Digital education

How e-learning is making education affordable and accessible in India?

Noticias

Asia/ India/ 13.08.2019/ Source: www.indiatoday.in.

Here is how online learning helps in educating the masses while achieving its 2 major goals of accessibility and affordability over traditional learning.

ndia is witnessing a digital revolution and with 500 million people within the age bracket of 5-24 years, there are immense growth opportunities for the Indian education sector (source – IBEF).

Digital education

The growing demand for quality education and skill-based learning has waved the green flag for online learning. Digital education is breaking uncountable barriers by ensuring the availability of affordable and accessible learning even in rural areas.

Engaging and interactive content delivered by professional instructors makes it easy for students to skip geographically bound classrooms and enjoy self-paced learning.

Permission by UGC

UGC has now permitted higher educational institutions in the country to offer Certificate, Diploma, and Degree Programmes in online mode to the students in the University Grants Commission (Online Courses) Regulations, 2018. With such a reform, it is evident that the benefits served by online learning have convinced even the government to take relevant actions for its betterment.

Here is how online learning helps in educating the masses while achieving its 2 major goals of accessibility and affordability over traditional learning.

Accessibility

Digitalisation in India led to the development of technologies such as ‘Direct to Device’ which are empowering students to study through any device at any time. A much-developed aspect of online learning is M-learning where students can access the training content on their mobile phones anywhere. Now, getting 75% attendance marked on the teacher’s register is not essential to get a job; however, being 100% skilled is the pre-requisite for the same. E-learning ensures uniformity in the syllabus so that global disparities can be narrowed down.

Generally, online training platforms deliver content which features a combination of text, demonstrative videos, and presentations. Students who enrol in these trainings have their own dashboard which allows them to access the training content and monitor their own progress whenever they want.

All the doubts are cleared through forum query/doubt solving box, avoiding students’ dependence on teachers. Its accessibility has helped education reach even in the remote corners of the country, where teachers hesitate to enter because of less remuneration.

Not only students but even working professionals are benefitting from online trainings as they can up skill and explore new skills along with their existing job and other responsibilities.

Affordability

The biggest issue that students face in India is the lack of opportunities and resources. While some of them discontinue their studies due to monetary issues, others quit as they cannot find desired courses within their cities. Students who are interested to learn in-demand courses such as data science, Python, machine learning, etc. usually face difficulty as traditional coaching centres aren’t well equipped to teach such courses. Relocating to another city for study requires economic stability which everyone does not possess. In such cases, e-learning comes to the rescue as it does not ask you to travel anywhere to reach your education institution.

Above that, students can simply avoid what they have to pay for books, parking, infrastructure, practical labs, and equipment in traditional institutions. There is no strictness in terms of reaching the class on time, which in turn helps the learners to continue with their work schedule and manage their expenses.

Containing various modules and interactive forms of audio-visual teaching, online trainings have simplified the overall learning journey. While being affordable and accessible, e-learning allows students to save more hours, instils a feeling of self-belief, and encourages them to learn with the purpose of acquiring job-specific skills.

Source of the notice: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/featurephilia/story/e-learning-is-making-education-affordable-digital-learning-divd-1580383-2019-08-13

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Digital education boost for South Africa’s poorest pupils

Noticias

Africa/ South Africa/ 20.03.2019/ Source: www.itnewsafrica.com.

In a boost for South Africa’s ailing education system, business heavyweights are backing a plan to place a fully resourced e-learning tablet in the hands of one million of the poorest pupils within the next five years.

Already MTN, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Shuter & Shooter and WIZZR Technologies have signed on with the organisation spearheading the plan, the Closed-loop Learner Network (CLN), resulting in a successful trial roll-out of the tablets – called Omang – to 1,000 pupils at no-fee schools in the Free State late last year.

Based on the trial’s success, and together with the provincial Department of Education, a further 20,000 pupils at no-fee schools will be benefitting from the initiative during 2019.

MTN provides free connectivity for the tablets, while CAPS-approved textbooks for grades 10 to 12 pupils are pre-loaded onto the devices thanks to international software developers WIZZR Technologies and the three textbook publishers. CLN in turn ensures that high school pupils receive the Omang devices, complete with textbooks, tutorials and white-listed online resources to assist them in their studies.

The initiative was celebrated at a gala dinner in Bryanston this week, where private sector heavyweights including MTN’s David Mphelo* and SAP Africa head of innovation Dr Adriana Marais – who is a candidate for the Mars One human settlement mission – addressed the audience of 150 delegates. Included in the line-up of speakers were MD Ramesh, regional head of the multi-billion dollar agri business Olam International, as well as African Industrialist of the Year**, Jendamark MD Quinton Uren.

Also in attendance were Massimo de Luca, head of trade and economics for the European Union delegation to South Africa, Danone Southern Africa MD Hendrik Born, and singer Danny K.

CLN had already begun building the infrastructure required to implement President Cyril Ramaphosa’s vision of a tablet device in every pupil’s hands within the next six years, CLN founder Ajit Gopalakrishnan told the audience. South Africa currently ranks 54 out of 63 global economies in the category of education and training, according to the latest IMD World Digital Competitiveness Rankings.

“This is not about giving tablets to kids. Our aim is to become the Facebook of education and to gain in-depth insight into the next generation. It’s about seeing the human potential – and the business opportunity – in including the masses in the economic equation,” said Gopalakrishnan, adding that dedicated social impact funding from the private sector was essential to extend the initiative’s reach across South Africa.

Mphelo said education was one of two major focus areas for the MTN Foundation and that it was vital to use the available connectivity to bridge the digital divide.

“We have the scalable ready network and infrastructure. Why aren’t we using that infrastructure to unlock the potential of all South Africans no matter where they live?” Mphelo said.

Quantum physicist Marais said connectivity had become a basic resource like water and food and that a sustainable approach to all of these resources was critical for the future. She added that it was important to support the dreams of young people but that tools such as science and technology were needed to make those dreams a reality.

“CLN’s Omang initiative is one of the crucial projects around education and connectivity that will inspire the next generation of thinkers and make us proud to be human,” said Marais.

Uren, whose company has acquired a 41% stake in Omang, said Jendamark already had the technology platform in place to support the agenda and unlock potential.

“Industry 4.0 is the perfect platform to solve specific educational problems and inspire hope. This tablet device can affect a major change in education. Here we can really change lives and the future of our country.”

Source of the notice: https://www.itnewsafrica.com/2019/03/digital-education-boost-for-south-africas-poorest-pupils/

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »

Paris draws inspiration from Yerevan to give teenagers digital education

Reseñas

By: Clément Nicolas.

With the support of European funding, Paris has started a school for digital creation called ‘Tumo’. This concept, which comes from Armenia, allows young people aged between 12 and 18 to learn about digital creation in an autonomous manner. EURACTIV France reports.

On the illuminated wall at the Forum des Images at Les Halles in Paris, moving human forms create a surreal atmosphere. Inside the building, for two hours a week, young Parisians are able to come and practice programming and digital drawing after school.

While the facility is designed to accommodate up to 4,000 apprentices in total, it has already brought together 800 young people.

In a large ‘classroom’, which resembles a boudoir with its comfortable sofas and its dimmed lamps, the pupils are absorbed by their tablets. They are attending a self-study course where everyone works at their own pace on different subjects including video, cinema, music, drawing and animation, among others.

A school where there are no marks

On 16-year-old Maxime Osty’s screen, logos are scrolling by. He is trying to learn how to reproduce them using the tutorial provided. “I came here because I wanted to discover how programming works, to confirm whether I like it or not,” he explained.

Next to him, 12-year-old Tidiane Ménega is passionate about music. “Here I can learn about electronic music, I’m working on beatboxing and I have even started a Youtube channel! And when you don’t know how to do something, you can ask the others or the coordinators”.

David Martinez is one of these, although he prefers to describe himself as a “coach”. “We’re here in support, we encourage them to keep going. In the course of the programme they can specialise in eight different areas. So far, we have noticed that what people like the most are the video game and cinema specialities,” he said.

His relationship with the children is much more straightforward because all marks are banned. There are no plans to award any qualifications, priority is instead given to the development of the children, who are asked to regularly attend and also to review their projects to improve them.

€1 million for innovation

“Tumo was chosen as the world’s most innovative school three years ago. The school’s about stumbling and valuing failure. It’s wonderful to see the joy on the kids’ faces who come here,” said Claude Farge, General Director of the Forum des Images, at the opening on 16 October.

He was accompanied by Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, and Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. The funds used to finance the facility came from the European Union.

The city of Paris was awarded a €1 million cheque in November 2017 for winning the European capital of innovation competition. This prize recognises a city’s commitment to the local development of innovations to the benefit of business and citizens.

With “Station F”, the world’s biggest start-up campus, and 5% of its budget reserved for citizens’ projects, the French capital had a number of arguments that it could present.

“I told Anne Hidalgo: so, what are you going to do with this money? She replied that she had seen something special in Yerevan, and it was amazing because I knew it too!” remembered Moedas.

The Parisian councillor visited the Armenian project in 2016. In Tumo, she sees “a school which will mark the lives of those who go there. Few initiatives are really reserved for teenagers, this was the opportunity to change that.”

Out of the 4,000 places available, 35% are reserved for children who live in priority areas, which is a sign of the social dimension that this initiative wants to take. It will also offer periodical placements with professional in the digital sector during the school holidays.

Source of the review: https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital-skills/news/paris-draws-inspiration-from-yerevan-to-give-teenagers-digital-education/

Comparte este contenido:
Leer más »