DIGITAL EDUCATION

By DR ARPITA SUBHADARSHINEE

From our mesmerizing landscapes to our rich heritage, from unique culture and diverse history to joyful festivals, India is a gorgeous amalgamation of traditions, languages and people. Being a multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious society, India has seen a steady progress in various spheres over the last century after being free from the slavery of 200 years of British on 15th August 1947. India is currently celebrating its seventy-five years of independence where Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is being observed to celebrate glorious history of its people, culture, and achievements.

India, the golden sparrow, always believed in “Unity in Diversity“. Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former president had a vision for India 2020, in which he visualized India as one of the most advanced and developed countries of the world.

“Ask not what your country can do for you — rather ask yourself what you can do for your country."- JOHN F KENEDDY

The empowered youth from diverse backgrounds like food to fashion to finance are the forerunners of assessment, awareness, action and advocacy for sustainable development. They are the main stakeholders, policy makers, powerful resource in handling responsibilities, revolutionizing fellow men and a catalyst for change being the change you want to see in your country.

The “Digital India” campaign was launched by the government of India to uplift the advancement of information and technology in India with a vision of easy accessibility, accountability and availability of services electronically to the citizens of India making it digitally empowered. This process enables the better connectivity with the masses and aims at making the rural India connected with high speed internet facilities. Honourable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi launched this digital campaign on July 1, 2015.

Better digital infrastructure across the country visions a world as a global village where even a small village is digitally connected to the world level. Various projects of Digital India like BSNL, the National Optical Fibre Network project help in delivery of the services to the unthinkable and unreachable distances in every nook and corner of the country. The basic services like education, health, water supply, electricity, legal services or the monetary transactions has gone digital which ensures transparency and proper verification.

ADVANTAGES of Digital India

1) Better access to health care by tele-consultations and e-prescriptions that has increased easy finding of health staff.

2) It has decreased the amount of physical work required for any services such as digital lockers, any government website, application of forms, pensions, PAN cards, Aadhar cards or e-insurance that has reduced black marketing to a significant amount.

3) Digital Literacy has been increased amongst people allowing them to voice their opinions through digital services like PCs, laptops, tablets, or smart phones through social media and advocating change.

4) There has been a immense growth in the usage of the internet and technology in recent years. The Panchkula district in Haryana was awarded the best and top performing district under the Digital India campaign on the 28th of December 2015.

5) The beaurocrats all over the world have supported it in a greater way with Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, changing his profile picture to support Digital India.

6) Increase in WiFi Hotspots in rural India and broadband connectivity at the railway stations in India by various companies like Microsoft or oracle.

7) The Digital India portals and apps such as ‘mygov.in’, Chai Pe Charcha has brought government and citizens closer by educating the older generation and voice their expressions in administrations.

8) Important digital websites are-

Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance (UMANG) – A software for access to variety of services like e- ticket, digi locker, tax etc.

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM)- Easy payments quickly, easily, and simply through the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

HMIS (Hospital Management Information System) for hospitals' work culture and operations

E-Pathshala- The National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) created it for easy access to educational videos and books for curriculum and Olympiads.

Education is an important parameter for the development of a country. According to UNESCO, since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, 1.37 billion students in 138 countries all around the globe have been affected by the closure of schools and universities. Nearly 60.2 million school teachers and university lecturers were at stake.

The ongoing COVID–19 pandemic has brought before us challenges as well equipped us with a new set of opportunities. Thanks to the lockdown, it devastated the normal life and livelihood but a ray of hope in coping with the current pandemic. The optimism that the Covid-19 pandemic has shown us is EDUCATION. Drastic steps were taken by governments all over the world, including India, where schools, colleges and universities were shut down to fight the pandemic and the culture of online teaching and learning came into play. It made us technology conscious by various online platforms of Google meet, Skype, zoom etc and adapt to it. The limitations of lack of space, infrastructure, and transport were outnumbered by online education.

As a country, India is through a fast pace of technological development. For a long time, we have relied on traditional classical teaching that involved a teacher addressing a group of students in a four-walled classroom.

So, e- learning is definitely going to reform the entire education system in India. The online platforms are extremely essential for the youth of today. The cut throat competitive era demands it in a great way. The fact that Govt has successfully managed to ensure that education is not hampered because of the pandemic is highly commendable.

India has only small gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 26 per cent. To achieve the target of 50 per cent GER by 2035 by the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, we should give importance to online learning.

Online education allows for better exposure where the learner definitely has a better scope in terms of unlimited topics and sources from all over the globe. It also allows people from every stratum the ease of just a click away to learn at their own pace without restrictions and without compromising the time and efforts of offline class and travel.

It is a welcome change in India even for the people of humble background who cannot afford to have expensive coaching costs along with travel expenses. It helps overcome geographical limitations. With e-learning, education can no longer be limited due to geographical location. Just a laptop, a smartphone, or a tablet with an internet connection with the flexible hours of online education has also opened the doors to learning for working professionals and students. With e-learning, however, every student can learn at his/her own pace since all the study material is available permanently in one place.

Many teachers are also welcoming this sudden transformation in education and trying their best to explore new methods and assessment. Various trainings, schemes and programmes have been developed by Government of India for students, teachers and educational institutions to make online education more effective, accessible and safer. Digital media today is an amalgamation of classical and conventional way of learning like books and notebooks and digital software like eBooks and pdfs.

In a country like ours, financial problems are always an obstacle in the path of education. Many students who want to learn and study cannot do so because they cannot afford the high fees of the top institutions. Luckily, the future seems more promising. E-learning is not only more efficient as compared to classroom learning, but it is highly affordable as well. We can pursue online courses from the most prestigious universities at highly affordable prices.

The biggest challenge for the e-learning industry in India is the lack of technology in rural areas. As most of our population (65.53%) resides in rural and far off areas, this is a serious issue that needs to be taken care of. The government has launched several initiatives to fast track technological development of Indian villages and these initiatives may bridge the gap between urban and rural education.

Digital revolution in technology has shown a truly path breaking step towards transforming various industries in the country. With the emergence of new e-learning platforms and the growing competitiveness among them, we can see better content, better tools, and better teaching strategies. Good vision, sincere efforts and time will show India the way ahead. Over the next years to come, our goal should be to expand the availability to high-quality education to every strata and every geography of the world.

We should envison India as a superpower country with the highest literacy rate where education becomes a mandatory birth right to every one and every citizen enjoy their birth right through various initiatives by the government.

We envision India where -

Poverty and Illiteracy are history,

Education becomes the priority

Agriculture and Health work in symphony,

Women and Children live in harmony,

Wildlife, Heritage and Technology live with integrity

“Swach Bharath, Swasth Bharath, Shresht Bharath, Samrudh Bharath”

By DR ARPITA SUBHADARSHINEE