IT’s a class apart

India has had a long tradition of the guru-shishya model, and it has worked very well in the context of the long history of our civilisation. Be it western or Indian civilisation, disciple and discipline have always remained interlocked. The modern idea of schooling, the teacher-student bipolarity, the textbook curriculum and the progress evaluation process have all been rooted in that concept.

But if advances in Internet-enabled education are any indicator, in just a few decades from today, students will recall with amazement that this was the ubiquitous model of education delivery across the globe well into the 2000s.

‘Smart class’ environment

Information technology is now radically altering the world, impacting the way we live and, particularly, learn and educate ourselves. Anybody over the age of 20 today went to what we knew as the traditional format school — 50 kids to a teacher, learning by rote, bulky textbooks and a high incidence of auditory instruction.

Today, the learning environment has metamorphosed to what we call a ‘smart-class’, where computers and content, teacher and the taught integrate in a stimulating environment that not only challenges all knowledge delivery mechanisms of a decade ago but dramatically improves the outcomes of education.

Students, on their part, being quick adopters have begun to use Information and Communications Technology (ICT) tools to get a better understanding of curriculum and concepts and learn through visual learning strategies.

This is also helping them train to compete at the global level with exposure to modern technology and international on par content. With almost 53 per cent of students using a smart phone or connected to the Internet, it is no surprise that students prefer learning through technology. Parents too are playing a huge part as influencers in moving from traditional education modules to digital delivery methods.

Digital classrooms have also modernised teaching by providing teachers with a broad, flexible and agile methodology to organise their teaching methods. Teachers have benefited greatly as the emphasis has shifted from a talk-down model to an engagement model where student and teacher are equal participants in the process.

New model of delivery

An increasing number of teachers are using technology-led tools as teaching aids to enhance the quality of their lessons. The teachers can also explain the toughest of lessons via 3D images and power-point presentations. Digitalisation also enhances a teacher’s productivity by providing various tools such as projectors, interactive boards and assessment devices.

Today, no school is considered on par unless it has transitioned to this new model of education delivery, and the urban bias is also quickly disappearing as school in semi-urban areas also demand and deliver IT-supported education, allowing for healthy democratisation of education.

Relatively newer innovation-digital tablets are now set to redefine the contours of existing ICT-led education delivery. Tablets are a new category of products which can fulfil all the educational needs of students and learners in the most effective way due to their portable design and interactive capabilities.

The use of tablets allows students to customise learning at their own pace and in the manner that suits them best. Learning becomes more project-based and there is greater peer-to-peer interaction. Tablets also provide students with immediate access to research and other important tools like dictionary and encyclopaedia and they can update information effortlessly or undertake assignments in situ .

IT-enabled education has also led to tectonic shifts in the overall quality of educational content and its delivery. Digitisation of content has allowed for instantaneous upgrading of content, quicker verification of data, comparative notes, references popping on the screens within nanoseconds, evaluations of answers by teachers in real time, instant feedback from mentors, and a transparent and verifiable means of calibrating students progress.

All this is impacting academic performance of students tremendously. It has also made teaching a more exact science, removed the drudgery of old school teaching and converted it into a far more satisfying experience for teachers. Teaching is more student-friendly; teachers are getting better responses than ever before. Peer-to-peer interface and feedback has improved leading to constant improvements in their own subject knowledge and skill sets.

Education on demand

The overarching impact of all this has been the democratisation of education and the birth of the virtual classroom. Technology-enabled education is free of geographic limitations. Education can come to where the student is, the travelling to and fro is gone. A teacher can teach likewise.

The costs of such instruction have reduced dramatically and bulky expensive hard copies are literally done away with. Education is content and learning-centric. Specialisation is easy, and course material can be pruned or added at will. Customisation is possible for special needs of special students. The entire gamut of 0-12 and, thereafter, higher education can now be delivered on demand, on location, via satellite or online.

Students can learn different subjects, play games or discuss a subject of their interest across geographies. They can research any subject from anywhere in the world. And, if one doesn’t understand the language of the content available on World Wide Web, it can be translated in his or her native language. Students are also using the Internet for aptitude and self-assessment checks and for evaluating their career and academic choices from a global milieu.

According to Indian census figures, over 32 per cent of its 1.1 billion population is between the age group of 0 and 14 years and it is no secret that India is lagging behind in its target to educate its millions. Traditional education models are infrastructure heavy and require huge capital investments. It is only IT-led education that can scale up to meet this demand, quickly and cost effectively.

(The author is Chairman and Managing Director, Educomp Solutions Ltd.)