Ict and Education: a Study of Changing Dynamics in India
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International Journal of Educational Science and Research (IJESR) ISSN 2249-6947 Vol.3, Issue 4, Oct 2013, 33-46 © TJPRC Pvt. Ltd. ICT AND EDUCATION: A STUDY OF CHANGING DYNAMICS IN INDIA ARBIND SINHA Professor, MICA, Bopal, Ahmedabad, India ABSTRACT The paper is based on a primary research conducted in five cultural zones of India to study the direction of change brought about by introduction of ICT into the educational scenario in India. It shows how ICT, has percolated down to the education system and how the students at various levels perceived the changes brought about by the use of Internet. Education was always the beneficiary of technology but revolution in ICT during 1970 onwards it brought about a transformation in education system. The research has covered the students of the management students, the college students, and the students of higher secondary schools and records the perception they have about the changes brought about in the student - teacher relationship by the use of internet and mobile technology. The paper presents an analytic account of impact of ICT vis-à-vis the teaching and learning behaviour of the teachers and the students. It examines if the ICT has affected the student–teacher dynamics, if the respect for teachers are getting eroded in otherwise traditional Indian society and whether the distance between a student and teacher has widened. It also throws light on the changing scene of the students’ spending time in library and consulting the teachers for counseling. The finding have been dissected on the theory of change. KEYWORDS: Education, Internet, Values, Teacher-Taught Relation INTRODUCTION The evolution of mankind has passed through several ages; the age of barbarism, the nomadic age, the stone age, the age of agriculture, the age of industry, and the age of information. With advent of technology at every stage, the face of society always changed. So has been the pace of information and communication that got a boost with the technology it adopted – the Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Education, being part of integral system of any society, was always the beneficiary of technology. India is a unique case that presents coexistence of diversities; both – the ancient as well as the modern technology exist in this country side by side. There are centres of excellence where all modern technologies of the world exist and they truly boost themselves as ‘world class’. Move 10 miles away from the Centre and you might find an educational centre struggling for age old black board technology, looking for ICT to arrive. The study tried examining the penetration of ICT in the backdrop of Theory of Change. As theory of change (TOC) describe the introduction on new technology as a tool for developing solutions to social problem, the author analysed the ICT in the social context and tried to find out how a group of early and intermediate activities result the steps for bringing long-range results. I also examined – how and why the introduction to ICT will bring them the change in otherwise long rooted education system in India. Like any other country, India also has recognized ICT as the vehicle of success and growth of the nation. India recorded revolution in ICT from 1970 onwards. The country made a stride in this field and it has emerged as an ‘information society’. The information base for Indian society increased due to advent of television, Internet, mobile 34 Arbind Sinha phones, and other ICTs. More information is available than ever before. Telecom Authority of India (TRAI 2011) reports that “there are 19.67 million Internet subscribers in March 2011, a yearly growth of 21.59 % w.r.t. March 2010. Broadband users (>256 Kbps) are growing at 35.49% and were up to 11.89 Million at March 2011”. Thus, India has emerged as an ‘information society’. It holds a reputation of being ICT powerhouses. Let us discuss the social concerns in historical perspective. When radio technology entered into Indian scene, it has its own impact on the society. Mathur and Neurath (1959) and Kilvin (1968) studied its impact and both these studies show that this audio technology generated a sense of dependence as source of information, which otherwise was change agents or friends or relatives dependent. When telephone technology arrived in India, as documented by Heather Hudson (1984), it made the communication easy even in the rural areas. Late 1960s and 1970s created landmark for communication revolution in India. Satellite television made the communication distance free and the satellite communication technology was used for large scale holistic education to develop the lives of rural population of India through a one year Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE 1975-76)1. By first half of 1980, television and video communication technologies touched Indian society and took the driving seat for change. In 1984, the then Prime Minister of England had gifted 250 BBC micro computer sets to Indian Prime Minister for its use in Indian school education. That was the time when computer was not very familiar technology for India. These sets were installed in various types of schools in different part of India under Computer Literacy and Studies in Schools (CLASS) Project. The learning as well as its impact on education system was rigorously evaluated (Agrawal and Sinha 1986, Agrawal 1996). This can be termed as a turning point in usage of computers in Indian education. This was followed by another joint effort by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of the Government of India and the Canadian International Development Assistance (CIDA) under Shashtri Indo-Canadian Institute’s initiative in ‘Computerizing Indian Universities’. These initiatives gave encouraging results and the Indian education became technology savvy to the extent that in most urban homes, computer became a household name and a three years old child knows how to operate computer. The child learns alphabets and related visuals through computer programmes, especially designed for their learning. Even for simple computations or dictionary search we depend on computer so much that one day without computer makes us handicap. The era of 1990s became another landmark for the revolution in ICT in India. 1990s witnessed the process of Liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization that led to the opening up of the economy and allowed the entry of multinational organizations almost in every sector ranging from food and beverages to financial sector to education. Privatization was emphasized and those sectors, which were taken care of by the Government only, gave way to the private players. Education is no exception. With privatization and commercialization of various sectors including education, competition grew. Name any corporate sector and they entered in education field. They were forced to acquire state of art information technology in order to sustain and grow in the market. Proper and timely availability of information became the need of the hour. They all required adequate and timely flow of information. It opened window for the Information Technology to enter the society fast. All of us relied heavily on it. With the passage of time, ICT percolated down very fast and touched base with the common man too, gradually becoming an important part in the society’s daily needs. The growth in ICT in India has been phenomenal. The advent of newspapers, telephone and public call offices, radio and television channels, sky channels, Internet facilities, and cellular services have changed the entire lookout of the society. Power centres shifted from economy to information. ICT become the buzzword and the education sector too adopted ICT in all possible ways. The complete Information and Communication Technology supplemented to erstwhile ICT and Education: A Study of Changing Dynamics in India 35 educational technology. It has gone a long way in bringing about a transformation in education system. Rapid growth in ITC has penetrated in the classroom. It led to better access to information, sharing the learning board, and radical ways of teaching and learning. There are indications that ICT may lead change in the role of a teacher and the relationship between the teacher and the taught. Since the study of social change do examine new symbols of cultural/structural change(s) changes in family, changes in the way individuals interact with one another, the present study also tried to examine the impact of ICT from these angles. The study also observed some radical changes in the student - teacher relationship. This attracted communication scientists to document the direction of change by ICT, especially mobile phones and Internet, and its consequence in terms of application of technology in the classroom – either a facilitating factor or a nuisance. Literature survey reveals that there has been good discussion worldwide on whether the cell phones should be allowed in the classroom or not. The studies report that some are in favour and some are not. Korzeniowski (2006) reports that “Cell phones are ubiquitous in high school, common in middle school and making their way into elementary school.” He holds the opinion that “it (cell phone) distracts students during the school day. Instead of focusing on the teacher, they concentrate on ringing or vibrating phones or on reading text messages.” Cohel (2011) writes that “most school administrations regard cell phone use as disruptive and distracting, and have implemented policies that prohibit using them on school grounds.” Watters (2011) quotes on MindShift's Facebook page that "Most teachers are still afraid of cell phones in the classroom because they know little about how to use them as a tool for learning." Stern et. al. (2012) has pointed out on how and why the sequence of change might come about due to informed social action. The studies also suggest that the effects of a new technology can change individual social interactions.