Opportunities for Startups in Academics to Lead India in Digital Era

Dr. Unnat Pandit[1], Ananya Agrawal[2]

The increasing use of mobile and internet across our country, is an inflection point for a lot of products and services that can reach people and solve their problems in a way that has not been possible till now. The problems in traditional approach to education: Every student learns differently but content for them to learn is same. Their learning ability is taught and evaluated by mugging the content. In India, Government of India through MHRD trying to revitalize the Indian education system introducing the technology for qualitative improvement in education through Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Program (EQUIP). The notional for designing the program revealed that despite increased enrolment, a significant proportion of children in Classes 1 to 8 in government and rural private schools could not read text suitable for Class 2 students or do simple arithmetic their age-group may be expected to do.

The education domain demands the upgradation in Academic Process Life Cycle and Interventions through ICT Infrastructure. Internet service Providers, Ed-Tech Platforms end-to-end automation and integration of every process of an education institute, or providing state-of-the-art technology driven products and services to improve teaching-learning outcome in classroom. "Various analytics tools can be used to know where and why user engagement is low and how customers can be effectively engaged.

Startups in Education domain has pivotal role to play for making the digital mode of education equipped with all accessories to make the subject understand and expressed in simple languages. The student specific education is to be ensured through technology advancement. That will lead to make education more specific to the need of end users. Social & Emotional trait should also be monitored to evaluate the overall growth of child. The memorizing through learning and experiencing is important in digital education and should equip the student to recollect the knowledge they have gained and reproduce in simple and objectively.

In taking India a leap forge jumps in ensuring Education quality through digital mode, redesigning the curriculum is going to play an important role. The teachers engaged in curriculum design and inputs has to explore utilizing the creative talent of student and their academic engagement in school allow expressing their innovative skills in science, technology and humanities as well. Nowadays high school students reached out to access to technology, majority of parents did not have access to such technology advancement when they were at this age. Still the lack of unwilling to give access to smartphones to their children. The appropriate use of technology is to be ensured. However, in such transition phase, the better offering of technology driven solutions will build the confidence of parents. The students and youth of country is spending over 45B Hrs on internet which includes the gaming on mobile / tablet. The time for keeping the layer of content monitoring and evaluation in force for ensuring that right content is being delivered. There is SOS need for gaming to be monitored.

The time for multi-sensory, multidisciplinary, child-centric videos and educational content, technology to get the child attention span and monitoring is required specially in kids who are already equipped with mobile or tablets. Tracking their academic activities and other leisure work will certainly keep watch on their utilization. Tangible media interfaces, spatial and bodily restrictions the use of computer imposes upon the children, and how the restrictions would negatively affect the natural brain growth of children. Purpose of the app/digital medium being developed should serve the parents and teachers in understanding their interest and use of digital media for the purpose which is made it available. Additionally, the teaching methods, assignment design outcome-based learning and differentiation with a level approach, classroom management, Support to teachers on Pedagogy and subject matter from ABRC and BRPs, DIET centers bridging the learning-gaps among children from low-income communities. The activities are also required to be planned to bring their attention and also enable them to use the physical actions to understand and apply the concept. The lack of hand-eye coordination will also derail their creative thought process. Application of knowledge will not only improve their engagement in using what they have learned but also make them practice applying their thoughts using a pencil and write.

A huge gap in the education standards in rural schools as compared to metro cities. Rural education in India needs a focused approach in improving quality. The ability of teachers to deliver the defined content and ensure that the content is learnt by student is big question for system. The rural-urban education quality gap is increasing and inclusivity, accessibility and adaptability in rural ecosystem is going to create load on improving the quality. At the rural areas, family is one of the factors that determine their child performance in education. Students in rural areas have low performance compared to students in urban areas because it relates to their parent’s education as well. Majority of parents in rural areas are less educated than parents in urban areas, however their willingness to impart the best quality education is highest.

In order to bridge the gap between the urban and rural areas and ensuring quality of education to provide an equal platform for career development to students in rural areas too. Students and teachers are still hesitant and apprehensive of technology instillation in the traditional education pattern. The time for improving utilization of technology in education is making education quality in classrooms much more interactive, innovative, all-encompassing, and meaningful. With technology making interesting inroads, news systems and learning processes have taken form, leading to a sea change to the way education is perceived in the country. The blended system of education provides different avenues of understanding the concept, helping to develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills in the learner. The language lab solutions have removed the ever-existing language barrier between different regions with easy access to fun, easy, and effective language learning resources. The innovative technological solutions have provided complete ease of communication, training, and 24X7 learning with its anytime accessible resources. The education quality in the era of New India is going to take a pole vault jump to deliver an impactful outcome.

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[1] Dr. Unnat Pandit is Program Director of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog, Govt of India wherein views expressed are personal.

[2] Ananya Agrawal is perusing her internship at Atal Innovation Mission while studying for her masters in design from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad