A survey by NCERT reveals flaws in digital classrooms that could build inequities in our knowledge society if not addressed now
The pandemic may have expanded the scope of digital education, helping schools evolve in record time, develop modules of remote learning and keep both students and teachers involved and invested. But it has also showed up flaws that have widened the digital divide, privileging students with amenities and disempowering those without it. This would then defeat the very purpose of online classrooms as a powerful tool to democratise the knowledge society. A survey by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) has shown that at least 27 per cent students do not have access to smartphones or laptops to attend online classes. Another 28 per cent students and parents said power outages and irregular supply of electricity were major disruptors. Yet others pointed out significant challenges like poor knowledge in using devices and teachers not being well-versed in online methodologies. What is worrisome is that this survey doesn’t map the challenges in rural India and just includes students, parents, teachers and principals from Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodyaya Vidyalas and CBSE-affiliated schools. In other words, it roughly covers the urban and semi-urban areas where about a third of the students are currently disadvantaged. So imagine the fate of students in the countryside. Other findings include students preferring textbooks over e-books, the untapped potential of television and radio in broad-basing the reach of classrooms and the lack of enriching debates and discussions between teachers and students. The most significant finding was about the difficulty in teaching practical sciences in the online format, those which require lab experiments, and even mathematics, the latter requiring “interaction, continuous support, monitoring from the teacher.” Of course, the interactive participation in a classroom, the competitive spirit of a peer group, the playful robustness of physical activities and a participative group culture have been larger unlisted casualties. But the key takeaway is the absence of quality access to education for all.
This brings us to the need for empowering every student with affordable infrastructure. Most students in lesser privileged homes or even slums rely on their parents’ devices, mostly mobile phones, for studying. An industry report estimated that 71 million children, aged between five and 11, access the internet on devices of their family members. Patchy network issues pose a challenge as many students in slum clusters struggle to find a signal range that would allow them to log in. Even internet connectivity is erratic across the sweep of middle India, making continuous streaming a severe challenge. It is at times like this one wishes that India had taken full advantage of its Educational Satellite (EduSat). Launched in 2004, it had a life span of seven years but it died out in 2010 before we could use even 10 per cent of its capacity. Similarly the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) platform of the Government, known as SWAYAM, and a bouquet of direct to home (DTH) educational channels, all of which cover content from pre-school to doctoral studies, are not able to fill the gap they were expected to in the present crisis. Although a large number of secondary students are watching Channel 27 and senior secondary students are watching Channel 28, the viewership is minuscule in comparison to their potential. The Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education (KITE) conducts classes for students up to high school, from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm on weekdays. The channel is available free on cable networks, over the internet and DTH all across the State. And it is downloadable. So this could be a template to follow. Of course, all this would mean nothing if the teachers continue to be under-prepared. They are under-equipped not just in handling technology but in their communication strategies in a disembodied classroom. How do they monitor individual students and take care of their emotional quotient? How do they hold the attention of the class when they are muting computer microphones while talking to each student and addressing his/her queries individually? How do they literally hand-hold them through, for example, art classes and other demonstration-based lessons? Only a few institutions have the depth of resources to develop interactive apps for their students. Besides, in the absence of a school library, it is up to the teacher to pull out references, some of which do not exist in a standardised format online. For parents, online classes have made an additional time demand in their busy lives, particularly among those who have their children in primary schools. They have now become home facilitators, helping the child with online processes. But there is a behavioural and social downswing to all of this. Much of the current tech-based module, which is expected to continue even after the pandemic, is further strengthening the child’s dependencies on devices. Also, in the absence of socialisation and an organic upbringing, they are losing out on their life skills and connect with nature. School is the child’s primary sensor of the outside world and this inward-looking, self-learning method may distance him further from his/her kind. Of course, these isolationist boundaries can be broken when the pandemic ebbs but that doesn’t mean we can’t make online classes a vibrant virtual reality experience going forward.