Digital technology has had a significant influence on education in the twenty first century .The ultimate result of the influence has been the revolution of pedagogy and education due to the adoption of digital technology in the social, political and economic spheres of society. Nowadays, learning is more strategic and focuses more on virtual collaboration and learner –centric learning. As a result, teachers no longer serve as knowledge source but rather as learning facilitators. Traditional classroom lectures are no longer the only way that people can learn. Emerging technologies have made knowledge instantly available and being disseminated on an exponential scale. As a whole, schools have not only included technology as a crises management tool but have also incorporated it into their existing curricula. Teachers can therefore use online learning as a potent teaching tool.
In the 21st century , India has witnessed a transformative shift in its educational landscape with the advent of digital education, this paradigm shift from traditional chalk-talk methods to digital learning platforms has brought forth both promising opportunities and daunting challenges . The national educational policy 2020 advocates investment in digital infrastructure, online teaching platforms and tools, virtual digital repositories, online assessment, technology pedagogy for online teaching learning, and other related areas. This also supports multilingualism and highlights the power of language in teaching and learning through creative and hands on approaches, such a gamification and apps, and by incorporating the cultural aspects of the languages through films, theater, storytelling, poetry and music.
With a compounded annual growth of 20.2 %, the AI market in India is predicted U$ 7.8 billion by 2025. In order to prepare students for the AI economy and to bring India’s curriculum in line with contemporary requirements, the National Educational Policy (NEP) 2020 places a strong focus on the need of imparting the requisite technical skills at all educational levels. It places a strong emphases on integrating AI into education to support high-quality and skill-based learning. The UNESCO state education report India (2022) proposes 10 concrete recommendations that when implemented, could accelerate India’s transformational journey towards technological education and sophisticated tech-driven solutions in educational processes. These recommendations are in line with the national vision of digital India.
These 10 recommendations are:
- Consider the ethics of artificial intelligence in education as an utmost priority.
- Rapidly provide an overall regulatory framework for artificial intelligence in education.
- Create effective public –private partnership.
- Ensure that all students and teachers have access to the latest technologies.
- Expand AI literacy efforts.
- Attempt to correct Algorithmic biases and the resulting discrimination.
- Improve public trust in AI.
- Request the private sector to better involve students and educationists in developing AI products.
- Place ownership of data with the students.
- Embrace the versatility of AI in education systems.
Positive outlook
Technology will revolutionize education in this context and beyond because it offers students real world experience, and audio- visual learning environment makes studying more enjoyable, a virtual library of knowledge, more tools for teachers, and more interactive learning environment. In this context and beyond, technology will be the imminent of education as it gives practical experience for the future, provides an audio- visual experience, makes studying less boring, a treasure true of unlimited information, gives educational tools to teachers, and builds more interactive and instills collaborative sprites towards learning .
The benefits envisaged for digital education are as follows:
- A greater number of population can now access high–quality educational resources thanks to digital education, which has democratized learning.
- Pupil’s inventiveness and originality are encouraged by digital education. Immersion learning opportunities that foster critical thinking and problem–solving abilities are offered by interactive simulations, multi-media information, and virtual laboratories.
- Digital platforms also make personalized learning sessions possible.
Challenges
When we enable billions of Indians to realize their full capacity for learning and cooperation we will be able to make repaid progress in education. Learning is the core of education, and it should not happen only in classrooms. Learning for all, learning by all, and learning with all should be the goal. However there are many obstacles in the way of fully utilizing digital education in India.
Firstly, there is still a digital divide, uneven distribution of ICT access, lack of digital literacy particularly in the community, impedes the growth of digital learning nationwide and presents additional monitoring challenges. Under privileged groups are still unable to obtain dependable internet access and gadgets. This discrepancy makes educational injustices worse and prevents digital learning initiatives from reaching a wider audience.
Secondly, there is still more effort to be conducted and ensure the reliability and quality of online instructional materials. It is vital to select and validate trustworthy sources due to the deluge of information available on the internet. To maintain educational standards, educators and legislators need to put strong procedures for quality control and content monitoring in place.
Finally, there are concerns that student’s interpersonal skills may decline and social isolation may be reinforced by digital education. For over all development, screen time must be balanced with off-line interactions and extracurricular activities. On the whole, we must design education policies aimed at developing students digital competencies, going beyond the operational capabilities of using apps or the internet and including cognitive skills linked to critical thinking, creativity, and problem – solving in digital contexts.
(Luqman Ahmad Wani is Research Scholar Commerce & Suheela Majeed is MA in Psychology. Feedback: [email protected])
