Technological Innovations In Education

By
Mr. Swagat Praharaj
Lecturer, Institute of Business & Computer Studies, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University, Ghatikia,
Kalinga Nagar, SUM Hospital Road, Bhubaneswar-751003, Orissa, Mail: swagat.praharaj@gmail.com

Abstract
Gone are those days when the concept of education was, assembling of students and teacher at
one place, let it be a classroom or an open space under the tree. In future the concept of
classroom would ultimately disappear. The teacher can sit at his or her home and give lecturer to
students round the world who would be miles apart from each other. Wi-Fi would be a small
term that we are using right now. There will be global network created only for the purpose of
education round the world using the concept of Internet Technologies. Education would not be
restricted within the boundaries of countries or states. A student from India would be able to
enroll in an American University and study from India itself. This would save time and money,
and would give students greater exposure as he or she can work at the same time. Education
would not be limited to books only. Graphics, animation, multi-media would play a big role in
developing child’s personality. Cisco has recently come up with a fantastic idea for interacting
between the students of different countries through their network, and they are not wrong in
saying “Welcome to the human network”. Students do not have to travel to other countries to
know about the culture, history, behavior that country, instead use technology to do the same.
The concept of video-conferencing would play a major role in taking education to the next level.
It is still in the nascent stage and has huge room for improvement. I hope that regulation in India
would soon change so that this technology is accessible to most of the Indians.

Keywords
Wi-Fi, Video-conferencing, Cisco, Internet Technologies, Global Network
Introduction
India being a country with the population of approximately 1.2 billion, education to all is a huge
challenge. The literacy rate in India is approximately 68% as on June 2007. But the situation is
improving day by day. India previously had the “Gurukul” education system where Vedas,
Puranas, Ayurvedic Yoga was taught to young boys. These boys had to stay in the “Gurukul” for
early part of their lives to get education, where they did not had the liberty to go home or have
fun. In my view it was a cruel way of imparting education to young ones. This way the creativity
of the young mind died out and they were only taught to follow orders given to them by their
superiors. But now the focus is on having fun, being creative and technology only helps in doing
that.
The present education system in India comprises of primary education, secondary education,
senior secondary education, and higher education. This article would focus on how use of
technology would change the face of education in India and the entire world. Most of the scholar
would argue that in a country where people do not get the basic facilities, how I can talk about
using technology in education which would mean additional burden to the pockets policy
makers. But all of us have to start looking forward into the future and way beyond that. We can
learn from the past, but have to move on.
India in order to become a super power has to focus on developing large pool of technical
manpower. This can happen only when right kind of education, given in the right way to the
budding talents in India. India should take advantage of its huge population, and accelerate the
growth story of India. The government has a pivotal role to play in facilitating the use of
technology in education in all spheres, or else we start to lose out on the so called super power
stature.

Objectives of Technological Innovation in Education

 Establishing a global network for the purpose of education, that is globalization of
education: As internet has changed the way the world is communicating at present, a
global network for education would change the way in which education is provided to all.
The global network of education would include all the universities, schools; colleges
 round the world tied beneath one roof. This would help the universities to share their
curriculum with each other and close the loop holes, which would benefit the students of
the universities. This would include sharing of content of courses, examination patterns,
evaluation techniques, case study methods and many more. It is not only the students who
are going to learn, but also the faculty members will reap great benefits out this concept.
 Reducing the cost of education by curbing travel and lodging expenses of the students:
India annually spends around $8 to $10 billion in sending students abroad for higher
education and technical training. Children from other countries also come to India for
completing their higher education. The reason being the quality of education that is
imparted in foreign universities is much higher than they get in India.
 Earning while learning model: Use of information technology has such impact that
students would start earning from a very early age. They do not have to attend any
regular course to get a degree. The reason being, they would have the liberty of studying
from virtually anywhere on the surface of the earth. By using this model, the education
would become flexible and in turn would help the students to be more creative in any
field they want to excel. In the years to come this model would ultimately replace the
existing model of education system.
 Digital Learning Environments: Using technology to fundamentally redesign the learning
experience in ways that lead to increased student engagement and academic success. It
can include innovations in online learning, virtual worlds, gaming for learning, and
simulations. Cisco has recently came up with a fantastic idea of setting up virtual
classrooms for the students, where they meet students from different countries round the
world and try to learn more about their culture, preferences, and tastes without actually
travelling to that particular country. Students get the benefit of listening to eminent
faculties round the world without actually going to their countries. The Cisco’s virtual
classroom provides the environment where student interactions takes place which include
web seminars, e-workshops etc.
 Economic growth of the countries: As technologies are becoming more complex, we are
moving towards termed called “knowledge economy”. Technological innovations in
education would not impact the economy of the countries but would have indirect effect
 overall GDPs. Investment made in education would not yield results immediately, but
provide huge benefits for the countries in the longer run.

Concept of E-education
E-education revolves around the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to
accelerate the achievements of national or international educational goals. E-education is all
about connecting the learners to other learners, teachers to students, and a platform for learning.
It will connect learners and teachers who would share information, ideas to one another via
effective combinations of pedagogy and technology.
E-Education is more than developing computer literacy and the skills necessary to operate
various types of information and communication technology. It is the ability to:
 applying ICT skills to access, analyse, evaluate, integrate, present and
communicate information
 creating knowledge and new information by adapting, applying, designing,
inventing and authoring information
 enhancing teaching and learning through communication and collaboration by
using ICT

Significance of E-education
New models of learning are radically changing our conception of education. Education for
human development in the learning society requires collaborative learning and involves focusing
on building knowledge. These changes arise from shifts in educational goals, and from new
concepts in learning and knowledge creation. Experience worldwide suggests that ICT does play
a role in the transformation of education and training. ICT can enhance educational reform by
enabling teachers and learners to move away from traditional approaches to teaching and
learning. In a transformed teaching and learning environment, there is a shift from teacher-
centred, task-oriented, memory-based education (with technology at the periphery), to an
inclusive and integrated practice where learners work collaboratively, develop shared practices,
engage in meaningful contexts and develop creative thinking and problem-solving skills.
Furthermore, the use of ICT has demonstrated improved inventive thinking skills, such as
creativity, problem solving, higher-order thinking skills and sound reasoning, along with
improved effective communication. Improvements in interpersonal skills, such as writing, public
speaking, teamwork and collaboration, and improved productivity skills, including creating high-
quality products, have also been reported. ICT encourages a teaching and learning milieu that
recognises that people operate differently, have different learning styles and have culturally
diverse perspectives. ICT embraces inclusive education by providing opportunities, alternative
methods of instruction and flexible assessments for learners who experience barriers to learning.
Benefits to the broader society include increased opportunities for lifelong learning,
communication and exchange essential to democratic living and the creation of a pool of globally
competitive human resources.

Future of Education using Technology

In the modern world today, education has been a vital part of everyone’s lives. Education means
a formal training in specific areas or fields which would help the person to do well in its
corporate, educational, and personal life. In the years to come the concept of education will
change dramatically. It would become much more flexible as compared to today’s education.
Students would have the liberty to choose from thousands of discipline instead of few hundred
courses spread across universities round the globe. The impact of the use of technology would be
such that, the students would never have to attend any classes physically, instead with the use of
desktops and laptops they can log on to particular session, where the lecture is going on. This
would be possible with the establishment of a global network for education. All the schools,
universities, and other training institute would be the member this global network for education.
The student of these schools, universities can create a virtual classroom where in each of the
student would be given a username and password to log on to particular session which would be
going on at that time. It does not matter whether the student is in a park, or at home, or some
other place, he or she had to just log on to the network and participate in the session. This session
would be recorded with the help of login ids, and the university would know the number of
students present for a particular session. All other activities including tests, quizzes, case study
analysis, assignments, and projects would be given to the students through this particular
network. Now looking into the future, we discussed about the brighter face of using technology
in future. But we also need to look at the darker side of using these technologies. First of the
infrastructure that is required to set up the kind of global network that we are talking about is
magnanimous, not just in terms of money but the management of the network. The penetration of
Internet in most of the countries is not much. That is another challenge that has to be sorted out.
But comparing both the sides, it is inevitable that this kind of model for education is bound to
come up for a better and prospective future of mankind.

Conclusion
 Technology has had and will continue to have significant impact on education.
Technological innovations will have major influence on teaching methodologies over the
next few years. In fact technology would become the core differentiator in attracting
students and corporate partners.
 Online learning is gaining firm foothold in schools, colleges, universities around the
world, placing advanced education within the reach of people who might otherwise not
be able to access it.
 Corporate-academic partnership would form an increasing part of university, college, or
school experience. To attract corporate partnership, institution will need to demonstrate a
commitment towards advanced technologies.
 The use of modern technology would have a large positive impact on education, but
acknowledge that operational challenges may hinder the full benefits from being realized
(for example, organizational practices may need adjustment to encourage faculty
members to adopt new technologies). In addition, technology may be disruptive in ways
not intended: rise in student plagiarism, cheating and distractibility, which they attribute
to easy and ready access to mobile technologies.
 Advances made in technological innovation would encourage distance education, which
is becoming increasingly popular globally. With universities in India and overseas
leveraging advanced technologies to put education within reach of many more
individuals around the world.
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