Historical Perspective of Educational Technology

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE The basic elements of ET have always been present in any effective teaching-learning system, though it was not called ET. For example, the old gurukul system in India stressed individualized instruction and emphasised learning, which are also features of ET. The training programme in the gurukul was devised to suit the needs and abilities of the pupil. It was a one-to-one (guru-shishya) system, but it did not mean rote learning or following the guru blindly. A Sanskrit maxim (Shishyat icchet parajayam) states that the fervent wish of a guru should be that his disciple would better him. Moreover, the teaching programme was devised not only to suit the needs and potential of the pupil but also to suit the societal needs as expressed in identified learning goals. One such goal, for example, in the days when writing was unknown was to maintain the oral tradition of the Vedas. Hence, it was important to preserve intact the accent and pronunciation of words. The method adopted was the memorisation of text, and the technique for doing so was using different pathas or sequences, which could be recited against each other to check any deviations. The factory system of education with its centrally controlled curricula/ text books/school hours/ holidays, etc. came with the British rule. Then, as Gandhiji ruefully noted, every alternative school system was abolished.This colonial legacy and control apparatus continue to plague the educational system even today, almost six decades after India gained political independence. As a result, we are now in the sorry situation so well described in the Yash Pal Committee Report “Learning without Burden”. Efforts to Mobilize ET, Large and Small : A number of groups doing innovative work in the field of ET in India and abroad made presentations of their work and experiences before the Focus Group. The list of presenters along with their topics of presentation is given in the Appendix. In addition, teams of Focus Group members visited several innovative programmes and made presentations to the group. The boxes in this paper give information about some of these programmes. Readers may visit their respective websites for additional information. Initiatives in the Voluntary Sector : Several educators from Gandhiji onwards have sought to make education relevant and liberating by introducing alternative and experimental systems of learning. They have also tried to provide equity and quality in education by directing their efforts towards educating the marginalized child and providing the needed skills and knowledge in stimulating ways. Gijubhai Badheka and Tarabai Modak worked in the sphere of early childhood education. The Tilonia programme in Rajasthan; the Hoshangabad project of Kishore Bharati / Eklavya in Madhya Pradesh; Gram Mangal (an extension of the work done by Tarabai Modak and Anutai Wagh with tribal children) in western Maharashtra; the Bhandup project and the Avehi-Abacus project in Mumbai’s municipal school system—these are Efforts Initiated by the Government : Mass media like radio and television have been used in a sporadic fashion for education for a long time. One of the earliest systematic and large-scale efforts in India to run an educational television channel was SITE (Satellite Instructional Television Experiment) in 1975–76, which was beamed to six states, and is well documented. Many innovations were undertaken in SITE in both devising and deploying suitable hardware (for example, battery-operated television sets in Orissa, ½” video technology) and making original software. This software was made by many agencies other than Doordarshan, which until then had a monopoly on video production and broadcasting in the country. In this connection, the work done by AIR in its Vigyan Vidhi programmes to disseminate scientific information to students and teachers, or state and AIR efforts in the project mode in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, have been prominent. However, the supportive structure that these programmes needed could not be maintained for long. The first television inputs in education did not have any worthwhile support systems. In 1970, the Ministry of Education took up a scheme of ET. Under this scheme, an ET unit in the Ministry, a Centre for Educational Technology (CET) under NCERT, and ET cells in six SITE states were set up in 1974. (There was a lot of time lag in thought and deed.) Both CET and DECU (Development and Educational Communications Unit) of the Space Application Centre (SAC), Ahmedabad conducted formative and summative research in respect of the programmes that they had carried out. CET launched a multimedia programme of in-service teacher training (see Appendix No. 4), which was highly successful.2 There was excellent coordination between the state units and CET for the first few years. Every programme of CET was directed towards solving an educational problem or enhancing learning to achieve well-defined educational goals. The programmes were related to the education of marginalized communities. However, this vision was lost some time in the early 1980s. With new directives from the Ministry of Human Resource Development (earlier known as the Ministry of Education), the close coordination between the state units and the central unit virtually came to an end. The launch of the Indian National Satellite (INSAT) in 1980, and its availability for educational purposes, led the Ministry of Education to take over the production of educational television programmes for transmission via Doordarshan. INSAT for Education was conceived as a tripartite project, and was supported by UNDP, UNESCO, and GOI. Under its aegis, an Educational Technology Division in the Ministry of Education was set up; CET was merged with the Department of Teaching Aids of NCERT and was renamed as Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET); some of the ET cells in the states were upgraded to State Institutes of Educational Technology (SIETs) and ET cells were opened in some other states. Studios with adequate hardware for production were installed. CIET was charged with the task of undertaking educational television and radio production, conducting training and research, and performing as a central coordination agency for all production and utilization efforts. Along with SIETs, CIET aimed at the utiliisation of mass communications in a major way to meet various educational objectives. These projects provided examples of the use of modern methods of media planning and application. The application of media in education in an Indian situation must take into account the availability of software and access to hardware. CIET conducted experiments in teleconferencing. The project seems to have reached sub optimal achievement levels as after the initial planning, support systems were found to be lacking; the educational system has failed to appreciate the usefulness of the media programmes in their educational plans. Television and radio sets were supplied to schools over many years. AIR and Doordarshan were chosen as the carriers for the broadcasts. As production and broadcasts began, equipment and personnel were put in place. So far as CIET and the SIETs were concerned, the production of video and audio programmes became their main work. Narrow field studies showed encouraging results, but the system failed to take root. Large-scale evaluations show gross underutilization. Studies have shown that a link between the broadcaster and the classroom teacher has failed to develop. The audio and video programmes do not indicate any definite patterns of suitability for supporting classroom transactions or supplementing them, either for particular age groups or for particular subjects.3 The broadcasting organizations have their own priorities, allotting timings not always suited to the audiences concerned, often canceling these when other programming takes precedence. The institutions in government related to ET have been ailing for some time. Three committees have pointed out the problems that these institutions have been facing, but no effective action has been taken to revitalize them.4 Under another scheme of the Ministry that was entirely equipment driven, between 1986 and 1990, the Ministry distributed 2,28,118 radio-cum-cassette players (RCCPs) and 31,129 colour television sets to schools at the cost of several crores of rupees. However, as a study conducted by Prof. M. Mukhopadhyay shows, this step did not yield the desired results, as it did not go beyond providing the equipment. Computers in Education : Indian experiments in taking computers to schools involved the participation of a large number of institutions for tasks such as the supply of hardware and software, the development of Computer Assisted Learning (CAL) packages, and the training of teachers. A project called Computer Literacy and Studies (CLASS) launched in 1984 was a joint initiative of MHRD, Department of Electronics, and NCERT. It covered 42 Resource Centres and 2,582 schools. It made use of microcomputers provided by the BBC. The evaluation of the project by SAC revealed the need for greater interaction between resource centers and project schools, the need to reduce the time gap between the training of teachers, the installation of systems, and the initiation of activities in schools, the imparting of adequate hands-on experience to teachers and students, and the provision of computer literacy programmes in the timetable. The project had only a limited success, and has been described at best as a “spectator sport”.6 A revised CLASS project during 1993–2004 saw the introduction of PC machines in keeping with broad global trends. Subsequently, the government. initiated the CLASS 2000 programme with the aim of providing computer literacy in 10,000 schools, computer-assisted learning in 1,000 schools, and computer-based learning in 100 schools. These 100 schools were called smart schools, and were designed to be agents of change seeking to promote the extensive use of computers in the teaching-learning process. This, too, has not yielded the expected results. In the words of Prof. Utpal Mallik, “Ambiguity of purpose, tentative policies and faltering practices marked the major computing initiatives in India during the last two decades . . . Schools are using IT as an add-on, not as an integral part of a new pedagogy.”7 Though all these interventions did make some impact, where the schools and teachers went the extra mile to avail of the facilities provided using their own ingenuity, many of these schemes have been half-hearted attempts even at the conceptual level. Computer literacy is not so much about knowing the technical jargon, but rather learning to use computers in a meaningful way, that is, meaningful to children. Two programmes illustrate this fact quite well. The first project—which the media has dubbed the Hole in the Wall—uses the method of Minimal Invasive Education (MIE). (See Appendix No. 8.) The second programme was carried out by the TeNet group from IIT Madras as a one-month summer course for students of Class V.8 (See Appendix No. 7.) The governmentsponsored programmes lacked not only conceptual clarity but there were also no provisions for a number of other essential aspects, such as students and teachers having easy access to computers, problems of scalability, timetables, etc. None of these issues was discussed, nor were the relevant solutions worked out. Without such clarity and preparation, and lacking the machinery to make mid-course corrections, these programmes failed to bring about the desired changes; some were given up half way. Given this void, many international corporations, and Indian companies as well, have entered the arena in recent years. Their programmes have limited objectives. Appendix No. 9 provides information on some of them. References: http://epathshala.nic.in/wp-content/doc/NCF/Pdf/educational_technology.pdf