Taking hints from the current government’s enthusiasm to promote online education, and reflecting on the present condition of Indian education system, educationists and dexterous pundits are predicting that the year 2015 will see the heralding of a new era for education in India. Let us analyse the impact that online education will have in shaping the new face of Indian education and how technology can cure the ills that currently plague it?
Infrastructure
India has the third largest base of internet users. Tapping into the power of this digitally literate population, the ailing infrastructural limitations can be easily done away with. A whole college or a school can be easily set up in the cloud, with the help of an online teaching system (like WizIQ). This simple yet revolutionary new practice will change the notion of infrastructure being the primary requirement for quality education. It may be a little difficult to accept it at first, but WizIQ is an online teaching platform which is already questioning the cliché.
Quality of Teachers
For schools facing a shortage of quality teachers, flipped classroom model has a workable solution. Schools on WizIQ have access to the Content Library, which stores media files, documents, presentations, and more, uploaded by the teacher on the cloud. These can be made available to the learners for offline viewing and reviewing. The Virtual Classroom can also be used to make educational videos. These can then be recorded and used as classwork videos. The students can download or view recording of the previous classes. Open resources like YouTube and Khan Academy can be used to build a curriculum for schools with a want of teachers. All that is required is a computer and a working internet connection.
Scalability
Public education in India is undeniably moth-stricken, and has been so for a very long time. As such, penetrating villages becomes a priority for online education. In the past, many initiatives like “each one teach one” failed miserably. But none of these initiatives have ever involved technology. If a dedicated amount of funds is utilised in setting up digital libraries in public as well as municipal schools, learners will have a greater exposure to digital literacy, and hence better education. The possibilities are endless.
Unemployment
A MOOC has the ability to reach thousands, even millions of students at once. It also has the potential to end the problem of unemployment in India. As more and more companies start recognising MOOCs at par with standard degrees, it is quintessential that the government makes MOOCs mandatory for the premier institutes. WizIQ has, in the past, collaborated with the IITs and IIMs to set up highly successful online courses. Not only do these courses make quality education available to the masses, they also promise certificates of completion, which are useful to job aspirants.
WizIQ
WizIQ is an online learning and teaching platform that connects educators and students through its virtual classroom technology and cloud-based learning management system (LMS). WizIQ is a highly scalable solution for both synchronous and asynchronous tutorials and assessments. Used for everything from teaching hybrid courses at major universities to offering one-onone classes across thousands of miles, WizIQ is an incredibly flexible tool for delivering and enhancing any type of training or instruction. .
Future
According to a McKinsey report,
While India scores well on the availability of human and financial capital, it rates poorly on Internet infrastructure, Internet engagement, the ecommerce platform, the ease of Internet entrepreneurship, and the impact of egovernance. On most indicators of the strength of the Internet ecosystem, India ranks in the bottom quartile of our comparison set of 57 countries. Clearly, development of education and the internet ecosystem go hand in hand as their impact on the overall education sector in India is mutually beneficial. WizIQ’s mission of democratizing education falls in complete sync with the present government’s aspirations of developing India’s digital ecosystem for a sustainable and bright future.
For queries, suggestions, feedback or ideas to share, feel free to drop a mail to Kalyan Sarkar, Director, Academic Liaisons, WizIQ.com, at kalyan@ wiziq.com
