Edtech 2015 : Trends in India
“With the rapidly evolving technology, everything will do at the school, will be at the finger tips of the students!
Then what shall we do with the students for the 5-6 hours that they are supposed to be at the school?” This quote by the head of the state board affiliated school in Ahmedabad, India, stunned me. Even a state board affiliated school has adopted the technology and the head is predicting the future challenges of their school to such an extent. The thought was so fascinating that I decided to conduct a survey of some of the schools in India and in the process collected some insightful thoughts about the future trends in Edtech. Here are some of the points to ponder on: Technology is vital
to education: There is absolutely no doubt in the mind of any educator that technology is going to play a vital role in education. It is also quite clear that most educators do not know what role technology is going to play! Educators and Heads of Educational institutions perceive that technology will be used to make it more convenient to educators to achieve their desired learning outcomes. They feel that technology will be used to; increase engagement, share learning resources and to be in touch with their learners 24*7. But the million dollar question, how is technology going to do all this? Well, there are no clear answers to it…. as of now! Cloud Computing is the future: One thing that is pretty much clear with the
educators is that the age of buying expensive software and proprietary content is now over. They are also clear that gone are the days when teachers used to write a note in the diary and send it across home or a note in a pamphlet to inform some of the event at the school. Schools have already established some or other kinds of ERP systems to manage their day to day administrative things. But now they are looking forward to integrate the system which does not require them to maintain a physical copy of text books and exam papers or even conducting the exam for that matter. Educational institutions are working on making internet available on campuses in a safe and controlled manner so that they are not device dependent and they can use any of the apps and services that are commercially available. With customized software becoming more expensive, cloud computing has a big role to play. Technology can interest and engage: Technology had made it possible to know exactly what is happening around us and across the world instantaneously. This has generated the need to know everything instantly, share it at the same time and be a part of the global conversation. What is fresh
and trending has the ability to interest and engage, therefore educators are looking forward to the tools which can help them curate and share such resources to their learning community. They also are looking for tools that can generate learners’ interest in learning and at the same time induce the feeling of achievement. Blend skills and knowledge: Teachers using technology feels that technology has power to incorporate the skills and the knowledge required in education. It has become very clear from the researches and studies that the curriculum can’t work separately and it has to blend life skills to work hand in hand. Consequently the education system is moving rapidly towards flipped classrooms and blended learning. Globalization of Learning Resources: Open Educational Resources (OER’s) and websites like YouTube, Khan Academy, Toon Masters, Appuseries, Gooru Learning etc. are providing a range of resources to educators. They are offering a range of content mapped with the leading boards in the country as well as the foreign boards. Till now we have been hearing the term globalization is in commercial context but with the rapid use of technology, we are able to access the different perspectives available globally on each and every aspect of education. There is so much content available online, Educators will have to develop the skills to search, curate, link it to local context, share and collaborate with learners to achieve the desired learning objectives. Teachers have a crucial role: It is becoming more clear by each passing day that the technology can’t replace the teachers, they are inevitable. Here I would also like to quote a wonderful thought shared by one of the educator “Technology won’t replace teachers, but teachers who use technology will probably replace teachers who do not.” Learning and education are always about breadth and depth of knowledge, breadth will possibly be achieved using just technology but for probing and going deeper, persisting and persevering with a concept even when the answers are difficult to come by, will require an educators. Educators will have to play the roles of motivators and mentors, constantly scaffolding different learners using different pathways of learning, increasing or decreasing the difficulty level as per the needs of the learners. In the end I want to recall an article I read in Forbes sometimes back, it talked about how India will lead the edtech market in 21st Century as; it has a large middle class segment which believes in the power of education, technology is the only way in which quality education can be delivered to a population of this size, India’s economic growth is inextricably linked to the upskilling and education of this population. In a nutshell it is clear that educational institutions, educators and Heads of Institutions can see a manifolds growth of use of technology in education in India.
