6. Educational Technology in Schools

Technology is a broad term used for all types of tools, methods, and processes created by human beings to improve their lives. In this Chapter, the reference is specific to Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a wider term and encompasses in it ‘Technology of Education’ and ‘Technology in Education’. Whereas the first term talks about human touch and human role, the second one talks about technology (machines, engineering, and industry) in the field of education which is popularly known as ICT. It includes a wide range of software and hardware tools and technologies, including devices such as computers and mobile phones, networks such as the Internet, and software applications.

These technologies enable us to store, process, and access information in digital form. This information can be stored in both textual and audio-visual forms. These technologies have also enabled us to communicate information with each other effectively, efficiently, at scale, and at great distances. In the past few decades, ICT has transformed the way in which humanity engages with information.

While education will play a critical role in this transformation (India’s transformation into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy), technology itself will play an important role in the improvement of educational processes and outcomes; thus, the relationship between technology and education at all levels is bi-directional. [NEP 2020, 23.1]

In this chapter, we will explore the potential of ICT in school education, the possibilities of its use, the precautions of use and abuse, and finally the principles of use of ICT in school contexts.

Section 6.1 - Context of ICT in India

India is rapidly becoming a society where technology is part of everyday life. People use ICT for daily transactions such as payments, shopping, and communication. Farmers use technology to learn and make decisions on farming practices. Various services such as finding work or finding a marriage partner are also offered through ICT.

Digital platforms are being used to learn new skills and hobbies and even to clarify doubts. There is increasing use of technology in various shapes and forms by both children and adults alike. Technology tools evolve and will continue to do so, it grows integral to life, social interactions and transactions, communication, and livelihood. The adoption of technology is a bottom-up process — people adopt the tools that benefit them and will use technology if it serves their needs and matches their purpose.

The relationship between education and technology is ‘bi-directional’ in the sense that many innovations in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) world have found effective application in education and are making large differences. Similarly, education develops the capacities amongst our young that drives India’s vibrant technology sector.

Technology evolves and changes every generation, as it has been witnessed with radio, television, computers, internet, mobile devices, and, more recently, Artificial Intelligence (AI) including generative AI. Introduction of technology by itself does not radically improve school education, unless it complements, supplements, and fundamentally supports the growth and learning of the Teacher and students.

It is abundantly clear that no technology can fix fundamental problems of resource provision, Teachers’ capacities and motivation, and students’ readiness for schooling. The centrality of the presence of a motivated and capable Teacher in every classroom in achieving educational goals needs continued emphasis. However, with the availability and appropriate use of these technologies, the effectiveness of Teachers and the experience of learners can be enhanced. Technology can be a significant enabler of improvement on multiple dimensions of the education system.

Key Highlights of Recent Digital Education Initiatives School closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic affected an estimated 286 million children (aged 3-18 years) in India. During closure of educational institutions, ‘continuity of learning’ was a key challenge, and now post-pandemic, the need to respond to ‘learning loss’ is the key challenge.
There were several ICT-based responses across the country. The key enablers that emerged for ubiquitous access across the country were Direct to Home (DTH) channels such as PMeVidya DTH TV channel, Swayam Prabha DTH Channel, Radio, Community Radio stations, Podcasts, and tele-classes on local TV channels and podcasts. Almost every State/ UT has shared experience of using these media during the pandemic.
Data-led decision making has been a key possibility at State level using data analytics through Control and Command Centre (CCC) for education for tracking and monitoring of learning and administrative tasks. The learnings are being tracked with a view to identify the gaps in Learning Outcomes (LOs) at the level of schools so that suitable remedial action can be taken. This initiative accrues benefits to all stakeholders from different perspectives — administrators, Teachers, students, and parents.
For e-content, DIKSHA provides video lessons, worksheets, assignments and e-Textbooks for school curriculum across Boards and in multiple languages. States/UTs took initiatives to make learning content accessible through YouTube Channels of SCERTs and toll-free call centres for students to clear their doubts in critical topics.
Several States distributed Tablets/Laptops/Smartphones to Teachers and students with preloaded content.
To enhance the teaching versatility and smooth visualisation of lesson content, a CRT TV is being converted into a Smart class with lesson plans, teaching videos, assessments, and fun zones to make teaching easy and learning easier.

None of this takes away from the fact that inequitable access to technology is a real challenge, — the digital divide is real. Not everyone can have access to the same technology. For instance, India has users of smartphones and feature phones, as well as people who have no access to phones. When we are thinking of solutions and scale solutions in a digital world, this fact cannot be ignored.

Technology tools are ‘good slaves,’ but ‘bad taskmasters’ — a balanced approach to the selection and use of tools needs to be taken, including respecting the digital rights of children. As we move towards becoming a more digitised society, data of individual actions, choices, and behaviours are generated and also perhaps more accessible. This data, when used to serve the user, is a convenience, but the same data can make the individual vulnerable. Technology tools need to be used with caution, especially around data in an increasingly digital society and inappropriate usage in the teaching-learning processes.

6.1.1 Evolving and Emerging Technology

6.1.1.1 Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality

The emergence of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, as well as big data analytics and visualisation will definitely find innovative applications in the education domain. There are enormous possibilities to use emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Data Science, as well as immersive (AR/ VR/ virtual labs), interactive, and gamified contents to improve the teaching-learning and assessment processes, supporting Teacher preparation and professional development, enhancing educational access, and streamlining educational planning, management, and administration. For this, an ecosystem of digital education needs to be created where Teachers, students, parents, as well as administrators are well oriented about the appropriate use of technology while taking necessary safety and security measures.

These technologies being used and implemented without discerning their impact is a danger of adding to the digital divide. However, their potential to be used to enhance and support the capabilities of Teachers and students should not be ignored. Teachers and students as users/ contributors/beneficiaries of these technologies must be made aware of the inherent function of such technologies. At national, State, and school level, students must be made aware of these technologies, their role, and how to discern its use and impact on them. For example, Responsible AI for Youth (YUVAi) is a national programme for government schools to empower the young generation to become AI-ready. Established by the National e-Governance Division of MeitY, the platform aims to help students develop a new-age tech mindset and relevant skill sets.

6.1.1.2 Generative AI

The evolution of technology is not entirely predictable. However, in the foreseeable future, the growth of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and consequently Generative and responsive AI appears inevitable. Irrespective of the nature of technology, the skill sets of Teachers and students to develop a basic understanding of how these technologies work and therefore to channel these emerging and disruptive technologies in a manner that serves the need and helps the Teacher and student in the Indian context is critical.

Generative AI is a type of AI that creates original content by learning from existing data; it uses patterns and structure from existing data to produce new content. It can generate new text, images, or music without explicit programming. Some examples of Generative and responsive AI are Chat GPT and Bard. However, these can be leveraged to create technology solutions, such as TaraBot, on DIKSHA. They can be used to discover ideas, create innovative content, and enable exploration and problem solving across design, music, art, and storytelling.

In education, generative AI can be a valuable tool for Teachers. It enables the creation of engaging educational materials such as interactive lessons, videos, and personalised exercises. It also aids in content generation in multiple languages, promoting inclusivity. However, caution must be exercised to ensure that the generated content aligns with the curriculum and avoids biases. By responsibly incorporating generative AI, Teachers can enhance creativity and innovation in the classroom, offering unique learning experiences to students.

Generative AI has the potential to play a complementary role in learning by significantly reducing the time and effort involved in generating content — quizzes, lesson plans, learning materials, adaptive assessments, interactive simulations, and virtual environments for engaging learning. However, it is important to note that generative AI is a rapidly evolving field, and there are ethical considerations and challenges associated with its use. Issues such as bias in generated content, data privacy, and validity and veracity of generated content are issues that have come up, and more are being discovered. Also, there may arise real challenges and disruptions in education by (mis)use of AI, including students and educators ‘outsourcing’ the most fundamental process of educational work — of thinking — to AI. This could be in the form of homework and assignments being done by AI, or lesson plans and content being developed entirely by AI. In the long term, such behaviour starts stunting the growth of the capacities outsourced — in this case, thinking — and this would be deeply damaging.

Only deeply thoughtful and well-researched integration of AI in the process of education will let us use its potential fully while not succumbing to its more serious risks. This must be one of the most important areas of research and attention for the entire education system — eliminating the risks of AI and using it to its fullest extent. At the time this NCF is being written, nothing more definitive can be said.

Section 6.2 - Potential of ICT in School Education

Technology in education has the potential to play the role of a significant extension of human capabilities, and ways of making teaching and learning more effective. Here are a few scenarios to examine what technology can enable:

a. Can break down barriers and constraints. For example: The student is not limited only to classroom experiences. They can explore and access content beyond the constraints of the book, Teacher, and the classroom.

b. Enables exploring worlds, ideas, and places beyond that which can be physically accessed. For example: a student or even the Teacher may not have travelled to see a planetarium or a museum, but if a video or a link to an augmented reality experience can be provided, they would be able to explore any space in the world.

c. It does not discriminate by itself. For example: the user’s ability or location does not matter to technology. Technology opens up access to people of different abilities. Video content with subtitles and supported by sign language is critical for the hearing impaired; similarly audio content is critical for the visually and print impaired. Text with audio would be a life changer for learners with learning disabilities.

d. It makes it possible to exercise choice, make connections, and find what they need and want to learn. For example: Teachers undergo training programmes on predetermined topics; while this is useful, it can be supplemented by the Teacher accessing training on the web.

6.2.1 Access

This NCF has consistently mentioned learning should not be limited to what is presented in textbooks. ICT makes it possible for students and Teachers to have access to a wide variety of content. With the spreading network access to the internet and the ubiquity of digital devices that can connect to the internet, access to educationally valuable content has become more equitable and democratised, thereby enabling learning anytime and anywhere.

6.2.1.1 For Students

Direct access to digital content on the internet might not be appropriate for very young children. Access to digital content should be moderated and mediated by adults in this case.

a. Students can be encouraged to access and engage with relevant digital material that complements and supplements the content in their curriculum, syllabus, textbooks, and other materials they are typically unable to access in their physical environment.

b. Students can use ICT to deepen understanding, learn at their own pace, engage with additional practice, and do self-assessments. More than anything else, ICT can be of immense value to discover and explore new areas and topics, and as is becoming common — to become creators and makers (for example, creating ‘how to ….’ videos and demonstrations).

c. Students can utilise technologies such as peer forums and chatbots to clarify their doubts or just to ask a question through voice or text to clarify or develop understanding and satiate curiosity.

d. The agency to learn and find spaces for learning without fear or judgement can be enabled through ICT.

6.2.1.2 For Teachers

More than the students, it is for the Teachers that the use of ICT becomes significantly enabling and empowering.

a. Teachers can use digital content available on the internet for complementing and supplementing the textbook material. Such content can enable different pedagogical approaches, as well as provide different forms of engagement through audio-visual material. Textbook chapters and Teachers’ handbooks can embed appropriate QR codes, which guide them to relevant complementary and supplementary content.

b. Resources for suggested and illustrative lesson plans for specific content areas and textbook chapters aid the Teachers in preparing for classroom instruction.

c. Well-designed Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) packages for specific concepts can orient and prepare Teachers conceptually for teaching.

d. Additional assessment tools and readily available worksheets can enable Teachers to create formative assessments to understand the learning of the students.

e. More in-depth courses can allow Teachers to deepen their perspectives of education as well as specific content areas. Teachers can enrol in these online courses and develop their capacities at their own pace and convenience.

f. Teachers can use tools that can simplify administrative tasks to unburden themselves.

6.2.2 Content Creation

ICT has not only eased access to content, but it has also enabled the creation of content. ICT has the potential to enable a wide variety of practitioners to create educationally valuable and relevant content.

a. Locally relevant content to be used in classrooms can be created with the assistance of ICT at the school cluster/complex level by Teachers and resource persons.

b. Teachers can create content dynamically, based on the specific needs of their classroom. They can access existing digital content and modify it to their specific needs.

c. ICT has made it possible for content to be created and presented in various forms. Videos, audio clippings, graphic simulations, animated presentations — all these forms of content can now be easily created by a motivated and capable Teacher with the use of simple tools in ICT. These different forms allow for a variety in the content used in the teaching-learning process.

d. ICT also enables students to express themselves beyond a simple textual form. They can capture their educationally relevant understanding in various audio-visual forms for Teachers to assess.

e. With this NCF’s emphasis on Art, Physical , and Vocational Education, it is not hard to imagine the central role played by digital content. Instructional videos would be far more effective than textbook chapters for these Curricular Areas.

f. Teachers can use Generative AI technologies to create content that is localised to their contexts and specific to their immediate pedagogical needs.

6.2.3 Individual Attention

ICT can help Teachers provide greater individual attention to students and to their specific needs.

a. ICT can enable the recording of the learning achievements of the students at a fine level of granularity. This information can assist the Teacher in creating useful learning profiles for a subset of students in their care. These learning profiles can help Teachers in creating individualised learning plans, which could also be developed with the aid of relevant technology solutions. The Teacher is central to this process to assess if the plan is relevant and of use to their students.

b. Students can engage with personalised content through digital devices, moderated by the Teacher in the classroom. ICT can assist in personalising this content by using the students’ specific profiles, which includes their prior knowledge and preferences.

c. In higher grades, students can access digital content that explains the concepts in different languages and multimedia formats. Students can engage with these materials at their own pace. Thus, this facilitates the slow shifting of the responsibility of learning to the students and makes them independent learners.

d. Teachers too can receive individualised training plans to suit their needs and for improvements in areas of difficulty for them.

e. Technology can bridge gaps and enable independent learning to support the diverse needs of students with disabilities. Technological aids in the form of diverse tools for early detection and intervention will be needed. In addition, specially curated e-content to address the learning needs of students with disabilities should essentially follow Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles and the end products should be available on audio, video, ISL, and other digital formats such as EPUB, flipbooks, interactive Digitally Accessible Information System (DAISY). Mobile applications can be used to cater to the specific needs of students with learning disabilities. Audio modes, such as radio and audio books, and television for hearing impaired with subtitling and ISL can be leveraged for students with disabilities .

6.2.4 Interactive Content

The use of ICT allows for the possibility of dynamic and interactive content that a textbook cannot manage. Such use of ICT might be appropriate from the Middle Stage, where students engage with interactive content through digital devices.

a. In Curricular Areas such as Science and Mathematics, digital simulations can make engagement with concepts more hands-on and dynamic, thus improving conceptual understanding.

b. With advanced voice recognition and natural language processing techniques, ICT can assist in oral language development through interactive software.

c. Digital textbooks can have assessments embedded in them and students can check their understanding immediately.

6.2.5 Teacher Empowerment — Emerging Innovative Pedagogical Practices and Skills

There are many pedagogic practices, strategies, and ideas that are being tried that have achieved various degrees of success. These include flipped classrooms, blended learning, personalised learning, game-based learning, edutainment, computer-assisted learning, and several others. All of these may be effective in some contexts and not so in other contexts. There is no one method or use of technology that fits all.

Thus, preparation of Teachers to engage with technology and make the best choices for their students and schools becomes a critical step in making effective use of ICT in classrooms. Capabilities of ICT can be used in such capacity building of Teachers at scale. The PRAGYATA [Pragyata Guidelines, Government of India] guidelines for digital education articulates the kind of preparation necessary for Teachers to be able to deliver digital education as being a twofold process.

a. The first is the requirement of Teacher preparation for adopting digital technology for teaching their students more efficiently.

b. The second is to use digital medium to keep abreast of new development, in education for their own professional growth.

Teachers must be ready to harness the potential of digital technology to keep them professionally up to date. The Teacher may:

c. Explore digital technologies such as LMS (Learning Management System), apps, web portals, digital labs, and repositories of Open Educational Resources (OERs) at national/ State/global levels.

d. Attend webinars, online training programmes, online courses on ICT — Pedagogy and Content integration.

e. Use appropriate technology for teaching and learning and conducting assessments.

f. Use digital resources embedded in Alternative Academic Calendars (AAC) developed by NCERT for different Stages.

g. Be part of forums, interest groups, and online communities to interact with peers and know how the rest of the world is doing with digital education. h. Get acquainted with copyrighted as well as Free and Open Source (FOSS) e-content and tools for learning. Teachers can be made aware to use open resources as everything on the Internet is not available for free download or sharing.

Section 6.3 - Possible ICT Solutions for School Education

The above section broadly outlines the potential of ICT to have a positive impact on school education; this section explores various ideas and solutions that are in use and may be envisaged. However, this is not by any means an exhaustive list of ideas or solutions, it is merely indicative. Technology will evolve and adapt as is its nature, the attempt is to provide a framework for Teachers, educationists, and administrators to think of and leverage these tools (and also what may come in the future) to suit the needs of learners. For instance, a policy framework for developing education technology is National Digital Education Architecture (NDEAR).

6.3.1 National Digital Education Architecture

To fully achieve the potential of ICT in enabling the vision of NEP 2020, NDEAR was launched in July 2021. ‘The core idea of NDEAR is to facilitate achieving the goals laid out by NEP 2020, through a digital infrastructure for innovations by, through and in the education ecosystem.’ NDEAR is a blueprint for the future of education in India. It aims to create a unified national digital infrastructure that will enable the use of technology to improve educational outcomes for all students. NDEAR creates standards and principles for technology solutions in education. This will help Teachers find and use solutions that help meet the learning needs of students. NDEAR will encourage an ecosystem of digital contributors who can develop and use technology in school education. It follows some core principles for developing technology in a manner such that it enables open access, agency, and choice for usersas well as diversity and inclusion. It endeavours to meet the special needs of students with disabilities.

The NDEAR addresses the following aspects of ICT in education:

a. Core Interactions:* NDEAR identifies two core interactions in education — learning interactions and administrative interactions. Learning interactions are those that take place between students and Teachers, while administrative interactions are those that take place between Teachers and administrators.

b. Scenarios: NDEAR defines three scenarios for the use of technology in education — learn, help learn, and manage learn.

i. Learn scenario refers to the use of technology to enable learning directly

ii. Help learn scenario refers to the use of technology to provide support to learners

iii. Manage learn scenario refers to the use of technology to help administrators manage the educational process

c. Key Personas: NDEAR identifies five key personas — students (any learner), parents (any caregiver), Teachers (anyone who is a Teacher, formal or informal), administrators (anyone who can help manage), and community members (society in its widest term including market players).

Digital resources for learning and for use by the five different personas have a very important role to play in leveraging technology in a manner that is contextual and relevant to learners.

6.3.2 Digital Books and Libraries

Textbooks, stories, novels, articles, and non-fiction in various languages in digital form are very important resources for school education.

6.3.2.1 Relevance

Digital books would be relevant across all subjects including vocational training. One example is to address the issue of low literacy levels requiring more resources for the development of language. Digital resources can aid in more listening, reading, expansion of vocabulary, and meaning making. The class and home need to be print rich, but it is also essential to be print rich digitally and have access to diverse digital content in the form of stories, books for various levels of readers, audiobooks, read-along digital content, vocabulary builders, digital dictionaries, word games, video content and online courses in multiple languages, and have access to tools to get a sense of one’s own learning level in language.

6.3.2.2 Benefits of Digital Books

a. Overcomes physical barriers to access — Many books can be accessed by the individual even if they do not have access to physical books in their local environment.

b. Portable — They can be accessed from anywhere, anytime, and across devices.

c. Extendable — Textbooks particularly can be extended, modified, and updated quickly when in digital form.

d. Delays — Delivery delays can be overcome.

e. Inclusive — Digital books lend themselves to accessibility, options to enlarge size of the font, change the page colour, use the read-aloud, and access the audiobook formats can be enabled.

6.3.2.3 Resources

There are several platforms and resources available that enable access to digital books. NCERT has made all its textbooks available online across various platforms, such as SWAYAM, DIKSHA, ePathshala. In addition, IIT Kharagpur has the national digital library platform. Several private publishers are enabling access to digital versions of their publications, be it fiction or non-fiction.

6.3.3 Videos, Animations, and Audio

Digital material in the form of videos, animations, and audio is useful to explain topics, and concepts, and demonstrate through ‘how to…’ for both students and Teachers.

6.3.3.1 Relevance

Across all subjects and domains ranging from an explanation and demo video for Teacher (and student) on ‘How to teach/learn place value using sticks and stone’ to watching a video on ‘Force in action in a cricket game.’ Videos and animations are excellent learning aids for both students and Teachers. The creation of contextual content is as relevant as the consumption of content in the teaching-learning process. This form of digital content is particularly relevant for the Curricular Areas of Art Education, Physical Education and Well-being, and Vocational Education.

6.3.3.2 Benefits

*a. Deepens understanding *— Helps understand the subject matter better by engaging multiple senses (seeing and hearing) of the learner and also enables visualisation of the topic or concept.

b. Connection — A video helps establish a human connection to the learning process unlike engaging only with text.

c. Shareable — The Teacher can send a video to the parent via messaging and students can share with each other.

d. Independence — Enables independent study by students and this becomes relevant as the learner evolves across Stages.

e. Repeatability and pacing — Videos also give Teachers the opportunity to demonstrate an aspect or subject repeatedly. The student can go back to ideas and concepts they have not understood and watch and learn again: it helps a student ‘personalise’ their pace of learning.

f. Builds on an existing habit — Engagement with videos across various platforms is an integral part of evolving learning habits, be it watching a cooking video to learn how to make an unfamiliar dish or a Teacher watching a video on how to teach place value using sticks.

g. Makes interdisciplinary learning easier — A well-crafted video on the topic can connect domains of learning in shorter time periods and a more efficient way. For example, connecting topics of physics to playing cricket; cooking to chemistry; carpentry to math.

6.3.3.3 Resources

Creating and sharing these videos and animations are possible across several platforms. Television, OTT platforms, and radio (including community radio) can play a big role — imagine being able to watch a movie or listen to a play based on a story in the language textbook. Platforms such as SWAYAM and DIKSHA are regarded as well-curated spaces for curriculum linked content, in addition to several private platforms. Using the curation along with sourcing tools (such as VidyaDaan) available on these platforms, the quality of curriculum-linked content can be increased. The learning experiences from SWAYAM and DIKSHA can help evolve a body of knowledge of digital pedagogy which, in turn, can help craft a common set of guidelines that will enable the creation of better quality and relevant content.

6.3.4 Online Courses

These are micro-courses and courses with certification available online.

6.3.4.1 Relevance

This NCF will open up the need for training and capacity building of Teachers and administrators across the country. A cascade approach or only an in-person method of training will not be sufficient. The NCF also focusses on new Curricular Areas such as Vocational Education and Interdisciplinary Areas. Neither students nor Teachers should be limited by geographical barriers, language barriers, or any other constraints to develop skills or explore interests outside of the school framework. Digital courses with or without credentials can enable exploration and capacity development.

6.3.4.2 Benefits

a. Anytime, anywhere learning.

b. Choice of topics to learn and develop skills.

c. Digital credentials for both students and Teachers enable them to build and showcase their abilities and body of knowledge.

d. Opportunities to revisit and relearn.

e. Micro-courses as a concept will provide just-in-time, bite-sized learning. For Teachers, ‘How to teach mathematics connecting to day-to-day living?’, ‘How to conduct read-aloud with stories to make them engaging’ and ‘Tips on how to link sports and physics’. For students, ‘How to make pots,’ ‘How to build a wooden table’, ‘How to build a biogas plant’, ‘How to compost organic waste’, ‘How to play a musical instrument’, ‘How to develop the skills to be a sportsperson’, ‘How to pursue a certain career, e.g., police official’ are useful educational resources.

6.3.4.3 Resources

SWAYAM, DIKSHA, NISHTHA platforms, and several State training programmes will be available for skill development, capacity building, and issuance of verifiable credentials. NCERT’s and State SCERTs’ experience in rolling out large-scale online training programmes are available to be leveraged to evolve digital pedagogy that will work for the context, scale, and constraints of India.

Sourcing content for specific demands from the wider ecosystem through NDEAR VidyaDaan would enable the ecosystem to contribute to the needs of these courses.

6.3.5 QR Codes and Other Technologies that Connect the Physical to Digital — Phygital

6.3.5.1 Relevance

Across all Curricular Areas, access to a wide range of digital resources is needed. These resources could be in the form of further explanation of content, demonstration videos, worksheets, Teacher education courses and assessments. QR codes act as the access point to the wider array of resources starting from a familiar learning resource — either a textbook or any physical teaching-learning material.

6.3.5.2 Benefits

a. Bridging — Bridges the physical and digital teaching-learning environments. For example, in a multilingual classroom, children whose home language is not the MOI may need access to some basic translation of content in their home language. QR-coded textbooks that connect the student to the explanation of key terms of each chapter in different languages will help build vocabulary and better understanding.

b. Extendibility — QR codes on physical books make it possible to ‘extend content’ and supplement in a seamless way.

c. Connection — Due to the limitation of physical space on the materials, it is easier to make connections in the digital space — the QR code can provide access to linked materials in the form of text, audio or video, or any other format.

d. Inclusive — Across all subjects and educational materials, QR codes or similar phygital technology can become the gateway to access diverse content relevant to different learners, making inclusive classrooms a reality. Audio added to books helps print-impaired learners similarly, ISL content can be made available through the same QR codes or similar phygital technology.

6.3.5.3 Resources

Digital infrastructure available in the form of NDEAR-compliant DIKSHA DIAL code (a registry of QR codes linked to topics) and content repository enables the generation of taxonomy-linked QR codes to be used on TLMs. In addition, content repositories such as DIKSHA or any other NDEAR compliant content repositories can be leveraged to source content.

6.3.6 Virtual Labs and Simulations

ICT allows for democratising access to environments for experiential learning and makes scarce resources available for all through technology. Virtual Labs and simulations are examples of such access; however, these need to be used in conjunction with physical teaching methods. Access to some basic physical labs will enhance the ability of students to leverage Virtual Labs better.

6.3.6.1 Relevance

Practical application of concepts and the ability to conduct experiments in a virtual environment will deepen learning. While used more often in Mathematics and the Sciences, it can also be developed to teach Languages and other subjects.

6.3.6.2 Benefits

a. Access anytime anywhere: Students in remote locations get access to labs and enable anytime anywhere learning for all.

b. Quality: Better quality of labs without being restricted to challenges of funding, procurement of materials, and equipment.

c. Immersion: Visual aids to teach complex theoretical topics and concepts creates an immersive learning experience.

d. Repeatability and flexibility: Time and space to repeat experiments and try new experiments without resource constraints.

e. Feedback loops: Faster feedback and learning loops where dependence on the Teacher may be reduced.

f. Equitable: As a shared common resource, Virtual Labs as a common infrastructure provide equitable access to a scarce resource and remove constraints that apply to setting up high-quality physical labs.

6.3.6.3 Resources

The Virtual Labs project of the Ministry of Education has participation from many institutes of repute from higher education. However, more labs need to be created with a focus on the requirements of school education. One example of such a programme is the Amrita Virtual Lab. There are many such virtual labs being developed and will evolve to meet the requirements of Teachers and learners as technology evolves.

Leveraging open-source tools and adapting them to the Indian context, such as the PhET Interactive Simulations project at the University of Colorado Boulder, creates free interactive Math and Science simulations. These are based on extensive education research and engage students through an intuitive, game-like environment where students learn through exploration and discovery.

6.3.7 Content Creation Capabilities

ICT enables easy creation and sharing of educationally appropriate content for the local context and ensures equity by enabling the creation of accessible content.

*6.3.7.1 Relevance *

a. Across Curricular Areas, there is a need for the creation and distribution of contextual local content. Teachers and administrators are routinely creating and curating TLMs. This capability is demonstrated through the digital habit of Teachers creating video content and sharing their work through messenger services.

b. Ideas on how to create and generate local content should be made available to all DIETs and Teachers across the country. The Social Science Curricular Area requires 20% of the content to be locally specific to that panchayat or district. Such content should be created and made available through NDEAR-compliant platforms such as DIKSHA.

c. Local content creation can be implemented as a decentralised process throughout the year and uploaded onto SWAYAM, DIKSHA, and other platforms, including local TV and radio, and made available to all Teachers.

d. Micro-courses that guide content creation processes should be made available to Teachers and other content creators.

e. The NDEAR ecosystem should enable community members to create relevant content, particularly in the areas of Art and Vocational Education.

f. There is a need to ensure equitable access to accessible content that has been developed following Universal Design for Learning and made widely available.

6.3.7.2 Benefits

a. Enabling content creation and building local capabilities will ensure contextual content development.

b. Self-sufficiency in resource regeneration at various levels will result in a diversity of teaching and learning resources.

c. Nuances, such as addressing learning gaps and dealing with multilingual classrooms which are very specific, can be addressed.

d. Enabling personalisation and access to contextual, relevant content for diverse learners.

6.3.7.3 Resources

a. There are multiple digital content creation tools across a multitude of platforms for various purposes, and there are a wide variety content platforms. As formats of content have evolved, tools have been evolving, including AI tools.

b. For open and easy access, NDEAR guidelines should be followed by content creators.

c. DIKSHA provides the capability of multilingual content support and creation support at the local level.

d. NCERT guidelines for digital content creation and the creation of inclusive content are useful resources in this journey.

6.3.8 Assessments, Question Banks, and Practice Materials

Easy access to a portfolio of assessment tools and question banks that address and test a range of skills (including conceptual understanding and provoke critical thinking and problem sets) enables Teachers to use them appropriately in their classroom teaching.

6.3.8.1 Relevance

For achieving several competencies, repeated practice becomes a necessity. At the same time, this practice work should not be routine and mechanical. To create a set of worksheets that allows for in-depth practice and, at the same time, sustains the learners’ interest is not an easy task. ICT can enable Teachers to easily create appropriate practice tasks keeping in mind the learning levels of the students and their local contexts.

Teachers need question banks and problem sets linked to the curriculum to be able to do formative assessments of their students. Students can take charge of their own learning if assessments are non-threatening quizzes.

Assessments and quizzes can be done in many ways — online at scale, online at a local level, and in an offline manner. Question banks and practice questions appropriate for different levels of learners will be required across subjects and languages. To accommodate student diversity, assessments in many forms are to be facilitated, e.g., paper-pencil tests, oral assessments, project work, and group assignments.

6.3.8.2 Benefits

a. Online assessments give Teachers and administrators data instantly.

b. Teacher aids: Access to question banks to curate regular formative assessments will be a supportive Teacher aid.

c. Student aids: Access to practice questions across levels and access to quizzes would be helpful to students to do independent practice.

d. Inclusion by levelling and enabling formats of assessments — curated levelling of questions in different languages and enabling various methods of assessment — oral, video, and project work — would allow the assessments to be within the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) of the learners.

e. Digitisation of assessment responses can help determine gaps across regions and necessary remedial action to be taken. This needs to be done at the class and school level but is also necessary for large scale assessments and surveys.

6.3.8.3 Resources

Digital infrastructure may be leveraged to create question banks aligned to Competencies and Curricular Goals. Tools for assessments may be developed and, where appropriate, the quiz creation capability of DIKSHA can be leveraged or also sourced from various solution providers across the ecosystem via NDEAR. For example, NCERT has conducted several national-level quizzes on the DIKSHA platform for students. While this is not an assessment tool as such, the same infrastructure can be used by Teachers at a school, district, or State level to generate short assessments and quizzes on a daily basis for their students.

Section 6.4 - Precautions in the use of ICT in School Education

a. Safety

Students in schools have not reached adult age. Safety is thus paramount in any decision related to technology use. While students can be physically protected within the boundaries of the school, allowing them to access the internet during school hours creates avoidable risks. It is the responsibility of the school to protect children from predatory and abusive behaviour often found on the internet.

The effect of screen time and the use of digital devices on the well-being of young children is still not fully understood. This implies a cautious approach to the use of digital technology by students, at least till the end of the Preparatory Stage.

b. Privacy

It is the responsibility of the school to protect the privacy of students when they are expected to use ICT for educational purposes.

c. Inappropriateness

Controlling access to all content available on the internet is not an easy task. Even inadvertent access to inappropriate content can cause serious harm to young minds. Schools should be extremely mindful of this possibility and access to the internet should be under adult supervision in schools. For students in the Secondary Stage, norms of behaviour in the digital world should be explicit as the norms of behaviour in the school.

d. Distraction

Several large-scale studies have shown that digital technology can be as much of a distraction as a useful tool for learning. Schools and Teachers should be very cognizant of this possibility. It should not be forgotten that the purpose of the use of ICT is for the achievement of Learning Standards and not for the general entertainment of students or Teachers.

e. Commercialisation

In recent years, rampant commercialisation of educational content has resulted in very predatory practices of commercial interests. These profit-seeking enterprises have preyed upon the anxieties of parents and are promoting ICT-based educational solutions with doubtful efficacy.

f. Deep Risks

As mentioned in the section on AI, we are still discovering the risks of many technologies. For example, there is growing evidence of the mental health impact of social media on teenagers, and of its impact on attention spans on children, which then affects all aspects of education and life. Not using or experimenting with technology in education because of the apprehension of such deep risks would stop progress. At the same time, using technology at the core of how children develop and grow (education being one such key process) without addressing the deepest of such risks can profoundly alter human well-being. Rigorous research and very thoughtful use of technology is the only way forward.