Impact of Technology on Education-A Descriptive study on the proposed facelift by National Education Policy-2019 by introducing ICT on various areas of Education


"Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students."

-Solomon Ortiz

According to existing preconceived notion, disciplines like arts and humanities are more meant for the creative ones and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are mostly liked by logical ones. But new studies, assessments and researches on this, leads to the fact that creativity itself is very logical in nature. Most Creative Thinkers Are Logical Thinkers.

With this as a backdrop, the New National Education policy -2019 's proposal for a novel approach that will integrate humanities and arts with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics seems to be prima facie a much welcoming one. Another major facelift NEP -2019 insists on is for having Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as the backbone for the implementation of almost all new initiatives that has been proposed.

The skeleton system of ICT support system proposed by NEP-2019 starts with the implementation of computer-based adaptive assessment system in secondary schools, by making tablets and computers available in all schools and to cover each student and teacher. Various technical interventions like mobile apps and games in different regional languages will be introduced, that teaches literacy, numeracy and act as a repository for other foundational and curriculum materials. This would act as an extended support system or learning aid, apart from teachers, to carry out adaptive assessments and personalized learning for the students. Another novelty that is been proposed is the usage of technology in bringing the arts to more students. The intention is to make professionally recorded classes /demonstrations by great artists of the country that could be played on video screens and projectors, available for teachers and students, that can be followed along together in the exercises thus creating a fun learning environment.

In short, the major objectives of Technology in education have the intention of implementing appropriate ICT advancement in the following different categories of classified areas in education.

·        Appropriate integration of technology into all levels of education

·        To support teacher preparation and development;

·        To Improve teaching, learning and evaluation processes;

·        Enhancement of educational access to disadvantaged groups;

·        Streamlining educational planning, administration and management.

The Prominent thrust areas of the implementation of ICT in education are as follows: -

Digital literacy is ensured in early stage of education.

"Digital literacy" is one of the buzzwords that would make up a 21st century student. It's everywhere, on everyone's lips, but figuring out what it means can be a little bit confusing. "Literacy" in its simple terms means  the ability to read and write .Hence in similar terms "digital literacy"  means  achieving those goals using technology in the classrooms.

"A person's ability to perform tasks effectively in a digital environment ... includes the ability to read and interpret media, to reproduce data and images through digital manipulation, and to evaluate and apply new knowledge gained from digital environments." -- Barbara R. Jones-Kavalier and Suzanne L. Flannigan: Connecting the Digital Dots.

NEP-2019 enables this by making the hands-on assessments and worksheets using the digital infrastructure available in school. In more higher levels like secondary schools, programming languages and computational thinking exercises are included as the part of the curriculum. Internet and computers are to be made standard in schools and NEP2019 recommends having all levels of testing and assessments including board exams, as online/digital.

Differently abled students and are given special support with proper support by providing computers and internet connectivity for pedagogical purposes and proper infrastructure.

Continuous professional development for teachers are ensured by providing them access to both internet and other technology platforms, both at school and their homes. The resource person who will be delivering these lectures would most often be selected from the best teachers and are given every opportunity to develop their knowledge continually. The Teacher Online Professional Development project India (TOPDI) partners with the British Council for an innovative online course - myEnglish. This project aims to develop the English language proficiency of government teachers from across India through a 6-WEEK COURSE.  

Similarly access to online journals, libraries and repositories would be made available to schools and colleges to ensure high quality research. For this to be made possible, Govt. of India will set up a mechanism, like a single buyer for all these and will make it available to all public institutions in the country. This would help in replacing the current system of funding the institutions separately for the access of these online journals, and hence save a huge amount of money.

Innovation and expansion of ODL must be encouraged, while ensuring quality.

ICT is implemented in ensuring this by the introduction of MOOC's (Massive Open Online classes) with all its content made available in an online digital repository. Individual educators, who have proven to be efficient can be used to for taking up this responsibility. The SWAYAM (Study Web of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds) platform is a recently launched Indian platform for offering MOOCs that will be used to help individual educators and HEIs to cater to this demand [1].

'SWAYAM' was started by the Indian government and was conceived for easy access, equal participation and good quality. SWAYAM was introduced so that every Indian had access to quality education. It ensured that the marginal society also had access to the latest digital technology and to bring them to the mainstream.

The idea is that any underprivileged student from 9th standard onwards has access to the latest data and teaching material prepared by the best teachers in India through the medium of digital platform. This brings them on par with the mainstream.

The contents include video lectures, special reading materials, self-assessment tests and forums for debating and sharing information.

For this, nine National Coordinators have been appointed :

  •   AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) for self-paced and international courses[4]
  •   NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) for Engineering[4]
  •   UGC (University Grants Commission) for non-technical post-graduation education[4]
  •   CEC (Consortium for Educational Communication) for under-graduate education[4]
  •   NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) for school education[4]
  •   NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) for school education[4]
  •   IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) for out-of-school students[4]
  •   IIMB (Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore) for management studies[4]
  •   NITTTR (National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research) for Teacher Training programme[4]

The SWAYAM courses are free of cost and accessible to everyone. There is no fee chargeable.

NEP-2019 give students flexibility in choosing online courses they want to learn offered by different universities and institutions throughout the country, hence ensuring freedom for the students to pursue the subjects they are passionate about. University recognized part time online degrees are also made possible to ensure the flexibility of learning.

The policy also recommends,  India to take the lead in preparing professionals in cutting-edge areas that are fast gaining prominence such as artificial intelligence, 3-D machining, big data analysis and machine learning among others in technical education, genomic studies, bio-technology, nanotechnology, neuroscience and so on in the sciences. For this retired as well as serving scientists and engineers would be roped in to train the faculty in colleges and universities [1].

Education enrichment for Adult and Differently abled with appropriate ICT tools

The policy also envisages enhancement of Adult and Differently able students' education by using schools, colleges and public library spaces after working hours, so that they can make use of the ICT- equipped infrastructure. The existing well-equipped ICT-enabled AESDCs and Jan Shikshan Sansthans will also be strengthened across the country, and new ones set up in various regions and school complexes as needed, and will be co-located with schools, public libraries, or vocational training centers whenever possible to enable the desired synergy and resource sharing[1].Multiple pathways of education is made possible by the introduction of Mobile apps and online educational games .

National Handicapped Finance and Development cooperation is one among those institutions that would be instrumental in giving scholarships for Differently abled, for studies and ICT infrastructure. Laptop or Desktop with Screen reading software / with Screen Magnification software is provided to students who are Visually challenged. Similarly, Binaural digital programmable hearing aid with annual provision of button cells are provided to Students with hearing problems.

Conclusion


The Draft NEP-2019 comprehensively deals with education starting from pre-school to higher secondary, college and university including various levels of professional courses and skill training courses. It has addressed various issues pertaining to current educational system and have issued various recommendations, with the intention to bring considerable changes specially in terms of Quality of the learning experience and subsequently effectiveness of it.

Many among them are well conceived and would be an effective enhancement if implemented effectively. But some of the recommendations like, the flexibility of students to choose the subject for higher studies can invite chaos with the various inter-dependent courses that should be taken along with and thus in conducting examinations. Moreover, the envisaged computer-based multiple-choice examination system totally ignores assessment of abilities of the students like power of expression and writing skills, thereby making it difficult to properly assess the understanding of core concepts by students. Another area of concern is the introduction of MOOCs as an alternative teaching method. Online teaching cannot completely replace, the efficiency classroom teaching method since teacher-student dynamics is an indispensable part of education, and hence should be kept as a supplementary method.

 

References

1.      https://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/Draft_NEP_2019_EN_Revised.pdf

2.     http://www.teachhub.com/technology-classroom-what-digital-literacy

3.     https://www.britishcouncil.in/teach/continuing-professional-development

4.     https://swayam.gov.in/about

5.     https://www.nationalskillsnetwork.in/jan-shikshan-sansthans-reforms/

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