Anish Srkrishna talks on the changing pattern in distance learning with the use of technology
The distance education was originally designed for people unable to attend brick and mortar schools. Today, it is a popular education option for students from all walks of life. It has gained tremendous importance for continuing education and skill upgrade of in-service personnel.
The Government of India, over the years, has recognised the importance and significance of distance learning. The National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) being one of the centrally sponsored schemes to leverage the potential of technology. The mission acknowledges how information and communication technology in teaching and learning process can benefit all the learners, especially in the higher education institutions through ‘anytime, anywhere’ mode.
India faces a huge shortage of teachers, at every level. According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, there was a need to recruit 20 lakh teachers in 2013-14, besides the requirement of almost three lakh part-time instructors. There are also several gaps in the educational infrastructure at the school-level. These are compelling reasons to consider providing low-cost and affordable computing devices to both students and teachers providing high quality e-content to learners across the country.
At the same time, the need for public-private partnerships (PPP) in distance learning can’t be overemphasised. Capacity building of institutions and personnel at the national, state, district and sub-district levels can be met with private partners assisting different State Governments.
Distance education programmes, which provide technical and academic support to untrained teachers, would gain in value with learning inputs and training materials from private partners who have global experience and expertise.
Online learning platforms, digital content repositories and blended learning curricula have been created for specific learner audiences, with considerable success. India stands to gain from the highly customised learning management solutions which private partners can provide as comprehensive solutions for students, teachers and educational institutions alike.
Distance learning, when dovetailed with modern IT delivery systems, makes the curricula more dynamic. Classrooms become more interactive and a robust learning system takes root. Added to this, there are the advantages of scale and reliability which can be inbuilt into the delivery systems, much to the advantage of a vast country like India. For millions of students, and their teachers, distance learning is a unique learning environment which can be their stepping stone to academic success. Between often conflicting considerations of cost, quality and scale — India's education system will hugely benefit from leveraging the IT advantage to reach out to millions of learners to reap the dividends of quality distance learning programmes.
The writer is business head and vice president, higher education and test preparation, Pearson India.