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DU in turmoil

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Delhi UniversityDelhi University, premier institution of higher learning is in turmoil these days with teachers demanding the sacking of Vice Chancellor Dinesh singh even as students called for the removal of three teachers for being ‘insensitive’ and having ‘dismal teaching skills’.

Holding a dharna at Jantar Mantar in the national Capital, Delhi University Teachers Association(DUTA) alleged a vindictive behaviour by DU Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh. “The dharna was held to demand the removal of Professor Dinesh Singh from the office of Vice-Chancellor, institution of Visitorial inquiry into alleged misgovernance and irregularities, reversal of alleged vindictive measures by him against teachers in matters of pension and promotions and starting of regular permanent recruitment for the 4,700 vacant teaching posts with correct reservation roster,” Harish Khanna, DUTA secretary, said.

A DUTA delegation met Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani and submitted a memorandum of issues faced by the teachers. Nandita Narain, DUTA president later said about the meeting,“The HRD minister responded positively and promised to give serious consideration to all the issues raised in the memorandum. In particular, she emphasized the determination of the ministry to expedite the process of making permanent appointment of teachers and non-teaching staff.”

Separately, a group of 200 MA English students have submitted a written complaint to the head of their department about ‘the dismal teaching skills’ of three newly appointed teachers for English and asked for them to be replaced. According to the students, the teachers make statements like homosexuality and gambling were brought to India the Muslims, while others proclaim beforehand that their teaching could be wrong.

Government publisher removes chapter on anti-dam activist

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Medha PatkarGovernment-funded National Book Trust (NBT) has dropped a chapter on Narmada Bachao Andolan activist Medha Patkar from a children’s book after an NGO objected saying she was a political person after she joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and therefore should not be included.

Ahmedabad-based National Council for Civil Liberties founder VK Saxena had filed a written compalint to the Ministry of Human Resources (MHRD), which in turn referred it to NBT, who dropped the chapter.

Written by Thangamani, the children’s book, Children Who Made It Big, traces the childhood of 12 famous personalities, including sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, chess player Vishwanathan Anand and author Ruskin Bond and is part of the school curriculum in many states.

Reacting to the news, Medha Patkar said VK Saxena was a supporter of the Sardar Sarovar dam and opposed the Narmada Bachao Andolan, the movement that opposed the construction of the dam.

NBT director MA Sikandar defended the action, saying,“The NGO has been writing to us about it. After we received the letter from the ministry, we re-examined the issue and under changed circumstance we decided to drop the chapter”.

Private schools ask for refunds under RTE

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

Sarva ShikshaRepresentatives of matriculation schools and members from the Tamil Nadu Nursery, Primary and Matriculation Schools Association are protesting against the Right to Education (RTE) norms, saying that the state authorities are crushing the private schools.

The representatives say that they have yet to receive the reimbursements for fee waiver that they prvided for 25 percent of students admitted under the RTE Act for the last three years. KR Nandakumar, secretary of Tamil Nadu nursery, primary, matriculation and higher secondary schools association said that all private matriculation schools in the state had implemented the RTE Act norms three years ago while admitting students in LKG and from Class 1 to 6.

“When the state government wants us to provide free education to 25 per cent students as part of RTE Act why doesn’t it keep its word and reimburse us the fees. If this situation continues our financial liability will increase multifold forcing us to close down our institutions,” he said.

The lack of fee refund is affecting the schools financially. Schools have been vocal in their opposition to he fee structure fixed by Justice P Singaravelu committee, saying it is not sufficient. They contend that the owner of the school should have full control over the fees and should not be answerable to the government.

He also pointed out that there was arbitrariness in providing recognition to schools, with the Local Planning Authority(LPA) recognising schools that did not have a good infrastructure, while refusing it to schools that had a good infrastructure. “Sometimes the schools which do not have good infrastructure get recognition while others with better facilities don’t. Moreover, the facilities in many of these schools are anyway far better than those in government schools,” he said.

Schools said they are ready to admit students through RTE if the rules are followed properly and they are refunded in a timely fashion.

Some school representatives also have an issue with the building bye-laws, saying that schools located in crowded places face a scarcity of land, and cannot provide the 25 fet setbacks or give large grounds.

MHRD plans 19 new institutes

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
The Human Resource Development ministry is in plans to set up 19 academic institutions across India. Out of the list of the 19 institutes, seven of them are to be established in Andhra Pradesh.
The list of institutes planned to be set up includes IIMs, IITs, Central Universities, NITs, IISER and IIITs.
As per the official announcement, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha will see the establishment of Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), while Jammu, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh will have Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs).
Andhra Pradesh will also get one National Institute of Technology (NIT), one Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) and one Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT). Additionally, newly formed Telangana could also see the establishment of a tribal university in the state.

Crawling Towards Innovations

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

gaurav-sinhaThe recent Global Innovation Index (GII) report, 2014, places India at the 76th position among 143 economies around the world. In the current ranking, India has lost 10 positions from 66 in the previous year. The trend shows that India is continuously lagging behind other countries.

 

Table 1: India’ ranking over the years in the Global Innovation Index
India 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Rank 23 41 56 62 64 66 76
Total Countries 107 130 132 125 141 142 143

In fact, a deeper analysis of the available data suggests that many of the contemporaries are either improving or maintaining their positions in this innovation index. Table 2 shows the ranks of top 10 countries over the last four years. During this period, almost all the countries featured in the top 10 have been able to retain their places, nonetheless, there are ups and down in the ranks of some of the countries. Even among the emerging economies like the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), except India, all others have improved their positions. Brazil has moved up three places, the Russian Federation has moved up 13 places, China by six places, and South Africa by five places.

Table 2: Top 10 countries in Global Innovation Index
Countries 2011 2012 2013 2014
Switzerland 1 1 1

1
Sweden 2 2 2

3
Singapore 3 3 8

7
Hong Kong (China) 4 8 7

10
Finland 5 4 6

4
Denmark 6 7 9

8
United States
of America		 7 10 5 6
Netherlands 9 6 4

5
United Kingdom 10 5 3

2

Clearly, this poses two big questions – Is India slow at innovating? Or are other countries innovating faster? If the first assumption is true, we need to identify the reasons for our slow growth. If the later is true, we need to speed up our pace to catch up with other countries in terms of innovations. In both the cases, we need to develop an enabling ecosystem for innovation. The ecosystem of an innovation involves many subsystems. However, for innovations, two major support systems are very crucial. One is the government as a support system for promoting innovations in the country and educational institutions as another pillar for contributing through the required human capital.

But in India, there are several challenges with both these key subsystems. First of all, there are cultural issues in the present governmental structures and system for the creation of an enabling environment for doing business. These include enabling regulations required for starting business, growth of business, support for research and development and responsive system. The World Bank data from Doing Business report, 2013, shows that India is far away on these indicators. India stands at the 132nd position out of 185 economies across the world on the ease of doing business, 182nd on bureaucratic procedures and legal steps to get permits and 184th on enforcing contracts that obstruct smooth functioning of business ventures in the country.

Secondly, there are challenges related to enhancing the capacity of India’s human capital to match the world’s standards of research and innovation. There is no doubt that India produces and has produced some world class researchers and innovators. But the numbers are not very significant. Hence, in order to compete with the world-class researchers, there is a growing focus on increasing the number of researchers in India. For example, the Kakodkar Committee set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development has suggested a ten-fold increase in the number of doctorates in the IITs in the coming years. Besides, there is a three-fold rise in the number of universities, and at the same time a five-fold rise in the number of colleges in the last ten years. There are now 700 universities and 35,539 colleges as of today in India. This has led to substantial increase in the number of doctoral positions in the institutions imparting higher education. But this rosy picture does not mean that all is well.

On the flip side, only one-fifth of the population has access to higher education in India. This is far below than most of the developed countries and even of the BRICS. Two recent reports, one by the NASSCOM in 2011 and the other National Employability Report 2012 by Aspiring Minds indicated that around 80 per cent of the engineering graduates were not employable. These issues lead to the debate on quantity versus quality in the higher education. In fact, there is a significant amount of learning available from various countries. China has significantly increased the number of doctorates (some 50,000 students across all disciplines) but is now facing issues related to the low quality of its graduates. Japan too has faced a similar crisis when it focussed on increasing the number of doctorates and postdocs. For instance, in 2009, the Ministry of Science and Education had to offer companies around US $47,000 each to employ its 18,000 unemployed postdoctoral students. This is mainly because the number of students entering into higher education dropped and academic institutions did not want more staff. Even in the United States, there are similar issues where doctorates are facing challenges to be employed in academics as well as the industry. So, what does it all indicate? There are several questions to ponder over – Is India running after producing graduates with higher degrees? Will these degree holders be employable in the future? And if yes, will they contribute in the national research and development process which eventually can match world standards?

Considering these situations, perhaps developing a suitable ecosystem for innovations can help in addressing both these issues i.e. cultural changes and capacity of human capital. Cultural issues in the system require mindset change and improving governance processes. Change in mindset, as we all know, requires time, where people need to act and then believe or vice versa. For immediate action, making processes related to setting up of businesses, regulatory mechanism etc. online with lesser turnaround time can be a good starting point. Capacity issues with regard to human capital require more intense work. Firstly, low enrollment rate at higher education indicates the need for improving the primary and secondary education. Preparing the feeders (i.e. primary and secondary schools) with appropriate resources and technology is a challenge but not impossible. Higher education too is in need of an overhaul to make graduates employable. This can be taken care by improving the teaching and research standards in higher education in the country. For this, we need to focus on improving the quality of doctoral level students through rigorous research process and quality of the output. Developing a zero tolerance policy for infringement of copyright or intellectual property rights is one such step to improving the quality of output. I still remember an incident when I found a book published by a senior reader of a state university to be a replica of another old book by a retired renowned professor of the same university. Such incidents can be dealt with by commissioning an online portal for reporting of such infringement and later designing a probing mechanism with considerable anonymity to the whistle blower. Developing an online system of tracking and publishing data of doctoral students – their research topics, progress, publications standards etc. across the country – can be another step leading to a more transparent system.

Though there are many big challenges, such small changes can open up new vistas for innovators in India. As one of the growing economies of the world and in order to compete with international benchmarks, India needs a serious focus on creating an enabling environment for innovations.

About the author

Gaurav works in the social development domain and has an avid interest in social innovations, especially educational innovations. The views expressed here are personal.

Future of Education Redefined :: September 2014

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-

EDITORIAL

Time to Turn the Tide

 

COVER STORY

Grassroots to Galaxies

Education for Empowerment

Education Beyond Stereotypes

Towards a Smarter Generation

ICT With a Mission

Minority Education – The Road Ahead

 

WORLD EDUCATION SUMMIT AWARDEES

The Game Changers

 

LEAD FEATURE

Looking Down the Barrel

‘Limited Impact of ICT on Quality of Education’

The Challenge Lies in the Mindset

‘Progress Slow Due to Lack of Funds’

‘Technology is Empowered by the Teacher who Uses it’

 

INDUSTRY SPEAK

‘Strong Focus on the Enterprise Space’

‘Education has to Converge on a Device’

 

ADVERTORIALS

e-Solutions for Academic Excellence

 

 

 

Grassroots to Galaxies

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Over 900 people including academicians, policy makers, heads of schools, colleges and institutions of higher learning, corporates and education entrepreneurs stepped aside from their daily grind and got together at Hotel Eros in New Delhi on August 7 and 8 to participate in an initiative aimed at transforming education through innovation.

galaxies Aimed at disseminating innovations in ICT, the World Education Summit 2014 was received with immense enthusiasm for the fact that it successfully managed to engage several stakeholders in a dialogue on the path ahead for education in India. Apart from deliberating upon technological trends and the use of ICT in education through parallel tracks on higher education and schools, the two-day mega event also saw many firsts. In a first of its kind exercise on the national level, the WES 2014 saw a special focus on minority education in India. This special session, which was held in collaboration with the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI), saw representation from minority educational institutions across India. A special issue of digitalLearning on minority education was launched by Dr Najma Heptulla, Union minister for Minority Affairs in India. In another first, the higher education track saw some of the greatest minds from the Indian Institutes of Technology get together to discuss the National Mission for Education through ICT (NMEICT). These professors from the IITs also serve as project directors for NMEICT and had valuable experiences to share with the audience. In all, the event focused upon getting India at par with the demands of today’s knowledge-based society and the ways that technology can help India reap the future benefits of its demographic dividend.

Looking Down the Barrel

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Technology has made critical inroads into our lives and there’s a concerted push from the government to integrate it with higher education in India. Despite a realisation of benefits of technology-enabled learning, there are challenges that need to be urgently addressed. Parimal Peeyush of ENN delves into the details

looking-downThere has been a remarkable shift in the way education is being imparted across the globe. Technology, which for long had been the exclusive premise of realms above the understanding of general masses, has infiltrated our daily lives to an extent that one could not have imagined a few years ago. Far from being alien to it, the education sector has been one of the biggest adopters of the use of information and communication technology (ICT) as a tool for delivery.

Innovation, for long a hallmark of good education, is now transforming the way education is being imparted worldwide. With a revolution in the way information is collected and disseminated, ICT is catching up as a medium of choice for educators in India. Several senior academicians that we got in touch with agree that the benefits of the use of technology are multifold for students and teachers alike.

“Today, we are faced with the challenge of providing opportunities to the youth to receive appropriate education and unfold their full potential for meeting their aspirations. We recognise that technological tools, particularly computer, digital tools, Internet, etc., have immense potential to enable students acquire knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the competitive global market,” says K P Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya (NGBU).

For the uninitiated, there has been a concerted push from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) towards adopting technology-enabled learning and a separate division has been created for this purpose under the Department of Higher Education. Another major push in this direction has been the launch of the National Mission for Education through ICT (NMEICT). Under this mission, the National Video Server of the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) was launched at IIT Madras in February 2011. The video server, aimed at making the entire NPTEL content available to students across universities and colleges online, is connected to 1 Gbps link of the National Knowledge Network (NKN) and to 155 Mbps link to the Colleges’ Virtual Private Network (VPN).

The realisation that technology is relevant to the field of education and that it is growing in importance in today’s knowledge-based society is clearly present in all quarters. “An average person now changes at least 10 professions in his/her lifetime. In such a scenario, what is it that we can teach to enable our students to be future-ready?” asks Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). The benefits of the use of ICT tools in education have also been debated and discussed at various forums and within institutions extensively.

What has perhaps been missing in current times is the willingness and the ability to address the challenges that are hampering the implementation of technology-enabled learning. This significant innovation in education is disruptive and expensive and many institutes today are finding it tough to deal with the lack of required facilities and the high costs associated with it. Regulatory hurdles, erratic electricity supply and a mindset among teachers and students that resists change are some other bottlenecks that several institutions across India face in terms of implementing the policies devised by the government to encourage and facilitate technology enabled learning.

“We are all geared up to deliver tech-enabled education, but often face difficulties in terms of adoption,” says Nupur Prakash, Vice Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women.

Insiders tell us that there is also a lack of awareness among the institutions about the programmes of the government in this regard. Monitoring it is also a major challenge as there is no concrete data to suggest how far digital learning techniques have penetrated across in stitutions and colleges across the states. “In my experience, there are a few snags that need to be tackled for enhancing the impact of ICT on quality improvement of education,” observes K P Mishra of NGBU. “For example, infrastructure and manpower in various universities differ markedly. Therefore, plans of implementation of the ICT programme have to be executed in groups of universities with similar background and encourage them to catch up with better placed institutions,” he adds. Among other issues, he also calls for devising a plan for one-time special funding assistance to establish and improve infrastructure for technology-based teaching, training, learning and research for the accelerated implementation of NMEICT.

Infrastructure and monetary issues only constitute a part of the problem. The major issue lies in the poor understanding of technology among teachers as well as students. “There is the danger of dwelling too closely on the use of technology and tools,” says Sunaina Singh of EFLU. “What is more essential is a change in our attitudes to the use of technology in the classroom, a commitment to think of education in a new perspective – one that is no longer handed down by the teacher, but is more collaborative and interactive in nature; one that is not compartmentalised, but aimed at developing transferable skills,” she suggests.

The Roadblocks

  • Lack of funds has been a major deterrent
  • Inadequate infrastructure and facilities
  • Erratic supply of electricity in several areas
  • Absence or shortage of trained teachers
  • Resistance from students and teachers in making the shift to technology
  • Lack of incentive for teachers for innovation

These issues form a challenge for the government as well. Speaking of the implementation of ICT-enabled education in India, Praveen Prakash, Joint Secretary, Department of Higher Education and Mission Director, NMEICT, says that the major challenge of the mission is to enable and empower teachers in adopting a technology-enabled environment. “We have to support teachers in acquiring skills in e-content development and make them adept in the emerging modes of technology-based delivery,” he observes. “Another area that requires urgent intervention is to put in place a policy acceptable to all stakeholders for integrating technology-enabled learning as a part of curriculum and recognising degrees earned through the online mode,” he adds.

His observations do hold true. Today, teachers who have become used to conventional methods find it tough to deal with this change. Moreover, lack of incentive to adopting these techniques is also missing from our existing framework and teachers, as a result, find it difficult to devote the time required for learning and adopting new age tools of teaching. There needs to be an overall change in the mindset of the academicians for promoting the use of these technologies within the teaching fraternity and more importantly, among students.

The world a decade from now will not demand the same skill sets that keep us going today. Moreover, with the demographic dividend that India is poised to be sitting on in the coming two decades, there will be a huge demand for quality manpower. This would require present students to be ready to face the demands of coming times. Technology- enabled education is an enabler in this direction and the benefits we are able to reap will depend upon how quickly we understand its effective and correct use and adapt to it. One must not forget that over 65 per cent of India still lives in villages and it is here that this revolution will have to reach to make the right impact if India has to be future ready. In a scenario where education still remains elusive to a majority of the population, the benefits of technology will have to be harnessed in expanding the reach of education and bringing a huge population into the mainstream. Running away from technology is no more the answer. Technology is here to stay and the onus of reaping its benefits now lies with the teachers and institutions. The sooner we get it, the better it will be for our society, our economy and our country as a whole.

‘Limited Impact of ICT on Quality of Education’

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
K P Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya (NGBU)
There are many challenges that must be tackled for effective implementation of ICT in the education programme, believes K P Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya (NGBU). In an interview to ENN, he also talks about the issue of funds, infrastructure and the unintentional resistance of stakeholders to change
K P Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya (NGBU)
K P Mishra,
Vice Chancellor, Nehru Gram Bharati Vishwavidyalaya (NGBU)

As a university with the objective to improve the access of higher education for rural areas, how relevant do you find the use of technological tools in education in today’s time and age?

Major population of India lives in rural areas and education has to reach remote and inaccessible places. Plans have to be worked out to engage youth from urban as well as rural areas in nation-building through proper education. The focus of our endeavours is to improve upon the quality and access of higher education to students from rural India. Without doubt, technological tools hold the key to achieve these objectives effectively. At this point in time of globalisation, new opportunities have been created but competition has also become tougher. This demands optimisation of talent promotion through innovation in education and training and requires reforming and strengthening of our education system – from primary to university level – to match global standards. We are faced with the challenge of providing opportunities to the youth to receive appropriate education and unfold their full potential for meeting their aspirations. We recognise that technological tools, particularly computer, digital tools, Internet etc. have immense potential to enable students acquire knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the competitive global market.

While setting up the university, late Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru had noted the importance of vocational, technical and professional education. What role does technology play in achieving these objectives and how well is your university geared up for tech- enabled learning?

Universities are regarded to be the temples of knowledge. India’s first Prime Minister Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru had recognised and placed due importance to vocational and professional education as it provides the confidence and capability for winning jobs and setting up enterprises. Education is meaningless if it cannot help earn a living to meet the necessities of life. In the present time, the advent of information and communication technology has facilitated the process of teaching and learning in more ways than one. Education has witnessed a revolution in the approach and methods of teaching. A greater opportunity of interactive teaching has become possible and teachers can design and deliver course material to students in an interesting and effective manner. We have made sincere efforts to employ ICT in teaching programmes for the benefit of students and teachers by providing computer labs, Internet facilities, digitisation of library and innovations in teaching. Many initiatives have been taken and upgradation of technological facilities is a continuous process in our future plans.

In recent years, there has been a concerted push from the HRD ministry at the Centre towards technology enabled learning. Are you aware of the initiatives and how well have they progressed at your institute?

We are fully aware of the HRD minis- try’s push for introducing technology enabled learning in higher education. I am a strong supporter of the government’s National Mission for Education through ICT (NMEICT). In fact, NGBU has actively followed the implementation of plans and programmes of the central government provided from time to time. We are particularly interested in increasing utilisation of information technology in admission, examination and evaluation processes. We have also started an orientation programme of training the new and existing faculty through computers and power point presentations to make them technol- ogy savvy and upgrade their professional knowledge and class room teaching meth- ods. The focus is to integrate technology in teaching and transform the traditional class room teaching into a technology- driven learning and practice centre.

What in your view is the impact of the use of technological resources on the quality and accessibility of education? How has it helped the students and faculty at your institute?

In my opinion, quality of teaching is the core strength of university educa- tion which, unfortunately, has shown a declining trend in past years in our country. It is hoped that MHRD would take note of this decline and take cor- rective measures. Use of technology has enormous scope to improve quality and accessibility of education, especially in rural areas. There has been a limited impact of ICT on quality improvement of education but the efforts are con- tinuing. In my experience, there are a few snags that need to be tackled for enhancing the impact. For example, in- frastructure and manpower in various universities differ markedly. Therefore, plans of implementation of the ICT pro- gramme have to be executed in groups of universities with similar background and encourage them to catch up with better placed institutions. Among other factors, unreliable availability of elec- tricity from commercial supply system and inadequate power through genera- tor system frequently disrupt the plans of technology teaching and practice, thereby disturbing the schedules and adversely affecting the teaching pro- gramme. Teaching standards and ac- cessibility would substantially improve after we make dependable delivery of teaching from centralised destinations assuring students quality lesson mate- rial designed by experts in the subjects.

“The major problem faced in implementation of technology-based teaching programmes is the unintentional resistance of stakeholders to change”

Are there any other initiatives that you have streamlined with regard to tech-enabled learning?

We have planned a few initiatives for technology based teaching and learning in our campus. For example, we are keen to implement our plans for transforming the classroom experience by replacing traditional passive lectures with active learning experiences based on informa- tion technology. In addition, it has been in our active plans to motivate students to conceive, initiate, and implement projects utilising information technol- ogy in their fields of study. We believe that by allowing students to employ and practice technology in a free atmosphere would prod them to thinking of creating new software and services for future.

What are the challenges that you have faced with regard to the introduction of ICT in education? Any plans to engage with private players to take it to the next level?

There are many challenges that must be tackled for effective implementation of ICT in the education programme. In this context, the merit of investment in creat- ing infrastructure for implementation of technology is obvious. But, often such in- vestments receive lukewarm response by the university fund allocation Committee. It may be advisable to plan for one- time special funding assistance to estab- lishing and improving infrastructure for technology-based teaching, training, learning and research for accelerated implementation of NMEICT. In my expe- rience, the major problem faced in imple- mentation of technology-based educa- tional programmes is the unintentional resistance of stakeholders to change. Passive approach and lack of receptiv- ity are major hurdles which, of course, stems due to traditional mindset. It can, however, be tackled with patience and tactful handling. I feel fortunate to have identified and involved willing faculties to implement new plans of technology based teaching, training and research activities. However, it was more than satisfying to witness enthusiastic partici- pation of young students in technology based courses and innovative research activities in Ph.D. programme. I strongly believe that participation of private play- ers in education supported by technol- ogy would push the ICT programme to- wards a faster pace, wider acceptability and better academic participation.

‘Technology is Empowered by the Teacher who Uses it’

By
digitalLEARNING Network
-
Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU)
Being literate in the traditional sense is no longer sufficient for success in the 21st century workplace, believes Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU). In an interaction with ENN, she says that apart from students benefitting from the use of technology, there is a perceivable change in teachers’ attitudes towards teaching, knowledge and learning
Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU)
Sunaina Singh,
Vice Chancellor, English and Foreign
Languages University (EFLU)

As an institute involved in teaching and training of languages, how relevant is the use of technological tools and ICT in the field of education for you?

As a teacher, I am aware of the constantly shifting paradigms in education – many of us are caught in a situation where digital immigrants teach digital natives. It would not be wrong to say that many of our students are more tech-savvy than the teachers, and comfortable with their own set of digital practices. To reach out to a group like that, we need our teachers to engage with ICT and new tools. But more importantly, as academicians we need to be aware that technology is no longer a ‘nice-to-know skill’, it is an ‘essential- to-know skill’. Being literate in the traditional sense is no longer sufficient for success in the 21st century workplace. Newer definitions of literacies are being explored and hailed globally as essential workplace skills. Digital literacy that goes beyond basic skills to include information, technological, and visual know- how, is one such core essential skill.

There has been a concerted push from the HRD ministry towards technology enabled learning. What is the progress at your university?

Following directives from the MHRD, and based on the observations made by the Honorable President and recom- mendations made during the Vice Chancellor’s Conference 2013, our University has consolidated and strengthened its initiatives in the use of technology in education to assist both students and teachers. There is more e-content being generated both in our distance mode programmes and also as support to face- to-face classrooms. Conscious adoption of web 2.0 tools by many of our teach- ers has made the teaching-learning process more seamless. EFLU has always laid emphasis on providing access to learning opportunities for all students. An area emphasised by my administration was enabling our differently-abled students to move forward with ease in e-learning.

Are there any other initiatives that you have streamlined with regard to tech-enabled learning?

Apart from providing empowering technology tools to our Disabled Cell, we have made significant efforts in restructuring courses in terms of content and delivery, to make them simpler, yet more efficient. The EMMRC, School of Distance Education and several programmes in foreign languages are using technology both as an agent for content presentation as well as a medium of delivery. Our teachers welcome opportunities for content updation of face-to-face courses to ensure their currency – some of our courses deliver the latest in the field of ICT in language sciences like Use of web 2.0 tools, Game theory, Digital literacies, Digital artefacts etc.

What in your view is the impact of the use of ICT on the quality and accessibility of education? How has it helped the students and faculty at your institute?

Technology makes possible concepts that we have always upheld as educators, like learner autonomy and lifelong learning. It facilitates a move away from a perception of education as something that happens within classroom walls at specific times and allows individualised learning in the truest sense. Many of our course instructors use social networking sites and 2.0 tools like wikis, penzus, blogs, voicethreads, etc. The af- fordances offered by such digital learning environments include multiple entry levels and individualised learning paths. Additionally, they also allow multimodal assessment patterns, promote higher or- der thinking skills, encourage creativity and facilitate collaborative and interactive learning paradigms. And it isn’t just our students who have benefitted, there is a perceivable change in teachers’ at- titudes towards teaching, knowledge and learning; our teachers have started thinking of newer pedagogies, reinter- preting research methodologies, and designing new modes of assessment.

Any plans to collaborate with private players?

Several linkages to establish collabora- tive programmes with industry in the field of language research and pedagogi- cal innovations are already in place and more are being planned. The intention is to introduce multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity to our programmes so that our students gain opportunities to ideate and innovate. A second area where we would benefit interfacing with industry is in developing translit- eracy skills in our students. The ability to acquire and present information in multiple forms, I feel is best achieved in authentic contexts. We are seeking industry partnerships for such digital- ly-situated student development pro- grammes.

What are your priority areas in the near future?

Scoping future trends and opportunities, I think as educators and administrators we need to think of ways to promote and support digital learning in continuous and sustainable ways. My goal is to think of embedding digital literacy as an edu- cational approach and a norm rather than an exception restricted to a work- shop or a few courses. I read a survey report somewhere that an average per- son now changes at least 10 professions in his/her lifetime. In such a scenario, what is it that we can teach to enable our students to be future-ready? There is the danger of dwelling too closely on the use of technology and tools. As the head of a language university I find this unrewarding. Instead, what is more es- sential is a change in our attitudes to use of technology in the classroom, a com- mitment to think of education in a new perspective – one that is no longer hand- ed down by the teacher, but one that is more collaborative and interactive in na- ture; one that is not compartmentalised, but aimed at developing transferable skills. Now, all these mean incorporat- ing newer elements into teacher train- ing programmes – we need to encourage the teacher to come out of his/her com- fort zone and address teacher anxiety. We plan to design confidence-building sessions to demonstrate that technol- ogy can never replace teachers, that technology is empowered by the teacher who uses it. Which is why I feel blended classrooms should be given priority. Secondly, I am also interested in providing authentic contexts for practice of digital literacy skills so that our students are in- dustry-ready by the time they complete their education. And finally, we would also like to build on our online courses and encourage wider dissemination of courses and lectures to make them ac- cessible to the general public.

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