Recently, the Human Resource Development Ministry decided to launch “operation digital board”. The scheme was to introduce digital interactive boards to children across all schools, including government schools. The scheme intended to cover the entire country. The Central Advisory board of Education also gave its approval in January of this year to the Ministry’s proposal to provide digital interactive board across all schools. The schools are also suppose to receive ICT tools in order to help the teaching-learning process over the course of five years.
"We will provide digital board, which is also known as whiteboard or smart board, to all the schools. This will be undertaken jointly by Central government and the state governments," HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar announced after the official CABE meeting. For contributions, the government will be reaching out to India Inc under the corporate social responsibility to drive the program forward. Of course, participation from the entire community will be crucial to moving things forward.
The whole point of the program is to empower students and improve the quality of education in India. Many developed nations have already moved on to this technology. Indian schools have been adopting this technology as well but mostly in well-to-do sectors alone. It is a huge move as it involves bringing in advanced technology even for children who cannot afford it. It will equalize the state of disproportionate distribution of educational services by providing a 360 degree information service along with an interesting and engaging learning experience. The teachers accountability can also be increased to a great extent.
The main concept is to utilize digital interactive board to encourage children to learn at their own pace while exploring their creative potential. A digital interactive board will take an individual child across an entire chapter until they fully understand it, without leaving slow learners behind. There is no scope for mugging up content. Digital interactive board will not only provide audio visual content from around the web but will also engage the children with a vast array of activities while holding their attention throughout the process. Those who progress faster than others leave room for the teacher to focus on students who truly need individual attention. Digital interactive boards will also provide thorough analysis of an individual child’s progress with elaborate metrics for the teacher to understand the status of the child’s learning process.
This introduction of digital interactive boards in schools across the country and across various boards including government schools with ensure quality, equity, accessibility, accountability and affordability to all children. It will enable children to learn to learn by themselves while also providing value education, life skill education and experiential learning.
The country looks forward to this promising change and awaits the wonders of modern education being introduced across the nation through the use of digital interactive smart boards.