The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE), functioning under the state’s Department of General Education, has rolled out a revised set of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) textbooks for schools.
The updated textbooks have been redesigned to integrate Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming, and Comics (AVGC) in line with the state’s AVGC-XR policy introduced last year. They also include lessons in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, and Fact-Checking, broadening the scope of digital education.
According to KITE officials, the new curriculum introduces students to digital arts and music right from the primary level.
- Music Learning Pathway: From identifying musical notes in Class 3 (“Songbox”), students gradually move to composing songs by Class 4 (“Play the Piano”, “Utsav Mela”) and progress to digital music composition in Class 8 using the open-source software LMMS.
- Animation Modules: Beginning with simple movement exercises in Class 6 (“Drawings in Motion”) using Pencil 2D software, learners advance to professional-level animation by Class 10 with Open Toonz, covering storyboarding, character design, and keyframing.
- Game Design and Coding: Early logical games evolve into coding activities with Scratch (Class 4–5) and game creation in Class 6 (“Coding: The Things in the Game”). By Classes 9 and 10, students are trained in Python programming for advanced projects.
K Anvar Sadath, CEO of KITE and Chairman of the ICT textbook drafting committee, said the initiative will help students acquire practical job-ready skills while making core subjects easier to grasp in the age of AI. He added that the content was fine-tuned through pilot runs in ‘Little KITES’ clubs before being rolled out across schools.
The second volume of the ICT textbooks for Classes 8, 9, and 10 will be distributed in Malayalam, English, Tamil, and Kannada after the Onam break. Training for all ICT teachers has already been completed to ensure smooth implementation.
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KITE has also equipped schools with all the required Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) applications through its customised operating system suite.
