India has seen great technological advances in the last two decades. But it is yet to be fully reflected in the field of education. For a country, whose one-fifth of the population is still in schools, we cannot afford to be left behind in the ICT race.
ICT is here to stay and we better accept it to our advantage, was the underlying current at the digitalLearning India2008 conference held in July end. In this issue of Digital Learning we proudly present to our readers the learnings gathered from the three days of power packed sessions and technology demonstrations.
In the course of discussions and debates, two distinct viewpoints emerged. One that ICT can increase access to education, especially in a vast country like India with its numerous disparities. The other held a more cautious approach to the whole issue; how much of ICT do we need in education. Merely bombarding classrooms with ICT will not do wonders, we also need motivated teachers and reforms in the education systems.
On the policy front, the event saw a multi-lateral discussion on vital issues of need for a national vision on ICT policy for schools, perspective of states and challenges involved.
Apart from the conference report, we also bring to our readers our regular fare of articles on innovative recording solution, distance education initiative from IIT-B and livelihood training. We also have interviews from Dr Ramamurthy, Dr Bhatia who have dwelved on various aspects of technology and education, plus the corporate angle.
We hope all these provide our readers a gainful insight into the vast exapanse of technology and its bearing on education.
