Information Communication Technology in Education-II
Further to my discussion on the use of ICTs in Education, and the importance of the role of the teacher, this is a brief case study about an Indian initiative in this direction.
CASE STUDY:
Background:
As developing countries increasingly realise the demand to prepare their youth to be able to compete in a world driven by information, technolgy and knowledge,traditional classrooms have undergone massive changes.Information technology has entered the classroom in a big way to aid the teaching-learning process.Computers are no longer stand-alone subjects;but infact used to empower teachers to teach other subjects with greater ease.
The endeavour:
In view of the above,project Bhartiyavidya is an Indian endeavour to pay more attention to the interfaces that are specially designed to be used by a teacher seamlessly with his/her wisdom as well as all other conventional teaching aids during a classroom teaching process.
Bhartiyavidya is a system that can be used by the teachers for more effective classroom teaching alongwith other conventional teaching methods and tools that include the teacher’s wisdom, teacher’s voice, chalk and blackboard.The philosophy of Bhartiyavidya is that the teaching-learning process is sacred and should not be tampered with.The teacher should be provided with the right tools to perform the function of imparting knowledge.
The system comprises of Computer Hardware, Hardware-Software Interfaces, Security Devices, Colour Television, Computer-Television Interface, Secure Databases, specifically designed User Interface Software and custom made Multimedia Audio-Visual aids (known as Capsules in ‘Bhartiyavidya’ terminology) based on in-house researched school curriculum based teaching modules. The multimedia content has certain distinct features like expandability, scalability, and absence of voice over and use of minimal amount of text with specified minimum font size.
This is a beautiful audio-visual medium to increase the interest of the learner, increase conceptual clarity and retentivity as also incorporate measuring tools for perception analysis and has found widespread favour with students and teachers.
PERCEPTION ANALYSIS:
This system is already being used by over 300 schools in India. Perception analysis based on data from 1217 teachers and 3967 students of Bhartiyavidya User Schools clearly indicates improved concept clarity, higher interest level, better retentivity and higher attention time span.
