Teacher using tablet computer in elementary school lesson. (Thinkstock photo)
India has the largest K-12 education system in the world, but we still rank low in all major global assessment indexes. The reasons being lack of access to quality education, one-size-fits-all approach and learning driven by the fear of exams rather than the love for knowledge.
With more than 260 million K-12 enrollments, the current government guidelines suggest that one school must be set up every square kilometer. Even with a mandate like this, remote villages across the country lack proper school facilities. Where schools do exist, non-permanence of teachers, lack of adequate training and un-standardised pedagogy are issues faced by students on a daily basis.
The reason why urban learners perform better as compared to their rural counterparts is not due to lack of ability, but because of a lack of equal resources and opportunities.
The problem of access to quality education and teachers can be addressed by the intervention of technology. With a current smartphone user base of 300 million, smartphone penetration in rural India is growing faster as compared to the urban parts of the country.
By 2022, over 70 per cent of the country is expected to own a smartphone. Increased smartphone penetration brings in access to internet which in turn offers users access to a whole new world of content and information.
It is not surprising to see a 3-years-old today, learning numbers, letters, rhymes and shapes from a smartphone screen. Older students access the internet extensively to learn new topics or explore concepts taught in school in more depth.
For learning to be impactful, children should not study just for the exams, but for the love of knowledge. This is possible if concepts are explained to them in a manner which is simple, engaging and intuitive. Technology has the power to bring the best of the teachers to every student for an enhanced and enjoyable learning experience.
Today, learning programs can be tailored to each child’s individual style and pace of learning.
Be it to assimilate information or explore new ways to crack a concept, learning backed by technology fosters interactivity and also facilitates access to quality learning irrespective of a student’s geographical location or proficiency level. Innovative and interactive teaching tools enable teachers to shape the lives of scores of students in the remotest corners of the country. Digitisation of education is more than just pushing syllabus onto a digital medium and distributing it. It allows for transforming the way in which students consume content, at their personal pace and personal interest levels, resulting in self-initiated and better learning.
With the government pushing for better and free education amongst children, use of technology can definitely catapult the rate of development in the remotest corners of the country. Over the next few decades, innovations in the Indian education sector will help bring in personalised and better learning experiences for students across grades irrespective of geographical locations.
For a country that continues to house a third of the world’s uneducated, use of technology in education can usher in a huge impact for a better tomorrow.
— Authored by Byju Raveendran, Founder and CEO, BYJU’S