Online teaching: an emerging issue in emerging India

Due to the incredible number of pressures like increasing globalization, rapid technological changes and tougher competition etc. on human life, it becomes highly important for the education system to play a critical role and increase its real and perceived value. The core objective of education is helping people lead life for which the perspective of education must necessarily shift from being able to read and write to being able to earn and live with dignity. The impact of technology on educational outcomes has received significant attention by researchers, especially over the last decade. Several studies have found a correlation between computer use at home and educational outcomes but it is not clear if this relationship is causal. Providing computers, software, and internet access to schools is a very different intervention from using technology to change the way that students learn. Traditionally the formal education emphasized on teaching more than learning but now the role of teachers has been evolved from dispensers of information and knowledge to facilitators and enablers of learning. Thus Online Education is a structured learning activity that utilizes technology with intranet/internet-based tools and resources as the delivery method for instruction, research, assessment and communication. Although a teacher-led course or experience is preferable, not all districts have this capacity and district discretion will prevail. It is encouraged that teachers will incorporate standards for Teaching and Learning; higher order thinking, deep knowledge, substantive conversation and connections to the world beyond the classroom, into the experience. It also places emphasis on the use of the global Internet, rather than a stand-alone software product.

It is not surprising that providing computers has no independent effect on student learning on its own. But it still leaves open the possibility that specific technology-based interventions could have an impact.