Skip to main content

Effective use of digital platforms as stepping stone for future of education


By Dr Anjusha Gawande*
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” …
Since its inception, the year 2020 has impacted the lives of every individual in one way or other, as the COVID-19 pandemic had begun to spread its negative impact from one country to another, one state to another, one city to another, and one family to another.
I remember the month of January, reading news about this catastrophic start of pandemic spread in China, that time we did not even imagine that it will spread globally and slow down wheels of life across the globe from east to west. This pandemic has impinged every sector including education. As a preventive measure, governments across the globe decided to shut down schools, colleges, and universities. Subsequently, pre-primary to higher education, all the levels of education institutions stopped operating without any certainty.
Largely, India has 1.6 million schools including primary, secondary schools, 52,000 higher education institutes including universities, colleges, standalone universities. Unexpectedly, the important and crucial activities like admissions, examinations, entrance test, evaluation, the teaching-learning process including the interactions were paused and jeopardized, moreover due to external factors.
We all know that mitigation plans were never planned to alleviate such a situation at least in the education sector. This pandemic forcefully taught us a lesson to be prepared for the back-up in the future. Certainly, along with building a back-up for our system, a holistic initiative is needed to develop innovative, sustainable education systems, to accomplish the requirements of students, teachers, and all the stakeholders of education.
Precisely, technology played a crucial role in this pandemic. All the stakeholders in education initiated leveraging the technology, though it was inadvertent. Technology has enabled in resuming the daily educational activities of teaching-learning and administrative tasks like attendance, assignments, examinations, etc. We all were introduced to various digital platforms like Microsoft Teams, Cisco WebEx, Zoom, etc. This situation has proven that digital learning platforms are alternative, effective, and beneficial for both educators and learners to ensure that the learning continues interactively.
Understanding the explicit need and efficacy, imbibing these digital tools is the way forward. Having said that, the selection of the right tools is an equally important decision. The selection of digital tools can be achieved based on the veracity and quality of tools along with the content, audience, purpose, and objective of teaching-learning sessions. The next section helps in understanding a few of the digital platforms/tools that can be used by educators and students for an effective journey of teaching-learning.
According to G2, (Tech Marketplace) which has published over 1,000,000 reviews about thousands of software products and professional services to help in better technology decisions. It has rated the following top 10 Digital learning platforms: Canvas, Khan Academy, Nearpod, GoReact, Discovery Education Inc, Renaissance Accelerated Reader, Newsela, Pear Deck, Alta, and McGraw-Hill. Each of these platforms has unique features and real-world use cases.
Canvas enables easy integration of simple tasks such as accessing online resources and teacher-selected sites, to completing assignments that incorporate digital peer and teacher reviews. The platform is easily accessible since its hosted on the cloud.
Khan Academy provides exercises for practice, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard that allows students to study at their own pace in and outside of the classroom. Interestingly, Khan Academy is a non-profit and they believe in free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
Nearpod platform allows teachers to make every lesson interactive with dynamic media and formative assessment by integrating with PowerPoints, Google Slides, and YouTube videos. Educators can make their students actively participate with live videos and applications that use virtual reality.
GoReact is a software that supports to provide feedback on the videos made by students. Students can record their presentations, performances, and demonstrations without any additional equipment. It is more useful in language training, communication, teacher preparation, nursing education, and performing arts.
Discovery Education is globally known for its digital content for K-12, transforming teaching and learning. It supports digital textbooks, multimedia content, and professional development.
Renaissance’s Accelerated Reader is a program designed for the reading practice of students while engaging in quizzes and activities. It provides more than 200,000 fiction and nonfiction books and articles at a wide range of levels.
Newsela platform integrates different third-party content like primary-source documents, news articles, and more to support teachers and students learn about any subject, as a replacement for more traditional textbooks.
Pear Deck is a platform where teachers can create interactive lessons, presentations, and assessments to keep their students engaged, while teachers monitor students and the progress of the entire class.
Knewton’s Alta platform is supporting personalized learning for the students for multiple courses such as math, statistics, economics, and chemistry. The value-add is that it identifies the knowledge gap of students & also provides remediation immediately.
McGraw-Hill is a toolkit of learning resources designed for teachers. Teachers can create assignments & it automatically grades the assignments and quizzes.
The digital era is going to be an integral part of human life. These digital learning platforms support the day-to-day teaching-learning process. The selection and effective use of these digital platforms will act as a stepping stone in building the future of education.

Resources:

http://aishe.nic.in/aishe/viewDocument.action?documentId=263
https://culture.g2.com/about
https://www.g2.com/categories/digital-learning-platforms
https://www.knewton.com/why-alta/
https://www.g2.com/products/pear-deck/reviews
EDUCATION – Statistical Year Book India 2017 | Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation | Government Of India (mospi.nic.in)

*Assistant Professor, at MIT World Peace University, School of Education (M.Ed. Department), Pune

Comments

TRENDING

Abrogation of Art 370: Increasing alienation, relentless repression, simmering conflict

One year after the abrogation by the Central Government of Art. 370 in Kashmir, what is the situation in the Valley. Have the promises of peace, normalcy and development been realised? What is the current status in the Valley? Here is a detailed note by the People’s Union for Civil Liberties , “Jammu & Kashmir: One Year after Abrogation of Art. 370: Increasing Alienation, Relentless Repression, Simmering Conflict”:

Release of dabang neta: Rule of law can't be allowed to be slave to political rhetoric

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  When we look to politicians for solutions and politics as the 'final solution' for every evil then we are disappointed most of the time. In politics, we knowingly or unknowingly become part of the propaganda tool of the ruling elite which exists everywhere across different castes. We often provide issues and talk about them in binaries which suit our elites. The minorities among the marginalised who have no political space and representation rarely get heard by these majoritarian parties whose agenda remain power communities. Every political party in today's time is following the 'successful' formula of 'democracy' which is keeping the 'powerful' 'jaatis' with them leaving aside the marginalised one. The BJP started this but yes they cobbled together all other communities too through a diverse narrative.

Why are 17 Indian cos, including Sterlite, blacklisted by Norway bank

By Venkatesh Nayak* Readers may recall the gory incidents that took place at Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) in Tamil Nadu in the southern part of India on 22 May, 2018. Thirteen protesters died on the spot when the police opened fire to disperse an assemblage of thousands of local residents and representatives of civil society groups. They were protesting against the adverse environmental impact of the industrial operations of Sterlite Copper which runs a copper smelter plant in the area. Accusations against the company have ranged from polluting local water resources to plans for expanding the installed capacity of the plant without the necessary environmental clearances. A ground report published in The Wire recently, mentions the decision taken by Norges Bank a few years ago to not invest funds from Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) in Sterlite “due to an unacceptable risk of complicity in current and future severe environmental damage and systematic human rights violations

India’s macroeconomic resilience amidst global fragility: facts, factors, forecasts

By IMPRI Team  Under the series, The State of the Economy – #EconDialogue , Center for the Study of Finance and Economics (CSFE), IMPRI Impact and Policy Research Institute, New Delhi organized #WebPolicyTalk, a distinguished lecture on the topic India’s Macroeconomic Resilience amidst Global Fragility: Facts, Factors and Forecasts, by Dr Deepak Mishra. Dr Deepak Mishra is the Director and Chief Executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER) , New Delhi. The session was chaired by Dr Rafiq Dossani, Director, RAND Center for Asia Pacific Policy , a Senior Economist and the Professor of Policy Analysis, Pardee RAND Graduate School . The discussants of the event were Prof Nilanjan Banik, Professor and Program Director (BA, Economics and Finance), Mahindra University, Hyderabad , Dr Pooja Misra, Associate Professor and Area Head, Economics, Birla Institute of Management Technology, Greater Noida and Mr Arvind Chari, Chief Investment Officer, Qua

Upcoming monsoon: No lessons learned from past flooding, waterlogging of Vadodara

Letter to MoEF&CC, Vadodara Municipal Corporation, Vadodara Urban Development Authority, Collector Vadodara, Chief Secretary, Gujarat, GPCB, CPCB and Others by Concerned Citizens of Vadodara*: *** Let us take into account the uncertainty of weather and climatic conditions and the prevalent erratic rainfall. Let us hope that we remember past floods and waterlogging and have learnt lessons from those disasters and tragedies. So, let us act immediately before the upcoming monsoon of 2023. It is apparent that, practically, no lessons have been learned from the past flooding and waterlogging events and from the ill-advised and ill-conceived rejuvenation efforts of Vishwamitri River. No action has been taken yet by the Vadodara Municipal Corporation in terms of identifying and removal of the debris from the ravines, water ways, lakes, ponds, wetlands, and low-lying areas. Instead, dumping of debris and other wastes continues into the river environs. Even clear directions given by the con

Why was this BJP leader forced to call off marriage of his daughter with Muslim boy?

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat*  A marriage of two individuals belonging to different faiths was ultimately postponed as the 'champions' of the social morality dominated the discourse and threatened the father of the girl who happened to be the chairman of Pauri city municipality. Yashpal Benam, a BJP leader, posted the invitation of his daughter's wedding with a Muslim boy from Uttar Pradesh. Both the boy and the girl became friend during their B Tech course and were in relationship. There were reports that they already got married in the court but we don't know the reality. Perhaps the family of the girl wanted to send a message of 'acceptability' and 'appreciation' of such a marriage by the society.

Against genuine pace, spin Rohan Kanhai was best player, on par with Viv Richards

By Harsh Thakor  Rohan Kanhai took creative genius in batting or aesthecism to regions unexplored. He virtually gave the art of batting a new dimension, being the equivalent of a Beethoven or Rembrandt to batting. He in full flow was manifestation of a divine energy. He could literally invent strokes of his own. He could eviserate any bowling attack, in any conditions.

Adherent of Charu Mazumdar who failed to confront policy of annihilation of class enemy

By Harsh Thakor  Communist Revolutionary leader Chandi Sarkar expired at 76 years old at his home in Krishnanagar of Nadia on, 5th April, at 11 pm. He has carved a permanent niche amongst the great Communist Revolutionary leaders of India. Till his last breath he blazed the spirit of revolution. Few leaders in West Bengal, more ressurected spirit of Naxalbari. Only with characters like Sarkar, can the Indian revolution ever advance. With unflinching resilience he defended Mao Tse Tung Thought and concept of peoples War. Chandi Sarkar was born on 15 August 1947 in a landlord family of Maharajpur village of Chandra Police Station of Nadia district. His father’s name was Ashok Sarkar. He was an accomplished sportsman since childhood, being given a trainee job as a for hockey player.

In terms of sheer statistics Sydney Barnes was indisputably the best of all bowlers

By Harsh Thakor  Late Sydney Barnes just reached the milestone of 150. Born at Smethwick, Staffordshire, April 19, 1873. Died at Chadsmoor, Staffordshire, and December 26, 1967. Sydney Francis Barnes was the second son of five children of Richard Barnes who spent nearly all his life in Staffordshire and worked for a Birmingham firm for 63 years. The father played only a little cricket and Sydney Barnes pledged that he never had more than three hours' coaching. Billy Ward of Warwickshire gave him the tutelage in his cultivating the off break from which he developed a leg break.Barnes was a gaunt faced man with wide eyes and an austere expression. Action and Style With a bouncy run up his long strong fingers could spin, swerve and seam a cricket ball in the air at medium pace, a but a stock speed well above medium..He bowled with his middle finger over the seam with the first and third spread on either side. His full circular swing enabled him to produce a smooth, coordinated delive

Killing of Atiq raises questions regarding lapses in cops' professional competence

By Prof Sudhanshu Tripathi*  What next or who next? The ongoing narrative in popular media over the slain Atiq Ahmed began with CM Yogi’s oft-cited speech in the state assembly that “iss mafia ko mitti mein mila denge.” And consequent encounters of four shooters by the UP police involved in the cold blooded murder of Umesh Pal -- the only witness alive in Raju Pal’s broad daylight murder by Atiq and his henchmen -- in February 2023. Further, few more encounters by the UP police since then have boldly underlined the oft-cited zero-tolerance policy of the Yogi government.