HYDERABAD: Digital education has taken over the traditional chalk and blackboard method in a big way. A recent survey done by Gurgaon-based Technopak Advisors, a management consulting firm which has its presence in 22 countries, estimates that close to 1 lakh out of India's 2.6 lakh private schools in the country have invested in some form of teaching technology. Officials in the field of education from both government as well as private insitutions further corroborate Technopak's claim that India's market for digital learning systems is estimated to be around 500 million dollars a year.
Educational institutions are now utilizing technology to make teaching a more interactive and simple affair. Virtual classrooms, e-lectures, web conferencing and online courses are part of the plethora of options that digital education provides.
BITS Pilani in Hyderabad recently developed the BITS Connect 2.0 which enables them to have live lectures with students and professors from their campuses in Hyderabad and Goa. The pilot launch, a success is now looking at an expansion.
"Last semester we had 14 courses via BITS Connect 2.0 with 90 students participating. We are now looking to extend it to other courses as well," said C Hota, associate professor of computer science at BITS Hyderabad. Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) has also caught up as online education enrolment showed a growth rate of 21% in 2012 as compared to the previous year. Hyderabad has over 200 takers for online courses via international educational technology Coursera.
"Online courses are a great way to diversify your skills, especially for working professionals who have no time to attend classes physically. It is great exposure to international education," said Ramya Sastri, a marketing professional who is pursuing a course in Business and Management via Coursera.
Technology for learning is not limited to the elite alone. The first wave of virtual learning in the city happened a few years ago, in a small classroom of Red Cross Government School in Masab Tank. With a basic computer and internet setup, primary schoolchildren were taught Math and English by a former teacher of the school who was miles away.
"Since high-end technology is not feasible, we wanted to set up a class with basic equipment and internet speed. Teachers could be located anywhere, all they needed was a webcam and internet," said Rama Krishna, chief engineer with PurpleTalk which initiated the idea. PurpleTalk has now moved on to create similar classrooms in other schools. E-learning, however, comes with its share of glitches. "The set up requires high speed internet connection which needs to be on even if classes are not being held," said Hota from BITS Hyderabad.
Maya Sukumaran, principal of Hyderabad-based Gitanjali School said that a few demo sessions of live classes held with students from schools in other cities got a lukewarm response from both parents and students. "We had a few live web classes with a school in Chennai, but the parents preferred to have a more real teacher-student interaction for their children," Sukumaran said. "Even then, using technology for education is a great tool if harnessed properly," she added.
nnew3670ed 27 Jul, 2013
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Source: http://www.educationnews.com/2013/07/27/digital-education-taking-over-traditional-methods/
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