Relevance and feasibility of educational technology in India

Abstract

Education is a fundamental instrument to attain ‘Millennial Development Goals’, alleviate poverty and inequity in the pursuit of continual economic growth and is an effective tool for expanding democratic participation by elevating the overall quality of individuals and society at large. India has an enormous population and to capture the potential demographic dividend and remove the acute regional, social and gender imbalances, the Government is committed to relentlessly undertake resolute measures to improve the quality of education. The pervasive use of technology in the 21st century exerts a significant impact on the education sector as it refutes the need for educators to be physically present, yet perpetually reaches every child in every corner of the world. Therefore, the amalgamation of education and technology makes the learning process exciting and arouses curiosity in the minds of young children. Moreover, India’s popularity as one of the most sought after education destinations is unparalleled due to the number of reputed colleges and universities that successfully attract young talents from across the globe. At present, our country is one of the leading consumers of e-based learning services owing to high speed internet connectivity, affordable computers and mobile devices. In this regard, many industrialists and startups have initiated designing of technology based educational products for government and private schools, colleges and universities as such tools can help students who aspire to pursue higher studies at reasonable prices. These initiatives embolden teachers and facilitators of schools and organizations to design adaptive learning curriculums using state-of-the-art technologies to develop personalized learning programs for students. Thus, innovative technologies have not only transformed the ‘intellectual landscape’ positively, but also challenged the traditional pedagogies that prevailed for many decades. Young minds are ignited and new age technological devices help facilitate discussions on varied topics occur at a global level within the constraints of a classroom. As a result, students imbibe core values of justice, peace, tolerance, cooperation, etc., through logical discourse with counterparts from across the world and learn to respect cultural diversities. Hence, this policy memo delineates the scope, challenges and future of educational technology through factual data and illustrations of existing technological trends and in-depth case studies employed by teachers in rural and urban Indian schools.