Sarva Shiksha with IT

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime, says a Chinese proverb.

The Indian educational system is of late undergoing a transformation, thanks to the introduction of ICT in education delivery. The use of technology can significantly improve the quality of education by enhancing content development, improving upon the administrative processes and, most importantly, reach out to the rural student population.

In fact the use of ICT for quality improvement also figures in the governments flagship program on education, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Again, ICT figured comprehensively in the norm of schooling recommended by Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), in its report on Universal Secondary Education, in 2005.

While on the content side, the use of ICT tools have changed the course delivery; on the other hand, the use of interactive, multimedia tools has helped government schools in rural areas to impart knowledge to students more effectively. Teachers are better able to explain concepts and ideas making the learning an experience. Besides in terms of conducting tests and assessments, it proves to be a timesaver.

Says Navin Thangiah, CEO of Pengala, Students have different learning capabilities and aptitude. ICT is taking it a step further by delivering animations and real videos in classrooms to explain difficult conceptsI think this enables more students to learn. Majority of ICT deployments in schools today have been to augment instructor-led training, providing a self-study environment to students so that they can learn at their pace using learning resources of their choice.

Adds Susheela Venkataraman, managing director, Internet Business Solutions Group, Cisco India, Easy access to quality education and relevant course material is the biggest advantage of implementing ICT technology in rural schools. Using videoconferencing technologies for learning, from a central location helps students, who had to travel to cities for various tuition classes and crash courses, to save a lot of time and energy. Teachers from rural schools feel that using these tools has received good response from students, who now have the opportunity to learn and be better informed.

In the urban areas, most schools today encourage students to surf the internet and collect material for their projects and assignments. Some schools also upload study material and curriculum on the web, for students to access and download. Parents are also happy to have information at their fingertips because that makes it easier for them to help their children with studies.

Government Leads the Way

Quoting the National Policy on ICT in School Education 2009, the present open schooling systems will be strengthened by harnessing ICT innovatively. For instance, the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) has effectively used ICT in its basic operations under the project NIOS Online wherein online registration facility is provided for admission, examination, e-accreditation, fixation of examination centers and payment gateway, available through the year. Under the project a user friendly, convenient Learner Support Center (LSC) was made functional to sort out grievances of learners on toll free numbers and through email.

NIOS has also implemented the On-Demand Examination System (ODES) whereby learners can appear for the examination as and when they are ready for it. This system will be strengthened and extended to its state counterparts for the benefit of learners from the non-formal sector.

The government has been really proactive and encouraging in the introduction of ICT in schools, and they have been tying up with various private e-learning solution providers. Indias current literacy rate is still low and the government is keen to promote educational initiatives to achieve 100% literacy by 2020, says Sanjaya Sharma, CEO, Tata Interactive Systems.

A leading education service provider, Educomps ICT Division Edureach has added 540 government schools to their existing portfolio of 10 schools under ICT implementation across India taking the total number of schools to 11,090 as Educomp is working with 10 state governments.

Addressing the Problem Areas

Says Venkataraman,The use of ICT can enhance administrative processes in schools. The need to provide structured and up-to-date information ensures the need to use ICT tools in administration right from billing, tracking students attendance to assigning teachers for classes The examination and valuation system can also be improvised with the use of technology because study modules, timetables and test papers can be uploaded on the web for students and parents reference.

One of the main areas where schools can implement ICT technology successfully is fleet management. The safety and security of students is the primary concern and with technology, its easier to manage and coordinate the location of students and the buses/vans that they are travelling in. Updates can be provided to parents when their wards embark and disembark the bus/van. The use of geographic information system (GIS) can help to keep track of and optimize the routes the schools buses take. The schools administration personnel can also monitor the insides of the buses through the installation of IP cameras, adds Venkatraman.

Technology-enabled learning will be critical in revamping Indias education system. It empowers the teachers with tools to make the classroom interactive and interesting and helps students to enhance their social and thinking skills with an understanding of the curriculum content. ICT solutions on the cloud model allow schools to collaborate and build a knowledge sharing community, says Sharma.

Says Thangiah, In the current environment, assessment happens in 4-6 weeks cycles and teachers with multiple classes of 30-50 students are unable to track each student. Pengala tracks the usage of a student in term of hours spent studying (including content used) and instant feedback on progress through assessments. This data is available in easy to understand graphical format including trends on a continuous basis. This can be delivered to parents and teachers on a periodic basis so that they can support the learning process of a student.

Smartboard=Costly Education?

While it might be right to say that education has become expensive, it is the value that the students get with the introduction of technology in education being exposed to innovative teaching methodologies and access to quality content.

Says Venkataraman, the concept of shared learning resources is helping students from different schools or branches to share educational material easily helping minimize expenditure by creating centralized services.

However Sharma of TIS begs to differ. I do not believe that ICT has made the education an expensive proposition when you take its benefits into consideration. As more and more schools adopt ICT, the service becomes more accessible and affordable.

Agrees Thangiah of Pengala, ICT may take the cost up marginally but the most critical factor in delivering quality education is the teacher. It is not easy to produce good teachers in bulk to service the demand, especially in India.