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Education today holds the key to Indias development. India cannot cash in on
its demographic dividend and emerge as a super power if its predominantly young
population is not well-educated. Even after sixty years of independence, India
is home to 46% of the worlds illiterates.
On the brighter side though, the country has come a long way up the literacy
curve. As the literacy rate rose from 18.3% in 1950-51 to nearly 65% in 2003-04,
the number of schools in the country too increased from 0.23 mn to 1.18 mn
during this period. The governments Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), launched in
2000-01 to achieve useful and relevant elementary education for all children by
2010, is now showing encouraging results with the number of out-of-school
children in the 6-14 years age group witnessing a drop from 13.4 mn in 2005 to
7.06 mn in March 2006.
When it comes to education, India is a study in contrast. There are not just
vast differences in quality of education being imparted in schools across the
country, but there are regional differences as well. To begin with, education
being a state subject, each state has its own educational board and curriculum.
In all, there are around 1 mn government schools; 200,000 private schools; and
31 educational boards in the country.
These discrepancies notwithstanding, there is a dire need to impart quality
education. For, the opportunities before India are huge. As per a Boston
Consulting Group report, the developed world will have a shortage of 40 mn
working people by 2020. This shortfall can be met by a knowledge economy like
India, with its predominantly young population, provided our education system
undergoes some fundamental changes.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can play a vital role in
imparting quality education. Information technology can bring about two vital
changesone, it can help impart education in an effective manner; and two, it
has the potential to change the education system. But this is no mean task. It
requires planning and vision.
On its part, the government recognizes the role IT can play in imparting
quality education. According to the Planning Commission, the Indian government
is committed to provide computers in all government secondary schools by the end
of the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012). But computers alone will not lead to
quality education.
Bridging the Digital Divide
Even though computer education was introduced fifteen to twenty years back
in some urban schools in the country, most schools in rural India still do not
have adequate teachers, let alone a computer laboratory. In short, an enormous
digital divide prevails in India. In order to bridge the digital divide, we need
to train teachers, provide schools and students with the right IT tools and
assess and manage students on a regular basis.
The costs for bridging this digital divide can be prohibitive. Even though
PCs, laptops and Internet connectivity have become cheaper, they remain
unaffordable for a majority of schools in India.
In order to take ICT to every school, we need to keep the total cost of
ownership low. Various institutions are working at reducing the price of a
laptop. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation (a non-profit organization) has
launched the OLPC XO laptop, priced at around $188. And, the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), Bangalore has been working on a computer that would cost a lot
cheaperat around Rs 500-1,000.
Last year, Andhra Pradesh became the first Indian state to provide computing
access to 5,000 government schools, covering 1.8 mn school children. These
schools are using a low-cost and eco-friendly virtualization tool provided by US
based NComputing. This technology creates multiple virtual desktops on a single
PC, enabling several users to tap its unused capacity and share the system
simultaneously. This represents a key innovation reducing not just the
procurement costs of the ICT infrastructure, but also the TCO, over a five year
period. This is an important aspect as one should consider the cost of
electricity and backup power supply when arriving at the TCO.
Towards Techno-pedagogy
Students can learn from various sourcesbeginning from a traditional set-up
like a teacher teaching in a classroom environment; through self-learning media
(like books, computers and television); through experiences and project based
learning methodologies and even through testing and assessment modules.
Every student has his or her unique style of learning. Some students learn
better when visual props are used, others through oration. Some may learn better
through experiences. In fact, the styles of learning for the same student may
vary from time to time. By using ICT, educators can have an array of tools at
their disposal that can cater to the unique learning styles of students (such as
multimedia learning tools, visual learning tools, abstract learning tools, etc).
For instance, an atomic explosion can be explained more effectively using a
multimedia tool.
Besides learning styles, even the learning capability of each student is
different. In any class, nearly 50-60% of students are average learners. Slow
learners generally lose out as they cannot keep pace with what is being taught
in the classroom. Fast learners lose interest and need something extra. This is
where technology can help in self-paced learning. Educators can also deploy
assessment tools to see how students are progressing. These assessment tools can
be used to generate a collective response which, in turn, can be used to
modify and even redesign the curriculum.
Globally, the technological revolution has prompted a fundamental shift in
the understanding of pedagogy and its related practices. Traditionally, teaching
did not require the instructor to also be a learner. The teachers role would be
that of a facilitator and at times, could become a co-learner.
Techno-pedagogy implies that there is no one valid or legitimate method of
instruction per discipline, neither per medium and neither per learner. It
refers to weaving various techniques of teaching into the learning environment.
In techno-pedagogy, creativity is an essential aspect of the successful learning
environment.
The National Curriculum Framework 2005 recognizes the need to meet the
challenges of ICT and globalization. The framework, in some form, recognizes the
importance of techno-pedagogy by seeking to view the child as a constructor of
knowledge and by recognizing the interface between cognition, emotion and
action.
A New Learning Culture
In my view, mobile devices can be an excellent tool for learning. In the
case of PCs and laptops, the equipment cost, including battery as well as the
software costs, are prohibitive. Besides, bandwidth is still quite expensive.
Mobile devices, on the other hand, are all-pervasive. Mobile phones have reached
remote villages, with an overall penetration of 36%.
A mobile device is a cheaper and simpler tool to facilitate remote-learning.
India already has a well-established mobile infrastructure. And new technologies
like 3G will bring faster Internet connectivity, making it easier to view rich
media content on the device.
The young are more tech-friendly and adept at using new applications (such as
social networking websites like Facebook and Twitter). Social networking
websites can, in fact, be an effective tool to clear (classroom) doubts.
Similarly, YouTube is an excellent supplementary, self-learning tool; just type
mathematics on its search engine and you will get several videos on problem
solving. All these applications can be accessed on a mobile device with a larger
screen.
The education system has to witness a tectonic shift in order to adopt
concepts like techno-pedagogy and mobile-education. The system has to open up to
concepts like learning at home and learning on the move.
The younger generation adopts technology very fast. Its the parents and
educators who will require a drastic change in mindset. For, a mindset change
will undoubtedly lead to a larger change in Indias education system. That, in
turn, will lead to development at the very grassroots of this country.
L Balasubramanian
The author is president, school learning solutions, NIIT
maildqindia@cybermedia.co.in
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