Technological Trends

With the growing inux of technology in education, there is a growing impact witnessed in the sector. The stakeholders from the education sector still believe that the traditional way of teaching cannot be replaced completely by the technological advancements. The session dwells into the pros and cons of technology usage in the education framework

DR. VINAYAK N SHET, Principal, Goa College of Engineering

The teaching in the classroom using the chalk is essential. One has to come up with something creative as copy-and-paste practice will not be much helpful. The teachers should be more interactive and an eye-to-eye contact should be developed while teaching

The teaching in the classroom using the chalk is essential. One has to come up with something creative as ‘copy and paste’ practice will not be much helpful. The teachers should be more interactive and an eye to eye contact should be developed while teaching. Further, reading habit among students is diminishing these days because they want that every content must be available on mobile and on other technical platforms virtually. We, as an institution, are providing 26 books for the students per year for two semesters. However, there might be a few books which are written even without opening a page. Also, with the SMS language coming up, students’ way of writing has been affected. So, we should emphasise on a proper reading and writing method, apart from learning extra from the technology.

There is no doubt that the technological advancement will certainly help education to improve. With the advancement in technology, education can be more effective and efficient. However, does education only mean aiming at the information transfer? A skilled driver crosses the red light, a case like Nirbhaya gangrape takes place, highly-educated engineers indulge in crime activities- is this the education that we are imparting? There is a need to focus more on education. It is been witnessed at many places that what a person is supposed to do is actually not doing that. It is good that today we have various technological advancements like mobile computing or other kinds of digital communication. However, the need is to focus majorly on our primary education, which will be actually a useful educator in the future. Generally, in India, we have 30 per cent having the higher education, but what about the 70 per cent who don’t even get newspapers. So, before heading towards the higher education, we need to concentrate more on the primary education

POINTS TO PONDER:

• Chalk and talk method to remain
• Under virtual method, student loses interest
• Emphasis required on reading-and-writing method
• Focus should be on primary education

One important parameter about education is environment. If we are not taking care of it, then we are not able to give proper education. We can use technology as a good assistant that may help us in improving and achieving the knowledge. However, one of the important points is that the technology has started to hamper the retaining power. People think that things are available on Google, but we cannot retain knowledge in our mind as our teachers were retaining for a long time. However, the thing is whether we are serving the society by this education or retracting it from our culture. There is a concept that a particular teacher is ideal, the reason being punctuality, honesty, commitment, etc. These are the things we cannot get from technology, only a human being can play this role. That’s why the developed countries are recruiting from India. DR. SHARIF AHMAD, Dean (Faculty of Natural Science), Jamia Millia Islamia

We have been hearing a lot about the benefits of technology. However, there is a need to talk about something more. The first and foremost is that we have heard a lot about virtual reality and some intricate topics can be taken into it very well. Nevertheless, while going through the virtual reality, one thing that the student loses is the power of visualisation. For instance, we have seen that movies have been made on many books and we always say that a book is better than a movie because while reading a book, we visualise a lot on our own. Also, the classroom and teachers cannot be replaced by open-source education. The talk and chalk is even taken up by the US researchers and they have said that even in the US, professors use chalk and board rather than going for the presentations for teaching. It is because in this process, a teacher becomes the secondary person and it is that with animation and use of other technological methods, education can be made easier but parallely, students also lose interest.   DR REENA SINGH, Associate Dean, Student Welfare, Krishna Institute of Engineering & Technology

New Education Policy & Educational Reforms

Overhauling of the education system is the need of the hour. The new education reforms introduced by the Ministry of Human Resource Development will bring a change in the ailing system. Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN) writes about how industry experts feel about the grey areas of education and how new education policy will aid to make the system better

According to the New Education Policy, despite improvements in access and retention in elementary education, the learning outcomes for a majority of children continue to be an area of serious concern. According to a research, children are not learning the basic skills during their schooling. Many children who reach grade V cannot even read and do simple arithmetic calculations

Focusing to improve upon the education system in India, the Ministry of Human Resource Development calls for a revision of education policy. If India needs to excel in education and attain a vision, it is necessary to make reforms in the education policy to bring a change in the ailing education system. There must be a drastic overhaul of the education system running currently.

To meet the changing dynamics of the quality education, innovation and research, the New Education Policy aims to make India a knowledge superpower by equipping its students with the necessary skills and knowledge and to eliminate the manpower shortage in the field of science, technology, academics, and industry.

According to the New Education Policy, despite improvements in access and retention in elementary education, the learning outcomes for a majority of children continue to be an area of serious concern. According to a research, children are not learning the basic skills during their schooling. Many children who reach grade V cannot even read and do simple arithmetic calculations. The states are implementing reforms such as early grade reading, writing, comprehension and math programmes in conjunction with defining and measuring learning outcomes. The NCERT has completed three rounds of National Level Achievements Survey for Classes – III, V, & VII/VIII. States have been given funds to conduct state-level achievements surveys.

Digitisation is Imperative

To bring a change in the education structure, it is also essential to introduce digital learning to a great extent at the school level. The power of digital world can be used to really impart quality education, make change in the policy framework and enable credits to the students if they start using lectures on the MOOCs platform which can help them clear on the education space. “The right technology should be used to consider bandwidth issues and also help aspiring students’ population. Digital education is the key to success. The content has to be digitised and Microsoft sees that there is a huge momentum to start digital content,” says Pratik Mehta, Director, Education, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Universalisation of Education

With Universal Elementary education becoming a reality, near universalisation of secondary education is the next logical step. Further, universalisation of quality secondary education implies creating secondary schooling provisions of a defined standard irrespective of the location and management of the institution to accommodate all those eligible grade VIII and grade X students, who are willing to participate in the secondary and higher secondary education.

A wide range of centrally sponsored schemes are being run by different secondary school institutions and bodies so as to ensure greater geographical coverage, social and gender inclusion and use of ICT for quality enhancement.

“There is lot to be achieved in the educational sphere. Under the present circumstances and polished framework, it is inadequate to bring all the children to school. The kind of framework we have, we lack in enrolling millions of children. Do we have a regulatory framework to punish parents who do not send their children to school? To address this, we have to make an effort to ensure that each and every child should attend school. The regulatory framework should be developed in such a manner that all children should go to school,” feels C Roul, Principal Secretary, Department of School Education, Government of Punjab.

International Education

The session on International Education Initiatives: Learning and Collaborative Opportunities laid focus on the views of experts from across the shore on the various global education initiatives. It highlighted the need for going beyond the Indian soil and exploring varied new opportunities in international education

PROF ALLAN ROCK, President, University of Ottawa

India and Canada have similar issues in the higher education domain including ensuring access, quality, establishing effective relationship with countries, maintaining academic independence and of course skills gap

India is weak in internationalisation owing to shortage of seats in education institutions for its own students. Hence, attracting global students has never been a priority. Things are changing with a few models getting implemented. For instance, at Gujarat Technical University, there are 112 professors from various universities of Europe and North America who are working as adjunct professors, giving the global flavour to Indian education. In further initiatives, the Ministry of Human Resource Development recently decided that they will get 1,000 foreign professors to come and teach at central universities under a project called Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN).

India and Canada have similar issues in the higher education domain including ensuring access, quality, establishing effective relationship with countries, maintaining academic independence and of course skills gap. However, a sufficiently strong relationship between Canada and India in the sphere of education and collaboration either through student exchange, mobility, or research partnerships is yet to be established. I think we have a great deal to learn from each other and that is the main reason I’m participating in the WES 2015. It is nice to learn more about how India and its institutions are confronting the challenges of meeting the market domains on one hand and educating the population on the other. Exchange of viewpoints, perspectives and experiences would lead to a common advantage.

India is the third largest system of higher education with 27.5 million students. While enrolment in higher education has grown six times in the last 30 years, faculty strength has grown only four times, resulting in shortage of faculty and high student-teacher ratio. Our higher education sector today doesn’t have enough good quality institutions particularly technological institutions to meet the growing aspirations and the requirement of our present youth.

POINTS TO PONDER:

• Need to create strong hold in international studies
• Mixed faculty reaps in cultural and educational advantages
• MHRD to bring 1,000 foreign professors under the GIAN project
• Higher education challenges in India similar to those in Canada
• Ensuring access, quality, establishing effective relationship with countries, maintaining academic independence and skills gap
• Enrolment has grown six times in 30 years but faculty strength has grown only four times
• Globalisation has transformed the job markets and the careers

To increase internationalisation, the dual degree programme is a good option for the students. Even 10-15 years back, universities taught this collaborative system. It enables students to make use of their vacations to enroll in different programmes at foreign universities and enhance their talent. PROF VSS KUMAR, Vice Chancellor, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Kakinada

Currently higher education in India from past five years has been undergoing a sea change followed by unprecedented challenges. There is need for additional capacity of at least 50 million seats in the education system. There is a gap between the industry requirements and the courses that students are learning. Globalisation has transformed the job markets and the careers. Today, the industry wants employees with an exposure to global market. Going for internationalisation is an imperative for not only the premier institutions, but also the entire education segment as a whole. DR O.R.S. RAO, Vice Chancellor, ICFAI University, Ranchi

The culture and practice in education is almost similar to that of India in Bangladesh. In terms of international collaboration, Bangladesh is focusing on India and Malaysia. One of the major challenges in the Bangladesh education system is the lack of use of ICT. It is mostly print-based and the teaching strategy is mostly teaching-centric and not learnercentric. With limited access to resources, inclusivity of the learners is missing. MUSTAFA AZAD KAMAL, Bangladesh Open University

New Trends & Technology in Schools

Access to information ‘anytime, anywhere’ is soon gaining momentum and ensuring that the learning sector in India earns this dening mantra for educational digital learning solution providers. The traditional classroom teaching model is slowly metamorphosed into digital education learning platform, turning into a self-driven, ‘eduprenuerial’ and fast industry, writes Jessy Iype of Elets News Network (ENN)

Gone are the days when students and teachers had the access to just blackboard classroom teaching. The new wave of digitisation has reaped in a plethora of technological solutions to help ease out not only the learning aspect but making school a platform for holistic development of the children through knowledge of their activities as well.

Pupils nowadays are well-versed with Play Stations and iPads, via digital learning, and are making smart classroom environment more inclusive and participatory, thus transforming the education system into an IT-enabled education system. However, resistance to change along with certain infrastructure challenges is hindering the growth market India’s online education market, which is poised to reach $40 billion by 2017.

The Market Scope

Online learning or Live Virtual Classrooms (LVC) has opened new career avenues for young professionals who are driven to imbibe new skills – at the luxury and comfort of their own place and time.

Ganesh S, Business Development Manager, DLP Products Texas Instruments (I) Pvt Ltd says, “Our product has millions of particle mirrors in classroom, DLP chip gets used in classroom projectors. This is nice chart on how technology is spent well globally. 50 billion of hardwares were purchased for classrooms globally, out of which 5 million classroom displays were purchased. 60 percent north American schools had interactive display. Asia has 18 million classrooms which have interactive display – anyone who has interactive display is using multimedia source for learning.”

On how to use the innovative solutions effectively pan India, Ganesh said, “Broadly split this into how it has reaped in government and private schools. In government ones, there is use of ICT labs, scanner among others. There is a greater marriage between how a teacher can use innovations with students effectively. Engagement of students is far high in such classes. Lot of interactivity features are seen, like whitewall into interactive service, trying to make optical engine into ultra shot one, where no light falls on the teacher. This can help penetration in areas where there’s no power, transportable devices. All optical engines are hundred per cent sealed and not have filters and helps in total cost of ownership.”

Panacea to Tracking Child Activities

With the evolution of technologies such as the Cloud, Data Centers & Virtualisation, the digital education ecosystem that we forsee is not a distant reality. There is a growing affinity by Indian youth for new technologies and products such as tablets, notebooks, LMS and IWB, educational institutes, and schools as there is a huge potential for technology to be integrated into education industry. Trickling down to the K12 segment, number of rural schools and teachers are embracing the ‘self-learning’ teaching models, serving as a significant communication bridge between students and teachers.

“It is important to understand how much we can do, certain cross checks, at right place and time to avoid multiple duplication of backups,” says Gaurav Singh, Country Head (Solution Division), Tech Smart Solutions.

Talking about the company’s motto to ensure a holistic development for the child and provide a panacea for parent worries, Singh states, “In last three years, we have realised the need to incorporate technology for small children also as parents are unaware of children’s activities in school and their safety. We provide world leading technology solutions for security where parents can track their child in bus and schools, their daily activities whereabouts – empowered as parents, and this ensures progress of the child.”

Schools nowadays offer smart solutions like Cashless facility called e-wallet as per the requirement or have Wi-Fi zones around the campus, says Singh.

The digital platforms, by a huge margin, strategically deals with the less innovative pedagogy styles and lack of teachers for specialised subjects – giving students the best e-learning experience and seeding an element of independency in their learning style.

“Now schools have smart solutions, like SOS buttons. In emergencies, students can talk to their near dear ones through telephone booths. Chatting with teachers and parents, assignments, biometric attendance, visitor management, admission management, smart class boards, among many other solutions ensure information of the child at every minute. We are revolutionising the sector through these solutions,” informs Singh.

Security Checks

Apart from having technological solutions in classroom learning, it is also necessary to initiate security in the school campus. With the recent unsafe incidents being brought to light where children are left at the plight of suspicious in nature of guards, it is an eye-opener for us to act and save children from being abused and exploited.

Gautam Goradia, CEO, Com-Sur, opines, “Technology is something that is in our hands to enhance the safety of our educational institution, of people who work there, the safety of children and so on. The philosophy of our technology like in case of video surveillance is not enough. Technology can help let us know about guard list and authencity of personnel in schools. Often if you see if the child is victimised he/she doesn’t realise what is happening to him or her. They complain many days later, maybe evidence or the footage is overwritten and nobody checks.”

“There should be a mandate to have a CCTV, a visual anti-sabotage and many more. We must use technology that is simple and cost effective. And that should have outcomes. Schools need to monitor it daily as a standard operating procedure. Create a back up TV on a cloud or computer, to retain an evidence. There is a need to create standarised format using power point,” added Goradia.

To Show the Way

Digital alternatives like Integrated Digital Interactive Classroom (IDIC), Content Management System (CMS) and Classpad can bring an element of reliability in students – making them more competitive in their respective courses. Against this backdrop, there is a huge potential for educators in India to leverage the missing link between teachers and their students – and bridge the digital divide.

Dr Vandana Lulla, Director, Podar Group of International Schools, Mumbai, says, “When I started my journey 16 years ago, there were only computer contracters in schools, then came interactive boards, smart boards, edupads, tablets, etc. It has come a long way. But there is much more to come. However, the question to be asked is, are we preparing our students for 21st century and on collaborating skills?”

Green technology that sustains the environment should be used is what Virendra Rawat, Principal, B-Kanae School, Modasa, feels. “Not only using technology, but we should use environmental technology, we use green technology, and we use tablet to collaborate learning,” he adds.

Lulla further says, “The kind of skills that are developing in today’s classrooms should focus on latest trends in developing creativity. Even though children have leaped into the 21st century, teachers are still in the 19th century and the school infrastructure are in the 15th century. Schools need to push them and management needs to be pulled up. Blogs are a good way to have parents contribute. The outcome would be a wonderful discussion and flip classrooms.”

Sadhna Pandey, Principal, The Millenium School, Nagpur, says, “Teacher training should be an ongoing process and regular updation of curriculum should be done. Cloud computing is a good way to store the matter and research on the internet, constant follow-ups are required, every infrastructure needs to be developed and on developing milestone.”

Private schools are providing quality education to children, thereby helping the nation in its development. Dream India Schools fit into the affordable private schools model, and the fee range is `12,000 to `20,000 based on the area, says Raju Sangani, Director, Dream India School, in an interview with Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)

What is the strategy to enlarge Dream India chain pan-India and its roadmap?

Last year, we had tied up with the largest school education provider in the world. We have opened 150 new schools in the current academic session, and our plan is to start 500 new schools in the next academic session. We are expanding our business in West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, etc. We are also studying the rules and regulations of states and understanding the expectations of the parents. We are conducting surveys to understand the need of the areas and then we will open schools. With our present systems, parents are happy as there is no homework burden, no tuitions and no bags. Students can keep their bags in the school itself. We have an assessment system that calculates the progress of children throughout the year. We don’t let our students deviate from academics. This practice leads to our students becoming masters in all subjects. After passing out 10+2 from our schools, most of the students get selected in IIT/ PMT and other competitive exams. This happens because of the strong foundation they are getting in our schools.

What is the vision of Dream India Schools?

Dream India is an initiative to educate and empower the mass population with a focus on qualitative and affordable education. We are providing quality education at an affordable fee structure. We are currently present in eight states having 370 school branches. Most of our schools are located in rural areas and towns. Therefore, we keep a lower fee structure. Though we don’t invest much on infrastructure and buildings, we never compromise on academics, and our level is equal to any international school in academics. We take buildings on rent and provide all required materials and basic requirements. We have an integrated system with us. We have prepared our academic programmes keeping in mind the mindset of parents belonging to middle class and lower middle class families. We take complete academic responsibility of children.

Our schoolchildren do not require home tuition and outside coaching for preparation of engineering and medical entrance examinations. Everything is available under one roof. We provide study hours in our school for the students of Classes VI to X. Then, home work and various other things are done in the school itself. We also provide IIT and medical foundation courses to our Class VI to X students throughout the year, along with regular classes. In addition, we provide extra-curricular activities and weekend activities, which is important for overall development of the students. Our schools are responsible for overall development of children i.e. computer education, digital classes, online classes and various other activities. Our vision is to spread all over India to start 3,000 schools and we are moving in that direction.

What technology have you introduced in your schools to ease learning for the students?

We understand that technology is the need of the hour today. We have already introduced remote teaching classes in our schools like online class. We have a studio at our national office in Hyderabad from where expert teachers deliver their lectures and all students across all branches get the benefit of it. This is an online teaching facility. Besides, we have a digital lab in our schools. We are teaching through digital classes too. We have established an English language lab in all our schools. We are also preparing a teaching content library so that the sessions of all the lectures will be recorded and whenever a student wants to study a particular lesson, he can get the video easily. It will be done for all chapters from Class I to Class X.

Do you have teachers’ training programme to keep your staff up-todate?

To provide quality education for students, teachers must be trained. In rural areas, we don’t get good teachers. Therefore, we believe in teachers’ training, for which we also have a department in our organisation. We have experts who conduct training programmes for our teaching staff five times a year, while we impart training to our principals eight times a year. There is a continuous training programme for teachers and principals to develop their subject knowledge. They are trained on how to teach in the classroom, improve the performance of students, use technology in education, get content and reference books, etc. As we know, spoken English is a major challenge in rural areas, we are providing training to teachers. Likewise, we conduct a day-long training session for principals every 45 days.

What is your take on skill education, and do you offer vocational training courses?

This year, we have introduced Dream India Skill Centres. Out of 370 schools, we have identified some places to start with. We have started it on a pilot basis. Apart from education, we are also honing the skills of our students in Skill Centres. It is not only for our school children, outsiders can also attend our training programmes. Courses change according to the requirement of the area. While in some areas, emphasis is laid on computer education, electronics and mechanical courses are being run in other areas. We cover all trades, but it differs from one area to another.

We are thinking of helping candidates get placement after completing our programmes. It is a part of our strategy. We give them certificates, but it is not affiliated to any university or government. The duration of the course depends and ranges from 45 days to six months. Moreover, we are charging very nominal fee in Skill Centres.

Do you encourage BYOD or other technology sync with academics?

Most of our schools are in rural areas, where parents cannot afford Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)-like technology. So, whatever technology is required for quality education, we provide it to the students from school itself. The paying capacity is less in urban areas, and parents cannot afford the instruments required. However, we are planning to implement this model in our schools. Though, initially, we are in the process of starting it in urban areas.

With its origin in Delhi/NCR, Sanfort started its journey in 2009 and has succeeded well with its nearly 90 branches spread across the country. S K Rathor, Director, Sanfort Group of Schools talks to Akanki Sharma & Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN) about how the institution is planning to provide quality education to every child in the country

What is the vision of Sanfort as far as quality education is concerned?

We started Sanfort in 2009 with a vision to provide quality education to every child of the country. We began with our first branch in Delhi/NCR and now have nearly 90 branches across the country. Moreover, we don’t wish to be confined only to the big cities like Delhi, Bangalore and other metros. Our vision also involves reaching to the small towns.

What expansion plans do you have for Sanfort?

We started with a playschool and now we have primary schools as well. This shows that we are not stuck to the preschool education only. Our vision is to first create a chain of playschools and then move forward to the primary school and to the K-12 schools later. We have already started primary schools and our target is to reach all the cities of the country with playschools first, then primary schools and finally the K-12 schools.

Are you also looking forward to open your branches in tier-II and III cities?

We have already marked our presence in tier-II and III cities. Our branches are in small towns like Aligarh, Meerut and Muzaffarnagar in Uttar Pradesh, Bijapur and Gulbarga in Karnataka.

What initiatives Sanfort is taking to bring quality education so that the foundation years of the children become strong?

When we go to tier-II and III cities, there is a huge gap in the quality and we need to train the teachers first for which we have our own technology platforms. The process involves training the teachers first. So, the focus is more on the quality of teachers in tier-II and III cities for a better delivery of quality education to the children of small towns also.

How did you find the World Education Summit (WES) 2015 as a platform for Sanfort to participate and what are the takeaways?

World Education Summit is a very good and informative platform. One had the opportunity to meet, interact and share the vision with people from different countries, along with getting a lot of information. One also came to know what people of Dubai are expecting from early education and what kind of education system is there in other countries and states. So, WES is a very good interactive platform Elets Technomedia has created. It deserves appreciation for taking such an initiative.

Oman has witnessed a rapid growth of higher education institutions offering quality education and producing an efficient and effective workforce required for the present job market, says, Dr Abdullah Ali Said Al Shibli, Director General of the Colleges of Applied Sciences, Ministry of Higher Education, The Sultanate of Oman, in an interaction with Bhawna Satsangi & Arpit Gupta of Elets News Network (ENN)

What are the challenges do you see in higher education in Oman and what steps have been taken to overcome them?

In Oman, we are trying to introduce technology as a tool to help the education sector and raise the level of school education and higher education, which will help develop the country. The higher education institutions in Oman are being developed by the government as well as the private sector. One of the major challenges in education is a gap between the structure of higher education and the need for the job market. This applies not only in Oman but it is a global issue. In order to overcome the issue, we encourage higher education institutions to partner with the industries, as this is the only way to understand the gaps and solutions. We also invite the industry players to give suggestions on skill development. This helps the industries to understand the structure of higher education and set of skills required and vice versa. Higher education institutions cannot provide all skills needed by the industry but they provide the generic skills through their major programmes. Industries have norms to help the graduates develop their specific skills.

How would the industry-academia partnership help the youth to get the right placement?

The Ministry of Higher Education requests the institutions to conduct study for the job market and check what kind of skills are required. The higher education institutions need to have mechanism such as having partnership with the industries so that they can improve their programmes to fit to the needs of market. We have established a specific department to conduct surveys and study this area i.e. the higher education sector, graduates and need for the job market. We share the information with the higher education institutions so that they can redesign their programmes and provide necessary support. Several other things have been done to encourage higher education institutions in Oman. It includes the launch of entrepreneurship course where the institutions develop skills of candidates needed to serve their own business. This will help increase the economic growth of the country. We have also decided that higher education institutions in Oman should have skill development courses linked with the sponsored bodies.

How fruitful is the India-Oman collaboration in education?

The relationship between India and Oman has been very good for quite a long time now. We are neighbours. We have a joint scientific committee, which works very hard. We have some higher education institutions linked to India. They have their own partners in India. We run some electronic courses as well affiliated to Indian universities. There is a room for improvement in collaboration between each other. Oman has been witnessing all-round development but India can train citizens of Oman in vocational and entrepreneurial skills through a strategic partnership in higher education.

How World Education Summit platform will help the Ministry of Higher Education, Oman?

There is a lot of scope to find partners, develop network with the leading players in education sector and join projects with them through World Education Summit. The platform offers an opportunity to know each other. India has rich experience in all industries and academia. Some of the institutes in Oman, exchange their programmes with educational institutions in India and WES-like programmes will help strengthen the relationship between the two countries as well as their higher education sector.