Growing Popularity Of Digital Education In India

The era of digital education has begun! While the global pandemic necessitated the adoption of online learning and use of digital technologies to ensure that learning continues across schools and colleges, the fact remains that the advantages of digital education make a strong case for its continued existence in the years to come.

Digital learning can be understood as any type of learning or instructional practice that makes effective use of technology and tools throughout the learning process. These could range from use of smartphones, tablets and smart boards in classrooms to sophisticated AI led tools for adaptive learning. Online learning or e-learning are practices under digital learning, however the concept of digital learning encompasses the entire range of teaching and learning pedagogy from a blended learning environment to a personalized learning approach.

Digital learning tools are fast entering educational set-ups and revolutionizing the traditional chalk-black board system of learning existing in classrooms. It is true that this trend is definitely more visible in the urban areas and metros, but classrooms in the rural areas too are increasingly using digital tools such as smartphones, and videos to enhance the learning experience. This is true for all digital education right from schools to college to post college (executive education).

Advantages

For digital education to be effective, it requires a well-thought out blend of technology, instruction and digital content. Further, with rapid advancements in technology, the teacher will be required to master constantly evolving technologies and digital learning tools. Education technologists and Edutech companies in collaboration with key stakeholders such as the government, are expected to steer this movement towards online education in the country and help reap the benefits of transforming the education landscape to make it more effective and inclusive. 

Below are some distinct advantages of digital education for students and teachers:

· Easy access to information that is customized and suited to the learning needs of students.

· Increased mobility and flexibility that gives learners the opportunity to choose their time and place of learning.

· Use of technology tools helps to make the learning process more interactive and collaborative where all learners converge to create a learning experience that transcends geographical boundaries.

· Increased collaboration among teachers and educators in real-time results in ‘Connected Classrooms’ that make way for better coordination and sharing of insights.

· A personalized learning experience made possible by use of technology, helps students to learn at a pace that is best suited to their needs.

· Interactive digital tools are way more impactful than printed textbooks. As a result, learners are more actively involved, leading to higher retention and recall of learning material.

· Digital learning creates ‘smarter’ students with greater accountability for their learning process stemming from immediate feedback and performance analytics, customized learning paths, peer-benchmarking opportunities and more.

· Direct and favourable impact on the environment, owing to the need for less paper, thereby helping to cut costs and maximize resources.

The growing popularity of digital education has been propelled by some significant trends:

· Availability of high-speed internet and affordable smartphone devices have increasingly made it possible for 'live' streaming

· A sizeable young population in India, which is quick to adopt new technologies

· Push by many companies towards digital learning for their millennial workforce

· Increasing willingness by teachers including executive education coaches to teach online with similar levels of effectiveness

India is thus favourably placed to reap the benefits of digitalization of education that can fundamentally change how we learn and what we learn.

Narasimha Jayakumar, CEO, Aakash Edutech

Guest Author The author is CEO, Aakash Edutech Pvt Ltd