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From the Foundation >> Foundation in News
ICT has huge role in
attracting children
by Azim Premji,
Chairman, Wipro Corporation
One
of the few things on which there is consensus across the entire
ideological spectrum in economics and politics is that literacy and
education are perhaps the most significant drivers of development and
democracy. For societies to improve their literacy levels and the
quality of their education, multiple complex factors must be worked
upon. Information and communication technology (ICT) can facilitate
improvement on several of these dimensions. To me, use of ICT for
literacy is almost intuitive, given the challenge of reaching out to
large numbers which a country like India faces. ICT provides us an
effective tool for connecting with a large number of remotely located
learners at a low cost.
My
perspective on the use of ICT for education and literacy is based on
our interaction with the parents and schools in over 1,300 villages in
2000, through the Azim Premji Foundation. Through these interactions we
gained the following perspective: Parental feedback indicates strong
demand for computers; they also consider computer interface as an
enabler for knowing English; ICT can strengthen our efforts for
universalising primary education and; ICT could also be the solution to
a uniform high quality of instructions without replacing teachers. But
more than that, we learnt that ICT also has a huge role in attracting
children to the school, and creating excitement in and around the
school.
To me ICT is not
about the computers or the educational CDs or the Internet or the
specific device or medium we use. It is really about a different
process that we deploy for the purpose of enhancing the quality of
education. It is about providing alternative learning experiences to
the children who currently do not have options other than text book as
a learning tool.
If
someone asks me what we should try through ICT in the schools, I would
have the following response: A change of culture – openness,
responsiveness and opening windows for new thinking, an atmosphere of
innovation; an alternative paradigm in pedagogy – interactive, away
from the chalk and talk, self paced and contextualised learning; an
attempt to achieve equity and; bringing excitement and motivation.
Mere
introduction of ICT will not automatically create the kind of impact or
change that we intend to cause. Technology will induce change only if
accompanied by changes in ideas, processes and way of viewing things.
Technology is likely to create bigger transformation where the current
situation and culture are considered to need improvement.
Based
on our experience with the schools, I would suggest that we must
address the following critical issues to enhance the effectiveness of
ICT in literacy and education.
First
is the challenge of making teachers a partner in this effort. If
teachers do not see that ICT is helpful in their work, there is no hope
for it turning out to be an effective tool in our mission for education
and literacy.
Second is the challenge of deciding what to, and what not
to, deliver though ICT. The usual tendency is to try to deliver every
learning item through ICT. It amazes me when governments roll out a
large-scale programme to introduce ICT in schools and villages without
an adequately thought out long-term plan of how it will be utilised.
There is no point in using an expensive computer screen as a
replacement for the blackboard.
Third
is the challenge of enhancing the vision of a typical teacher of what
learning experience could be. The challenge is to ensure that an
average teacher relates to the broader definition of literacy and
education, and not merely reading and writing.
Fourth
is the challenge of building teacher capacity. For a teacher to
translate vision into reality she needs to acquire capability in
discipline area, teaching methods or pedagogy, and use of ICT. Our
challenge is to build this capability in each of our teachers, which is
a mammoth task given our large numbers. India has around 5.5 million
teachers. Finally is the challenge of building teacher motivation. It
is our challenge to create a motivating environment for them so that
schools truly become centres of learning. I suspect that this is going
to be our biggest challenge.
This
article appeared in The Economic Times, issue dated 31 October, 2007
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