UGC declares Periyar University’s online distance education programmes invalid

News

By

-

June 1, 2022

After Annamalai University, the University Grants Commission (UGC) declared the online, distance learning (ODL) programmes offered by the Periyar University invalid. The UGC also warned students not to take admission at Periyar University.

According to the UGC notice, “It has come to the notice of the Commission through various communications received in UGC office that Periyar University, Tamil Nadu is functioning without a full time Director, inadequate full-time faculty, inadequate non-teaching staff, not yet established centre.”

“Running ODL programmes without prior approval of UGC in gross violation of conditions laid down under UGC (Open and Distance learning Programmes and Online Programmes) Regulations, 2020 and its amendments from time to time,” it said. “Taking admission in such programmes may endanger the career of the students, in view of the absence of recognition of the programmes by the UGC,” it added.

Digital divide in education need to reboot our government & public schools

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

June 1, 2022

The Education sector in India has evolved massively with the adoption of technology tools. However, there is a digital divide that persists among the student population attending government schools and private schools. Highlighting the disparity and how the digital solutions and the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is addressing these woes, Dr Avantika Tomar, Executive Director, EY-Parthenon shared at the Elets Education Innovation Summit – Haryana Edition.

Dr Tomar was of the view that the digital learning divide in the country has become more prominent after the COVID pandemic. She gave a presentation highlighting how this digital divide translated on the ground and impacted the public education system in the country, especially the government school students.

She said, “One should first understand the public education system in the country before assessing the impact of the pandemic and digital learning divide in the country.” Presenting a few facts about the public education system, Dr Tomar highlighted that India has over 1.5 million schools, more than 50,000 educational institutions, and nearly 37 million students taking admissions each year. There are about 124 million students attending government schools and nearly 129 million students going to private and other schools.

The statistics: “Before we talk about actions taken by the Centre or the State governments to augment the school education system in the country, we need to consider these mammoth numbers. Any initiative taken needs to address 124 million students attending government schools and 1.08 million government schools where these actions will be implemented,” she pointed out. Though there are remote areas where connectivity is poor, there is a digital divide that exists, there are people who are unaware of the benefits of the government but to reach out to address the sheer numbers and this scale of implementation of any corrective measure is itself a major challenge, she added.

Looking at the statistics for fiscal 2016, 2018, and 2020, the number of admissions in public schools has witnessed a decline when compared with the admissions in private schools. The major reasons reflecting the downward trend spotted by the parents were – the overall quality of education and the quality of pedagogical methods used for delivering pre-primary education at nascent stages. On the contrary, the factors that back the upward trend of admission in private schools are – focus on the quality of education and learning; and focus on a child’s holistic development and the provision of better facilities. Another trend observed was the increasing number of enrollments in secondary and senior secondary grades.

Speaking of the fundamental and digital challenges that the government or public schools face, Dr Tomar mentioned:

• Rote learning methods of teaching create gaps in curriculum expectation and current learning.

• Lack of system or processes to identify and help children who are not making adequate progress in the early grades.

• Lack of properly trained and skilled teachers.

• Lack of accountability of teachers and school authorities.

• Limited internet penetration and poor connectivity.

• Vernacular interface to operate the digital content.

• Limited digital literacy among the teachers.

• Presence of only basic infrastructural support in government schools.

• Co-ordinated planning and implementation supporting digital intervention in the nascent stage

The role of NEP: Calling the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) a big step towards reshaping the future of school education in the country, she said, “The NEP 2020 has given the impetus to the use of technology in education and named digital tools as key enablers in meeting learning objectives and supporting fundamental challenges.”

In the previous year, the Government of India brought out the NEP 2020 which focuses on the extensive use of technology in teaching and learning, removing language barriers, increasing access for students, and educational planning and management. This clearly highlights that the future of education in India is going to be digital-driven and enabled by technology, she added.

Impact of pandemic: Addressing the impact of the COVID pandemic on schools and students, she highlighted that the pandemic has adversely affected not only the Indian school education system but the lives of students, and their physical, emotional, and social development. In addition, the pandemic also impacted the administration affecting the payroll system, mid-day meal scheme, monitoring and capacity building, shutting down of schools, and more.

However, the silver lining in this crisis situation was that State governments like the Government of Haryana came up with innovative interventions to ensure continuity of education. From initiatives like satellite streaming and digital classrooms to e-content repositories or e-learning portals, the state government has been proactive in taking technology-led initiatives and transforming the education system.

The way forward: A well-thought and structured approach has ignited the possibilities of overcoming the gaps and challenges. However, there is still a long way to go to make it mainstream and impactful. Dr Tomar, while citing the example of Singapore, said that the South Asian country adopted a systematic and systemic approach to the introduction and adoption of technology for teaching and learning to combat gaps and was better positioned to tackle the pandemic crisis.

“Singapore started technology-enabled education and digital learning practices way back in 1997. They’re still developing on the approach and growing better by the day. Taking this in consideration, we need to have a master plan when it comes to the way forward for the digital transformation of education in India. We need to pivot to areas where we are not leveraging technology and develop on those to match the global pace of development and overcome the pandemic crisis,” she concluded.

Technology transforming education- Globus Infocom Limited

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

June 1, 2022

Incepted in year 2001 with an aim to provide advanced technology and learning solutions to our users, Globus Infocom forayed into the market with a few products and solutions in the Education Technology domain. Within few years of its inception, the brand became trustworthy and one of the most sought-after technology solutions providers in India.The company houses one of the most elaborate ranges of technology solutions ranging from Smart Classroom Solutions, Digital Board Solution, Online learning solutions, Digital Language Lab, Interactive Displays, to Video conferencing solutions, AI-based advanced bio metric & surveillance solutions like Classroom Monitoring Solution, Facial Recognition Attendance Solution, Student Behaviour Analysis Solution etc equipped with unparalleled technology and highly advanced features.

Apart from Education technology, we have also forayed into Collaborative Conferencing & professional Displays, Security & Surveillance Solutions & Healthcare & Wellness range of solutions. We have the widest and the most comprehensive product/solution basket for the entire range of our verticals.

We strongly believe that technology has the power to transform education and we hope to create a digitally enabled& easily accessible education environment across the country with a range of technologically advanced, meaningful yet cost-effective solutions. The journey has been full of learning and challenges at the same time wherein we have learned through the challenges and evolved ourselves as one of the leading technology solution providers of the EdTech industry.

Digital solutions: advancing learning requirements

We believe education should be a mix of academic & practical learning methodologies. Only academic learning can develop the information but what matters is the implication & utility on the practical grounds. The need to redesign education and sync it up with digital transformation has emerged at the forefront of the education industry.

From the career perspective, academic education should be empowered with the right skills & practical knowledge to grow and succeed in the professional world.

Education should encourage the curiosity, engagement & collaboration among the students & it should empower the teachers to equip the learners with best of the learning pedagogies. We have been developing such technology solutions which on one hand are tailor made to suit the advanced learning methodologies also, on the other hand, create an accessible, engaging & highly user friendly education scenario. The implementation of technology in the classroom also offers a personalized approach to learning based on their individual skills & abilities.

Revolutionising India’s education system

With the development of technology, there is an even greater need for it to be exploited in India’s educational systems.Children from India’s public school educational systems will be prepared for a world outside the four walls of their free and obligatory education as a result of the digital revolution in public education. It will assist them in progressively recovering from their learning lags and instill a sense of confidence that will allow them to dream beyond their current reality. It will also help the teachers in easing out their heavy load of preparation & assessment work. They can remediate instead of spending time in instructions& paperwork. By going digital, they can also upskill themselves to tackle the current dynamic learning scenario. Digital classroom solutions also provide access to unlimited knowledge resources to teachers & students both which allows them to explore out of the limited option of books & notes.

Bridging gap between technology and government schools

Globus Infocom is bridging the gap between technology and government schools by making quality education accessible even in the remotest part of India. Our cost effective, highly user-friendly solutions address beautifully the needs of rural education scenario providing the teachers ample training, counseling to remove the technology usage barrier for their minds. For learners our solution consists of interactive tools & resources including engaging academic content which not only generates student’s interest in attending classes but also creates a sustainable yet effective learning ecosystem. Our Virtual classroom solution has connected learners from the remotest part of India with the best of the education par geographical barriers.

Apart from the academic learning content, we also focus on developing their language skills which play a major role in bringing them into mainstream education & prepare them for better career opportunities. We offer Language content in three languages – English, Hindi, and Sanskrit to enable enhancement in communication and help develop language as a skill. So far, we have proudly implemented our digital solutions in no. of prestigious Government schools like under the Department of School Education, Govt. of Haryana, the Government of Gujrat, the Government of Goa, Kendriya Vidyalaya Schools pan India, Kashi Vidyapeeth, Varanasi and many more…

Empowering teachers in integrating technology

Initially, many schools specifically in rural India had a difficult time in accepting technology as part of their regular pedagogy. Teachers were not comfortable enough given the complex nature of technology. But we have started providing training &counseling sessions to the teachers to make them comfortable with the technology in classrooms & empower them enough to optimally utilize the power of technology in order to bring the desired change in the learning ecosystem.

Teachers are getting trained to enhance the key skill sets, such as communication, creative & critical thinking, and problem solving, which are enhanced through advanced technical tools and resources. The non-traditional ways of teaching allow teachers to teach via interesting & engaging methods which opens a world of opportunities for learners to gain experience practically. The ease of creating effective content, evaluating students & generating reports eases out teachers to focus more on learners’ need for attention. Our in-house training department deeply focuses on providing comprehensive training to the teachers which help them in using digital solutions with great ease and confidence. We focus on instilling the impact technology implementation can make and how easy it is to embrace it once you are open to the changes. This has helped us tremendously in changing the age-old mind set & limitations they had about technology & digital changes in pedagogy. Today, we have come a long way & we are proud to see teachers being the torchbearer of the digital revolution.

Though we have come a long way from where we started, we still have a long way to go. From implementing technology in the classroom to making quality education accessible for one and all, we are moving step by step. Today, proudly we can state that our solutions are creating a bridge for learners who are not able to access quality education and enabling them to stand up to their abilities. In the future also, looking at the post-pandemic scenario, we will be introducing more solutions in our kitty creating a safe yet quality learning environment. We look forward to bringing in more solutions that could drive innovation & open doors of opportunities for learners.

Throughout this journey, we are focused on creating a learning environment that could bridge the digital divide spread across the rural areas of the country. We have not only broadened our range of offerings but also widened our family with 260 team members that work together tirelessly to take this company to even greater heights. With a few customers in the beginning, we have now amassed 30,000+ customers from educational establishments, Government organizations, Training centres & many others due to the exceptional services and customer experience we offer.

Haryana’s e-Adhigam: A comprehensive tablet based learning program

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

June 1, 2022

Though the importance of technology in education was realized early in India, successive governments have had limited success in implementing Ed-Tech programs that could positively impact learning. The pandemic has disrupted the traditional teaching- learning space and has further emphasized the relevance and urgency for Ed-Tech. It is in this context that I intend to share Haryana’s experience of rolling out “e-Adhigam”, the comprehensive tablet-based learning program.

The Covid-19 pandemic apart from causing a world-wide public health havoc, has unsettled every aspect of human existence. Teaching and learning were not immune to it and underwent major disruptions. As an UNESCO report points out, 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries were rendered out of school and over 100 million teachers and school personnel were impacted by the closure of learning institutions. The school closure put 24 million children and youth at risk of dropping out and over 100 million children falling below the minimum proficiency level in reading. It also points out that apart from learning, the shutting down of schools also impended the progress made towards gender equality and exposed girls to gender-based violence, sexual exploitation, adolescent pregnancy and forced marriage. The access to quality teaching and learning resources by learners was threatened by the pandemic, which brought back focus on adoption of digital technology in education.

The Government of India responded by launching the PM e-vidya initiative on May17, 2020 which unified all efforts relating to digital, online and on-air education. The DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) platform which can be accessed through a web portal and mobile application was developed as a national repository for e-content. The Swayam Prabha TV channels reached homes which did not have access to the internet. Radio broadcasting was used for children in remote areas who were not online. Even community radio stations and podcasts (Shiksha Vani) were used to transmit learning content.

The Government of Haryana also responded with its own set of unique initiatives that catered to local needs. The focus was on creating e-learning content and ensuring its access through mobile phones (mainly WhatsApp) and TV channels.

The mobile application AVSAR proved to be an effective tool that teamed the teachers and students in a virtual mode and facilitated in assessing student behaviour and performance. While in the rest of the country, student assessment was given a pass in view of school closures, Haryana gained the distinction of not only regularly conducting assessment tests through the AVSAR application but even issuing e- report cards to the children. The application was regularly accessed by close to 95 percent of the students and 98 percent of the teachers indicating very good user acceptability giving us the confidence of introducing further ambitious technology solutions. However, sincere efforts notwithstanding, there were learning losses which was clearly attributable to lack of computing devices with the children. Since, most of the government school children came from a poor socioeconomic background, the screen time available to them was very limited as they were dependent upon their parents and relatives for the device. It was at this stage that a decision was taken to provide computing tablets free of cost to the 500,000 children of classes 9th to 12th.

The school education department had for some time been pre-emptively researching and drudging upon an implementation strategy.Having a young and dedicated team surely did help in sifting through scores of research papers and arriving at a feasible disposition. Experience from other states in India in implementing similar projects revealed limited success, since the program was restricted to mere distribution of devices. The states that had distributed laptops to school children saw these devices end-up in the grey market in record time and being sold at throw away prices. Research revealed that the laptop was alien to the teacher-student learning interface and neither knew what to do with it. Also, the high cost of servicing and lack of internet connectivity worked to its detriment. A holistic approach with a clear understanding of current practices and barriers to adoption of technology with inputs incorporated from a range of stake holders including teachers, parents and students, was necessary for a successful roll-out. Our team devised a comprehensive strategy learning from such experiences. A three-pronged strategy of providing a durable secure device equipped with academic content delivered through an adaptive system and internet data to access content was subsequently worked out.

Apart from procuring a durable device, it was important to ensure after sale maintenance and service and provide on-ground support by deploying adequate field management staff. Hence, the service level agreements were designed accordingly.

Preventing the misuse of the device was an area of concern that was addressed with the induction of the mobile device management software that hardwired the device into accessing only whitelisted content. Providing good quality academic content aligned with the school curriculum and a software that allows both navigation and access in the vernacular language was a specific requirement. It was also necessary to ensure that the software includes interactive features such as quizzes, games, discussion prompts and a repository of practice questions. Our team worked around this problem by seeking out vendors who could curate content already available free of cost on various platforms and deliver it through a Personalised and Adaptive Learning (PAL) algorithm. The Personalised and Adaptive Learning (PAL) is the new frontier in education technology in India and across the world that allows every student to chart their own unique learning path. The dynamic software adapts content as per real time student performance and provides data on his/her progress. Though the Government of India had issued detailed guidelines on PAL in 2018, experience in implementing it at scale was very limited. It is here that the “Edtech Tulna” framework developed by IIT Bombay came to our rescue. An across-the-board scaffold to evaluate PAL vendors was established after multiple rounds of discussion with experts from IIT Bombay. The evaluation criterion was diverse and drew upon scores obtained in the pilot studies conducted in schools to PAL specific product and process features. A wide melange of subject and technical experts were deployed to evaluate the product. Resultantly, academic content through PAL for the subjects Hindi, English and Social Science has been developed at very competitive prices. The process of identifying vendors for other subjects is in progress. The third leg of the program was to ensure adequate data connectivity along with the hardware and software. A credible data plan of 2GB per day per student has been ensured as a part of this program.

Haryana’s e-Adhigam also makes sure that the role of the teacher is not forgotten in this milieu. Ed-Tech interventions that minimize the role of the teacher or have poor training modules built- in or that lack an incentive structure have shown low student engagement. Care is being taken to ensure that teachers are properly trained till they become comfortable in navigating and using the basic features of the product (including student features) and understand the connect with the curriculum. All the Post Graduate teachers numbering 33,000 have been given a computing tablet with a built-in specialised teacher module enabling them to connect with their students in a virtual mode. The service level agreements with the vendor provide for periodic and systematic teacher training.

A robust grievance redressal module which brings together the users, vendors and the education department is being developed that would enable time bound redressal of issues. An MIS based dashboard is also in the offing that would facilitate data collection and analytics.

The 5th of May 2022 which saw the state-wide launch of “e-Adhigam” would be permanently etched in the memory of the school education department, not only for the fact that it marked the fruition of a yearlong effort but also for the tectonic shift it signals in the teaching-learning sphere. The students demand that the learning experience must meet their interests, time constraints and academic needs and “e-Adhigam” is a definitive step towards this front.

Edunet Foundation’s annual report shows the rise of tech skilling programs during the pandemic

Press Release

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

Edunet Foundation, an Indian nonprofit organisation that promotes technical skilling, technology innovation and entrepreneurship in youth, came out with its annual impact report recently. The report throws interesting insights about technology skills-based educational programs in the country.

As per the report, around 1 lakh youth from underserved communities enrolled for Edunet run skill-based programs in India. Areas like cloud computing, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity were in high demand amongst the young learners. Most learners came from backgrounds where quality experiential education is unavailable. This lacuna creates disparity in last-mile job acquisitions where they tend to lose out on opportunities that the new job market is creating.

Nagesh Singh, Executive Director, Edunet Foundation while discussing the report says, “With rapid automation of traditional jobs across industries, there is a need for students to enhance and augment their skills for available “new collar jobs”, and the pandemic has accelerated that need. Our familiarity with blended learning approach gave us a head start in finding our balance after the initial phase of turbulence brought in by the pandemic. In 2021 alone, we engaged with 8257 institutions across 20 states directly and the rest of the country through our beneficiaries.” All programs supported by Edunet Foundation aim to equip learners with core skills that are necessary to succeed in the emerging workforce.

With its pan India presence, Edunet Foundation is enhancing student employability, promoting technology innovation and creating an entrepreneurial ecosystem in India. Learners get access to diverse global and local resources that allow them to combine global knowledge and their local context to create a uniquely experiential learning experience.

Digital facelift of education in Haryana

Interviews

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

School education in Haryana has seen a complete transformation in the past few years with learning leapfrogging from a traditional classroom to virtual and hybrid classrooms. The historical change has come about under the leadership of Dr Mahavir Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Department of School Education, Haryana, who has pushed ground breaking changes while being at the helm of affairs, writes Priya Yadav, Senior Assistant Editor, Elets News Network (ENN).

Haryana is the only and the first state which has managed to adopt digital learning in the true sense. How did this transformation come about?

During the COVID pandemic, lockdown was imposed across the state and therefore the schools and other educational institutions were shut down. We understood that there were four modes of learning – classroom learning from teachers, from peers, from additional or co-scholastic activities, and self-study. Three of the four modes were adversely impacted by the lockdown as they require in-person interactions. The students were left with the only option of self-study in the initial days of the pandemic. Nearly 75 per cent of the learning process was hampered as the children were confined to homes.

We realised the immense loss of learning that children were going through. Even the academia raised concerns about the loss and started considering the pandemic year as the zero year of learning. Realising the dire need to revive education in the state, we brainstormed ways to tackle the woes. As a solution, it was finally decided to leverage the existing Edusat scheme. However, a major challenge was the delivery as the infrastructure to support the Edusat was locked up in schools. Hence, decisions were made to link the Edusat scheme to televisions and broadcast lectures, educational programmes, and more. With this, Haryana became the first state to leverage TV for delivering education.

We joined hands with the ministry, cable operators and DTH operators and liasioned the Edusat infrastructure with TV. Through this we were able to reach out to almost all the students in the state.

The Government of India appreciated our model to deliver education and later on adopted the same to deliver educational content nation-wide. We were able to shift to digital modes quickly, within a month after the lockdown was announced. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Manohar Lal brought forth the idea of “triple S – Stay at home, School at home and Study at home”.

What were the challenges you faced while implementing digital education across the state? How did you manage to overcome the challenges?

Despite shifting to the digital modes and delivering recorded educational lectures and other content through TV, there were challenges that persisted. One of the challenges was that the teaching was one-way and student-teacher interaction was missing. Therefore, we started takings tests on communication platforms like WhatsApp and online classes were introduced. Also, we started a dedicated YouTube channel to impart learning.

More than 75 per cent of the students attending government schools come from lower strata of the society and faced economic crisis, especially during the pandemic. These students had no access to smartphones or laptops or even internet connection. Therefore, the government decided to provide mobile devices to the children. To overcome this challenge, the CM who is also the Finance Minister of the state rolled out a massive drive to provide tablets to the students of classes 9 to 12. Initially, the idea was to provide smartphones. But considering the small screen size that could strain students’ eyes, the government decided to distribute tablets. Further, we were asked to make a presentation before the Committee of Welfare of SC/BC ofVidhan Sabha. Following the presentation, the committee recommended that to all the students of these three classes from SC/BC should be given tablets.

We came out with tender for providing tablets to about 5 lakh students of classes 10 to 12 in the first phase. Whereas, about 3 lakh students of class 9 will be provided the tablets in the next phase.

However, that is not all, we were still wanting improvisation to put sim cards in the tablet. Also, we have started developing on the software part – Personalized Adaptive Learning software is exclusively meant to keep real time monitoring of students learning statistics. This will also help in fetching feedback from the students on learning outcomes. Moreover, teachers have been asked to share teaching plans beforehand. In doing so we can monitor and identify the problem areas and areas where teachers need to emphasise. Besides, reaching out every student through teachers will aid in monitoring and improving learning outcomes of children. Therefore, to enable effective implementation of digital learning and better pedagogical methos, the government has decided to provide nearly 33,000 tablets to PGT teachers.

How has the digital learning methods and virtual classrooms transformed the student-teacher connect and the overall education scenario in the state?

During the pandemic, we had developed the Avsar app – to get all the assessments done online. More than 97 per cent of the teachers and about 90 per cent of the students were onboard. The positive response posed a motivation for us to take up the digital route. Besides, time was no longer a constraint as virtually, it was 24×7 connection between the teacher and the student. Students could pose any query or suggestion to the teacher who would get back to them with suggestions and inputs on the same. Also, the students could interact amongst themselves and with the teachers and vice versa. Therefore, the platform worked as a virtual classroom for the students.

Another interesting feature is that the learning outcomes of students are regularly monitored and we have developed some analytics on the response from the teachers. The data from the same is being leveraged to upskill te teachers in case needed. Moreover, the daily diary of the teachers was being uploaded online.

Overall, the devices distributed to the students hold preloaded content, hardware, and a monitoring software. Further, these would be centrally monitored by the government that allows us to control what content is fed to the students. Also, students will not be able to venture out to any other platform on the device except for the academic sessions.

After the pandemic effect wanes and the children get back to their classes, how will these tablets help them in learning?

Technology is going to stay; the pandemic was a blessing in disguise because we captured this opportunity to go digital. Providing assistance to students who are loving the idea is that instead of carrying the burden of bags they will have to just bring a tablet.

Kids are very handy with learning new technology and so they will adapt to it easily. When we have technology available, the hybrid model will continue alongside physical classes and online learning. All their homework and classwork will be done on the tablet.

Edtech startup FrontRow sacks 30 per cent of its workforce

News

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

Bengaluru-based non-academic upskilling startup FrontRow has become the latest Indian startup to have laid off employees amidst the ongoing funding crunch and the market conditions. The sales team, the quality control team, and the HR team were severely impacted during the layoffs. The startup has failed to provide any compensation package to these affected employees. However, it needs to be emphasised that the startup has paid the salary for the month of May already.

According to sources, over 100 employees alone from the sales team were laid off. The layoffs come almost eight months after it had raised $14 Mn in its Series A funding round from investors such as – Eight Roads Ventures, GSV, Lightspeed, and Elevation Capital among others. The startup also counts Deepika Padukone’s Family Office, Vishal Dadlani, rapper Raftaar, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Unacademy’s Gaurav Munjal and ShareChat’s Farid Ahsan, among others as its investors. Overall, the startup has raised close to $17 Mn in funding.

Launched in 2020 by Shubhadit Sharma, Mikhil Raj and Ishaan Preet Singh, FrontRow claims to address the market for extracurricular activities with courses on gaming, music creation, singing, rap, comedy, and playing cricket from Indian celebrities.

Bolstering Innovation in Education

Editorial

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

Innovation in education is more than just a buzzword and has been the nucleus of all our discussions and initiatives. Through this special issue, we bring forth ‘Innovation’ in a broader sense– its impact and implementation in the field of education with key focus on school education and the Haryana Government’s best practices to bolster ICT initiatives to accelerate education especially in government aided public schools.

The Haryana Government of late has been making headlines with the launch of its prestigious e-Adhigam Scheme envisaging students of Haryana to become global students. Thus the Haryana Government took upon the onus to distribute tablets which will help them acquire skills of the 21st century and open up new avenues. Against this backdrop, our cover feature and the subsequent tablet distribution story offers insights into the key measures undertaken by the Haryana Government that marks the tectonic shift it signals in the teaching-learning sphere.

The current issue also brings in exclusive interviews of distinguished personalities of the Haryana Government, speaking of innovative initiatives to keep afloat the crisis-ridden education sector. Also, do read novel undertakings of Edtech players in and around innovation in education.

You may be happy to learn that we are hosting the 24th World Education Summit on July 27, 28 in Hyderabad and India Transformation Summit on June 24, 25 in Dehradun.

We look forward to your feedback to further enrich our offerings. Happy reading!

With dual degree and CUET in place, UGC all set to make student life more skillful

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

The year 2022 is certainly bringing in a lot of good news for those who will be entering their college life. With the University Grants Commission (UGC) announcing a host of new norms for students, the youngsters can look forward to gaining a lot more from their college life. Tarannum Manjul of Elets News Network takes a look at a few of these changes.

The college years are indeed some of the best years of life. One not only gains a lot in terms of education and knowledge but also in terms of personal growth. Understanding the need of the changing times, the University Grants Commission (UGC) too has brought in some changes that can change the way students gain from their regular college life.

The first of such moves is the Dual Degree programme. The University Grants Commission recently issued new guidelines to allow students to pursue two academic programmes simultaneously at higher education institutes recognised by it or statutory councils or the Government of India.

According to the UGC notification, the guidelines are now in effect, based on which universities can devise mechanisms through their statutory bodies to allow students to opt for two courses simultaneously. The guidelines will be applicable for academic programmes other than Ph.D.

An official letter in this regard was issued by the Secretary, UGC, Rajnish Jain to the Vice Chancellors, principals and deans of colleges, universities and higher education institutions (HEIs). The letter stated that the move was in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), 2020, “which emphasises on the need to facilitate multiple pathways to learning involving both formal and non–formal education”.

Explaining the reason behind this move by UGC’s Jainwrote, “With the rapid increase in demand for higher education and limited availability of seats in regular stream, several higher education institutes have started a number of programmes in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) to meet the aspirations of students. It has also led to the emergence of online education programmes.”

It may be noted that the UGC has approved the guidelines for dual degree programmes from the coming academic year. Looking at the fact that some courses have lesser number of seats but higher takers, some HEIs have already started offering select programmes through online modes. In its recent communication, the UGC has said that students can either register for another degree and pursue it physically without any clash with the firstdegree programme or opt for OL mode for the second degree or do both via the latter mode.

It also said that students can consider doing the dual degree programmes in person, through the two-shift system that is already in vogue or from two different institutions based on their proximity. Students opting for the dual degrees can consider institutions from India and abroad, which meet the stipulated standards.

Experts feel that this move will certainly help the students acquire better skills. With foreign Universities too looking at on-campus options in India, this move will help students gain better insights about the market trends and prepare themselves for the industry.

The UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar in a recent press conference stated that the Dual Degree programme will benefit students in a big way. ‘As announced in the new National Education Policy (NEP) and in order to allow students to acquire multiple skills, UGC is coming up with new guidelines to allow a candidate to pursue two degree programmes in physical mode simultaneously. The degrees can either be pursued from the same or different universities,’’ Kumar opined.

The Common University Entrance Test (CUET) –

University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines on Central University Entrance Test (CUET), seems to have struck the right cord among institutions. Announcing the CUET, the UGC stated that this move will enable students to take admission in a college of their choice based on their merit.

The tests will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). According to the UGC, CUET has been rolled out with an aim to standardise the evaluation process in all universities across the country. “Different boards have different evaluation patterns. Certain boards are more liberal in terms of their evaluation, which results in inflation of the marks as compared to students from other boards. Due to this inflation, students suffer through a competition of high cut off merits. CUET is expected to provide a level playing field and be a great equaliser for all students across the board,” experts opine.

While academicians believe that CUET will reduce the tendency of high cut offs for students, they have also added that the common entrance test will give an impetus to internal migration and diversify students’ engagement in the universities. According to the UGC guideline, students can give entrance exams in 13 languages. Experts feel that this will give more consistency. Universities from different states will be able to engage a diverse population. The classroom diversity will eventually grow, which is important for national progress and improvement of cultural and subcultural interactions. Students will be able to migrate more from one state to another state, which otherwise would not have been possible due to the restrictive education system.

Innovation in education: catapulting change in the country

Article

By

digitalLEARNING Network

-

May 31, 2022

Technology-backed innovations are key to redesigning the education environment in which schools and institutes are operating. Nikita Bothra of Elets News Network delves on the effects of innovative technologies on the educational environment of the country and the roadmap ahead.

Just like any other sector, innovation is indispensable to improvise the qualitative changes in educational content, teaching methods, and practices. Our government has adopted various initiatives towards educational support for children who lost their parents to Covid-19, children with special needs, integrated teacher training programmes, and so on. Now the onus is upon the private edtech players to join the bandwagon and innovate together, forming better public-private partnerships.

Students have suffered in their academic pursuit owing to the lockdown and this constraint now needs to be overcomed by adopting unconventional techniques and methodologies of reaching out to the students. It is time when systems and procedures for eDelivery of courseware are embraced with the extensive use of eLearning and other modes of digital outreach. The Pandemic has surely compelled us to bring in various aspects of life and online is definitely the way forward. What remains a worry is whether or not the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic.

Haryana Government’s best practices: Studies have proved that children extensively use their senses to learn, henceit is very crucial to make it fun and effective through the use of technology.There are 8,686 government-run primary, 2,423 middle and 1,154 high schools spread across 22 districts of Haryana. Department of School Education, Haryana took an innovative approach to confront the academic and organisational challenges faced by the education sector. Even before the national closedown, in the third week of March, the Government of Haryana shut down the schools as a precautionary means tostop the spread of the Corona contagion.As the crisis deepened further, students were advised to stay indoors for their safety and protection. There was no clarity as to when the schools will re-open. Consequently, it rendered lakhs of students sitting in their homes with zero access to education; this triggered an alacrity to come up with immediatemeasures like eLearning Initiative to ensure continuity of learning for all the school students of Haryana. Going by these circumstances, the Chief Minister of Haryana, Shri Manohar Lal Khattar gave a visionary 3S Mantra, ‘Stay at home, study at home and school at home’ for home-bound students. To back this initiative, the State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) launched Ghar Se PadhaoAbhiyan, an eLearning campaign to connect parents and students with over 50,000 teachers through WhatsApp, SMS and phone calls across the state to start academic activities. Stringent efforts were made to make these modules available in both hindi and english. Haryanaproudly became the first state in the country to use TV for providing distance education during lockdown period. Almost all the DTH providers and local cable services were roped in to further this purpose. Such unsolicited circumstances called for a well-crafted educational practice and therefore, the Department of School Education, Haryana collaborated with the educationists in the state to form various strategies to provide access to students to a myriad of eLearning platforms without adding on any financial strain.

Additionally, the Haryana State Government’s move of offering tablet computers to nearly 3 lakh students under the e-Adhigam schemedeserves special mention. These devices come with pre-loaded content along with personalised and adaptive learning software, and 2GB free data. Chief Minister Manohar Lal, says, “This will help students acquire skills of the 21st century and open new opportunities”

Technology intervention in education: Most of the academies in the country are essentially continuing to deliver the same thing, in the same way, as they have for the last 100 years.As put across rightly, by Dr. Hridyash Deshpande, Vice Chancellor Ajeenkya DY Patil University,“Technology is now inside anything and everything. A few technologies are very critical like automation of knowledge work, internet of things, cloud technologies, advance robotics, next generation geonomics, renewable energy and so on. Whether we will have incorporation of these things in our regular programs is a concern. How do we use technology to deliver superior student experience? and can we use technology to deliver education which is highly personalised? is what we need to think of. Traditional institutions have unique abilities to meet the needs of our students. But not to forget, that some degree of reinvention is a necessity.”

The global standpoint: Pearson, the world’s leading learning company, reveals the technology trends that will disrupt education in 2022. The amalgamation of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into courses has increased significantly across higher education, reshaping education and making learning more adaptable, accessible, and interactive. Most educational institutions will adopt online tests, making their examination process more resilient, convenient and accessible. As demand-driven learning gains impetus, corporations are benefiting from collaborating with higher education institutions to offer working professionals the opportunity to reskill/ upskill and recruit the right talents, while universities gain valuable insights to better prepare graduates for employment.

Long term innovation encouragement: The onset of the pandemic left educators with no choice but try out new things to acclimatize themselves with innovation in technology. The responsibility is now on the universities to uphold that innovative spirit. The simplest way to do this is to pull instructors out of their discipline silos and provide space, time and enticements to be part of learning communities focussed on teaching practices. This has to be done on a large scale by the university community that supports innovative pedagogies and follow-through, if at all success has to follow. For instance, university administrators mightstand with the idea for active, student-centred learning and invest in classroom tables and chairs that can be wheeled into configurations to drive group learning. But if too many students are scheduled in that room that no furniture can be moved around the crammed space between classes, then the innovation and investment is going nowhere. Hence, what’s required is joined-up thinking from start to finish.

Lowering online offerings cost: To impede the rapidly growing disruptors, the universities must expand quickly and parallelly lower the cost of their online offerings. With online learning becoming the new norm; it ought to be cheaper and more effective than the traditional lecture hall experience. Institutions that do not provide this educational curve to students will, to put in the business term “lose market share.” Consequently, this triggers a debate on how to grow this needed online capacity. Should the university build that capacity themselves or should they enter into strategic partnerships with one of the disruptive innovators,is their call.

Creating transformative experiences: Although, experts advocate for theatrical learning, rote learning and exam-based learning, universities should identify ways to become more distinctive. Online degree delivery removes the monopoly of “place” which has been long held by higher education. For instance,if a student can access the same degree online from somewhere else perhaps at a lower price point, why should he/she necessarily choose the local college or university? The answer to this is, local option is feasible in terms of value addition and benefits that are not available in the growing online marketplace. Now this sounds like an idea and can be equally exciting for many faculty and administrators. Hence, the primary emphasis should lay on producing distinctive and transformative experiences to students who have for long been craving tactile experiences.

Role of National Education Policy (NEP): The NEP as quoted by the Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, “Has come at a time when disruptive technology such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality have taken solid routes in many sectors.” These technologies lay umpteen number of opportunities for the students and teachers. “Our government has announced National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR), a unifying national digital infrastructure to energise the entire education ecosystem,” he said in his address at the Techspectations Educate summit. He goes on to discuss the challenges that are underpinning the country in the education vertical which he feels can be addressed by implementing collaborative, approachcentric and project-based learning in our educational institutions.

Making learning student centric: Every student possess different intellectual abilities and his interests are diversified. Under the current education system, offering bespoke solutionsso as to meet the demands of every student looks unachievable. But disruptive technologies can make it feasible. One instance of disruptive innovation in education is online learning. Furthering this argument, Prof. N.S. Santhosh Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Dr. Ambedkar Law University says, “For the majority of population in India, the financial obstacles are always a problem in the path of education. So, adoption of eLearning no doubt will give a big boon for teachers as well as students.”

Ultimately, it all boils down to being attentive to how institutional structure and culture are impeding the needed change. At the end, what matters is how well can one embrace the change. So, the call is upon the administrators, faculty, and staff to accustom themselves to new approaches and ideas leading the way.The reality is, no one has the formula needed to create the next generation thriving university, but a community and culture of experimentation can help build that new and exciting future. Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, Chancellor, Shobhit University, sums up, “The government is talking about digital university and so we need to take eLearning seriously. Today teachers and professors have to become co- learners. In a country like India, we do have our set of challenges because technology that we have is majorly to deliver and it does not add much value. Apart from the physical infrastructure, a lot needs to be done and changed.”

LATEST NEWS

Top Trending News

Top Trending Categories