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Teacher-2-Teacher

New technologies

curative

SARVESH SHRIVASTAVA

HEN GINNI ROMETTY, CHAIRMAN, In a country that produces millions of
president and CEO of IBM, visited India in
March 2019, her comments caused quite mint-new graduates, the ‘demographic
Wa stir. Instead of making a commitment dividend’ has yet to be encashed. In
to investing in India, she stated that generally speaking,
Indians don’t have the skills required for employment at this situation, radical overhaul of the
IBM, or in the high-end of the IT industry. Her candid conventional education system has
comments highlighted this as a global problem. In the become an urgent national priority
contemporary employment scenario the value of formal
education has dropped, while certain skills have become
exponentially valuable. education is gamification, which infuses game mechanics
This is not the first time that such a statement has been and elements into school and college curriculums. When
made about India. In 2017, Deepak Parekh, chairman knowledge is presented in enjoyable, interactive formats,
of HDFC, said that 80 percent of Indian engineering learners become engaged with learning, and improve
graduates are unemployable. This damning indictment their critical thinking and analytical skills. Content and
is endorsed by the India Skills Report 2019, which states concepts combined with AR and VR technology can make
that only 57 percent of final year engineering students are class and lecture sessions come alive and dramatically
employable in top-ranked global and Indian corporates. improve learning outcomes.
These figures are corroborated by the Mumbai-based Popularisation of gamification and introduction of new
Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) which technologies facilitate practical application of theoretical
indicates that India’s current unemployment rate stands knowledge. It is especially important that knowledge
at 7.2 percent, which means that over 31 million people application mindsets are nurtured from early age to
in the country are active job seekers. All these comments arouse the innate curiosity and investigative capabilities
are harsh verdicts of India’s education system which has of children and students. For instance, although
failed to unlock the potential of generations of students. numerous schools teach software coding to young
Yet the plain truth is that India is a nation brimming children, only a few teach the application of coding to find
with talent. Endowed with the youngest, and largest, solutions to everyday problems and real life situations.
workforce of any nation, the future is ours for the he third stage, likely to prove most difficult to
taking. Unfortunately, the education system has always Timplement, is to switch to new pedagogies that
prioritised rote learning and theoretical knowledge over facilitate design of new curriculums and prompt usage
application of knowledge. In a country that produces of digital devices. This is critical in the new era of rapid
millions of mint-new graduates, the ‘demographic advancement of digital technologies. The Internet
dividend’ has yet to be encashed. Instead, competition for offers virtually unlimited access to the sum of human
every job vacancy is fierce and unemployment remains knowledge, and AI (artificial intelligence) and machine
unacceptably high. In this situation, radical overhaul of learning systems are outperforming human cognitive
the conventional education system has become an urgent capability. Therefore educators need to change with
national priority. the times and welcome the possibilities offered by
It is submitted that India’s antiquated education sophisticated pedagogies and tech innovations. Moreover,
system can be changed in three stages. First, new instead of a one-direction flow of information from
learning tools and products need to be introduced teacher to students, digital resources enable knowledge
into the ecosystem to streamline and enhance the to travel multi directionally: from teacher to students,
overall education experience of students. Among students to teachers, and between students themselves.
them: incorporation of Learning Management Systems As India strives to transform into a global superpower,
(LMS); integration of gamification as a learning tool; the importance of a robust education system can hardly
and incremental usage of augmented and virtual reality be overstated. By quickly integrating the advantages of
technology. Popularisation of LMS is especially important digital tools and new technologies within the framework
as they are central, personalised databases through which of the nation’s educational system, India has the chance
students can access course material, upload assignments, to produce a generation of graduates equipped to solve
and interact with faculty and co-learners. Moreover the problems of the world.
LMS which can be adapted to learner needs automates
administrative processes enabling faculty and students to
focus solely on teaching-learning and research. (Sarvesh Shrivastava is founder and managing director of Eupheus
The second radical change required in Indian Learning, Delhi)

58 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020