Digital Education in India – Initiatives, Advantages & Challenges

What is Digital Education in India?

Digital Education is a method of learning which involves technology. With the help of digital education, students can gain knowledge and information from any corner of the world. Digital Education in India is the future of learning.

• Since the lockdown, all states swiftly and diligently responded to the COVID-19 situation and used existing digital resources to provide student education continuously.
• The non-technical teachers geared up and learned what seemed impossible to them at first and contributed towards providing a world-class education to the young generation of the country.
• Here, we will be discussing various initiatives taken by the government for the development of Digital Education in India.

Significance of Digital Education in India

Digital literacy is a learning method using technology and is a broad technical discipline aimed at helping all students gain knowledge in every corner of the country. Digital Education in India is believed to be the future of learning. The Government of India has defined different channels and taken several initiatives to disseminate educational and pedagogic means and sources in various parts of the country.

Recognising the rapid development of digital education, the government has introduced a new National Education Policy (NEP) that emphasises digitisation as well as the use of technology in education. Another focus is on Edtech for further training, especially in rural areas. This initiative was primarily taken to provide quality education, especially within tier 2 and tier 3 towns and villages. What looked like a distant dream was successfully carried out and is wonderfully implemented across the nation.

Digital Education in India Goals

The main objectives of this initiative are:

1. To develop high-quality electronic content in all local languages to cater to the diversity of various languages in India
2. Develop virtual training and laboratories along with high-end skill development courses
3. Create guidelines for online/digital education to tackle the digital divide
4. Development of digital classrooms
5. Integrating the Indian education system using technology
6. Development of a framework for digital evaluation in the age of digital education and ensuring a consistent student plus teacher experience through multi-mode access to education via web portals, webinars, mobile apps, TV, radio, and podcasts
7. The focus will be on increasing mobile phone usage to enable “anytime, anywhere” access and enhance penetration.
8. Teachers will be encouraged to use e-learning resources.

Initiatives on Digital Education in India

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Digital Education in India was the sole source of learning for the students in the country. Indian government launched numerous initiatives to facilitate online learning through a plethora of apps, channels, portals and other tools. This article covers all such initiatives as well as the benefits and challenges of E-learning.

DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing): e-Learning

• It is the ‘one nation; one digital platform’ for school education in India launched in 2017, available for schools in all states
• from class 1 to 12.
• through mobile applications and web portals.

VidyaDaan

• For content contribution at the national level
• allowing donation or contribution of e-learning resources for school education by experts, private bodies, and educational bodies.

E-textbooks

• e-Pathshala app and web portal can be used to access e-textbooks.
• audio and video content of NCERT available in different languages – English, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Hindi.

Radio

• Shiksha Vani is a radio show of the CBSE used by learners of grades 12 to 9, containing more than 430 pieces of audio content for all subjects.

Other Government Initiatives for Smooth Conduct of Digital Education in India

Other government initiatives for boosting Digita Education in India are as follows:

• E-PG Pathshala: to provide e-content for studies.
• SWAYAM: providing an integrated platform for online courses.
• NEAT: uses Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalized and customized as per the requirements of the learner
• PRAGYATA: The MHRD released guidelines on digital education titled PRAGYATA.
• Under the PRAGYATA guidelines, only 30 minutes of screen time per day for interacting with parents is recommended for kindergarten, nursery and preschool.
• Live classes by school for students range from 1.5 to 3 hours.

Advantages of Digital Education in India

When India fought the COVID19 Pandemic, Indian digital education was the only learning source for all students.

• Digital Education in India became the only source of imbibing pedagogical information, technical know-how, and practical experience in various subjects for students.
• There is no restriction on learning and study location in digital education practices.
• Students can always take online classes with online learning material easily available, making learning and teaching between students and teachers easily accessible.
• Digital Education in India acts as a supplement, and making digitisation cost-effective became a major government motivation.

Challenges with Digital Education in India

Even though Digital Education in India is booming, there are a few major challenges that can restrict its growth.

• For digital education, the Internet is required. However, there are many places that lack internet connectivity, and it has become a major challenge for Digital Education in India.
• People from socio-economic backgrounds can’t afford devices and technology.
• Training the teachers is another challenge. Only those who are technically sound can conduct digital classes.
• Government colleges and schools are not provided with proper facilities for digital classrooms.

Digital Education in India- Way Forward

• Developing e-content in local languages that would address the diversity of Indian languages.
• Addition of virtual labs and skill development courses.
• Priority must be given to getting access to digital education anytime, anywhere.
• To get the best e-learning resources, teachers have to upskill themselves.
• Structuring Digital education guidelines to address the digital divide.
• Multi-mode access to education through TV channels, radio, web portals, and podcasts.

Digital Education in India UPSC

Questions related to Digital Education in India can be asked in the UPSC Exam as it is part of the GS Paper-2. Candidates preparing for the upcoming IAS Exam must have all the information related to Digital Education in India, including the advantages, challenges and initiatives. In this article, we have covered Digital Education in India UPSC notes that would help the candidates during their preparation so that they can answer all the questions related to this topic.

☛ Download Digital Education in India UPSC Notes