Monday, March 10, 2003		Feature

Information Technology is entering the schools in a big way. From CD ROMs to online assessment packages and even mathematical tools - a number of technologies have been developed, especially keeping the Indian children in mind. Many software majors are also sponsoring scholarships and programmes to make Indian children computer savvy.

But has all this really changed the face of Indian classrooms?

"The kind of transformation that people were expecting with the invasion of information technology is emerging more of a misnomer. The arrival of computers in the schools has changed the way private schools operate but a lot more needs to be done to make a difference at mass level," says Steven Rudolph, Educational Director, Jiva, an educational research organisation.

"The changing face of classrooms due to these new age technologies has although made the ‘dull’ classrooms more interesting and concepts easier to convey - the effect of this change has not been felt beyond private schools in cities", Rudolph adds.

While on one hand schools are shifting to computer-based curriculum or developing technology-based educational tools to make learning easier, the irony is there is no proper computer curriculum till Class X in most of the schools, teachers say.

"The schools are conscious of the fact that the shape of classrooms is changing the world over, the task before them today is to prepare students for fundamentally different world of tomorrow and they know that there is a need to establish a harmonic blend of resources with technology," says Rosy Gandhi, a computer teacher. "Thus schools are encouraging students to use more of computers and multimedia in their day to day exercises whether academic or extracurricular. But these initiatives are mostly undertaken in private schools", Gandhi adds.

"We have been chasing the task of improving education quality through technology since early sixties but we have not been able to achieve much in that direction because of lack of proper planning," says Prof. P K Bhattacharya, former joint director, Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET).

"Success of any programme depends on the efforts that are put in its dispersal to the target group. But that is something that has been missing all these years and thus all money and energy that went into these programmes has gone down the drain, especially in case of government schools," Bhattacharya elaborates.

"Moreover, whatever we have been teaching in our primary or middle level is mostly outdated. The main emphasis should be to have a proper curriculum based on latest technology and it should be upgraded at regular intervals since technological changes are taking place very fast," Bhattacharya adds.

Initiatives such as conversion of mathematical tools and science curriculum of primary schools in form of CD-ROMs were some of the really innovative steps but lack of proper dispersal of these programmes, especially in government schools across the country has limited their impact, says Bhattacharya.

However, Dr J S Rajput, Director, National Council for Education Research and Training says all is not lost for government schools.

"The need of the hour is to build strong network across the country for education so that latest technological advancements can reach teachers who in turn can utilise them in teaching students," Rajput points out.

"These programmes are not that visible in all government schools but they are surely making a difference in whichever schools they have been implemented", he adds.

"Efforts must be made towards overall improvement in infrastructure availability in government schools and then only can we think of transforming the classrooms with technology. There is a need for building networks thus we should give more time before assessing the impact of these initiatives," Rajput says.