Technology to Play a Vital Role in Transforming Education

The right use of technology in education can empower both teachers and students, and also make education more affordable and accessible

With the government spending heavily on learning in rural areas and most parents (with higher disposable incomes) ready to spend more on quality education, the education sector continues to have a double-digit growth year after year. However, only a fraction of the education sector in India is technology-enabled, which means there’s a huge opportunity waiting to be tapped for technology companies.

Technology Enabled Learning (TEL): Introduction

Gadgets like computers and smartphones have not only become common, they have altered the way businesses operate, and altered the manner in which people consume services. The education sector has also witnessed a lot of changes over the years due to the use of technology, digital tools and resources.

The term Technology-enabled learning (TEL) is used to describe the application of technology to teaching and learning. It has played an important role in improving the quality of education in recent years, but it has the potential to further improve education, the way it is delivered and consumed.

TEL including computers, the internet, social media, mobile and tablet devices, and open educational resources; experts believe it has the power to transform both teaching and learning in classroom-based and online education.

TEL provides existing educational institutions and students with the expertise and support infrastructure required to deliver qualitative online tutoring and classroom taught lessons. TEL can transform teaching by creating new, connected relationships between teachers, students, and content. It has the ability to create a more personalized form of learning. While the primary focus of TEL is on increasing learner engagement and improving access, experts see TEL playing an important role in communication, information search, collaboration, creation, assessment, and personal or professional development. TEL can expand learning opportunities, enrich experiences, and support greater equality of access around the world.

Education today is considered a fundamental right of all children, and as such it’s the responsibility of policy makers, educators, teachers and all adults to ensure that children have access to more appropriate education, irrespective of where they are located. TEL can play a vital role in helping achieve this objective. It provides teachers, educators and experts with the opportunity and resources to pool their collective wisdom for the benefit of everybody, irrespective of their location, and thereby also reducing the digital divide.

To ensure that investment in TEL is effective, it is necessary to have an infrastructure that covers hardware, software, production and delivery. Educational institutions will need to adopt appropriate policies, strengthen their technology infrastructure, build the capacities of teachers, engage students to be life-long learners using a variety of sources and technologies, and also undertake a rigorous approach to assess and evaluate TEL.

Quality teaching has been a long-standing challenge in higher education where faculty may not be certified to teach. In order to use online and blended learning and still maintain or enhance quality teaching, more work is required to identify and implement best practices. So, while efforts have been going on in this area by various institutions / organizations and isolated success stories are available, a holistic approach is the need of the hour.

Students are benefitting from the use of latest technologies

Gone are the days when kids learnt it the hard way. Schools and other educational institutions alike have adapted to a scientific and smart way of learning their subjects. Being in the age of information, kids today are learning how to make the best use of technology to their advantage.

Here’s how technology is smartly being used in education.

Audio-Visual Learning

Kids at at an impressionable age learn faster with lights and sounds, instead of just text. Using audio-Video methods to learn helps students understand a concept better and strengthens their pictorial memory. A good blend of videos can precede textual content painting a better picture in the minds of the students.

Smart Classes

Smart classes using popular collaboration tools (such as Google Classroom) is one of the newest developments that you see in the primary schools, especially in urban areas. Google Classroom is a free collaboration tool for teachers and students.

Virtual reality (VR)

Virtual Reality (VR) involves the use of computer technology to create a simulated environment, and can be used to provide real-life experience to students. The technology can help in enhancing the classroom experience of a child.

3D printing

3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) is a process where a 3D printer creates three-dimensional objects by placing materials layer by layer as per the object’s 3D digital model. The technology can help give shape and form to the imagination of young, creative minds by creating real-life models.

Doubts and Questions

The role of internet as a means of finding answers is undeniably pivotal. Though kids can often be sidelined with prolonged use, internet acts as a complete encyclopedia that helps students finds answers to any problem under the sun or over it. This can also be linked to the process of self-learning as one solved answer often gives rise to a new set of questions, and what better way of learning than self-learning. This creates positive curiosity in a child’s mind which is needed for mental development.

Surveillance ad Monitoring

Though the use of technology has a certain degree of morality associated with it. Parents and teachers alike can make use of surveillance and monitoring techniques to make sure that kids do not go haywire.

Surveillance is not necessarily putting a camera into a student’s life; it can also be used to monitor the progress and comprehensibility of a student. Remote surveillance can also allow parents and teachers alike to understand what hurdles do students face and when. This can help teachers re-frame the problems and parents can benefit from this by using targeted learning techniques for overall development of a child, and all this can be done in real time.

Discipline and Punctuality

Making use of technology, kids can use accounting applications to keep a tab on their spending, which will make them more responsible thus adding to their discipline. Technology helps streamline daily activities thus introducing students to self-discipline and punctuality. Kids are more likely to be receptive to orders and commands by a computer aided software instead of a specific teacher they dislike. Effective use can yield the best from within a student.

Practical Learning

World on the internet is filled with people from around the globe doing scientific experiments from their basements. There is a whole bank of videos that can be streamed online, which explains various concepts through experiments. This allows a student to learn first-hand, and reduces the chances of error as a video can be seen as many times as possible. Learning from someone else’s mistake in a simulated environment will help teach better and faster.

Updated Information

The best part about virtual learning is that all information available is up to date. Traditional books had to be updated in order to provide students the latest information. Smart and virtual learning is accurate to the day, which is a very big advantage for subjects related to law and medicine.

Global Connect

Technology bridges gaps, which is its most important aspect. Students now have access to a global classroom where they can learn about things that are empirical all around the globe. This helps them understand and think on a global scale. It nurtures unity and is a key aspect in the global race for world peace.

Technology Firms Eye Growing Indian Education Sector

The Indian education sector is expanding and technology firms want to capitalize on the opportunity. Both, central and the state governments have big plans to take education beyond cities and towns to the villages. As a result, Indian technology companies, providers of computing hardware, education-related software and content providers, are keen to seize the opportunity.

Here are some cases where tech companies are already working to further education in the rural areas.

1. Cisco has provided remote learning services to several schools in Raichur (in rural Karnataka) as part of their corporate social responsibility programme, and is now offering similar services for a reasonable price, as part of its inclusive business division. The objective is to help government bring inclusive growth to rural areas using latest technology, by providing them at affordable prices.
2. Intel runs a teacher training programme in villages and also has an education product that is sold through computing devices; even they are keenly observing this market. Intel believes internet broadband and remote learning are going to play a vital role, considering that India is a huge country and it may not be possible to physically reach every corner of the country.
3. There are also few Indian companies that are already running for-profit digital learning models in several villages. Most of these offerings are e-learning portals that are provided through government’s common service centres (created at the panchayat level).

Children need to be taught about digital responsibility

Indian government considers digital connectivity is a “basic right” for children, similar to schooling, and are stressing upon the need to make school education more “creative”.

Nowadays, online tests can be taken on tablets, which can assess your intuition, perception and logic and reasoning skills. Children can learn lot better using a Smart phone, tablet, laptop or even a PC. With an INTERNET connection, they can search world wide to find better learning resources.

Although there are several benefits of using technology in education, Technology can also be a double-edged sword, and children should be taught to discriminate content available on the net.

studymumbai

StudyMumbai.com is an educational resource for students, parents, and teachers, with special focus on Mumbai. Our staff includes educators with several years of experience. Our mission is to simplify learning and to provide free education. Read more about us.