National Policy on ICT in School Education

ICT AND ISSUES IN E-LEARNING

1.1 Aim

The principle aim of this article is to provide a summary of current issue in the development of e-learning technical infrastructure, with a view to provide feedback to a wide range of stakeholders interested in extending the boundaries of enriched technology enabled learning.

1.2 Preamble

Infrastructure in its various manifestation should be the enabler for process-centric learning either managed by organisations or communities of interest or individuals.

In a country like India while a policy is been framed, whether it is ICT and e-learning or some other we have to consider various factors which are unique to our country. It will be inappropriate to directly apply (the cut and paste principle) the tools, technique and technology that are found to be successful and fault tolerant in developed European countries. (Also we have to consider the small size of European country). In India the primary factors we have to consider is the huge geographical size, heterogeneity (many languages, many religions, many casts, sub-casts, climate, highly various geographical conditions, education, literacy … ). Hence the success of a newly implemented policy or a modified policy or even a shift in the policy has to consider the following factors.

The benefits of ICT in education should be applicable and accusable to every one in the society. Some portion of the society should not be kept away from the mainstream or such section should not be kept as tire two categories.

ICT in educations should not be an overemphasized. Traditional systems should be allowed to continue side by side.

The potential, adaptability and the acceptability of the society should be examined before it is been implemented.

Ground realities, background and the requisite backbone should be examined

1.3 User background

(a) Capability of those involved in the end user implementation side.
(b) Willingness and affordability.
(c) Sociological and psychological steps need s to be reviewed across every session in the society.
(d) Geographical conditions (Remote villages, inaccessible areas such as hill regions of Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir …)

1.4 Back born

(a) Availability and accessibility of suitable hardware and software, (Computers, Computers networks, Network speed, Learning management system -LMS…)
(b) Religious and political view points (Some religions in the country do not watch TV, do not use computers and Internet, some do not donate blood, some do not take medicine…)
(c) Political view point – Though not prominent few political parties were reluctant to accept ICT as an important tool of day to day use.

1.5 Infrastructure.

The term infrastructure is highly contextual in its meaning. In e-learning context “e-learning infrastructure” , “technical infrastructure” and “ICT infrastructure” all convey a range of meaning. For the technically inclined, “infrastructure” often describe a bottom layer of an architectural description or diagram, indicating network hardware components, communication processes, services and protocols. However, for others, it can also serve as a label that includes the application layers or even more broadly, the entire platform required to deliver the service.

It is necessary to explain also that there is no easy way of defining the boundaries of e-learning technical infrastructure. The rapid development of a new industry, such as that pertaining to ICT in education inevitably leads to large amount of new, recycled and often inconsistent use of technology. One of the key issue concerning ICT in education is identifying its distinguishing characteristics or in defining the boundaries within which it is conducted.

1.6 Selling ICT.

In order to gain commitment and investment for the ICT in education we must sell our plan to a wide range of people. When communicating to each audience our focus should be on their unspoken questions “WHAT IS IN IT FOR ME – WIIFM”. The first sale is always to you. Next you sell it to those whose create and deploy solutions. The benefits to this group include cost savings, reduced levels, ease of materials updating and enhanced reputation. When selling to consumers of training focus on this advantage.

(a) More convenience.
(b) They control their on pace
(c) No travel away from family or work place
(d) Use of multimedia ensures a match to their preferred learning modality
(e) Learning is less stressful.
(f) Learning is more student oriented and on-demand in nature

1.7 Understanding learning requirements

Developing ICT based education is different from creating traditional training programs in that involves both learning and software. Software characteristics that have been adopted by e-mail include rapid prototyping, modularity and standards. Modular components include

Curriculum – A group of course.

Course – A complete body of study devoted to a single topic/theme

Lesson – Organised culture of related topics.

Topic – Unit that teaches a single concept

Content module – Media component that does not stand-alone.

1.8 Conclusion

There are many different kinds of learning requirements as well as many different subjects. These requirements vary significantly and may be outside what historically has been known as training. Understanding the underlying dynamics of the learning requirements and being able to map them into a viable learning approach that can be implemented, is fundamental to success.

The authors are (As bio-data enclosed)
i. Dr. Harish Kumar.
ii. Mr. Sunil Bhaskaran.