How smartphones can make education inclusive

 

Doing well in examinations and getting jobs will continue to be a goal for a good proportion of youth but life goals that are not connected with academics are also becoming popular. Our system has to evolve to support them. Technology can assist

Two decades ago, there was much hope that computers with the Internet would revolutionise education. A decade later, mobile technology led to the belief that education anytime anywhere was possible. From one laptop per child, we started thinking of mobile devices replacing books. Now we are about to reach a situation when there will be a mobile phone in every home. In its survey of 14-18-year-olds across the country, the recently released Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2023 shows that about 89 per cent youth in the surveyed age group of 14-18, said they have a smartphone at home. An even higher proportion — 92 per cent — said that they can use a smartphone.

Of those who reported knowing how to use a smartphone, two-thirds said that they had used mobile phones for their studies, the week before the survey. This is a large proportion, but it’s smaller than the population who reported using smartphones for entertainment. The market has many products from for-profit and not-for-profit companies for education but they are generally focused on preparing for examinations. AI-based tutoring programs are growing. As technology advances, making such programs in local languages will be easily possible. There is reason to believe that costs will keep falling. But their focus is still on preparation for exams because that is what the market demands.

Technology barriers to the availability of knowledge are falling but the transfer of this knowledge and certification is still a restricted process. These processes need to be opened up.

The idea of education anytime anywhere is now being put to test. Universal elementary school enrollment has been achieved in India and we are on our way to achieving universal secondary and higher secondary enrollment. But, as ASER first reported in 2005, enrollment or schooling is not the same as learning. Also, the 2023 report points out, half of these adolescents start working part time after completing Class X or the age of 15-16. Although the education policy talks about greater flexibility in entering and re-entering the formal education process, the need really is for the underprivileged to be able to study while working to earn a living. Open schooling and digital technology is a powerful combination. The open school and open university processes need to be decentralised and strengthened. Rapidly developing technology is going to make it easy not only to teach and learn anywhere-anytime but testing anytime-anywhere should be possible as well.

The need for many more universities in India is much talked about. This is directly linked to the fact that the population is going to continue growing for the next 40 years or so. But there is also a need for non-formal education to supplement the formal processes of education or fulfil other needs. Widespread smartphone ownership combined with cheap data presents a huge challenge because of the risks of distortion of information. But it is also an opportunity for education of the kind that is not offered in schools and colleges. For example, agriculture, or broadly natural resource management, is a subject that is not offered in rural schools and colleges, at least on the scale it should be. The ASER 2023 survey found that while 56.4 per cent and 31.3 per cent rural students respectively were studying Humanities and Science beyond Class X, only 0.7 per cent reported they were studying agriculture. Agriculture employs over 50 per cent of India’s workforce and ASER 2023 shows that nearly a quarter of all adolescents in the 14-18 age group also work in agriculture while being enrolled in schools or colleges. The need to formally train our youth in advanced skills and knowledge of agriculture, fisheries and forestry, traditionally handed down in families, should be obvious. This is not a matter of skilling for jobs or livelihoods alone.

Issues of natural resource management are the issues of environment and climate. They have always been interconnected. The difference now is that there is a growing awareness about the linkages. Therefore, there is all the more reason for the entire population to learn about agriculture and the environment — not just agrarian communities. Each home has a laboratory around it for experimentation and learning. Knowledge and information can be accessed using digital technology wherever people are. So, the way to do it probably is not through rigid structures of classrooms, departments and universities run by governments or for-profit private players although these will continue to thrive for much of the foreseeable future.

Our education system has grown to train students to aim at one purpose — do well in examinations and get jobs. Times are changing. Doing well in examinations and getting jobs will continue to be a goal for a good proportion of youth but life goals that are not connected with academics are also becoming popular. Our system has to evolve to support them. Technology can assist but our mindsets have to change.

Written by Madhav Chavan

Source: Indian Express, 18/01/24

How online education can give disabled children greater learning opportunities

 Globally, about 15 per cent of the population lives with some form of disability. Of this, 80 per cent lives in developing countries. Persons with disabilities (PwDs) are among the most marginalised groups. They encounter a range of barriers and are more likely to experience adverse socioeconomic outcomes. Limited support infrastructure can have a significant debilitating impact on everyday life. WHO now considers disability a human rights issue. It emphasises that people are disabled by society and not by their bodies.

Over the last 65 years, the overall global literacy rate has increased by 4 per cent every five years — from 42 per cent in 1960 to 86 per cent in 2019. However, the global literacy rate for the disabled is as low as 3 per cent with just 1 per cent for females. Ninety per cent of disabled children in developing countries do not attend school, says UNESCO. The school drop-out rate is also high due to the lack of adequate infrastructure, inaccessible reading material and untrained teachers. An insignificant number make it to institutes of higher learning.

Lack of education has a trickle-down effect. Most disabled children are not equipped with foundational skills for employability. According to the UN, in developing countries, 80 to 90 per cent of PwDs are unemployed, whereas in industrialised countries, it is between 50 to 70 per cent. In most countries, the unemployment rate for PwDs is at least twice that of those who have no disability.

The pandemic has made us realise how technology is reshaping education. Lockdowns made schools rapidly migrate to online education. This metamorphosis of education systems has far-reaching implications for disabled children. Online education has the potential to make learning more accessible for PwDs. It takes care of physical barriers created by transportation and mobility issues. Children have the advantage of accessing learning from the safety and comfort of their homes. It saves them from unnecessary inhibitions in attending physical schools. Disabled students in higher education too can have access to lectures, libraries and resources without the need to physically navigate remote campuses.

Online learning, both in the synchronous and asynchronous modes, offers added flexibility and the advantage of self-paced learning. With technological aids and assistive devices, it is possible to train disabled children in various skills. E-learning allows the review of materials and repeated viewing of video lectures. Various assistive technologies like screen readers, text magnifiers, speech recognition software, braille keyboards, sign language interpreters, videos with subtitles, audio recordings, etc, can be used.

Internet penetration is increasing fast. As of January 2021, there were 4.66 billion active internet users worldwide — almost 60 per cent of the global population. In 104 countries, more than 80 per cent of the youth population is online. Out of the 830 million young people who are online, 320 million (39 per cent) are in China and India, which are among the countries with the highest incidence of disability.

Prices of internet services have dropped by 50 per cent on average over the last three years and broadband and mobile services are available at much higher speeds. This augurs well for online education. Children are quick learners and adapt fast. With adequate support, adopting e-learning may not be a huge challenge.

The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals focus on “inclusive and quality education for all”. With barely nine years left for the target, greater strides have to be made. Governments and educational bodies have an important role to play in making ICT accessible to disabled students. Those at the forefront of education administration can facilitate designing online courses and learning modules in easy-to-deliver formats. Initial challenges do exist, but students who did not attend schools due to physical limitations at least have an alternative now. This can be a good starting point to bring in students who have been denied access to schools.

Advances in the digital economy are creating unprecedented work opportunities for the disabled, a report by ILO says. With the rise of the gig economy, most work is being done from homes, creating new job opportunities for physically restricted PwDs. Online education could prove to be a turn of the wheel in the quest of PwDs to gain a meaningful life.

This column first appeared in the print edition on September 25, 2021 under the title ‘Learning without barriers’. The writer is professor, Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Studies & Research, Aligarh Muslim University

Source: Indian Express, 27/09/21