IT in Education : Building a Brighter Future
By Nikita Virdi
Mumbai, Apr 15, 2008

IT's role as a key enabler across industries is well-documented, and the education sector is no exception.

Recently, the government has taken a number of initiatives to leverage technology for improvement, spread of education, and for supporting related social goals.

IT in education

Thomas Abraham, managing director of Sage Software (India) is of the view that technology can facilitate incremental learning, or even modular learning that doesn't necessitate interactions. It gives us various options to accelerate the learning process.

IT has brought in a lot of changes in the way education is delivered today - making it more interactive, individualized, accessible, and computer-mediated, followed by flexibility in interface.

"Technology allows people to learn more effectively at their own pace and in their own time. The formal education imparted in India has to keep in tune with the technologies in use today," says R. Krishnan, executive director of Aptech.

Recent initiatives

Recently, Computer Society of India (CSI) and Aptech took a joint initiative in Chennai to make 2.5 lakh Indians IT literate. "For imparting quality education, we use Computer-Based Trainings (CBTs), and online trainings, besides instructor led trainings. For this proficiency in MS Office and Internet tools is sufficient," adds Krishnan.

Broad development works with IT-based teaching are being carried out in upper secondary schools. Ministry of education has collaborated with TeleDenmark, IBM Denmark, and Apple Computer. It has also introduced communication equipment to certain educational institutions.

The Punjab government is migrating towards the accomplishment of its Information and Communications Technology (ICT) education project, which will cover about 2085 government schools in rural and urban areas across the state, along with the support of the Gemini Communication.

Jharkhand has already taken an initiative to include a click and learn system in schools, which has computer-based education programme. Similarly Everonn, a Chennai-based IT learning company has tied up with more than 500 schools in West Bengal to execute computer education. It aims to reach out to 5 million students by 2010.

According to V. S. Manikkam, head (IT) of Henkel CAC, "Computer-Aided Instruction (CAI) technology has brought drastic changes to the conventional classroom/laboratory, encouraging students to explore more and memorize less."

Microsoft India has also stepped forward, and has collaborated with International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and Interpol - to bring together global experts. These experts will train the Indian law enforcement agencies on the use of technology, which will help to investigate cases, such as online crimes committed against children. They are trained on, 'Advanced Workshop on Cyber Crimes' and 'Computer Facilitated Crimes Against Children'. The training sessions are conducted at the CBI Training Academy at Ghaziabad near New Delhi.

Future potential

According to Manikkam educational institutions must go beyond the visible IT skills that students possess. This will help students develop their skills, which will support them in a complex, and a rapidly changing world of information literacy.

Technology will continue to be a prominent enabler in education. Education will continue to be blessed by more and more advanced technology as progression continues. Individualization in education should be the main aim, and this can only be achieved through technology.

However, the question lies on what role the government plays in supporting the use of technology in the educational system, which will sequentially help train children for global competition. "Besides encouraging the use of technology at the school, college and university levels, the government should invite the private education players for investing and delivering education," added Krishnan.

Related Links:

Education, Technology and the Future of India