinuance.
40
MDV-108
and Extension
Block
6
INNOVATION, INNOVATIVENESS AND ADOPTER
CATEGORIES
Unit 1
Attributes of Innovation 5
Unit 2
Innovativeness and Adopter Categories 20
Unit 3
Opinion Leaders and Diffusion Networks 34
Unit 4
Consequences of Innovation 47
Ahmedabad
Prof. Kumar B. Das

Prof. Preet Rustagi
Prof. Vijayabhinandana Prof. S.V.N.Rao, RAGACOVAS,
Agricultural College, Puducherry (Content & Language Editor)
Bapatla (Unit 1) Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar, IGNOU, New Delhi
Dr. Debasish Saha & Prof. P.V.K. Sasidhar Prof. B. K. Pattanaik, IGNOU, New Delhi
IGNOU, New Delhi (Unit 2)
Dr. V. Sailaja
S.V. Agricultural College, Tirupati
(Units 3 & 4)

PRODUCTION TEAM
February, 2019
ISBN : 978-93-88498-77-7
BLOCK 6 INNOVATION, INNOVATIVENESS
AND ADOPTER CATEGORIES
An innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an individual

or by other unit of adoption. Innovations come from research and developmental
organizations as well as from people / communities also. Innovations are governed
by certain attributes and innovation’s intrinsic quality is not important for adoption
and diffusion but the people’s perception towards an innovation in terms of
attributes is more important for us. These attributes influence innovation’s rate
of adoption. All the people do not adopt the innovations at same time - some take
little time to adopt and others take longer time and this is explained by
Innovativeness and based on this, the people are classified into different adopter
categories. Therefore, Block 4 is intended for the purpose of: knowing the
innovation and perceived attributes of innovation; innovativeness and adopter
categories; opinion leaders and their influence in diffusion of innovations and;
consequences of innovations.
Unit 1 on ‘Attributes of Innovation’ discusses meaning and importance of

various attributes of innovation viz., relative advantage, compatibility, complexity,
trialability and observability (communicability). It also discusses the relationship
between attributes and rate of adoption.
Unit 2 on ‘Innovativeness and Adopter Categories’ focus is on the meaning of

innovativeness and classification and characteristics of adopter categories based
on innovativeness.
Unit 3 on ‘Opinion Leaders and Diffusion Networks’ discusses the concept of

opinion leadership, methods of measuring opinion leadership, types and
characteristics of opinion leaders. It also explains the meaning of diffusion
networks and importance of critical mass in diffusion process.
Unit 4 on ‘Consequences of Innovations’ discusses the concept and three types

of consequences of innovations viz., desirable versus undesirable consequences,
direct versus indirect consequences, and anticipated versus unanticipated
consequences. Further, it also explains the dynamic equilibrium and equality in
the consequences of innovations.
.
Innovation, Innovativeness
and Adopter Categories
4
Attributes of Innovation
UNIT 1 ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATION
Structure
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Meaning and Importance of Attributes of Innovation
1.3 Relative Advantage
1.4 Compatibility
1.5 Complexity
1.6 Trialability
1.7 Observability
1.8 Predictability
1.9 Let Us Sum Up
1.10 Keywords
1.1 INTRODUCTION
One of the most important functions of development professionals is to bridge
the gulf between the research and development organizations and the people /
communities in the process of development. In other words, successful
communication is the main job of the extension and development worker. An
extension worker’s job is not only informing the people about developmental
ideas, programmes or practices, but also to ensure practical application of them
at the cutting edge. Extension worker’s efficiency can be measured (i) by the
speed or quickness with which the gulf between what is known and what is done
by the people is bridged (ii) by the number of new practices or innovations
adopted and (iii) also by the number of people or communities that adopt the new
practices or innovations. In the discharge of important functions, the extension
workers are faced with some questions and one among them is why some
innovations are adopted quickly and with little apparent efforts, while others are
accepted after few years of effort put forth by the extension agencies? The diffusion
researchers had indicated that innovations do have certain attributes and these
would make difference in rate of adoption. This unit identifies attributes
of innovations and how these influence or predict the rate of adoption of
innovations.
After studying this unit, you would be able to:
• Explain the meaning of attributes of innovation and discuss its importance
in diffusion
• Discuss about five attributes of innovation
• Describe the relationship between attributes of innovation and rate of
adoption
5
and Adopter Categories 1.2 MEANING AND IMPORTANCE OF
ATTRIBUTES OF INNOVATION
An innovation is an idea perceived as new by an individual. Attributes are qualities,
characteristics or traits possessed by an object. An innovation has some qualities
or characteristics. It is not the intrinsic quality, but the quality or character of the
innovation as people / communities see them is important for extension. The
characteristics of an innovation, inherent or as perceived by its potential adopters
influence the rate of its diffusion in a social system. The perception of the
characteristics of an innovation may in fact be widely different from its “actual”
or inherent characteristics.
Much diffusion research has studied “people” differences in innovativeness (that
is determining the characteristics of the different adopter categories). Mush less
effort has been devoted to adopting “innovation” differences that is, in investigating
how the perceived properties of innovations affect their rate of adoption although
the imbalance between people versus innovation differences in diffusion research
may be disappearing in recent years. Diffusion researchers in the past tended to
regard all innovations as equivalent units from the viewpoint of their analysis. In
fact, each innovation is unique in terms of its diffusion. For that reason please go
through the case study, on the attributes of innovation that affect its rate of adoption,
presented in the Box.
Attributes of Innovation vs. Rate of Adoption by Farmers

Let us discuss further the attributes of innovation that affect its rate of adoption
with the help of a case study conducted in West Bengal on four different
innovations. The diffusion rates of four of the innovations in six villages of
West Bengal State have been shown in Table 1.1. The variation in the diffusion
rate of the innovations was explained in terms of six traits or attributes viz., (1)
utility or the importance of the need fulfilled by an innovation, (2)
communicability or the ease with which the usefulness of the practice can be
communicated; (3) the immediacy of the result after the application of the
innovation; (4) complexity of the innovation, (5) cost involved in use and
application of the innovation and (6) ideation involved in the use of the
innovation, that is, whether the extent to which each component of the innovation
contributes to the desired result.
Table 1.1: Percent of farmers who adopted innovations
Village Innovations
Plant Protection Chemical Improved Rice Cultivation in
Chemicals Fertilizers Jute Seeds Japanese Method
A 95.2. 92.8 16.7 7.2
B 95.2. 82.1 46.4 3.6
C 83.3 89.4 13.6 9.1
D 81.9 68.1 23.8 2.5
E 83.3 72.2 13.3 2.4
F 80.3 59.1 29.9 0.7
Source: Bose, S.P. and Dasgupta, S. (1962). The Adoption Process. Calcutta: Dept. of Agriculture,
6 Govt. of West Bengal.
From the Table 1.1, we can come to an understanding that plant protection
chemicals and the Japanese method of rice cultivation represented the two
extremes of the innovation characteristics that affected their diffusion rates.
Plant protection chemicals were characterized by all the attributes, which
contributed to their rapid diffusion. In case of a pest attack, the farmer can
easily see what threatens his crop, and the perceived need to resist the pest
attack stimulates him into action. The utility of plant protection chemicals is
easily communicable and demonstrable. The farmer can see that by dusting and
spraying chemicals, he can bring the pest attack under control and save the
crop. The result of the application is immediate and obvious to the farmer. The
use of plant protection chemicals require little skill and the operations involved
are simple and straight forward. The cost of using plant protection chemicals is
within the means of most farmers. Finally, no ideation is involved in the
application of the practice from the appearance of the pest up to the time it is
destroyed. In other words, the whole process is “simple, direct and inexpensive”
The Japanese method of rice cultivation on the other hand, is characterized by

traits or attributes which slow down the diffusion rate of an innovation. The
utility of the innovation, in terms of the need it fulfills is not clear and obvious to
the farmer. The practice includes a series of operations such as special treatment
of the seeds before sowing, raising the seed bed in the recommended manner,
heavy and careful manuring of the field, special care in uprooting seedlings for
transplantation, transplanting of seedlings in properly spaced straight rows, and
careful and repeated weeding of the rice field after transplantation. The operations
involved are too numerous and complex to be easily communicable and
demonstrable to farmers. It is difficult for farmers to understand and appreciate
the contribution of each operation to the yield of the crop. The entire process is
too complex to understand easily, the results of its application are not immediate,
and the cost involved in its use is not always within the means of an average
farmer. The two innovations were thus almost diametrically opposite in utility,
communicability, immediacy, complexity, cost, and ideation which resulted in a
rapid diffusion rate for one and an extremely slow diffusion rate for the other.
This illustration gives a clear picture on the importance of studying the attributes
of innovation and their influence on the rate of adoption. Extension officer can
predict the diffusion rates or rate of adoption of innovations with the information
on perceived attributes of innovation. Therefore, he or she has to constantly pursue
with the farmers how they look towards innovations.
1.2.1 Rate of Adoption and Attributes of Innovation

Rate of adoption is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted by
members of a social system. It is generally measured as the number of individuals
who adopt a new idea in a specified period, such as a year. The perceived attributes
of an innovation are one important explanation of the rate of adoption of an
innovation. Most of the variance in the rate of adoption of innovations, from 49
to 87 per cent is explained by six attributes (Rogers, 1995):
i) Relative advantage
ii) Compatibility
iii) Complexity
iv) Trialability and
7
Innovation, Innovativeness v) Observability
vi) Predictability
The other variables that affect an innovation’s rates of adoption are:

i) Type of innovation decision
ii) Nature of communication channels diffusing the innovation at various stages
in the innovation-decision process
iii) Nature of the social system in which the innovation is diffusing, and
iv) Extent of change agent promotion efforts in diffusing the innovation.
Most of the Indian studies have used the five attributes stated by Rogers (1995).
Therefore, they are described here under for your understanding.
Activity 1: Visit any village nearby, select any developmental innovation

and ask people the characteristics of that innovation. Compare them with
those given in the above section and write your observations.
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1) Write the meaning of innovation?
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2) What do you mean by attributes of innovation?
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8
3) How do you understand the term rate of adoption? Attributes of Innovation
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4) Name the attributes of innovation.
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1.3 RELATIVE ADVANTAGE

Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better
than the idea it supersedes. The nature of innovation determines what specific
type of relative advantage (economic, social and the like) is more important to
adopters, although the characteristics of the potential adopters may also affect
the relative advantage. In other words, the relative advantage may have number
of dimensions. The innovations that have more relative advantage are likely to be
adopted quickly.
Examples of Relative Advantage in Agriculture

• A new technology which gives more yield or income or saves time, labour
and cost or has less risk than the existing one has more relative advantage.
• Multiple use of an innovation may be a form of relative advantage. For
example, an equipment or material, which may be used for a number of
activities, has more advantage than an equipment or material that can be
used for a single purpose.
• The advantage of location for specific enterprises in specific areas may
provide some relative advantage. For example, Kadiyam in Andhra
Pradesh is having more favourable climate for horticultural nurseries.
1.3.1 Factors of Relative Advantage

• Economic Factors: When the price of new product decreases so dramatically
during its diffusion process, a rapid rate of adoption is encouraged.
Example: When Bt. cotton seed price was reduced, lot of farmers purchased.
Similar case was observed in case of cellular phones also.
• Social Factors: In some cases, economic profitability might be expected to
be less crucial in explaining the rate of adoption. In such cases, other non-
economic dimensions of relative advantage, such as social prestige and social 9
Innovation, Innovativeness approval, are expected to explain rate of adoption, as would such other
attributes of innovations as compatibility with sociocultural values. This is
very much prevalent in our Indian conditions.
Example : Even when the price of beef to be halved in India, majority Hindus
would not begin eating cows.
The sub- factors / dimensions of relative advantage include:

i) Degree of economic profitability
ii) Low initial cost
iii) Decrease in discomfort
iv) Social prestige
v) Savings in time and effort, and
vi) Immediacy of the reward.
Nevertheless, there are many innovations which do not run so counter to cultural
and social norms, and in these cases the rate of adoption is likely to be more rapid
if the innovation is more economically or socially profitable.
Diffusion scholars have found relative advantage to be one of the best predictor
of an innovation’s rate of adoption. Relative advantage indicates the benefits and
the costs resulting from adoption of an innovation. We may summarize this
discussion of relative advantage that the relative advantage of a new idea, as
perceived by members of a social system, is positively related to its rate of
adoption. That means, the greater the relative advantage of an innovation, the
more rapid its rate of adoption will be.
Activity 2: Select any developmental innovation which has replaced earlier

one in any near by village and ask people about its relative advantages. Write
your observations.
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1) What do you mean by relative advantage?
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10
2) Name the sub- factors / dimensions of relative advantage. Attributes of Innovation
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1.4 COMPATIBILITY
Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived consistent with
the existing values, past experiences and needs of the receivers. An idea that is
not compatible with the salient characteristics of a social system will not be adopted
so rapidly as an idea that is compatible. Compatibility ensures greater security
and less risk to the receiver and makes the new idea more meaningful. An
innovation may be compatible with:
i) Socio-cultural values and beliefs
ii) Previously introduced ideas
iii) Client needs for innovations.
1.4.1 Physical and Cultural Compatibility

Physical compatibility refers to the degree to which a new idea or practice is
consistent with existing practices relating to economic activities.
Example 1: The mould board plough was found physically incompatible by

many farmers because their bullocks were not strong enough to pull the ploughs
that dug deep into soil.
Example 2: High yielding varieties of wheat have been found to be physically

incompatible with their farming situation by farmers who do not have irrigation
facilities or the capital to invest.
Cultural compatibility refers to the degree to which an innovation is consistent

with the existing values, beliefs, habits and tradition in a social system. Innovations
with obvious economic advantage are often rejected because they are found by
farmers to be socially disadvantageous. The social advantage of an innovation is
often measured in terms of its cultural compatibility.
Example 1: The lack of cultural compatibility contributed to the failure of piggery

farming in many villages.
Compatibility is positively correlated with rate of adoption.
Miracle Rice Vs Cultural Compatibility

Miracle varieties of rice developed by International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) in the Philippines, have tripled a farmer’s rice yields. The IRRI miracle
rice varieties spread rapidly throughout Asia, causing the so-called Green
Revolution. But IRRI had bred only the miracle rice varieties for high yields
and resistance to pests. No attention had been given to the taste of the rice.
11
and Adopter Categories The research studies on diffusion of miracle rice in South India found that the
new varieties did not taste “right” to the villagers who adopted the new seed.
They sold the harvest from the IRRI rice varieties in the market, while
continuing to plant some of the traditional rice seed for their family’s
consumption. The “miracle rice” sells for a price about 20 per cent lower than
the local varieties. Initially it was felt that “with triple rice yields, people will
soon learn to like the taste of IRRI rice!” But even after 40 years, South
Indian farmers and consumers still prefer BPT (Sonamasuri) variety of rice.
In recent years, the IRRI finally introduced consumer taste as a trait at par
with high yield in their rice breeding programme.
1.4.2 Compatibility with Previously Introduced Ideas / Names

An innovation may be compatible not only with deeply embedded cultural values
but also with previously adopted ideas. Compatibility of an innovation with a
preceding idea can either speed up or retard its rate of adoption. Old ideas are the
main mental tools that individuals utilize to assess new ideas and give them
meaning. Individuals cannot deal with an innovation except on the basis of
familiarity. Previous practice provides a standard against which an innovation
can be interpreted thus decreasing its uncertainty.
Example: Vermi-compost application for horticultural crops can be quoted as

one of the successful examples of fast spreader innovation. Farmers used to apply
a lot of compost and FYM to the crops and in the similar way vermin-compost is
not a new one and is similar with past experience and further all waste material
can be used and also the quality of product has got relative advantage and hence
its usage has become a regular practice by the farmers.
Also it is recommended that a receiver-oriented, empirical approach to naming

an innovation is to be practiced, so that the word symbol for a new idea has the
desired meaning for the intended audience. Please go through the following boxes
which describe how compatibility with past ideas / names matter in the adoption
of innovation.
Compatibility vs. Innovation Negativism

Innovation negativism is the degree to which an innovation’s failure conditions
a potential adopter to reject future innovations. A negative experience with
one innovation can damn the adoption of future innovations which can be an
undesirable aspect of compatibility. When one idea fails, potential adopters
are conditioned to view all future innovations with apprehension. For this
reason, change agents should begin their efforts with an innovation that has a
high degree of relative advantage, so that they can build on this initial success
with innovations that are compatible with the pioneering new idea.
Example: National Family Planning campaign in India began with promotion

of the intra-uterine device (IUD), a method that was widely discontinued in
the 1960s. Family planning in North India has never been able to recover
from this disastrous failure. (Rogers, 1973).
A new IUD, the “Copper T,” was introduced in South Korea some years ago
without careful consideration of an appropriate Korean name,. The letter “T”
does not exist in the Korean alphabets and copper is considered a very base
metal with a very unfavorable connotation.
12
Compatibility of Tractors With Past Experience in Punjab
Compatibility with a previously introduced idea can cause over adoption or
mis-adoption. An illustration comes from the introduction of tractors in the
Punjab, a prosperous farming area in North India. Tractor gave social prestige
to the owner much as had the bullocks that the tractor replaced as a means of
farm power and as transportation to market towns. Punjabi farmers however,
did not carry out the basic maintenance of the tractors, such as cleaning the
air filters and replacing the oil filter. As a result, a new tractor typically broke
down after a year or two of use, with the farmer often failing to repair it. A
foreign consultant made up a tractor maintenance chart and had it translated
into Punjabi language. The chart was printed in five colours and distributed
by agricultural extension workers to all farmers who had tractors. Still the
tractors broke down due to lack of proper maintenance. Then a salesman who
had previously sold blankets to farmers for covering their bullocks in cold
weather came to Punjab. Within a few days, tractors were observed with a
blanket covering the hood. The foreign expert warned farmers that the blanket
could cause the tractor engine to overheat. Nevertheless, within ten days,
virtually every tractor had a blanket covering its hood. To Punjabi farmers, it
made sense to keep their source of farm power warm during winter weather.
But cleaning the air filter and the oil filter on their tractor was not compatible
with their previous experience of caring their bullocks. In this case past
experience had negative consequences (Source: Carter, 1994).
1.4.3 Compatibility with Felt Needs

One indication of the compatibility of an innovation is the degree to which it
meets felt need. Change agents seek to determine the needs of their clients and
then recommends innovations that fulfill these needs. Potential adopters may
not recognize that they have a need for an innovation until they become aware of
the new idea or its consequences. Change agents may seek to generate needs
among their clients, but this must be done carefully or else the felt needs upon
which a diffusion campaign is based may be a reflection only of the change agent’s
needs, rather than those of clients. Thus, one dimension of compatibility is the
degree to which an innovation is perceived as meeting the needs of the client
system. When felt needs are met, a faster rate of adoption usually occur.
1.4.4 Indigenous Knowledge System

The basic notion of the compatibility attribute is that a new idea is perceived in
relationship to existing practices that are already familiar to the individual change
agent and others who introduce an innovation often commit an “empty vessels
fallacy” by assuming that potential adopters are blank slates who lack any relevant
experience with which to associate the new idea. The empty vessels fallacy denies
that compatibility is important. In the past decade, the empty vessels fallacy has
been overcome in agriculture, health, and family planning by analysis of
indigenous knowledge systems. Scholars often anthropologists, probe the
traditional experience of individuals in developing nations in order to understand
how these indigenous knowledge systems can serve as mental bridge when
introducing innovations.
13
Innovation, Innovativeness Check Your Progress 3
1) Write the meaning of compatibility.
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1.5 COMPLEXITY
Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as relatively difficult
to understand and use. Any new idea may be classified on the complexity –
simplicity continuum. Some innovations are clear in their meaning to potential
adopters others are not. Diffusion of an innovation, which is too complex to
communicate and to apply, is slow. As has been described, the relative simplicity
of plant protection chemicals in terms of their use and application enabled them
to be diffused rapidly in the village of Baraset region of West Bengal. It took
them only ten years to be used by at least four-fifths of the farmers in the Baraset
villages. On the other hand, the Japanese method of rice cultivation, a much
more complex innovation, was adopted by a rather insignificant proportion of
farmers in the same villages even though the innovations of both types were
introduced in the region at the same time.
Generally speaking, the more complex a practice and the more change it requires
in the existing operations, the more slowly it will be adopted.
The following classification of practices in the form of their complexity, roughly

represents the decreasing order of speed with which acceptance may be expected
to occur.
a) A simple change: A change in materials and equipment only, without a change
in techniques or operations. Example: New variety of seed.
b) Improved practice: Change in existing operation with or without a change in
materials or equipment. Example: Change in rotation of crops.
c) Innovation: Change involving new technique or operations. Example:
Contour cropping.
d) Change in total enterprise: Example: From crop to livestock.
Complex technologies often require complementary adoption. For example,

adoption of high yielding technologies requires adoption of balanced nutrition
practices, appropriate protection technology and better management methods, to
get the best results. Complex technologies, because of their complicated and
intricate nature, require consistent training and communication support for the
clientele, for their adoption and continued use.
14
The complexity of an innovation, as perceived by members of a social system, is Attributes of Innovation
negatively related to its rate of adoption. That means higher the complexity of the
technology; lower the rate of adoption in transfer of technology.
Activity 3: Select any developmental innovation which has replaced earlier

one in any near by village and ask people about its degree of complexity.
Write your observations.
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1.6 TRIALABILITY
Trialability (also referred to divisibility) is the degree to which an innovation
may be experimented with on a limited basis before deciding to adopt. New ideas
that can be tried on the installment plan will generally be adopted more rapidly
than innovations that are not divisible. Trialability of an innovation is important
for its diffusion for several reasons. The feeling of insecurity associated with the
adoption of something new and previously unknown is greatly minimized if it
can be tried out on a small scale. The result of the trial, if successful, not only
minimizes the risk and insecurity, it also gives the farmer an opportunity to evaluate
the innovation in terms of its feasibility and applicability to his own situation.
Example: Adoption of new seeds and fertilizers are more, compared to new farm
machinery, simply because seeds and fertilizers can be purchased in small units
and can be tried. Whereas, purchase of a farm machinery, requires large investment
and cannot be tried in parts.
The trialabiltiy of an innovation is positively related to its rate of adoption. Transfer
of technology is faster with the technologies that can be demonstrable on small-
scale basis i.e. on trial basis.
1.7 OBSERVABILITY
Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible/
observable, demonstrable and communicable to people. The results of some ideas
are easily observed and communicated to others, whereas some innovations are
difficult to describe to others.
Example: Disease control has two aspects – preventive and curative. Preventive
innovations in disease control are generally less costly than the curative
innovations, but the results of preventive innovations are not so obvious, compared
to those of the curative innovations. That is why technologies like treatment of
seeds, preventive vaccinations etc. have been less adopted. Treatment of seed
potato has however, very high rate of diffusion, because preventing diseases in
high investment crop brings higher return, i.e. has high relative advantage. The
problem of lack of observability may, however, be overcome by strengthening
extension efforts like training, communication etc. that can enlarge one’s vision
and reasoning. Observability is sometimes referred as communicability. 15
Innovation, Innovativeness The observability of an innovation is positively related to its rate of adoption.
The visible impact of an innovation facilitates its diffusion in the social system.
1.8 PREDICTABILITY
Predictability has also been perceived as an attribute of innovations. Predictability
refers to the degree or certainty of receiving expected benefits from the adoption
of an innovation. Subsistence farmers are often very cautious when making
adoption decisions, because crop failure or substantial reduction in output due to
failure of agricultural innovations to achieve expected production goals, can result
in loss of meager landholdings and starvation of the family. Under such conditions,
farmers are reluctant to adopt any technology or technique which introduces a
higher level of uncertainty into the operation of the farm enterprise.
Correlation of Attributes with Rate of Adoption

It may be generalized that the attributes of relative advantage, compatibility,
trialability, observability and predictability of an innovation, as perceived by
the members of a social system are positively related to its rate of adoption.
The complexity of an innovation as perceived by the members of a social
system is negatively related to its rate of adoption.

1) Differentiate between complexity and compatibility of innovation.
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2) Write what you mean by trilability of innovation.
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3) Compare the relationship between attributes of an innovation and its rate of
adoption.
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16 ......................................................................................................................
1.9 LET US SUM UP
In social system, all people (adopter units) do not adopt innovation at a time.
Some innovations are immediately accepted and adopted and some take more
time. This rate of adoption is influenced by the attributes of innovation. Attributes
are the characteristics or qualities or traits of an innovation. The characteristics
possessed by an innovation or intrinsic quality of the innovation is not important
for our extension, but how people perceive attributes towards innovation is
important that influences the adoption rate of innovations. The attributes viz.
relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, observability, and
predictability are discussed in this unit along with their relationship with rate of
adoption.
1.10 KEYWORDS
Innovation : An Innovation is an idea, practice or object that is
perceived as new by an individual or other unit of
adoption.
Rate of Adoption : Rate of adoption is the relative speed with which an
innovation is adopted by members of a social system.
Attributes : Attributes are qualities, characteristics or traits
possessed by an object.
Relative Advantage : Relative advantage is the degree to which an
innovation is perceived as better than the idea it
supersedes.
Over adoption : Over adoption is the adoption of an innovation by an
individual when experts feel that he or she should
reject.
Rationality : Rationality, defined as the use of the most effective
means to reach a given goal, is not easily measured in
the case of many innovations.
Compatibility : Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is
perceived consistent with the existing values, past
experiences and needs of the receivers.
Complexity : Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is
perceived as relatively difficult to understand and use.
Trialability : Trialability (divisibility) is the degree to which an
innovation may be experimented with on a limited
basis before deciding to adopt.
Observability : Observability is the degree to which the results of an
innovation are visible/observable, demonstrable and
communicable to farmers.
Predictability : Predictability refers to the degree of certainty of
receiving expected benefits from the adoption of an
innovation.
17
and Adopter Categories 1.10 REFERENCES / SELECTED READINGS
Dasgupta.(1989). Diffusion of Agricultural Innovations in village India, Wiley
Eastern Limited, New Delhi.
Ray, G.L. (2005). Extension Communication and Management, Kalyani
Publishers, New Delhi.
Reddy, A. A. (1993). Extension Education, Sree Lakshmi Press, Bapatla.
Roger, E.M. (1994). Diffusion of Innovations, The Free Press, New York.
Rogers,E.M., Shoemaker,F.F.(1971). Communication of Innovations, The Free
Press, New York.
Singh, K.N., Rao, C.C.S and Sahay, S.N.(1970). Research in Extension Education
for Accelerating Development Process, Indian Society of Extension
Education, New Delhi.
Swanson, B.E.(1984). Agricultural Extension - A Reference Manual, Second
Edition, FAO, Rome, Oxford and IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

ANSWERS
1) An innovation is an idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by an
individual or other unit of adoption.
2) Attributes are qualities, characteristics or traits possessed by innovation.
3) Rate of adoption is the relative speed with which an innovation is adopted
by members of a social system.
4) Relative Advantage, Compatibility, Complexity, Trialability, Observability,
Predictability.

1) Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better
than the idea it supersedes.
2) The sub-dimensions are: degree of economic profitability ; low initial cost;
decrease in discomfort; social prestige; savings in time and effort, and
immediacy of the reward.
18
Check Your Progress 3 Attributes of Innovation
1) Complexity: Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived

as relatively difficult to understand and use. Where as, compatibility is the
degree to which an innovation is perceived consistent with the existing values,
past experiences and needs of the receivers.
2) Trialability (divisibility) is the degree to which an innovation may be
experimented with on a limited basis before deciding to adopt.
3) The attributes of relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability
and predictability of an innovation are positively related to its rate of adoption.
The complexity of an innovation as perceived by the members of a social
system is negatively related to its rate of adoption.
19
and Adopter Categories UNIT 2 INNOVATIVENESS AND ADOPTER
CATEGORIES
Structure
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Innovativeness
2.3 Adopter Categorization
2.4 Adopter Categories of Ideal Types
2.5 Characteristics of Adopter Categories
2.6 Let Us Sum Up
2.7 Keywords
2.1 INTRODUCTION
All individuals in a social system do not adopt an innovation at the same time.
Rather, they adopt in an over-time sequence, so that individuals can be classified
into adopter categories on the basis of when they first began using a new idea.
We could describe each individual adopter in system in terms of his or her time
of adoption, but this would be very tedious. It is much more efficient to use
adopter categories, the classification of members of a system on the basis of their
innovativeness. Each adopter category consists of individuals with a similar degree
of innovativeness. So adopter categories are a means of convenience in describing
the members of a system. In this unit, we discuss a standard method for
categorizing adopters and characteristics of different adopter categories.
• discuss the concept of innovativeness as a basis for adopter categorization
• categorize adopters and describe their characteristics
2.2 INNOVATIVENESS
Titles of adopter categories were once about as numerous as diffusion researchers
themselves. The inability of researchers in the early days of diffusion research to
agree on common semantic ground in assigning terminology led to this plethora
of adopter descriptions. The most innovative individuals were termed
“progressists,” “high-triers,” “experimental,” “lighthouses,” “advance scouts,”
and “ultraadopters.” The least innovative individuals were called “drones,”
“parochials,” and “diehards.” This disarray of adopter categories and methods of
categorization emphasized the need for standardization. Fortunately, one method
of adopter categorization, based upon the S-shaped curve of adoption, gained a
dominant position in the early 1960s (Rogers, 1962).
20
Innovativeness Innovativeness and Adopter
Categories
The criterion for adopter categorization is innovativeness. Innovativeness is the
degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in
adopting new ideas than other members of a social system. Innovativeness is a
relative dimension, in that an individual has more or less of this variable than
others in a system. Innovativeness is a continuous variable, and partitioning it
into discrete categories is a conceptual device, much like dividing the continuum
of social status into upper, middle, and lower classes. Such classification is a
simplification that aids the understanding of human behavior, although it loses
some information as a result of grouping individuals.
2.2.1 The S-shaped Curve of Adoption and Normality

The time element of the diffusion process allows us to classify adopter categories
and to draw diffusion curves. The adoption of an innovation usually follows a
normal, bell-shaped curve when plotted over time on a frequency basis. If the
cumulative number of adopters is plotted, the result is an S-shaped curve
(Fig. 2.1).
The S-shaped adopter distribution rises slowly at first, when there are only a few
adopters in each time period. The curve than accelerates to a maximum until half
of the individuals in the system has adopted. Then it decreases at a gradually
slower rate as fewer and fewer remaining individuals adopt the innovation.
Why the S-shaped curve is normal?

Many human traits are normally distributed, where the trait is a physical
characteristic, such as weight or height, or a behavioral trait, such as intelligence
or the learning of new information. Hence, a variable such as the degree of
innovativeness is also expected to do be normally distributed. If a social system
is substituted for the individual in the learning curve, it seems reasonable to expect
that experience with the innovation is gained as each successive member in the
social system.
We expect a normal adopter distribution for an innovation because of the

cumulatively increasing influences upon an individual to adopt or reject an
innovation, resulting from the activation of peer networks about the innovation
in a system. This influence results from the increasing rate of knowledge and
adoption or rejection of the innovation in the system. We know that the adoption
of a new idea result from information exchange through interpersonal networks.
If the first adopter of an innovation discusses it with two other members of the
system, each of these two adopters passes the new idea along to two peers, and so
forth, the resulting distribution follows a binomial expansion, a mathematical
function that follows a normal shape when plotted over a series of successive
generation. The S- shaped diffusion curve begins to level off after half of the
individuals in a social system have adopted, because each new adopter finds it
increasingly difficult to tell the new idea to a peer who has not yet adopted.
The S-shaped curve of diffusion “takes off” once interpersonal networks become
activated in spreading individuals’ subjective evaluations of an innovation from
peer to peer in a system. The part of the diffusion curve from about 10 percent
adoption to 20 percent adoption is the heart of the diffusion process. After that
point, it is often impossible to stop the further diffusion of a new idea, even if one
wished to do so. 21
Fig. 2.1 S-shaped curve
Fig. 2.1 also states that adopter distributions follow a bell shaped curve over time
and approach normality. A variety of different mathematical formulae have been
proposed to fit the shape of adopter distributions. This research shows that S-
shaped diffusion curves are essentially normal, a conclusion that is very useful
for classifying adopter categories. The S-curve must be remembered, is innovation-
specific and system-specific, describing the diffusion of a particular new idea
among the member units of a specific system.
1) What do you mean by innovativeness?
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2) Why the S-shaped curve of diffusion is normal?
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22 ......................................................................................................................
Innovativeness and Adopter
2.3 ADOPTER CATEGORIZATION Categories
Anyone seeking to standardize adopter categories must decide on:

a) The number of adopter categories
b) The portion of members of a system to include in each category, and
c) The methods, statistical or otherwise, of defining the adopter categories.
Ideally, a set of categories should be

a) Exhaustive, including all the units of study
b) Mutually exclusive, by excluding a unit of study that appears in one category
from also appearing in any other category, and
c) Derived from a single classificatory principle.
We have previously discussed that S-shaped adopter distribution closely approach

normality. The normal frequency distribution has several characteristics that are
useful in classifying adopters. One characteristic or parameter is the mean or
average, of the individuals in the system. Another parameter of distribution is its
standard deviation, a measure of variation or dispersion about the mean. The
standard deviation indicates the average amount of variance from the mean for
sample individuals.
Fig. 2.2: Adopter categories
These two statistics, the mean (¯χ) and the standard deviation (sd), are used to
divide a normal adopter distribution into five categories. Vertical lines are drawn
to mark off the standard deviations on either side of the mean so that the normal
curve is divided and categorized with a standardized percentage of respondents
in each category. Fig. 2.2 shows the normal frequency distribution divided into
five adopter categories:
i) Innovators
ii) Early adopters
iii) Early majority
iv) Late majority, and
v) Laggards.
23
Innovation, Innovativeness These five adopter categories and the approximate percentage of individuals
included in each are located on the normal adopter distribution in the Fig. 2.2.
The area lying to the left of the mean time of adoption (of an innovation) minus
two standard deviations includes the first 2.5 percent of the individuals in a system
to adopt an innovation, the innovators. The next 13.5 percent are included in the
area between the mean minus one standard deviation and the mean minus two
standard deviations; they are labeled early adopters. The next 34 percent of the
adopters, called the early majority, are included in the area between the mean
data of adoption and the mean minus one standard deviation. Between the mean
and one standard deviation to the right of the mean are the next 34 percent to
adopt the new idea, the late majority. The last 16 percent to adopt are called
laggards.
This adopter classification system is not symmetrical, in that there are three adopter
categories to the left of the mean and only two to the right. One solution would
be to break laggards into two categories, such as early and late laggards, but
laggards seem to form a fairly homogeneous category. Similarly, innovators and
early adopters could be combined into a single category to achieve symmetry, but
their quite different characteristics suggest that they are two distinct adopter
categories.
One difficulty / lacunae with this method of adopter classification is incomplete

adoption, which occurs for innovations that have not reached 100 percent use.
The problem of incomplete adoption or non adoption can be avoided when a
series of innovations are combined into a composite innovativeness scale.
Innovativeness as a criterion for adopter categorization fulfills each of the three

principles of categorization suggested previously. The five adopter categories are
exhaustive (except for non adopters), mutually exclusive, and derived from one
classification principle. The method of adopter categorization just describe is the
most widely used in diffusion research today. It is essentially the only method of
adopter categorization.
1) Name the five adopter categories
......................................................................................................................
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2) What is the lacunae with the method of classifying adopters into five
categories and how can we overcome it?
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24
2.4 ADOPTER CATEGORIES OF IDEAL TYPES Categories
The five adopter categories set forth in this section are ideal types, concepts based
on observations of reality that are designed to make comparisons possible. Ideal
types are not simply an average of all observations about an adopter category.
Exceptions to the ideal types can be found. Ideal types are based on abstractions
from empirical investigations.
2.4.1 Innovators: Venturesome

Venturesome-ness is almost an obsession with innovators. Their interest in new
ideas leads them out of a local circle of peer networks and into more cosmopolite
social relationships. Communication patterns and friendships among a clique of
innovators are common, even though these individuals may be quite geographically
distanced. Being an innovator has several prerequisites. Control of substantial
financial resources is helpful in absorbing the possible losses from an unprofitable
innovation. The ability to understand and apply complex technical knowledge is
also needed.
The salient value of the innovator is venturesome-ness, due to a desire for the
rash, the daring, and the risky. The innovator must also be willing to accept an
occasional setback when a new idea proves unsuccessful, as inevitably happens.
While an innovator may not be respected by other members of a local system, the
innovator plays an important role in the diffusion process; that of launching the
new idea in the system by importing the innovation from outside of the system’s
boundaries. Thus, the innovator plays a gate-keeping role in the flow of new
ideas into a system.
2.4.2 Early Adopters: Respect

Early adopters are a more integrated part of the local social system than are
innovators. Whereas innovators are cosmopolites, early adopters are localites.
This adopter category, more than any other, has the highest degree of adoption
leadership in most systems. Potential adopters look to early adopters for advice
and information about an innovation. The early adopter is considered by many to
be “the individual to check with” before adopting a new idea. This adopter category
is generally sought by change agents as a local missionary for speeding the
diffusion process. Because early adopters are not too far ahead of the average
individual in innovativeness, they serve as a role model for many other members
of a social system. Early adopters help trigger the critical mass when they adopt
an innovation.
The early adopter is respected by his or her peers, and is the embodiment of
successful, discrete use of new ideas. The early adopter knows that to continue to
earn this esteem of colleagues and to maintain a central position in the
communication networks of the system; he or she must make judicious innovation-
decisions. The early adopter decreases uncertainty about a new idea by adopting
it, and then conveying a subjective evaluation of the innovation to near peers
through interpersonal networks. In one sense, early adopters put their stamp of
approval on a new idea by adopting it.
25
2.4.3 Early Majority: Deliberate
The early majority adopt new ideas just before the average member of a system.
The early majority interacts frequently with their peers but seldom hold positions
of opinion leadership in a system. The early majority’s unique location between
the very early and the relatively late to adopt makes them an important link in the
diffusion process. They provide interconnectedness in the system’s interpersonal
networks. The early majority are one of the most numerous adopter categories,
making up one third of all member of a system.
The early majority may deliberate for some time before completely adopting a
new idea. Their innovation –decision period is relatively longer than that of the
innovators and the early adopters. ‘Be not the first by which the new is tried, nor
the last to lay the old aside,’ fits the thinking of the early majority. They follow
with deliberate willingness in adopting innovations but seldom lead.
2.4.4 Late Majority: Skeptical

The late majority adopt new ideas just after the average member of a system.
Like the early majority, the late majority make up one third of the members of a
system. Adoption may be both an economic necessity for the late majority and
the result of increasing peer pressures. Innovations are approached with a skeptical
and cautious air, and the late majority do not adopt until most others in their
system have already done so. The weight of system norms must definitely favor
an innovation before the late majorities are convinced to adopt. The pressure of
peers is necessary to motivate adoption. Their relatively scarce resources mean
that most of the uncertainty about a new idea must be removed before the late
majority feel that it is safe to adopt.
2.4.5 Laggards: Traditional

Laggards are the last in a social system to adopt an innovation. They possess
almost no opinion leadership. Laggards are the most localite of all adopter
categories in their outlook. Many are near isolates in the social networks of their
system. The point of reference for the laggard is the past. Decisions are often
made in terms of what has been done previously and these individuals interact
primarily with others who also have relatively traditional values. Laggards tend
to be suspicious of innovations and of change agents. Their innovation-decision
process is relatively lengthy, with adoption and use lagging far behind awareness-
knowledge of a new idea. Resistance to innovations on the part of laggards may
be entirely rational from the laggards’ viewpoint, as their resources are limited
and they must be certain that a new idea will not fail before they can adopt. The
laggard’s precarious economic position forces the individual to be extremely
cautious in adopting innovations.
“Laggard” might sound like a bad name. This title of the adopter category carries
an invidious distinction (in much the same way that “lower class” is a negative
nomenclature). Laggard is a bad name because most nonlaggards have a strong
pro-innovation bias. Diffusion scholars who use adopter categories in their research
do not mean any particular disrespect by the term “laggard”. Indeed, if they used
any other term instead of laggards, such as “late adopter,” it would soon have a
similar negative connotation. But it is a mistake to imply that laggards are somehow
at fault for being relatively late to adopt. System blame may more accurately
describe the reality of the laggards’ situation.
26
2.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF ADOPTER Categories
CATEGORIES
A voluminous research literature has accumulated about variables related to
innovativeness. Here we summarize this diffusion research in a series of
generalizations under three headings; (1) socioeconomic status, (2) personality
values, and (3) communication behaviour.
2.5.1 Socioeconomic Status

• Earlier adopters are no different from later adopters in age. About half of
many diffusion studies on this subject show no relationship, a few found that
earlier adopters are younger, and some indicate they are older.
• Earlier adopters have more years of formal education than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have higher social status than the later adopters. Status is
indicated by such variables as income, level of living, possession of wealth,
occupational prestige, self-perceived identification with a social class, and
the like.
• Earlier adopters have a greater degree of upward social mobility than the
later adopters. Evidence suggests that earlier adopters are not only of higher
status but are on the move in the direction of still higher levels of social
status. In fact, they may be using the adaptation of innovations as one means
of getting there.
• Earlier adopters have large-sized units (farms, school, companies and so on)
than the later adopters.
The social characteristics of earlier adopters mark them as more educated, of

higher social status, wealthier and have large-sized units. Socioeconomic status
and innovativeness appear to go hand in hand. Do innovators innovate because
they are richer, or are they richer because they innovate? This cause-and-effect
question cannot be answered solely on the basis of available cross-sectional data.
But there are understandable reasons why social status and innovativeness vary
together. Some new ideas are costly to adopt and require large initial outlays of
capital. Only the wealthy units in a system may be able to adopt these innovations.
Greatest profits usually go to the first to adopt; therefore, the innovator gains a
financial advantage through relatively early adoption of the innovation. The
innovators become richer and the laggards become relatively poorer as a result of
this process.
Because the innovator is the first to adopt, risks must be taken that can be avoided
by later adopters who do not wish to cope with the high degree of uncertainty
concerning the innovation when it is first introduced into a system. Certain of the
innovator’s new ideas inevitably are likely to fail. He/she must be wealthy enough
to absorb the loss from these occasional failures. Although wealth and
innovativeness are highly related, economic factors do not offer a complete
explanation of innovativeness. For example, although agricultural innovators tend
to be wealthy, there are many rich farmers who are not innovators.
27
2.5.2 Personality Variables
Personality variables associated with innovativeness have not yet received much
research attention, in part because of difficulties in measuring personality
dimensions in diffusion surveys. The generalizations are:
• Earlier adopters have greater empathy than the later adopters. Empathy is
the ability of individual to project himself or herself into the role of another
person. This ability is an important quality for an innovator, who must be
able to think counterfactually, to be particularly imaginative, and to take the
roles of heterophilous other individuals in order to exchange information
effectively with them. To a certain extent, the innovator must be able to
project into the role of individual outside of his or her local system (as the
innovator is the first to adopt in the locale system): innovators in other system,
change agent and scientist and R&D workers.
• Earlier adopters may have a greater ability to deal with abstractions than the
later adopters. Dogmatism is the degree to which an individual has a relatively
closed belief system that is a set of beliefs which are strongly held.
• Earlier adopters have a greater ability to deal with abstractions than the later
adopters.
• Earlier adopters have a greater rationality than the later adopters. Rationality
is use of the most effective means to reach a given end.
• Earlier adopters have more intelligence than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have a more favorable attitude towards change than the later
adopters.
• Earlier adopters are better able to cope with uncertainty and risk than are
later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have a more favorable attitude towards science than the
later adopters. Because innovations are often the product of scientific research,
it is logical that innovators are more favorably inclined toward science.
• Earlier adopters are less fatalistic than are later adopters. Fatalism is the
degree to which an individual perceives a lake of ability to control his/her
future. An individual is more likely to adopt an innovation if he/she has
more self-efficiency and believes that he/she control, rather than thinking
that the future is determined by fate.
• Earlier adopters have higher aspirations (for formal education, higher status,
occupations, and so on) than do later adopters.
2.5.3 Communication Behaviour

The generalizations are:
• Earlier adopters have more social participation than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters are more highly interconnected through interpersonal
networks in their social system than are later adopters. Connectedness is the
degree to which an individual is linked to others.
28
• Earlier adopters have more cosmopolite than are later adopters. Innovators’ Innovativeness and Adopter
Categories
interpersonal networks are more likely to be outside, rather than within, their
system. They travel widely and are involved in matters beyond the boundaries
of their local system.
• Earlier adopters have more contact with change agents than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have greater exposure to mass media communication
channels than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have grater exposure to inter-personal communication
channels than do later adopter.
• Earlier adopters seek information about innovations more actively than the
later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have greater knowledge of innovations than the later adopters.
• Earlier adopters have a higher degree of opinion leadership than do later
adopters. Although innovativeness and opinion leadership are positively
related, the degree to which these two variables are related depends in part
on the norms of the social system. In a system with norms favorable to change,
opinion leaders are more innovative.
1) Name the dominant attributes of each category of adopters.
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2) Write the important characteristics of the following adopter categories
i) Innovators:
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ii) Early adopters:
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29
Innovation, Innovativeness iii) Early majority:
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iv) Late majority:
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v) Laggards:
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2.6 LET US SUM UP

Adopter categories are the classifications of members of a system on the basis of
innovativess, the degree to which an individual or other unit of adaptation is
relatively earlier in adopting new ideas than other members of a system. Adopter
distributions tend to follow an S-shaped curve over time and to approach normality.
The continuum of innovativeness can be partitioned into five adopter categories
(innovators, early adopter, early majority, late majority and laggards) on the basis
of two characteristics of a normal distribution, the mean and the standard deviation.
The dominant attributes of each category are: Innovators-venturesome; early
adopters-respect; early majority-deliberate; late majority skeptical; and laggards-
traditional. The important differences among the different categories of adopters
are discussed in terms of socioeconomic status, personality variables and
communication behaviour.
2.7 KEYWORDS
Innovativeness : Innovativeness is the degree to which an individual
or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier in
adopting new ideas than other members of a social
system.
S-shaped Curve of : The adoption of an innovation usually follows a
Adoption and Normality normal, bell-shaped curve when plotted over time
on a frequency basis. If the cumulative number of
adopters is plotted, the result is an S-shaped curve.
Innovators (2.5%) : Innovators are the first individuals to adopt an
innovation, who are willing to take risks, youngest
30
in age, have the highest social class, have great Innovativeness and Adopter
Categories
financial lucidity, very social and have closest
contact to scientific sources and interaction with
other innovators.
Early Adopters (13.5%) : This is the second fastest category of individuals
who adopt an innovation. These individuals have
the highest degree of opinion leadership among
the other adopter categories.
Early Majority (34%) : Individuals in this category adopt an innovation
after a varying degree of time. This time of
adoption is significantly longer than the innovators
and early adopters.
Late Majority (34%) : Individuals in this category will adopt an
innovation after the average member of the society.
These individuals approach an innovation with a
high degree of skepticism and after the majority
of society has adopted the innovation.
Laggards (16%) : Individuals in this category are the last to adopt an
innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories,
individuals in this category show little to no
opinion leadership.

Dasgupta (1989). Diffusion of Agricultural Innovations in village India, Wiley
Katz,Elihu,and Paul F.Lazarfeld, (1995).Personal Influence: The Part Played by
People in the Flow of Mass Communication, Free press, New York.
Ray, G. L. (2005). Extension Communication and Management, Kalyani
Rogers, E. M., and Shoemaker, F. F. (1971). Communication of Innovations,
Free press, New York.
Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. Free press, New York.
Swanson, B. E. (1984). Agricultural Extension - A Reference Manual, Second
Wejnert, B. (2002). Integrating Models of Diffusion of Innovations: A Conceptual
Framework, Annual Review of Sociology (Annual Reviews) 28: 297–306.
31
and Adopter Categories 2.9 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – POSSIBLE
ANSWERS
1) The criterion for adopter categorization is innovativeness. Innovativeness is

the degree to which an individual or other unit of adoption is relatively earlier
in adopting new ideas than other members of a social system.
2) The S-shaped adopter distribution rises slowly at first, when there are only a
few adopters in each time period. The curve than accelerates to a maximum
until half of the individuals in the system has adopted. Then it decreases at a
gradually slower rate as fewer and fewer remaining individuals adopt the
innovation. Hence, a variable such as the degree of innovativeness is also
expected to be normally distributed.
1) The five adopter categories are : Innovators ; Early adopters; Early majority;
Late majority, and; Laggards.
2) One difficulty / lacunae with this method of adopter classification is

incomplete adoption, which occurs for innovations that have not reached
100 percent use. The problem of incomplete adoption or non adoption can
be avoided when a series of innovations are combined into a composite
innovativeness scale.
1) The dominant attributes of each category are: Innovators-venturesome; early

adopters-respect; early majority-deliberate; late majority skeptical; and
laggards- traditional.
2) i) Innovators: Venturesome-ness is almost an obsession with innovators.

Their interest in new ideas leads them out of a local circle of peer
networks and into more cosmopolite social relationships.
Communication patterns and friendships among a clique of innovators
are common, even though these individuals may be quite geographically
distanced. Innovator plays a gate-keeping role in the flow of new ideas
into a system.
ii) Early Adopters: Early adopters are a more integrated part of the local
social system than are innovators. Whereas innovators are cosmopolites,
early adopters are localites. This adopter category, more than any other,
has the highest degree of adoption leadership in most systems. Potential
adopters look to early adopters for advice and information about an
innovation. The early adopter is considered by many to be “the individual
to check with” before adopting a new idea. This adopter category is
generally sought by change agents as a local missionary for speeding
the diffusion process.
iii) Early Majority: The early majority adopt new ideas just before the
average member of a system. The early majority interacts frequently
32
with their peers but seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a Innovativeness and Adopter
Categories
system. The early majority’s unique location between the very early
and the relatively late to adopt makes them an important link in the
diffusion process. They provide interconnectedness in the system’s
interpersonal networks. The early majority are one of the most numerous
adopter categories, making up one third of all member of a system. The
early majority may be deliberate for some time before completely
adopting a new idea. Their innovation –decision period is relatively
longer than that of the innovators and the early adopters. ‘Be not the
first by which the new is tried, nor the last to lay the old aside,’ fits the
thinking of the early majority.
iv) Late Majority: The late majority adopt new ideas just after the average
member of a system. Like the early majority, the late majority make up
one third of the members of a system. Adoption may be both an economic
necessity for the late majority and the result of increasing peer pressures.
Innovations are approached with a skeptical and cautious air, and the
late majority do not adopt until most others in their system have already
done so.
v) Laggards: Laggards are the last in a social system to adopt an

innovation. They possess almost no opinion leadership. Laggards are
the most localite of all adopter categories in their outlook. Many are
near isolates in the social networks of their system. The point of reference
for the laggard is the past. Decisions are often made in terms of what
has been done previously and these individuals interact primarily with
others who also have relatively traditional values. Laggards tend to be
suspicious of innovations and of change agents. Their innovation-
decision process is relatively lengthy, with adoption and use lagging far
behind awareness-knowledge of a new idea.
33
and Adopter Categories UNIT 3 OPINION LEADERS AND DIFFUSION
NETWORKS
Structure
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Opinion Leaders and Communication Models
3.3 Methods of Measuring Opinion Leadership
3.4 Types of Opinion Leadership
3.5 Characteristics of Opinion Leaders
3.6 Diffusion Networks and Critical Mass
3.7 Let Us Sum Up
3.8 Keywords
3.1 INTRODUCTION
The term ‘opinion leaders’ is used to refer to individuals who are influential in
approving or disapproving new ideas. A variety of terms were used by many
social scientists other than opinion leaders such as key communicators, informal
leaders, adoption leaders, fashion leaders, consumption leaders, local influential,
tastemakers, style setters, sparkplugs, gatekeepers etc. Opinion leaders are those
individuals from whom others seek advice and information. They play an important
role in the diffusion and adoption of innovations. It is impossible to ignore opinion
leaders in studying the spread of ideas. The central idea of this unit is how
interpersonal communication through opinion leaders drives the diffusion process
by creating a critical mass of adopters.
• Explain the meaning and concept of opinion leaders, diffusion networks and
critical mass.
• Discuss the methods of measuring opinion leadership with advantages and
disadvantages.
• Describe the characteristics of opinion leaders.
3.2 OPINION LEADERS AND COMMUNICATION

MODELS
Opinion leadership is the degree to which an individual is able to informally
influence other individuals’ attitudes or overt behavior in a desired way with
relative frequency. Opinion leaders are individuals who lead in influencing others’
opinions. The behavior of opinion leaders is important in determining the rate of
adoption of an innovation in a system. In fact, the diffusion curve is S shaped
because once opinion leaders adopt and begin telling others about an innovation,
the number of adopters per unit of time takes off in an exponential curve.
34
The ‘hypodermic needle model’ postulated that the mass media had direct, Opinion Leaders and
Diffusion Networks
immediate, and powerful effects on a mass audience. The mass media were
perceived as a strong influence on behavior change. The hypodermic needle model
was based primarily on intuitive theorizing from unique historical events and
was too simple, too mechanistic, and too gross to give an accurate account of
media effects. It ignored the role of opinion leaders.
In the ‘two step flow model’, ideas often flow from radio and print to opinion
leaders and from these to the less active sections of the population. The first step,
from media sources to opinion leaders, is mainly a transfer of information, whereas
the second step, from opinion leaders to their followers, also involves the spread
of interpersonal influence. This two step flow hypothesis suggested that
communication messages flow from a source, via mass media channels, to opinion
leaders, who in turn pass them on to followers. This model has been widely
tested in diffusion of innovations studies, and found generally to provide useful
understandings of the flow of communication.
Activity 1 : Visit a near by village or community and enquire about influential

leaders in that village or community. Write your observations.
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1) What do you mean by an opinion leader?
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2) Name any four synonymous names used to denote opinion leaders.
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35
and Adopter Categories 3.3 METHODS OF MEASURING OPINION
LEADERSHIP
The four main methods of measuring opinion leadership are:
i) Sociometric method
ii) Informant’s rating method
iii) Self-designating method
iv) Observation method
3.3.1 Sociometric Method

The Sociometric method consists of asking respondents whom they sought (or
hypothetically might seek) for information or advice about a given topic, such as
a particular innovation. Opinion leaders are those members of a system who
receive the greatest number of Sociometric choices (and thus who are involved
in the largest number of network links). Undoubtedly, the Sociometric technique
is a highly valid measure of opinion leadership, as it is measured through the
perceptions of followers. It necessitates, however, interrogating a large number
of respondents in order to locate a small number of opinion leaders. The
Sociometric method is most applicable when all (or most) members of a social
system provide network data, rather than when a small sample of the total
population is contacted.
It is usual to specify the number of Sociometric network partners to be named by

a respondent:
Example: Who are the three (or four or five) other women in this village with
whom you have discussed family planning methods?
Such limited choice questioning leads a respondent to name only the strongest
network partners. It is, however, possible that others with whom a respondent
converses less often may exchange information with the respondent that is more
crucial in the diffusion process. Another approach is to conduct a “roster study,”
in which each respondent is presented with a list of all the other members of the
system and asked whether he or she talks with each of them and how often.
The roster technique has the advantage of measuring “weak” as well as “strong”
links.
Advantages: Sociometric questions are easy to administer and are adaptable to

different types of settings and issues and have highest validity.
Limitations: Analysis of Sociometric data can be complex. Requires a large

number of respondents to locate a small number of opinion leaders. Not applicable
to sample designs where only a portion of the social system is interviewed.
3.3.2 Informant’s Rating Method

An alternative to using Sociometric to identify opinion leaders is to ask key
informants who are especially knowledgeable about the networks in a system.
Often a handful of informants can identify the opinion leaders in a system with a
precision that is almost as accurate as Sociometric techniques, particularly when
the system is small and the informants are well informed. The opinion leaders
36
can be identified by asking key informants (religious leaders, town officials, school Opinion Leaders and
Diffusion Networks
administrators, and other long time residents) to nominate individuals whom
other people sought out for information and advice. The opinion leaders were
individuals nominated by two or more of the key informants.
Advantage: A cost saving and timesaving method as compared to the Sociometric

method.
Limitation: Each informant must be thoroughly familiar with the system.
3.3.3 Self-designating Method

The self designating method asks respondents to indicate the degree to which
others in the system regard them as influential. Individuals select themselves to
be peer leaders.
Example: A typical self designating question is “Do you think people come to
you for information or advice more often than to others?”
The self designating method depends upon the accuracy with which respondents
can identify and report their images. This measure of opinion leadership is
especially appropriate when interrogating a random sample of respondents in a
system, a sampling design that precludes effective use of Sociometric methods.
Advantage: Measures the individuals’ perceptions of her/his opinion leadership,

which influence her/his behavior.
Limitation: Dependent upon the accuracy with which respondents can identify
and report their self-images.
3.3.4 Observation Method

Opinion leadership can be measured by observation, in which an investigator
identifies and records the communication behavior in a system. One advantage
of observation is that the data usually have a high degree of validity. If network
links are appropriately observed, there is no doubt about whether or not they
occur. Observation works best in a very small system, where the observer can
actually see and record interpersonal interactions as they occur. Unfortunately, in
such small systems observation may be a very obtrusive data gathering technique.
Because the members of a system know they are being observed, they may act
differently. Further, an observer may need to be very patient if the diffusion network
behavior that he or she wants to observe occurs only rarely. In practice, observation
has been used infrequently to measure diffusion networks and opinion leadership.
Advantage: High validity
Limitation: Obtrusive; works best in a very small system and may require much
patience by the observer.
The choice of any one of the four methods (Sociometric, key informants, self
designating, and observation) can be based on convenience, as all four are
about equally valid. A comparative summary of the above four methods is given
bellow.
37
and Adopter Categories Methods of Measuring Opinion Leadership and Diffusion Networks
Method Description Questions Advantages Limitations
Asked
Sociometric Ask system Who is Questions are Analysis of

method members to whom your easy to Sociometric data
they go for advice leader? administer and can be complex.
and information are adaptable to Requires a large
about an idea different types of number of
settings and respondents to
issues; highest locate a small
validity number of
opinion leaders.
Not applicable to
sample designs
where only a
portion of the
social system is
interviewed.
Informants’ Ask subjectively Who are A cost-saving Each informant

ratings selected key leaders in and timesaving must be
informants in a this method as thoroughly
system to system? compared to the familiar with the
designate opinion sociometric system.
leaders method
Self- Ask each Are you a Measures the Dependent upon

designating respondent a series leader in individual’s the accuracy
method of questions to this perceptions if with which
determine the system? her/his opinion respondents can
degree to which leadership, identify and
he/she perceives which influence report their self-
himself/herself to her/his images.
be an opinion behaviour
leader
Observation Identify and record None High validity Obtrusive; works

communication best in a very
network links as small system and
they occur may require
much patience
by the observer.
Further, studies of the opinion leaders in a system generally find a high degree of
stability over time. However, over a period of decades the opinion leaders in a
system must inevitably change, even in a relatively stable community or
organization. In general, however, opinion leadership structures are stable in the
relatively short term. In a typical distribution of opinion leadership in a social
system, a few individuals receive a great deal of opinion leadership, while most
individuals have none or very little opinion leadership is a matter of degree. The
most influential opinion leaders are key targets for the efforts of change agents in
development campaigns.
38
Opinion Leaders and
Activity 2: Visit a near by village or community and try to identify the opinion Diffusion Networks
leaders by all the four methods described above. Write your observations.
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1) Name the four methods of measuring opinion leadership.
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2) Write one advantages and one disadvantage of any two methods of measuring
opinion leadership.
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3.4 TYPES OF OPINION LEADERSHIP

Is there one set of all purpose opinion leaders in a system, or are there different
opinion leaders for different issues? In principle there are two types of opinion
leaders:
a) Polymorphic opinion leaders
b) Monomorphic opinion leaders
Polymorphism is the degree to which an individual acts as an opinion leader for
a variety of topics. The opposite, monomorphism, is the degree to which an
individual acts as an opinion leader for only a single topic. The degree of
polymorphic, opinion leadership in a given social system seems to vary with
such factors as the diversity of the topics on which opinion leadership is measured,
whether system norms are innovative or not, and so on.
Example: Village leaders in developing countries are frequently opinion leaders

for health, agricultural, and educational ideas, as well as political and moral issues.
39
and Adopter Categories 3.5 CHARACTERISTICS OF OPINION LEADERS
The characteristics of opinion leaders can be described under the following major
heads.
External Communication
i) Opinion leaders have greater exposure to mass media than their
followers: Opinion leaders gain their perceived competency by serving as
an avenue for the entrance of new ideas into their system. The external
linkage may be provided via mass media channels, by an opinion leader’s
cosmopoliteness, or by an opinion leader’s greater contact with change
agents.
ii) Opinion leaders are more cosmopolite than their followers: An eminent
sociologist of communication networks, Professor Ron Burt, described
opinion leaders as “people on the edge”: opinion leaders have a certain degree
of cosmopoliteness in that they bring new ideas from outside their social
group to its members. They “carry information across the boundaries
between groups”. Opinion leaders gain part of their perceived expertise
regarding innovations by their greater contact across their system’s
boundaries.
iii) Opinion leaders have greater contact with change agents than their
followers: As explained previously, change agents try to utilize opinion
leaders to leverage diffusion activities; thus, not surprisingly, opinion leaders
often have greater contact with change agents than do their followers.
Accessibility
• Opinion leaders have greater social participation than their followers:
In order for opinion leaders to spread messages about an innovation, they
must have extensive interpersonal network links with their followers. Opinion
leaders must be socially accessible. One indicator of such accessibility is
social participation. Face to face communication about new ideas may occur
at meetings of formal organizations and through informal discussions.
Socio-economic Status
• We expect that a follower typically seeks an opinion leader of some what
higher socioeconomic status. So opinion leaders, on the average, are of higher
status than their followers.
Innovativeness
• If opinion leaders are to be recognized by their peers as competent and
trustworthy experts about innovations, the opinion leaders should adopt new
ideas before their followers. There is strong empirical support for
generalization that opinion leaders are more innovative than their followers.
However, opinion leaders are not necessarily innovators. Sometimes they
are, but usually they are not. What explains this apparently contradictory
finding? We must consider the effect of system norms on the innovativeness
of opinion leaders, because the degree to which opinion leaders are innovative
depends in large part on their followers.
40
3.5.1 Innovativeness, Opinion Leadership, and System Norms Opinion Leaders and
Diffusion Networks
How can opinion leaders conform to system norms and at the same time lead in
the adoption of new ideas? The answer is expressed as “When a social system’s
norms favor change, opinion leaders are more innovative, but when the system’s
norms do not favor change, opinion leaders are not especially innovative”. In
systems with more traditional norms, the opinion leaders are usually a separate
set of individuals from the innovators. The innovators are perceived with suspicion
and often with disrespect by the members of such systems, who do not trust the
innovators’ sense of judgment about new ideas. So the system’s norms determine
whether or not opinion leaders are innovators.
A general tendency of change agents is that they select individuals as opinion

leaders who are too innovative. Change agents work through opinion leaders in
order to close the heterophily gap between themselves and their clients .But if
opinion leaders are very much more innovative than the average client, the
heterophily that formerly existed between the change agent and his or her clients
now exists between opinion leaders and followers. Innovators are inappropriate
opinion leaders in systems with traditional norms: they are too elite and too change
oriented. The innovator is an unrealistic model for the average individual. The
norms of the system determine the adopter category in which opinion leaders in
a system are found.
Sometimes change agents identify potentially effective opinion leaders among

their clients, but then they concentrate their contacts on these leaders to such a
degree that they become innovators and lose their former followers. The
interpersonal relationships between opinion leaders and their followers hang in a
delicate balance. If an opinion leader becomes too innovative, or adopts a new
idea too quickly, followers may begin to doubt his or her judgment. One role of
the opinion leader in a social system is to help reduce uncertainty about an
innovation for his or her followers. To fulfill this role, an opinion leader must
demonstrate prudent judgment in decisions about adopting new ideas. So the
opinion leader must continually look over his or her shoulder and consider where
the rest of the system is at regarding new ideas.
Activity 3: Analyze the outcome of Activity 2 and write your observations

on Polymorphic / Monomorphic opinion leadership prevailing in that village
/ community.
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3.6 DIFFUSION NETWORKS AND CRITICAL

MASS
We agree that the heart of the diffusion process is the modeling and imitation by
potential adopters of their near peers’ experiences with the new idea. In deciding
whether or not to adopt an innovation, individual depend mainly on the
41
Innovation, Innovativeness communicated experience of others much like themselves who have already
adopted a new idea. These subjective evaluations of an innovation flow mainly
through interpersonal networks. So we must understand the nature of networks
in order to understand the diffusion process.
3.6.1 Diffusion Networks

Networks provide a certain degree of structure and stability in the predictability
of human behavior. A diffusion network consists of interconnected individuals
who are linked by patterned flows of information. An individual’s network links
are important determinants of his or her adoption of innovations. The network
interconnectedness of an individual in a social system is positively related to the
individual’s innovativeness.
Network Influence in Diffusion of Family Planning Extension Innovations

Strong evidence for the importance of network influences on individuals in
the diffusion of innovations comes from investigations of family planning
adoption in villages of developing countries. For example, Rogers and Kincaid
(1981) studied the diffusion of several different family planning innovations
in twenty five Korean villages. They found that certain of the villages were
“Pill villages,” others were “IUD villages,” and one was a “Vasectomy village.”
In one “Pill village,” all of the adopters of family planning methods were
using oral contraceptive pills. Similarly, in other villages of study, all
contraceptive adopters were using the same family planning method. Certainly
such amazing homogeneity in the choice of contraceptives could hardly have
occurred by chance. Each of the Korean villages had been the target of the
same national family planning programme, in which a standard “cafeteria” of
several contraceptive methods was promoted throughout the country. In the
“IUD village,” for example, certain opinion leaders first adopted a particular
family planning method, the IUD, and their experiences were then shared with
fellow villagers via interpersonal networks. At one point, a dozen women in
this village decided to adopt the IUD and all traveled together to a health
clinic to get 1UDs inserted. The result, after several years of further diffusion
in the village, was a tendency of every adopter in that village to use the same
method of family planning. These findings suggest that in Korea, the diffusion
of family planning occurs mainly within villages, even though the government
program was aimed at the national population.
3.6.2 Critical Mass

The concept of the critical mass is fundamental to understanding a wide range of
human behavior because an individual’s actions often depend on a perception of
how many other individuals are behaving in a particular way. Even if all the
individuals in a large group are rational and self interested, and would gain if, as
a group, they acted to achieve their common interest or objective, they would
still not voluntarily act to achieve that common or group interest. This seeming
irrationality of individuals in a social system attracted scholarly attention to the
study of collective action by communication scholars, sociologists, social
psychologists, economists, and scholars of public opinion. Why is individual
behavior in a system so seemingly illogical? The basic reason is that each
individual acts in ways that are rational in pursuing individual goals without
fully considering that he or she might be disadvantaging the system at the collective
42 level.
The Critical Mass in the Diffusion of Innovations Opinion Leaders and
Diffusion Networks
A crucial concept in understanding the social nature of the diffusion process is
the “critical mass,” the point after which further diffusion becomes self sustaining.
The notion of the critical mass originally came from scholars of social movements,
and in recent years has been advanced by communication scholars. The rate of
adoption of interactive media such as e mail, telephones, fax, and teleconferencing
often displays a distinctive quality that we here call the critical mass. The critical
mass occurs at the point at which enough individuals in a system adopted an
innovation so that the innovation’s further rate of adoption becomes self sustaining.
The interactive quality of new communication technologies creates confidence
among the adopters in a system. An interactive innovation is of little use to an
adopting individual unless other individuals with the adopter wish to communicate
also adopted. Thus, a critical mass of individuals must adopt an interactive
communication technology it has much utility for the average individual in the
system. With each additional adopter, the utility of an interactive communication
technology increases for all adopters.
1) How can opinion leaders conform to system norms and at the same time
lead in the adoption of new ideas?
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2) Write the main characteristics of opinion leaders.
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3) Write the importance of diffusion networks and critical mass in diffusion of
innovation.
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43
and Adopter Categories 3.7 LET US SUM UP
In this unit we started by looking at the meaning of opinion leadership and its
relation to communication models and understood that opinion leaders are the
individuals who are influential in approving or disapproving new ideas. We
discussed the four methods of measuring opinion leadership viz., sociometric
method, informant’s rating method, self-designating method and observation
method along with their important advantages and disadvantages. Later we studied
the two types of opinion leaders viz., monomorphic and polymorphic opinion
leaders. We also studied important characteristics of opinion leaders and the
concepts of diffusion networks and critical mass along with their application in
diffusion of innovations.
3.8 KEY WORDS

Opinion Leadership : It is the degree to which an individual is able to
informally influence other individuals’ attitudes or
overt behavior in a desired way with relative
frequency.
Personal Influence : It is communication involving a direct face- to-

face exchange between the communicator and the
receiver which results in changed behavior or
attitudes on the part of the receiver.
Homophily : It is the degree to which pair of individuals who

communicate are similar.
Heterophily : It is the degree to which pairs of individuals who

interact are different in certain attributes.
Innovativeness : It is the degree to which an individual (or other

unit of adoption) is relatively earlier in adopting
new ideas than other members of a social system.
Communication Proximity: It is the degree to which two linked individuals in

a network have personal communication networks
that overlap.
A personal : It consists of the individuals who are linked by

Communication Network patterned communication flows to a given
individual.
Interactivity : It is the degree to which participants in a

communication process can exchange roles in, and
have control over, their mutual discourse.
Threshold : It is the number of other individuals who must be

engaged in an activity before a given individual
will join that activity.
44
Opinion Leaders and
3.9 REFERENCES / SELECTED READINGS Diffusion Networks
Dasgupta. (1989). Diffusion of Agricultural Innovations in village India, Wiley

Katz,Elihu,and Paul F.Lazarfeld (1995). Personal Influence: The Part Played by


Rogers, E.M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations. Free press, New York.
Swanson, B.E. (1984). Agricultural Extension - A Reference Manual, Second


ANSWERS
1) Opinion leader is the individual who is able informally to influence other

individuals’ attitudes or overt behavior in a desired way with relative
frequency. Opinion leaders are individuals who lead in influencing others’
opinions.
2) Synonyms used to denote opinion leaders are: key communicators; informal

leaders; adoption leaders; fashion leaders; consumption leaders; local
influential; tastemakers; style setters; sparkplugs; gatekeepers etc.
1) The four methods of measuring opinion leadership are: Sociometric method;

Informant’s rating method; Self-designating method and; Observation
method.
2) a) Sociometric method:
Advantages: Sociometric questions are easy to administer and are adaptable
to different types of settings and issues and have highest validity.
Limitations: Analysis of Sociometric data can be complex. Requires a large
number of respondents to locate a small number of opinion leaders. Not
applicable to sample designs where only a portion of the social system is
interviewed.
45
Innovation, Innovativeness b) Informant’s Rating Method
Advantages: A cost saving and timesaving method as compared to the
Sociometric method.
Limitation: Each informant must be thoroughly familiar with the system.
1) When a social system’s norms favor change, opinion leaders are more
innovative, but when the system’s norms do not favor change, opinion leaders
are not especially innovative”. In systems with more traditional norms, the
opinion leaders are usually a separate set of individuals from the innovators.
The innovators are perceived with suspicion and often with disrespect by the
members of such systems, who do not trust the innovators’ sense of judgment
about new ideas. So the system’s norms determine whether or not opinion
leaders are innovators.
2) The main characteristics of opinion leaders are: opinion leaders have greater
exposure to mass media than their followers; opinion leaders are more
cosmopolite than their followers; opinion leaders have greater contact with
change agents than their followers, and ; opinion leaders have greater social
participation than their followers
3) Diffusion Networks: Networks provide a certain degree of structure and

stability in the predictability of human behavior. A diffusion network consists
of interconnected individuals who are linked by patterned flows of
information. An individual’s network links are important determinants of
his or her adoption of innovations. The network interconnectedness of an
individual in a social system is positively related to the individual’s
innovativeness.
Critical Mass: A crucial concept in understanding the social nature of the

diffusion process is the “critical mass,” the point after which further diffusion
becomes self sustaining. The critical mass occurs at the point at which enough
individuals in a system adopted an innovation so that the innovation’s further
rate of adoption becomes self sustaining.
46
Opinion Leaders and
UNIT 4 CONSEQUENCES OF INNOVATIONS Diffusion Networks
Structure
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Consequences of Innovations
4.3 Dynamic Equilibrium and Gaps
4.4 Let Us Sum Up
4.5 Key Words
4.1 INTRODUCTION
Consequences are the changes that occur in an individual or a social system as a
result of the adoption or rejection of an innovation. In spite of the importance of
consequences, they have received relatively little attention by diffusion researchers.
Change agents too generally give little attention to consequences. They often
assume that adoption of a given innovation will produce mainly beneficial results
for adopters. This assumption is one expression of the pro innovation bias. Change
agents should recognize their responsibility for the consequences of innovations
that they introduce. Ideally, they should be able to predict the advantages and
disadvantages of an innovation before introducing it to their clients. This is seldom
done, and often it cannot be done.
• Explain the meaning and concept of consequences of innovation
• Distinguish between various types of consequences of innovations
• Describe the dynamic equilibrium and equality in the consequences of
innovations
4.2 CONSEQUENCES OF INNOVATIONS

Consequences are the changes that occur to an individual or to a social system as
a result of the adoption or rejection of an innovation. Although obviously
important, the consequences of innovations have received inadequate attention
by change agents and by diffusion researchers. Consequences have not been studied
adequately because:
a) Change agencies have overemphasized adoption per se, assuming that an
innovation’s consequences will be positive
b) Usual survey research methods may be inappropriate for investigating
consequences, and
c) Consequences are often difficult to measure.
One step towards an improved understanding of the consequences of innovations
is to classify them in a taxonomy. Consequences are not uni-dimensional. They
can take many forms and are expressed in various ways. We find it useful to
analyze three dimensions of consequences: 47
Innovation, Innovativeness a) Desirable versus undesirable consequences
b) Direct versus indirect consequences, and
c) Anticipated versus unanticipated consequences.
4.2.1 Desirable versus Undesirable Consequences

Desirable consequences are the functional effects of an innovation for an individual
or for a social system. Undesirable consequences are the dysfunctional effects of
an innovation to an individual or to a social system. The determination of whether
consequences are functional or dysfunctional depends on how the innovation
affects the adopters. An innovation can cause consequences for individuals other
than its adopters. For instance, rejecters of a new idea may be affected because an
innovation benefits the other members of the system who adopt it, widening the
socio-economic gap between adopters and rejecters. Everyone in a system usually
is touched by the consequences of a technological innovation, whether they are
adopters or rejecters.
Example: Internet, which advantages certain individuals and disadvantages others

through the digital divide.
An innovation may be functional for a system but not functional for certain
individuals in the system. The adoption of miracle varieties of rice and wheat in
India and other nations in recent decades led to the Green Revolution. The resulting
higher crop yields and farm incomes were important benefits for farmers, as were
the lower consumer food prices for society. The Green Revolution also led to a
reduction in the number of farmers, migration to urban slums and higher
unemployment rates. Although many individuals profited, the Green Revolution
led to unequal conditions for the system as a whole. So whether the consequences
are desirable or undesirable depends on whether one takes certain individuals, or
the entire system, as a point of reference. We may conclude with generalization
that the effects of an innovation usually cannot be managed so as to separate the
desirable from the undesirable consequences.
Windfall Profits / Loss

By being the first in the field, innovators frequently secure a kind of economic
gain called windfall profits. Windfall profits are a special advantage earned
by the first adopters of a new idea in a system. Their unit costs are usually
lower, and their additions to total production have little effect on the selling
price of the product. But when all members of a system adopt a new idea,
total production increases, and the price of the product or service eventually
drops. An innovator must take risks in order to earn windfall profits. Not all
new ideas turn out successfully, and occasionally the innovator gets his or
her fingers burned. Adoption of a non-economic or unsuccessful innovation
can result in “windfall losses” for the first individuals to adopt. An example
of windfall losses occurred in the diffusion of pocket calculators. The first
model, sold in 1971, measured three by five inches, cost $249 and could only
add, subtract, multiply and divide. Within a year, the price of a four function
calculator dropped to $100; in another year the price was only $50; and within
a decade the calculator cost less than $10. Its size shrank to the thickness of a
credit card. In this case, later adopters gained a windfall benefit by waiting to
adopt.
48
4.2.2 Direct versus Indirect Consequences Consequences of Innovation
A change in one part of a system often initiates a chain reaction of indirect

consequences stemming from the direct consequences of an innovation. Direct
consequences are the changes to an individual or a social system that occur in
immediate response to adoption of an innovation. Indirect consequences are the
changes to an individual or a social system that occur as a result of the direct
consequences of an innovation. These are the consequences of consequences.
Wet Rice Farming in Madagascar - Direct versus Indirect Consequences

An illustration of the direct and indirect consequences of an innovation is
provided by an anthropological study of the adoption of wet rice farming by a
tribe in Madagascar (Linton and Kardiner, 1952). The nomadic tribe had
cultivated rice by dryland methods. After each harvest, they would move to a
different location in a kind of slash and burn agriculture. Then, they changed
to wetland (irrigated) rice farming. A pattern of land ownership developed,
social status differences appeared, the nuclear family replaced the extended
clan, and tribal government changed. The consequences of the technological
innovation were both direct and far reaching, in that several generations of
indirect consequences from wet rice growing spread from the more direct
results.
ORT: The Consequences of Consequences in Family Health Extension

Until the 1980s, an estimated 5 million young children died each year from
diarrhoea related causes, representing about 30 percent of all infant deaths in
the world. In babies, diarrhoea can cause a 10 percent loss of body weight,
which, in a matter of hours, can lead to the baby’s death due to dehydration.
The most promising breakthrough in the struggle to prevent deaths due to
infant diarrhoea occurred when a young medical doctor in Bangladesh invented
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT). Despite its elegant scientific name, the recipe
for ORT is remarkably simple: add one bottle cap of salt and eight bottle caps
of sugar to three soft drink bottles of clean water. Salt and sugar are available
in every peasant household in the Third World. ORT is an electrolyte mixture
that functions to rehydrate the body (that is, to return water to the body so that
a baby does not die from dehydration) and provide lost salt. The sugar provides
quick energy to help the body recover from dehydration. ORT is a lifesaver,
but it can also be dangerous. If the ratio of salt to sugar is accidentally reversed,
the baby may die. If clean water is not used, the baby gets diarrhoea again.
ORT does not cure the bacteria that cause diarrhoea. ORT only prevents the
progression from diarrhoea to dehydration to death. By the mid 1990s, almost
every developing nation in Latin America, Africa, and Asia had launched an
effective ORT campaign. Integrated child survival campaigns typically
emphasize ORT along with breast feeding, immunization of children,
improving the quality of drinking water, and better personal sanitation.
Implications : As ORT diffused widely in Third World countries during the

late 1980s and early 1990s, the rate of infant mortality dropped and the
populations of these nations climbed. How schooling, housing, and jobs to be
provided for the millions of infants whose lives were saved by ORT? One
answer was a faster rate of adoption of family planning methods. But in many
of the poorest countries where the ORT campaigns had been highly successful,
49
and Adopter Categories national family planning programmes were relatively ineffective. The beneficial
consequences of the rapid adoption of one innovation led to the worsening of
another social problem i.e., population. The diffusion of ORT suggests that
the indirect consequences of an innovation are often especially difficult to
plan for, and manage, as they are often unanticipated.
4.2.3 Anticipated versus Unanticipated Consequences

Anticipated consequences are changes due to an innovation that are recognized
and intended by the members of a social system.
Unanticipated consequences are changes due to an innovation that are neither

intended nor recognized by the members of a social system. No innovation comes
without strings attached. The more technologically advanced an innovation, the
more likely its introduction will produce many consequences, both anticipated
and latent. A system is like a bowl of marbles: move any one of its elements, and
the positions of all the others inevitably change also.
Unanticipated consequences represent a lack of understanding of how an

innovation functions, and of the internal and external forces at work in a social
system. Awareness of a new idea creates uncertainty about how the innovation
will actually function for an individual or other adopting unit in a system. This
uncertainty motivates active information seeking about the innovation, especially
through interpersonal peer networks. Individuals particularly seek to reduce
uncertainty concerning an innovation’s expected consequences. Such uncertainty
can be decreased to the point where an individual feels well informed enough to
adopt the new idea. But uncertainty about an innovation’s consequences can never
be completely removed.
An adopter is often able to obtain adequate information from peers about the
desirable, direct, and anticipated consequences of an innovation. But the
unanticipated consequences are, by definition, unknown by individuals at the
time of adoption of the innovation. Such unforeseen impacts of a new idea
represent innovation evaluation information that cannot be obtained by an
individual from other members of his or her system.
In addition to the desirable/undesirable, direct/indirect, and anticipated/
unanticipated aspects of the consequences of innovation (discussed earlier), one
might classify consequences as to whether they increase or decrease equality
among the members of a social system. We may conclude this discussion of the
three classifications of consequences with a generalization that the undesirable,
indirect, and unanticipated consequences of an innovation usually go together, as
do the desirable, direct, and anticipated consequences.
Activity 1: Visit any extension and development agency nearby and enquire
about their experiences with consequences of any development innovations.
Write your observations.
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50
Consequences of Innovation
Activity 2: Read the following case and answer the questions given at the
end.
Case of DDT - The Mosquito Killer
Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) was one of the important health
innovations of the past century, saving the lives of millions of people by
protecting them against malaria carrying mosquitoes. This chemical was
discovered by a Swiss chemist, Paul Muller, in the late 1930s, while he was
looking for a means to protect woolens against moths. Later, in 1948, Muller
was awarded the Nobel Prize for his discovery. But for many years, practical
uses for DDT were not found. Early in World War II in the Pacific, malaria
transmitted by mosquitoes was handicapping the fighting ability of U.S.
military personnel. Only about a century ago, it was determined that the malaria
parasite was carried by mosquitoes, who infected humans by biting them to
suck blood.
In 1943, DDT was being tested at an Army laboratory in Orlando, Florida.

One of two duck ponds was doused with DDT, and all the mosquito larvae in
this lake promptly died. But a week later, mysteriously, the larvae in the other
duck pond, several miles distant, also died. Ducks from the treated pond had
visited the second pond, and DDT residue on the their feathers was enough to
kill the mosquito larvae. Clearly, here was a very powerful insecticide - DDT
was rushed into use in the Pacific War.
DDT also proved to be the perfect killer of the Anopheles mosquito, the main
carrier of malaria. In the 1940s, malaria was a major public health problem
worldwide. In India alone, 75 million people were infected with malaria, and
the disease killed 800,000 people each year. Malaria was found throughout
Europe, Asia, the Caribbean, and the American South. Leading the DDT attack
on mosquitos was Dr. Fred Soper, who had his doctorate from the Johns
Hopkins School of Public Health and worked for the Rockefeller Foundation,
then leading efforts to improve health around the world.
With all success behind him, Soper set out to eradicate malaria carrying
mosquitos worldwide. In league with other malariologists, he convinced the
World Health Organization (WHO) to establish a Global Malaria Eradication
Programme, with the goal of killing mosquitos in every nation. In India, malaria
fatalities dropped to zero by the early 1960s. Millions, perhaps, tens of millions,
of lives were saved by Soper’s DDT sprayers. Perhaps no other man made
drug or chemical has saved more lives.
Soon, however, problems arose in Soper’s war on the mosquito. In the late
1940s, a malariologist observed a healthy mosquito flying around a room that
had been heavily sprayed with DDT. How this incredible event could have
happened? DDT attacks a mosquito’s nervous system, sending it into a lurching,
twitching spasm before it dies. But due to random genetic mutation, a few
mosquitoes in every large population are resistant to DDT. Perhaps the
insecticide does not bind to the mosquito’s nerve endings because the mosquito
has a thicker skin. Resistant mosquitoes then continue to breed, while other
mosquitoes are killed by DDT, and soon entire new generations are DDT
resistant. Another type of protection from the DDT spraying of walls and
ceilings occurred among a type of mosquitoes in the Solomon Islands. These
51
and Adopter Categories mosquitoes did not flight on the walls or ceilings of homes; instead, they flew
in through a window, bit a human, and then flew back out.
The development of DDT resistant mosquitoes came as a great shock to Soper
and his fellows. After some years, countries that had been enthusiastic allies
of Soper began to cancel their eradication campaigns. In 1969, WHO dropped
its Global Eradication Programme. Soper toured Asia, and was appalled at
what he observed. Everywhere mosquitoes, and malaria, were on the increase.
Soper blamed these defeats on a lack of discipline in the DDT spraying
campaigns. Some labeled him a “disease fascist.” Soper advocated heavier
and heavier doses of DDT, but in areas with the heaviest spraying, the resistant
mosquitoes especially flourished. Soper’s dream of a world free of malaria
was rapidly unraveling. Then Rachel Carson’s bombshell book Silent spring
was published in 1962, arguing that DDT was being used without concern for
its environmental consequences. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
banned the general use of DDT in the United States in 1972.
Fred Soper was an absolutist, a fanatic, who believed that DDT spraying was
the way to prevent malaria. He scoffed at experts who argued that draining the
breeding areas of the mosquitos should accompany the spraying and that DDT
should be used sparingly and as only one of several tools in a malaria eradication
campaign. Standing ramrod straight and always dressed in a suit, Fred Soper
learned the hard way that even dramatically effective technological innovations
can have perverse consequences. When Soper died in 1975, he was viewed as
an enemy by environmentalists. But to the many millions of people whose
lives had been saved by his actions, Soper was a hero.
( Source : Gladwell, 2001).
Questions
1) What are the direct and indirect consequences in the above case?
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2) What are the implications of this case for diffusion researchers?
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Check Your Progress 1 Consequences of Innovation

1) What do you mean by consequences of innovations?
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2) Name the various types of consequences.
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4.3 DYNAMIC EQUILIBRIUM AND GAPS

What rate of change allows a system to achieve the maximum benefits of an
innovation and yet not produce disequilibrium in the social system? Three types
of equilibrium are possible in a system:
• Stable equilibrium
• Dynamic equilibrium
• Disequilibrium
Stable equilibrium : It occurs when there is almost no change in the structure or
functioning of a social system. An example of stable equilibrium is a completely
isolated and traditional system in which the rate of change is almost zero.
Dynamic equilibrium : It occurs when the rate of change in a social system

occurs at a rate that is commensurate with the system’s ability to cope with it.
Change occurs in a system in dynamic equilibrium, but it occurs at a rate that
allows the system to adapt to it.
Disequilibrium : It occurs when the rate of change is too rapid to permit a social
system to adjust. An analogy is traffic circle with one too many cars on it; the
circulation of vehicles slows down until eventually all movement stops. The social
disorganization that accompanies disequilibrium makes it a painful and inefficient
way for change to occur in a system.
Gauging the optimum rate of change in a system is difficult. The long range goal
of most change agents is to produce a condition of dynamic equilibrium in their
client system. Innovations should be introduced into the system at a deliberate
rate that allows for careful balancing of the system’s ability to adjust to the changes.
53
4.3.1 Equality in the Consequences of Innovations
One of the ways in which change agents shape the consequences of an innovation
is who they work with most closely. If a change agent were to contact the poorer
and less educated individuals in a social system, rather than the socio-economic
elites (as is usually the case), the benefits from the development innovations that
are so introduced would be more equal. Usually, however, change agents have
most contacts with the better educated, higher status individuals in a system, and
thus tend to widen socio-economic gaps through the innovations that they
introduce.
The diffusion of innovations generally causes wider socioeconomic gaps within

an audience because:
b) Innovators and early adopters have favorable attitudes toward new ideas and
more actively search for innovations. They also possess more resources and
thus can adopt higher cost innovations that later adopters cannot afford.
c) Professional change agents concentrate their client contacts on innovators
and early adopters in hopes that the opinion leaders among these earlier
adopting categories will then pass along the new ideas they have learned to
their followers. But most interpersonal network links connect individuals
who are similar in adopter category and socioeconomic status. So innovations
generally trickle across, rather than down, in the interpersonal communication
networks of a system.
d) By adopting innovations relatively sooner than others in their system,
innovators and early adopters achieve windfall profits, thereby widening the
socioeconomic gap between these earlier adopting categories versus later
adopting categories. Thus the earlier adopters get richer, and the later adopters’
economic gain is comparatively less.
The diffusion of innovations usually decreases the degree of equality in a social

system. But this tendency toward gap widening need not occur, if special strategies
are followed to narrow gaps.
4.3.2 The Communication Effects Gap

The two questions that diffusion researchers attempted are
i) What are the effects of a communication activity to diffuse an innovation?
ii) Has the communication activity to diffuse an innovation had a greater or

different, effect on certain individuals, rather than on others?
These effects are measured as the average change in the knowledge, attitudes, or
overt behavior (that is, adoption) regarding an innovation by a set of individuals.
The researchers seeks to ascertain the equality of effects of communication, not
just how much effect occurred on the average (or in the aggregate). A useful
research paradigm for studying gaps was that data should be gathered at two or
more points in time, both before and after a diffusion intervention. The measure
of effects should be not just the average amount of behavior change in the audience
(the first dimension) but whether gaps in socioeconomic status and/or in
knowledge of information increased or decreased (this is the second dimension
of effects).
54
In essence, the core issue is that we should look at who in an audience was affected Consequences of Innovation
most and who least. This analytic approach looked for differential effects, rather
than just for average effects or aggregate effects on the entire audience. Scholars
began to investigate the degree to which a diffusion program widened or narrowed
gaps among the members of a system as consequences of innovations.
4.3.3 Gap - Widening Consequences of the Diffusion of Innovations

The consequences of the diffusion of innovations usually widen the socioeconomic
gap between the earlier and later adopting categories in a system. A second, related
conclusion is: the consequences of the diffusion of innovation usually widen the
socioeconomic gap between the audience segments previously high and low in
socioeconomic status.
4.3.4 Social Structure and the Equality of Consequences

How an innovation is introduced determines, in part, the degree to which it causes
unequal consequences.
Example: Evidence for this point comes from an investigation of the impacts of
adopting irrigation wells by villagers in Bangladesh and in Pakistan (Gotsch,
1972). In each country, an irrigation well cost about the same amount and provided
water for 50 to 80 acres of farmland. The introduction of Green Revolution wheat
and rice varieties created a need for irrigation in both nations. But the equality of
the consequences of an identical innovation was quite different in Pakistan from
those in Bangladesh, mainly because of the different social organization that
accompanied the new technology. In Pakistan, 70 percent of the irrigation wells
were purchased by farmers with 25 acres or more (considered very large farms).
Only 4 percent of the villagers with farms of less than 13 acres adopted. When
the irrigation water was accompanied by the use of fertilizers and other agricultural
chemicals, a farmer typically could increase his net farm income by about 45
percent. So the irrigation wells in Pakistan made the rich richer and the poor
farmers relatively poorer.
However in Bangladesh, average farm size was only 1 or 2 acres, not Large enough
to justify private ownership of irrigation well. So village cooperatives typically
purchased a pump and well and provided irrigation water to everyone who
belonged to the co operative. Incomes were doubled because farmers could raise
a winter crop during the season when rainfall was scarce. In Bangladesh, the rate
of adoption of the wells was slower than in Pakistan because the innovation
decision was collective rather than individual optional in nature. But the
consequences of the innovation were distributed much more equally than they
were in Pakistan, where an initially high degree of social stratification concentrated
the impacts of the irrigation wells on the richer farmers.
The social structure, in which the innovation of pump well irrigation was
introduced in Bangladesh and Pakistan, rather than the innovation itself,
determined the distribution of its socioeconomic impacts. This investigation, along
with others, suggests generalization that a system’s social structure partly
determines the equality versus inequality of an innovation’s consequences. When
a system’s structure is already very unequal, it is likely that when an innovation is
introduced (especially if it is a relatively high cost innovation), its consequences
will lead to even greater inequality in the form of wider socioeconomic gaps.
55
Innovation, Innovativeness Social structural factors are not necessarily static barriers or facilitators of the
adoption of innovations and their consequences. A rural development agency in
Bangladesh had organized the village cooperatives just before the introduction
of irrigation wells, for exactly the purpose that they served: to enable small farmers,
through banding together, to adopt relatively high cost innovations such as tractors
and irrigation wells. Here we see again the potential power of organizing for
social change that a set of individuals, once organized in groups, can express a
collective efficacy in achieving group actions that they could not attain as relatively
powerless individuals.
4.3.5 Strategies for Narrowing Gaps

As described in the above example, innovations do not inevitably widen
socioeconomic gaps within a system. But such gap widening inequality will usually
occur unless a change agency devotes special efforts to prevent it. What strategies
can be used by change agencies for gap narrowing? Here are list of some possible
strategies, organized under the major reasons why socioeconomic gaps ordinarily
widen as a consequence of innovations.
a) ‘Ups’ Have Greater Access to Information, Creating Awareness of

Innovations, Than Do ‘Downs.’
– Messages that are redundant or that are of less interest and/or benefit to
the higher socioeconomic sub-audience should be provided. This strategy
enables the lower socioeconomic sub-audience to catch up.
– Communication messages should be tailored especially for the lower
socioeconomic sub-audience in terms of their particular characteristics,
such as formal education, beliefs, communication habits, and the like.
Example: More line drawings, photographs, and other visual aids are
often needed because the “downs” have lower levels of formal education.
– Communication channels that get through to ‘downs’ should be utilized
so that access is not a barrier to gaining awareness knowledge of
innovations.
Example : In developing nations, many downs” are not literate, so print
media are useless and radio / TV may be more helpful.
– ‘Downs’ should be organized into small groups in which they can learn
about innovations and discuss them. This approach helps to gain self
efficacy and collective efficacy, a belief that they have control over their
environment.
– Change agent contact should be shifted from the innovators and early
adopters to the late majority and laggards. Later adopting categories tend
to place less credibility in professional change agents, and they seldom
actively seek information from them, as they place greater trust in
interpersonal peer networks. But when change agents directly contact
late majority and laggards, and if the innovations are appropriate to their
needs, the response has often been encouraging.
b) ‘Ups’ Have Greater Access to Innovation Evaluation Information from
Peers than Do ‘Downs’
– Trickle down theory suggests that ‘downs’ rapidly learn of the ‘ups’
56 personal experience with an innovation and follow suit. In many systems,
however, ‘ups’ talk primarily to ‘ups’ and ‘downs’ to ‘downs’ (Roling et Consequences of Innovation
al., 1976). This problem can be overcome by the following means.
– Opinion leaders among the disadvantaged individuals in a system should

be identified and change agent contact should be concentrated on them,
to activate their peer networks about an innovation.
– Change agent aides should be selected from among the ‘downs’ who can
contact their homophilous peers about innovations.
– Groups should be formed among the ‘downs’ to provide them with

leadership and social reinforcement in their innovation decision making.
Such small groups give the ‘downs’ greater economic, political, and social
strength (as in the example of the Bangladesh village cooperatives that
adopted irrigation pump wells).
C) ‘Ups’ Possess Greater Slack Resources for Adopting Innovations Than

‘Downs.’
– ‘Ups’ can usually adopt innovations much more easily than ‘downs,’
particularly if these new ideas are expensive and technologically complex,
and if they provide economies of scale. What strategies can overcome
these gap widening tendencies?
– Appropriate innovations for ‘downs’ should be recommended. R&D

activities should be directed at the problems of the lower socioeconomic
members of a system to create these innovations.
– A social organization should be created to allow ‘downs’ to command

the resources needed to adopt certain high cost innovations (as in the
example of the Bangladesh village cooperatives that adopted irrigation
pump wells).
– A means through which ‘downs’ can participate in the planning and

execution of diffusion programmes including setting priorities as to which
innovations will be diffused, should be provided.
– Special diffusion agencies should be established to work for ‘downs’

thus enabling change agents to meet the particular needs of the lower
socioeconomic audience.
1) What are the three types of equilibriums possible in a system?
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57
Innovation, Innovativeness 2) Why diffusion of innovations generally causes wider socioeconomic gaps
among social system?
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4.4 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, we discussed the meaning and concept of innovations. The
consequences are classified as (1) desirable versus undesirable, (2) direct versus
indirect, and (3) anticipated versus unanticipated. Many innovations cause both
positive and negative consequences, and it is thus erroneous to assume that the
desirable impacts can be achieved without also experiencing undesirable effects.
We conclude that the effects of an innovation usually cannot be managed so as to
separate the desirable from the undesirable consequences. Direct consequences
are the changes to an individual or a system that occur in immediate response to
an innovation. Indirect consequences are the changes to an individual or a system
that occur as a result of the direct consequences of an innovation. They are the
consequences of the consequences of an innovation. Anticipated consequences
are changes due to an innovation that are recognized and intended by the members
of a system. Unanticipated consequences are changes due to an innovation that
are neither intended nor recognized by the members of a system. We also discussed
that stable equilibrium occurs when almost no change is occuring in the structure
or functioning of a social system. Dynamic equilibrium occurs when the rate of
change in a social system is commensurate with the system’s ability to cope with
it. Disequilibrium occurs when the rate of change is too rapid to permit the system
to adjust. Change agents generally wish to achieve a rate of change that leads to
dynamic equilibrium, and to avoid disequilibrium. In the last part of the unit we
discussed that when a system’s structure is already very unequal, the consequences
of an innovation lead to even greater inequality in the form of wider socioeconomic
gaps. We also discussed the strategies that could be followed in order to narrow
gaps.
4.5 KEYWORDS
Innovation : An idea, practice, or object that is perceived as
new by an individual or other unit of adoption.
Windfall profits : Positive consequences of an innovation may occur
for certain members of a system at the expense of
others. By the time laggards adopt a new idea, they
are often forced to do so by economic pressures.
By being the first in the field, innovators frequently
secure a kind of economic gain called windfall
profits.
Social System : A set of interrelated units involved in joint problem
solving to accomplish a common goal.
58
Principles Knowledge : It is the information dealing with the functioning Consequences of Innovation
principles underlying how an innovation works.
Digital Divide : It is the gap that exists between individuals

advantaged by the Internet and those individuals
relatively disadvantaged by the Internet.

Dasgupta. (1989). Diffusion of Agricultural Innovations in village India, Wiley

Gladwell, M. (2001). The Mosquitoe Killer, Annals of Public Health, The New
Yorker, July, p. 42.
Katz,Elihu,and Paul F.Lazarfeld (1995). Personal Influence: The Part Played by


Roger, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed., Free press, New York.
Rogers, E. M., and Shoemaker, F. F. (1971). Communication of Innovations,

Free press, New York:
Swanson, B.E. (1984). Agricultural Extension - A Reference Manual, Second


ANSWERS
1) Consequences are the changes that occur an individual or a social system as
a result of the adoption or rejection of an innovation.
2) The three types of consequences are: Desirable versus undesirable
consequences; Direct versus indirect consequences, and Anticipated versus
unanticipated consequences.
1) The three types of equilibriums possible in a system are: Stable equilibrium;
Dynamic equilibrium and; Disequilibrium.
59
Innovation, Innovativeness 2) The diffusion of innovations generally causes wider socioeconomic gaps
within an audience because: (a) Innovators and early adopters have favorable
attitudes toward new ideas and more actively search for innovations; (b)
Professional change agents concentrate their client contacts on innovators
and early adopters in hopes that the opinion leaders among these earlier
adopting categories will then pass along the new ideas they have learned to
their followers. (c) By adopting innovations relatively sooner than others in
their system, innovators and early adopters achieve windfall profits, thereby
widening the socioeconomic gap.
60

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MDV-108

PROGRAMME DESIGN COMMITTEE (Revised)

Course Coordinator: Prof. P.V.K.Sasidhar, E-mail : pvksasidhar@ignou.ac.in

You are aware that development is a widely participatory process of directed

Block 1, Extension Education, deals with an overview of extension education

Block 3 ‘Communication in Extension and Development’ with three units

Block 5 ‘Diffusion of Innovations for Development’ with two units gives an

Block 6 ‘Innovation, Innovativeness and Adopter Categories’ with four units

Extension is a diverse, valuable and relatively new operational concept. Extension

Unit 1, Extension Education - An Overview focuses on history, meaning,

Unit 2, Extension Education - A Global Perspective, describes global extension

The Unit 3, on ‘Private and Corporate Extension Services’ delineates the

Extension discipline attracts; first, those who want to go on to become professional

1.3 THE MEANING OF EXTENSION

• Is extension concerned only with information communication and formation

• Should extension aim at increasing knowledge only, or should it also help to

Table 1.1: Differences between Formal and Extension Education

Activity 1: Ask some of your colleagues what they mean by extension

1.4 THE COMPONENTS OF EXTENSION

1.4.1 Extension Education

1.4.2 Extension Service

1.4.3 Extension Work

Example: Conservation of forests/trees by extension workers vs. Community forest

Extension Work or Education?

Activity 2: Visit a nearby development department like agriculture / family

1.5 THE PHILOSOPHY, OBJECTIVES,

Fundamental Objective of Extension

Check Your Progress 2

ii) Principle of cultural difference: extension work is based on the cultural

iii) Principle of participation: extension helps people to help themselves. Good

v) The grassroots principle of organization: any development programme

viii) Principle of co-operation: extension is a cooperative venture. It is a joint

x) The evaluation principle: extension is based upon the scientific methods of

xi) Principle of democratic approach: extension education is based upon the

Activity 3: Identify important principles governing extension work from your

Check Your Progress 3

1.7 PROCESS OF EXTENSION

2. Deciding Objectives / 4. Evaluation

1. Analyzing Situation 5. Reconsideration

Fig. 1.1 Steps in the Extension Process (Leagans, 1961)

ii) Objectives / Goals to be Accomplished: the beneficiaries of development

Teaching Participatory Irrigation Management

iv) Evaluating the Teaching: evaluation is to determining the extent to which

1.8 EXTENSION AND DEVELOPMENT

Development vs. Extension

Development means development of men, the satisfaction of their basic needs -

Social and Cultural

Fig. 1.2: Extension and Development

Economic Development: This is a process by which people, through their own,

Political Development: If development is to truly benefit the people, then the

Social and Cultural Development: It refers to those investments and services

Extension vs. Development

Check Your Progress 5

In this unit we started by looking at the meaning, components, objectives, and

1.11 REFERENCES AND SELECTED READINGS

Leagans, J.P. (1961). Extension Education for Community Development. In:

1.12 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS – POSSIBLE

Check Your Progress 2

1) Yes. Extension education plays an important role in development programmes

2) The three objectives are : (i) transferring knowledge from researchers to

Check Your Progress 3

Check Your Progress 4

Check Your Progress 5