Page 37 - EducationWorld January 2021

pended. However, our teachers have
responded innovatively to this chal-
lenge and apart from conducting on-
line academic classes, they are also
orchestrating numerous co-curricular
and extra-curricular activities online
to continue with the holistic traditions
for which this school is famous,” says
Dr. Singh, an alumnus of Maharshi
Dayanand Saraswati University,
Ajmer, former TDS teacher and hith-
erto principal of the Punjab Public
School, Nabha, the state’s #1 co-ed
boarding school, who was appointed
principal of TDS early last year
A LTHOUGH STUDENTS IN

higher education tend to
be more digitally liter-
ate than school children Jain: bootcamp tech adoption Raj Kumar: balance maintenance warning
and therefore are less bowled over by though we appreciate the benefits of tal learning bus. Twenty-first century
the online learning revolution which hybrid learning, it will always be only India’s well-documented electricity,
has injected video supplemented an add-on to classroom interaction,” Internet connectivity and per capita
lessons, augmented and virtual real- says Raj Kumar. income deficits have had the impact
ity immersive learning into dull K-12 However, it’s important to note of denying most of the rural popula-
classrooms, Dr. C. Raj Kumar, the that the smooth, successful transi- tion the proven benefits of digital and
erudite (Delhi, Oxford, Harvard alum) tion of relatively upscale schools online learning.
founding chancellor of the fast track and higher education institutions to But wait. Green shoots of hope
O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat online learning which has generated are discernible. A new generation of
(estb.2009), ranked India’s #1 private great excitement and euphoria within edtech entrepreneurs have designed/
university by QS, the highly reputed academia and the middle and upper invented a slew of innovative online
London-based publisher of the annual classes, has highlighted the huge ‘digi- learning platforms, apps and services
World University Rankings 2021, wel- tal divide’ within contemporary India. for education institutions. In recent
comes the dawn of the new age hybrid Although it can be safely assumed times dozens of mind-boggling edtech
teaching-learning model. However, that the country’s top 2,500-3,000 products and services have diminished
he warns against the balance of hybrid primary-secondary schools rated and the importance of the daily commute
technology-driven education tilting ranked in the annual EducationWorld to school and conventional classrooms
towards remote online learning. India School Rankings have made suc- in which the dread virus may be lurk-
“While new technologies-driven cessful transition to virtual teaching- ing or transmitted. Together, these
online learning is critical in higher learning, the vast majority of 1.5 mil- technology innovations have served
education, the intellectual growth of lion under-funded and under-serviced to irreversibly change Indian educa-
students, especially during under- schools — especially the overwhelm- tion for the better.
graduate years is heavily dependent ing majority of 1.20 million govern- Consequently, at least in the major-
upon teacher-student exchanges, ment schools — have missed the digi- ity of the country’s 450,000 private
classroom bonding, post-classroom schools which mentor 47.5 percent
interaction and extra-curricular ac- India’s well-documented (119 million) of in-school children and
tivities. The objective of undergrad Internet connectivity and where education is taken seriously,
education is not mere academic excel- the chances of a reversion to the “old
lence but for students to evolve into per capita income deficits normal” is ruled out because tech-
well-rounded responsible citizens and have had the impact of savvy edupreneurs are flooding the
leaders. Therefore, although online market with innovative digital teach-
learning modules confer benefits such denying most of the rural ing-learning products and services at
as data analytics to drive better out- population the proven ben- increasingly affordable prices. This
put, accessibility, and efficiency, they has ensured that the blended learning
limit holistic evolution of students. Al- efits of online learning model — a combination of digital and

JANUARY 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 37