Information and Communications Technology in the Education Sector in India

India has successfully achieved quantity benchmarks for education by making schooling accessible to all and making rapid strides in improving attendance. Next, India must improve the quality of its educational system, which is limited by large class sizes, limited teacher expertise, poor access to resources, and teacher absenteeism. ICT provides tools to address all these challenges. Historically, ICT has been used to improve educational coverage. Educational radio programs have been produced since 1972, and corporate initiatives have introduced computers to classrooms since the 1990s. Most radically, India even launched a satellite to broadcast educational content to remote schools off the grid. Yet the digital revolution provides the greatest opportunity for ICT to contribute to improved education and equality of opportunity across India. ICT has been applied to improve education in several ways. Teachers can gain access to improved lesson plans and teaching resources that incorporate multimedia and best pedagogical practices. Similarly, these platforms are used to deliver interactive teacher training that uses data to analyze teachers’ strengths and weaknesses. Data can also be used to break down and isolate challenges for students or entire classrooms. Finally, communication tools embedded in these platforms provide teachers, students and parents with a more collaborative classroom experience. The MHRD’s DIKSHA platform, powered by EkStep, is currently the most comprehensive and widespread societal platform in use. Integrating ICT into all aspects of education, DIKSHA incorporates quality user-developed content, student assessment tools, data collection and analysis, teacher professional development, and parent-teacher-student communication into a multilingual package now being implemented in several states. Additional general-purpose platforms include Karnataka’s Meghshala, Gujarat’s Learning Delight, and the Central Board for Secondary Education’s Saransh. More specialized platforms also exist to fulfill specific needs, such as StoryWeaver, an initiative to develop mother tongue literacy material. EkStep and DIKSHA provide functionality to incorporate other platforms as specialized modules within their own system, a powerful integrative feature with the potential to consolidate the many different platforms in existence under one roof without sacrificing local adaptability or flexibility. Education policymakers should continue encouraging the consolidation of redundant platforms. While teachers often use ICT resources such as Youtube in the classroom, these freelance solutions do not provide the opportunities for beneficial synergies inherent in a platform. Additionally, implementers and end-users of education platforms should be more fully trained in the capabilities of these tools, with continuing support provided to increase familiarity and comfort level. Significant infrastructure investment is required to provide electricity to many schools, let alone digital connectivity, and opportunities exist for involving India’s major industries in content production. Finally, the definition of a digital school must be clarified to incentivize and prioritize investments in ICT integration

Developing and Harnessing Software Technology in the South: The Roles of China, India, Brazil, and South Africa

Software technology is gaining prominence in national information technology (IT) strategies due to its huge potential for socioeconomic development, particularly through the support it provides in the productive sectors of the economy, delivery of public services and engagement of citizens. In growing numbers of developing countries, software technology is also being leveraged for income generation from digital services and products. For instance, in recent years, India, Chile, the Philippines, Brazil, China, and Indonesia have emerged as important global players in the offshore software services industry, with India and China standing out as leaders. Cooperation between developing countries (south-south) in the area of software technology has also been growing; particularly in the application of software technology to agriculture, public administration and governance (e-governance), transportation and the society (knowledge society). The paper presents the current state of software technology in the south and specifically, the maturity of the software industries in China, India, Brazil, and South Africa (CIBS). It establishes profiles of different regions based on the level of education, quality of research and availability of e-infrastructure and e-applications for determining the potential of these regions in terms of growth and competitiveness in the global software industry. Further complementary analysis of country profiles produced country clusters, helping to identify potential collaboration scenarios for advancing software capacity in the south. Finally, the paper discusses how CIBS can pivot regional or inter-regional cooperation in software technology in the south.software technology, software industry, south-south cooperation, China, Brazil, India, South Africa

Indian Contribution to Open Access Scholarly Publishing: A Case Study of DOAJ

India has been a cradle of knowledge for thousands of years. Presently it has significant advantages in the 21st century knowledge race due to one of the largest higher education system in the world. It generates a lot of information in the form of research papers, project reports, books, conference papers, theses, dissertations, articles, and so on. Therefore, it is necessary to preserve, manage and make it accessible to the academic community in particular for sharing and visualizing their innovations for the betterment of society as a whole. The present study attempts to evaluate the initiatives taken by India to make this intellectual output accessible for all by publishing them in Open Access journals. The results revealed that India is continuously contributing in Open Access scholarly publishing as some of the premier institutions, particularly in the science and technology area, are providing open access to their research publications. The position of India in terms of number of journals in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is 7th in the world, well ahead of countries such as China, Australia, and Japan

Academic Libraries in India: a Present-Day Scenario

This paper discusses the role of academic libraries in the education system in India and the changes brought out with the impact of Information technology in academic libraries in India, with an emphasis on the role of the UGC and various networks. The need for resource sharing through consortia is highlighted, with the aim of enhancing resources for university libraries

Awareness and Utilization of ICT Initiatives of Ministry of Education, Government of India by Users of Tumkur University Library: A Case Study

This pilot study aims to explore the awareness and utilization of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) initiatives of the Ministry of Education, Government of India, by the users of Tumkur University Library in Karnataka, India. The study will focus on identifying the level of awareness and usage of various ICT tools and resources provided by the Ministry of Education, such as e-ShodhSindhu, National Digital Library of India (NDLI), SWAYAM, and others. The study will also investigate the challenges faced by the library users in accessing and utilizing these resources, and their suggestions for improving the accessibility and usage of ICT tools in the library. The findings of this study will provide insights for improving the quality and effectiveness of the library services, and enhancing the utilization of ICT initiatives of the Ministry of Education, Government of India

ICT for Continuing Professional Education for LIS Professionals

The paper outlines the opportunities that DLE has put forward for teaching and learning. Focusing on a particular aspect of professional development i.e., Continuing Professional Education (CPE) in the light of Information and communication technology (ICT), the paper discusses about the changed scenario. It also presents an Open Access Continuing Education Virtual Classroom, developed to provide a continuing professional education platform to LIS professionals in India

T-learning - An evolution of new front for Indian Education System

Time, distance, and language have been traditional hurdles in the path of formal education in India. Information technology (IT) and communication and computing technologies have made available powerful tools to a large section of the population in India now a day. In India, Hundreds of languages are spoken. Literacy in urban areas is 80%, and rural literacy is 56%. India has 192 million illiterate women, which is nearly one -third of all illiterate women in the world. While the educational divide is wide and causes concern, traditional methods of bridging it are limited by physical and fiscal factors. The increas es in numbers of teachers have tapered off from 5.6% in the 1950s to 1.6% in the 1980s. The average teacher: student ratio at primary level is 1: 58 in rural regions. This will become worse if the field of education is not revolutionized using recent technologies like e -learning , m-learning etc. T-Learning is an emerging field. T-Learning is a combination of learning services and technology to provide high value integrated learning; anytime, anyplace. It is represented as the next evolution in the Education industry and a new phase in the Digital Convergence

QUALITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION THROUGH ACADEMIC AUDIT, ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP AND AUTONOMY IN INDIA

The quantitative growth of higher education in India is significantly improving, but the quality of higher education has always been questioned. So, to bring quality in higher education, there is a need to change the structure of existing higher education system in India. The major roles are played in these initiatives are by the academic leaders like a Vice Chancellor of any university or a Principal of any affiliated college. The present article is focused on the role of academic leadership, continuous academic audit and accreditation process in quality enhancement and sustenance in higher education system in India. It also emphasizes the need of increasing autonomy at college level and reducing the burden of affiliation from universities. The empirical method of research has been used for the present article. The statistical data is obtained from secondary sources like books, journals, annual reports of University Grants Commission and National Assessment and Accreditation Council of India. However it is found that the higher educational institutions in India require change in academic leadership patterns as well as change in traditional teaching and learning methods and use of information and technology at large. There is an urgent need for developing a mechanism of continuous academic audit throughout all the Universities and other higher educational institutions

Changing Needs of Library and Information Science Curricula in India

The history of LIS curricula in India and efforts to reform, modernize, and standardize are discussed. The changing world of information technology and the needs of employers should drive the standardization and updating of LIS curricula. Recommendations include a national accrediting body to articulate norms for LIS education

Role of Management Information Systems in Education Sector

The role of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT), and Management Information Systems in the success of different professional sectors has been undebatable. The present content represents the outcome of a study about their role in education sector, being it among the most spread and important sector of profession in India and globe. Significance of Management Information Systems in instructive management for the staff of Educational Institutions have been studied and presented in the present context