The Effective Use of Technology in the Education Sector


Rajendra Pawar, Chairman, NIIT shared the various initiatives taken by NIIT to ensure that education percolates down to where it is most needed – children in remote villages. Hole in the Wall was one such initiative. It was essentially an interactive kiosk connecting the children to the world of computers and the internet-this has now proliferated to various parts of India as well as some parts of Africa. Teaching English in government schools without a teacher, creating a virtual classroom for IIM graduates with a capacity of 250 students, were other such initiatives taken by NIIT.

Udai Singh Pawar, Assistant Researcher, Microsoft gave some new insights on the effective use of existing technology fostering innovation. One such revolutionary idea which was implemented was a multiple mouse connected to a single PC, so that the problem of scarcity of PCs in rural schools could be addressed. “One hour with a teacher is worth far more than a computer, but what if you do not have a teacher?” says Udai Singh Pawar. He envisioned that it is important to take a step back and take cognizance of the bigger picture and understand the social needs of rural children.

Sunil Kandlikar, GM, Managed Learning Services, Adayana  mentioned that there has been a policy failure for the past 50 years in the field of education in India and the size of the problem is massive. “A framework resting on content, context, and community makes the process of education learner-centric.” says Sunil Kandlikar.

Sandhya Chintala, Director, Education Initiative, NASSCOM mentioned that there was a gap between educational systems and industry requirements. Assessment and evaluation does not test the high order thinking of synthesis, analysis, and effective communication of an individual. NASSCOM had identified these skills which were lacking in students and designed training programmes in communication skills and personality development. She stressed the importance of taking a holistic view of the skills’ requirement and also the need to have a larger pool of trained people who can find and train others.

Dr A Saibaba Goud, Chairman, Devnar Foundation for the Blind, opined that technology was one tool which had aided in the development of the visually impaired to an extent that they were able to compete today with other people. He mentioned that there were 20 different types of software available for these differently abled people. The latest development on this front was a software which converts Braille to normal text enabling the visually impaired to communicate with other people. He concluded that there was always scope for improvement in using technology. Developing better three dimensional models for the visually impaired, a new technology to enable them to dictate the answers to examination
questions, these are some of the innovations that he looks forward to.