SR

Prof. Shikha Rai

Indira Gandhi National Open University, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Commonwealth of Learning, Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology

ORCID iD 0000-0002-8011-8708
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About

Prof. Shikha Rai is the Director of School of Journalism and New Media Studies, IGNOU and has two decades of experience in teaching and research. Her areas
include communication theories, cultural studies, communication management,
media marketing, social media, OTT and online learning. A university merit holder at
the graduate and post-graduate level, she was also a gold medalist in Post Graduate
Diploma in Distance Education (PGDDE) of IGNOU. She was awarded the
Commonwealth of Learning (COL) fellowship for the Post Graduate Diploma in E-
Learning (PGDEL). She has published over 50 research papers and book chapters in indexed journals and with international publishers.
She is researching social and behavioural change communication in tribal areas, social media outrage, political communication on social media
through satire and parody and cultural representation in animation.
She is currently the Project Director of a post graduate diploma programme designed in collaboration of UNESCO on media and information literacy.
She was the co-PI of an ICSSR-funded major project titled ‘Youth Engagement and
Social Networking Platforms: Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 and Future
Challenges in North-East India’.
 
Besides her administrative responsibilities as the Director of the School, her academic work at IGNOU comprises teaching and coordinating the Ph.D. programme, MA
programme in Journalism and Mass Communication, BA
programme in Journalism and Digital Media, and Postgraduate Diploma in
Journalism and Mass Communication. The Diploma and Master’s programmes are
offered in 16 African countries, besides India, through the Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India.
 
She has served as the nodal officer for the Centre for Internal Quality Assurance of
IGNOU. As a core team member, she designs curricula as part of expert committees
of IGNOU’s academic programmes. Various other events organised by the School of
Journalism require her to coordinate and be a part of the organizing teams in various
capacities. National agencies invite her as an area expert for examination-related
activities. She also serves as a member on the Board of Studies in different Schools
of IGNOU and other Universities.
 
Prof. Rai has produced E-content for various platforms like writing and recording
modules for E-PG Pathshala on ‘Media and Communication Studies’, a UGC
sponsored E-learning initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, GOI
and Inflibnet. Further, she has contributed modules to MOOCs like Society and
Media and Media, Information and Empowerment offered by IGNOU on SWAYAM and more recently, the MOOC on Environmental Communication and Journalism offered from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She lectures regularly on the Gyan Darshan TV channel and Gyan Vani
radio as well as on the official Facebook page and YouTube channel of IGNOU. Her
lectures are also available digitally through various online programmes and e-
Gyankosh, the digital repository of IGNOU.
 
In the past, she coordinated the ‘Train the Trainer’ workshops for working journalists
in collaboration with Deutsche Welle, Germany. She has scores of invited lectures to
her credit for students and newly joined college and university teachers at
educational and training institutions, not-for-profit organisations, HRDC of some
universities and prestigious institutions like the Indian Institute of Mass
Communication and National Institute of Fashion Technology in various areas of research skills, train the trainer and communication skills.
Her latest book is Research and Publication Ethics: Theory and Practice published by New Age International Publishers (2026)
She has co-authored another book which is a by-product of one of the Ph.D. work she supervised. Its titled, Films, Cinema and Movies: How Internet is Shaping the
Entertainment Industry published by HP Hamilton, London. (2023)

Employment

  • Indira Gandhi National Open University Director and Professor
    2009 - Present
  • Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University Assistant Professor
    2005 - 2009

Education

  • Commonwealth of Learning Post Graduate Diploma in E-Learning
    2013 - 2014
  • Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University Post Graduate Diploma in Distance Education , Open and Distance Learning
    2010 - 2011
  • Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology PhD in Mass Communication
    2008 - 2011
  • Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology Masters in Mass Communication
    2002 - 2004
  • Kurukshetra University BSc
    1999 - 2002

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (52)