Challenges of Implementing Technology in Education in India

[aajinkya1203]

Note this is an article written by Prathamesh Churi, NOW Mozilla's Mentor.

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The entire world is a fan of technology 😎. Education sector has no exception in this . It is the fact that- Technology is whole and sole responsible for reducing the efforts taken by students and instructors in terms of gathering useful information , printed notes and journals , writing assignments , use of offline compilers for code execution etc.

Use of Technology in learning process also results into increase in student's focus on more important knowledge gathering process. Technology can represent education in ways that help students understand latest concepts and ideas.

Project based learning ( PBL) is the another gift that is given by technology. It enables instructors to integrate real world problems into problem based learning . With guidance from active instructors , students at different levels can use the tools to construct knowledge and develop skills required in modern society such as presentation skills and analytical skills.

In India , the use of technology is not reached upto the mark. Despite early implementation of technologies in education system, India still faces teething problem for the new technologies in education.

Few of the major problems are explained below :

Adequate Infrastructure and Resources : Major educational institutes of india are in villages. Villages are having a basic problems of electricity and fast internet connectivity . Technology will not run without use of electricity and internet . Rural development is the major threat to india. The rural institutes either does not have enough or have limited access to computer hardware and software.

Insufficient knowledge to handle technology oriented teaching learning : It is a high time that we need trainers to train the trainers . i.e. we require to train the teachers first instead of students. Many of instructors still prefers the traditional teaching and encourages students for rote learning. The training opportunities for teachers are still not enough . Its high time to change the mindset of teachers as well. Teaching to millennial generation is the major challenge in the field of education.

Mapping of Curriculum and technology : There is a lack of knowledge about ways to integrate technologies to enhance curriculum. Educational technologies integration is not a priority in many institutes. Starting from designing a curriculum to its execution , the interference of technology is very less in india.

Timing constraints: In the regular schedule of school / colleges , there is always a lack of time in schedule for projects involving use of technologies. On the other hand there is lack of adequate technical support for education institutes. I personally feel that , there is no specific or ideal time for learning . You can learn the things any time and any where.

However, there are many ethical issues arise with this use of the latest technologies in education.

1. Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V – Many a times students, even instructor copies content from web resources without even understanding the concept. All the resources available on internet are not trustworthy .
   
   

• Copying the assignments , case studies from internet and other resources results into wastage of time with gain of 0% of knowledge. It ultimately turns into a rote learning for students . Many a times Students just do this assignment work for the sake of marks where actual purpose of learning is not proved.
  

• Many of the teachers downloads the slides from internet and use it as a teaching material . Every teacher has different style of teaching . The downloaded slides restricts you to teach specific contents which are there on downloaded slides . Teachers are advice to refer slides online and make their own slides for teaching
  
  

2. Distortion of reality – Search engines gives the information about particular content based on the ranks. There is the real danger that their view of reality is distorted by the website, by the fact that someone with enough money can influence what is written or ranked. The trust issue on the online contents is always there with advancement of technology. We cant disbelieve on a particular content just because it's rank is lower than other contents or vice versa.
   
   

3. Trustworthiness of the Information- Not all information is correct on website. Many a times we get different knowledge on same concept on internet. The central question here is that : on which content I should believe?We must check its trustworthiness before used it as teaching or learning material.
   
   
   

Today, the student is not considered as an empty vessel to be filled in by facts and figures. They are now expected to use so many media and materials and to get learning experience from all sides. Education is regarded as a process of interaction and interpersonal communication. The modern teacher has to help, to guide and facilitate the learner’s development. The teacher has to inspire and motivate the young leaners and assist the adult learners in their quest for knowledge and skills. The teachers can find the means to engage students more quickly in learning and to cater to the various needs of different students.

No doubt that if , we manage to remove / resolve the issues which are addressed , then technology with teachers can prove best concept in the field of Education Technology.

By prof. patrick ( happy researching ! 😎✌🏽)