Week 1: Introduction to Information and Communication Technology PDF

# UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ## Structure - 1.1 Introduction - 1.2 Objectives - 1.3 Meaning and Definition of ICT - 1.4 Application of ICT in Education - 1.5 Role of ICT in the Construction of Knowledge - 1.6 Factors of ICT Use: Access, Availability, and Afford...

# UNIT I INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY ## Structure - 1.1 Introduction - 1.2 Objectives - 1.3 Meaning and Definition of ICT - 1.4 Application of ICT in Education - 1.5 Role of ICT in the Construction of Knowledge - 1.6 Factors of ICT Use: Access, Availability, and Affordability - 1.7 Policy Recommendations and ICT Initiatives - 1.7.1 National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education - 1.7.2 National Education Policy 2020 - 1.7.3 Operation Digital Board (ODB) - 1.7.4 Indian ICT Initiatives - 1.8 Let Us Sum Up - 1.9 Unit End Activities - 1.10 References and Suggested Readings - 1.11 Answers to Check Your Progress ## 1.1 INTRODUCTION The term Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is very popular in the field of education which is nothing but technologies for communicating information. You are aware that ICT use in education is increasing day by day. ICT is used for various functions such as teaching, learning, assessment, management, professional development, etc. The use of ICT started with traditional devices like an overhead projector (OHP), slide projector, etc., and then shifted to radio and television. Then computers were used for various processes in teaching-learning. Nowadays various other digital devices such as projectors, smart boards, and application software are used for teaching and learning purposes. The recent National Education Policy 2020 also recommends the use of various ICTs in the teaching-learning processes. Thus, you need to be aware of the different aspects of ICT use in education. The technologies used to store, transfer, and create digital information/resources also come under the ambit of ICTs. Keeping the relevance of ICT in the teaching-learning process, in this Unit, we will study the concept of ICT, the role of ICTs in education, factors to be considered while using ICT, and the government initiatives and recommendations of various policies. This is the first Unit of this Course. ## 1.2 OBJECTIVES After going through this Unit, you should be able to: - explain the concept of ICTs, - identify the areas for using ICTs in educational processes, - describe the role of ICTs in the creation of knowledge by learners, - specify factors to be considered for using ICTs, and - explain ICT initiatives and recommendations of education policies. ## 1.3 MEANING AND DEFINITION OF ICT You may think of a classroom situation where the teacher asks the students to watch a video programme related to any concept/topic. The video was shown to the students using the projector. Now in such a situation, can you think of the activities (or steps) that the teacher might have completed? The following can be some of the steps: - the teacher might have prepared a video programme either using a mobile phone or computer with the help of any software, - the teacher might have stored the video programme on the computer, mobile, pen drive, etc. - the video programme is shared with the students using a projector, social media tools, etc. This list is not an exhaustive one. You may think about the activities that the teacher might have performed and note them down in the below-given space: If you look at the activities that the teacher has completed, it can be concluded that technology is used to share information. We may take this idea to understand the concept of ICT. Thus, we can say that in simple terms **ICT is nothing but the communication of information using technology**. From the above example, you might have also understood that technology is also used to create digital information (video programmes). So, we cannot restrict ICT only to sharing of information but technologies are also used to create, process, store, and display digital information using digital devices. You are also aware that digital devices do not work on their own. To make digital devices function some instructions need to be provided. That set of instructions, data, or programmes that enable digital devices function and execute specific tasks are called software or programme. The software used to perform a specific task like creating video programmes, simulations, etc., is called application software (shortly called an app) or application programme. So, we may say that software also falls under the ambit of ICT. Let us discuss another example. A teacher of Mathematics had taught the content (say for example 'algebraic expression') using flipped classroom technology. As you are aware flipped classroom approach reverses the normal classroom processes. This means that the subject content/topic is not directly taught in the classroom in face-face-face mode but the content to be transacted is prepared in the form of video and students are directed to watch it before the actual classroom processes. Thus, the students watch the video beforehand and make meaning of it and understand the content on their own. If the students have any doubt about the content/topic, it is discussed in the classroom in the presence of the teacher. Let us also assume that, after the discussion, the teacher asks students to attempt the quiz prepared in the 'google form' (app for preparing quiz). Now think of the steps that the teacher might have gone through to prepare the video and quiz. The teacher might have performed all the steps that we have discussed in the earlier paragraph. Along with that the teacher also prepared the quiz in the 'google form', it is stored somewhere (say for example 'google drive' or any other storage spaces in the computer/laptop, etc). Also, the teacher might have relooked the questions in the quiz and modified them a couple of times. Then the quiz is sent to the students using any digital device (mobile phone, computer, etc.) or app (WhatsApp., e-mail, Learning Management System (LMS), etc.). From this example you may see that here digital information is created, stored, modified, and transmitted. Hence, we call it ICT. So, ICTs are technologies for creating, storing, and sharing information. From the above description, you might have understood that ICTs have huge scope in the field of education. However, if you want to use ICTs, the pedagogical aspects must also be considered. We will discuss all those aspects later. The term **Information and Communication Technology (ICT)** includes various forms of technologies that are used to create, display, store, process, transmit, share, or exchange information by electronic means (UNESCO, 2007). The **National Policy on ICT in school education (2012)** says ICT refers to "all devices, tools, content, resources, forums, and services, digital and those that can be converted into or delivered through digital forms, which can be deployed for realizing the goals of teaching-learning, enhancing access to and reach of resources, the building of capacities, as well as management of the educational system". This document further says that not just hardware devices connected to computers, and software applications are included within this definition, but also interactive digital content, internet, and other satellite communication devices, radio and television services, web-based content repositories, interactive forums, learning management systems, and management information systems are included within the concept of ICT. Apart from these techniques and technologies, the document adds to this list the processes for digitization, deployment, and management of content, development, and deployment of platforms, and processes for capacity development and creation of forums for interaction and exchange. **ICT** refers to technologies that provide access to information through telecommunications (Christensson, 2010). **ICTs, therefore, include digital devices and software applications that are used to create, modify and share digital information**. Let us in brief discuss some of the digital devices that can be used in education. They are as follows: - **Computer/Laptop**: A computer is an electronic device that performs various functions and provides output. The major components of the computer are input devices, CPU, storage devices, and output devices. There are different types of computers like a supercomputer, mainframe computer, minicomputer, and microcomputer (desktop, laptop, notebook, palmtop, PDA, tablet, etc.). - **Tablet**: A tablet computer or tablet PC or simply tablet is a small portable device that serves both the functions of a computer and mobile phone. Tablet has a touch screen to input instructions and output is viewed on the same screen. - **Television**: Television (shortly known as TV) is an electronic system with a display monitor (screen) that receives electronic signals and converts them to moving images accompanied by sound. Nowadays, TVs that can display images in 3D are also available. LCD, LED, and android TV is the advanced versions of television. - **Radio**: A radio is a piece of electronic equipment that uses radio waves to carry information such as sound. The radio is designed to receive, demodulate, and amplify radio signals that are received from broadcasting stations. - **Mobile phone**: Mobile phone is small wireless handled portable device that allows users to make and receive calls and text messages among other features like accessing the internet, playing games, watching videos, capturing photos, locating geographic locations, etc. A mobile phone are also called a wireless phone, cell phone, or smartphone. - **LCD Projector**: LCD is the short form for Liquid Crystal Display. An LCD projector is a projector that works based on a liquid crystal display technology. LCD projector displays image, data, or video on a flat surface or screen. DLP and LED projectors are also used for the projection of images, data, and video. - **Smartboard**: Smartboard is the brand name for the interactive whiteboard. A Smartboard is an interactive whiteboard having a white interactive display that reacts to the users directly or through other electronic devices such as computers, tablets, laptops, and other electronic devices. As you are aware many electronic (or digital) devices can also be used to communicate information. Say for example teachers used to share study materials through mobile phones, computers, tablets, etc. But as mentioned above digital devices do not work on their own. We need to use an 'app' to make it function and share information. Apps are used to create video/audio content, e-text, animations, virtual reality, graphics, interactive content, and conduct online lecture, etc. Below given are some of the apps (or ICT tools) that can be used for various purposes in education. **Instructional Tools**: They are used for instructional delivery. The digital resources are prepared and shared through a digital platform like LMS, quiz tools, etc. - **E-learning Tools**: Adapt, Adobe Presenter, Easygenerator, eXe, Geobra, Learn Bubble, Sway, TEDEd, Vyond, Xerte, PowToon, Lectora, ISpring, isEazy, HiHAHo, Evolve Authoring, EDPuzzle, Camtasia, Brachtrack, Articulate, Adobe captivate - **Quizzing and Testing Tools**: Quizlet, ClassMarker, Easy Test Maker, Exam Buddy, Hot Potatoes, MyGradeBook, Online Exam Builder, Respondus, Test maker - **Learning platforms& LMS**: Axonify, aNewspring, Blackboard, Canvas, Curatr, D2L, Degreed, Edmodo, Google Classroom, Mahara, me:time, Moodle, PebblePad, Schoology, Thinkific, Totara Learn - **Content Development Tools**: They are used to develop digital teaching-learning resources. - **Documentation Tools**: Apple Pages, Bean, Google Docs, LibreOffice, Open Office, Publisher, Word, Wordle, Zoho Docs, Writer, AbiWord, Dark Copy, Desktop Author, Scribus, Visme, Writer - **PDF & Flipping Book Tools**: Sumnotes, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Adobe inDesign, Booklet Creator, FlippingBook, Google Docs, LibreOffice, PDFCreator, PDF Pro, Uniflip, ZonePDF - **Presentation Tools**: Apple Keynote, Google Slides, Haiku Deck, LibreOffice, OpenOffice, PowerPoint, Prezi, SlideShare, Sway, VoiceThread - **Spreadsheet Tools**: Excel, Google Sheets, LibreOffice, NeoOffice, OpenOffice, ThinkFree, Abiltiy Office, SoftMaker Office, Glide, FluSuite, Ability Office - **Clip Art, Image and Phot Sharing platforms**: Flickr, Free Foto, iStock, Pixabay, Shutterstock, Unspalsh, Absolutely Free Clipart - **Graphic & Infographic Tools**: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Spark, Canva, Easel.ly, GIMP, Infogram, OmniGraffle, Piktochart, SimpleDigrams, Typorama - **Screen capture and Scree casting Tools**: BB Falshback, CamStudio, Camtasia, DemoBuilder, Geenshot, Jing, Monosnap, ScreenCastle, Screencast-O-Matic, ScreenFlow, Snagit, Webinaria. - **Audio & Podcasting Tools**: Adobe Audition, Audacity, Chirbit, EasyPodcast, GoldWave, Hipcast, iPadio, PodAdmin, SoundCloud, SpokenText, Vocaroo - **Video & Animation Tools**: Adobe After Effects, Adobe Animate, Adobe Premiere, Animoto, Apple iMovie, Genial.ly, H5P, HiНАНо, Kaltura, Knovio, Moovly, PowToon, TED-Ed, ThingLink, Vimeo, Vynod, WeVideo, YouTube - **Augmented and Virtual Reality Tools**: Aurasma, ENTitTi, Experizer Studio - **Blogging tools**: 21classes, b2evolution, Blogger, Edublogs, Medium, Pebble, Serendipity, Tumblr, WordPress, Soup, Penzu, Blog.com. - **Web page/Site Tools**: Adobe Coldfusion, Arachnophilia, Drupal, Firebug, Google Sites, Homestead, Mozello, PmWiki, Serendipity, Strikingly, Wix, - **Form, Polling & Survey Tools**: 2ask, addpoll, Epic Poll, Fo Space, Google Forms, Key Survey, Microsoft Forms, Orbeon Forms, Pollhost, SISSurvey, SurveyMonkey, Typeform, Web Online Surveys, Zoho Survey - **Social Tools**: They are used for sharing digital resources and collaborative learning. - **E-mail Tools**: Gmail, Mailchimp, Outlook, Yahoo Mail, 10 Minute Mial, ActiveInbox, AwayFind, eyejot, MyEmail, Pobox, Roundcube, Thunderbird. - **Messaging Apps & Chat Tools**: AIM, Allo, ChitChat, eBuddy, Franz, GroupMe, HipChat, Messenger, Pidgin, Remind, Skype, Telegram, WhatsApp, Yahoo Messenger, Zoom - **Discussion Forum & Web Chat Tools**: 99Chats, AVchat, Bravenet, Chatandgo, Chatzy, Discourse, Groupboard, MyBB, PanFora, Phorum, Vanilla Forums, YellBox, Zoho Chat - **Audience Response and Backchannel Tools**: Class Pager, Classtime, Glisser, Google Slides, Kahoot, Mentimeter, Plickers, Poll Everywhere, Sli. do, Socrative, Wooclap - **Webinar, Web Meeting & Virtual Classroom Tools**: Adobe Connect, AnyDesk, Appear.in, Blab, BlueJeans, Cisco WebEx, Drum, Flipgrid, Google Hangouts & Meet, GoToMeeting, Mikogo, TeamViewer, TeamLink, Uberconference, Zoom - **Social & Collaboration Platform & Spaces**: Asana, Basecamp, BoostHQ, BuddyPress, Confluence, COYO, Elgg, G Suite, Google Groups, Google Spaces, Jive, Microsoft Teams, Ning, Podio, Rizzoma, SharePoint, Slack, Smartsheet, Trello, Yammer - **Public Social Networks**: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Stack Overflow, Twitter, Xing, Foursquare, LibraryThing, Knack, Meetup - **File & Resource Sharing**: Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive. - **Group Organisers, Task managers & Scheduling Tools**: Doodle, Google Calendar, Timebridge, WhenIsGood. - **Collaborative Online Brainstorming & Whiteboarding**: Lino, Padlet, SpiderScribe - **Personal & Professional Tools**: They are used for accessing various digital resources and learning. - **Digital Notebooks & Personal Information Systems**: aNotepad, Breakdown Notes, Evernote, Google Keep, KnowledgeNotebook, List.It, MyInfo, OneNote, Privnote, QuickLyst, Todoist, Workflowy, - **Search & Research Tools**: 43marks, BibMe, Bing, Cite This For Me, DeeperWeb, Duckduckgo, Google Search, Google Scholar, Kartoo, Mahalo, Mendeley, Quora, SimilarSites, Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, Zotero - **News, Curation& Bookmarking Tools**: Anders Pink, Diigo, Flipboard, Google Alerts, Nuzzel, Paper.Li, Pinterest, Pocket, Scoopit, Zeef, Wakelet, TagTeam, Pluggio, MyCurator, BibSonomy, - **Mind Mapping Tools**: Bubbl.us, Cmap, FreeMind, iMindMap, MapMyself, MindManager, MindMaper, MindMiester, Popplet, WiseMapping, XMind - **Journaling Apps**: Day One, Diaro, Flava, Momento, Penzu, Writr - **Personal Productivity Tools**: Bit.ly, DeepL Translator, Google Calendar, Google Earth, Google Maps, Grammarly, Google News, Google Translate, IFTTT, LibraryThing, Office Lens, Plaxo, Wunderlist, Zapier - **Personal & Social Media Dashboards**: Buffer, Hootsuite, Middlespot, Pobb, Start.me, TweetDeck, Symbaloo, Protopage, Only2Clicks - **Digital Notebooks, Personal Learning Systems & Digital Portfolios**: aNotepad, ClassMint, Evernote, Google Keep, Knowledge Notebook, Mural, Notability, OneNote, PebblePad, SNIPPit - **Players & Readers for the Web**: Adobe Reader, Awasu, Castro, Feedly, Feedreader, Foxit Reader, GoodReader, Inoreader, iTunes, Kindle App, Miro, Overcast, Quick Scan, Shrook - **Web Browsers**: Browzar, Firefox, Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Opera, Safari, SeaMonkey, SlimBrowser, SwiftFox, Vivaldi - **Personal Smart Devices**: Android Phones, Tablet, Apple iPad, Apple iPhone, Apple Watch, Kindle We have discussed that there are four major modes of instructional delivery (education) namely face-to-face, ODL, online and blended learning. Can you think of the nature of the teaching-learning activities organized in those delivery modes of education? You may note down them in the below-given space: The various instructional strategies and teaching-learning activities help students to construct knowledge. The learning activities also help students' overall development across three domains namely cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. In general, the teaching-learning activities help students in the construction of knowledge by making use of their previous knowledge and experiences. The NCF 2005 advocates the constructivist approach to teaching-learning. In the constructivist approach, students are provided with learning activities that will enable them to construct knowledge by making use of their own previous experiences. The learning activities are activity-based and traditional teaching aids like charts, models were used wherever possible. But with the emergence of ICTs teachers have opportunities for providing teaching-learning activities with the support of digital teaching-learning resources. Say for example teachers can make use of flipped classroom technology. In a flipped classroom the concepts to be learned by the students are provided in advance mostly in the form of videos that the students will watch and come prepared for discussions in the classroom. So, students beforehand develop an understanding of the concept with the support of their previous knowledge and experiences. Many such ICTs can be used for the construction of knowledge by students on their own. Thus, you might have understood that ICTs help in the construction of knowledge in various ways. As mentioned, the various approaches to learning make use of various strategies enabling children to learn new knowledge. One of the popular strategies is collaboration. Collaboration means working together to achieve a common goal. In the context of education, the term **collaborative learning** is widely used. What is collaborative learning? **Collaborative learning is a teaching-learning technique, which creates an environment where the learners work in collaboration with other learners to achieve the set goals and learning objectives.** Thus, a teacher may instruct a group of students to work on activities such as completing a task, executing a project, solving a problem, etc. Thus, the contribution of each member decides the winnability of the task. Collaborative learning can also be practiced using technologies. This is what is implemented in the **Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)** and online courses. In MOOCs and online courses, students are directed to participate and respond to the questions posed in the discussion forum. The response of each learner can be seen by their peers. Participating in discussions helps students in modifying, developing, and generating new knowledge. Similarly, group tasks can also be given that the students can complete by using collaborative tools like google docs, blogs, social media tools, wiki, etc. Say, for example, collaboratively correcting the spelling and language errors in word documents through google docs or contributing to the wiki in groups, etc., are collaborative work. Thus, when students work collaboratively with the support of ICT tools, they create new knowledge and keep on refining it. ## 1.6 FACTORS OF ICT USE: ACCESS, AVAILABILITY, AND AFFORDABILITY We have discussed that various ICTs can be used in the teaching-learning processes. You may recall that the **National Education Policy 2020 proposes an education system that focuses on equity, quality, and inclusion**. This means that provisions must be made to provide quality education to all sections of society. The **NEP 2020 also recommends a blended model of education which requires the use of various ICTs in the educational processes along with face-face-face teaching**. But a question arises. How teachers can integrate ICTs into face-to-face teaching? There are various models or frameworks guiding teachers select a suitable technology (or ICT) for teaching-learning activities. TPACK, SAMR models, etc., are a few of them. Along with that, there are three broad factors that teachers may consider while selecting ICTs in the teaching-learning process. They are as follows: - **Access**: You may think of a teacher giving a home assignment to the students. The assignment is such that they must visit a virtual lab website and conduct the experiment and prepare a report of it. In this case, to complete the assignment, the students should have access to ICTs like the internet, virtual lab, etc., without which they may not be able to complete the task. You are aware that there exists a digital divide in our country. The digital divide indicates that many students do not have access to digital devices and technologies like computers, laptops, the internet, etc. As and when students have access to these devices then ICT-enabled teaching-learning activities can be easily executed. Therefore, the stakeholders of education must develop strategies to make available the required technological infrastructures for teaching-learning. A recent initiative of the Indian government in this regard is the 'Operation Digital Board (ODB). The ‘Operation Digital Board' is initiated by the 'Ministry of Human Resources Development, (MHRD) now known as the Ministry of Education, in 2019 to enhance the quality of education in the country. As per this initiative, it was proposed to make available Digital/Smartboard and the required technology infrastructures at all government schools, government-aided schools, and government aided higher institutions (From class 9th onwards and in higher education institutions) to practice technology-enabled teaching-learning. - **Availability**: The availability and access of ICT resources are not mutually exclusive. The first criterion to use ICT resources is to make them available. As you are aware students spent most of their time in educational institutions. Therefore, the educational institutions should initiate appropriate steps to make available ICT resources in the institution. At the same time, the students can also utilize ICT resources available at home. The availability of ICT resources is a great concern in education. Say for instance, if a teacher planning to use an interactive whiteboard or any Learning Management System (LMS), then these ICT resources should be readily available. We have discussed that ICT includes both digital devices and software. Therefore, digital devices such as computers, interactive whiteboard, tablets, etc., must be made available. Similarly, various software for developing digital teaching-learning resources and managing teaching-learning should also be made available. You know that, software is generally categorized into proprietary and free software. If the proprietary software is difficult to procure then free software may be used. For example, to manage the teaching-learning activities in the virtual space free LMS software such as Google Classroom may be used. When ICT-based resources are made available to both the teachers and students, effective ICT-based teaching-learning sessions can be organized. - **Affordability**: To use ICT resources in the teaching-learning processes various digital devices and application software is required. Apart from digital devices, technologies related to the internet such as networking and other infrastructural facilities are also mandatory. Some of the technologies are costly which the institution, teachers, or students may find difficult to afford. Therefore, affordability is one of the major factors that determine the judicious use of ICTs. As mentioned earlier digital divide is the result of affordability. Many of the students do not have access to ICTs because they are unable to afford them. Not only the students but also there are educational institutions that find it difficult to afford ICTs. Say for example to develop a computer lab, computers, tables and chairs, technologies for networking, internet, etc., must be arranged. Similarly, if the institution plans to effectively use LMS, it must depend on proprietary software. However, free software is also available, but it may have limited functionalities. Thus, it is a fact that technology use depends on affordability and the costs associated with them. ## 1.7 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS AND ICT INITIATIVES You may recall that the National Policy on Education (1968), National Policy on Education (1986) which was revised as a Programme of Action (1992), and National Curriculum Framework (2005) have suggested and recommended integrating technologies in education. The 1986 policy statement led to two major centrally sponsored schemes, namely, Educational Technology (ET) and Computer Literacy and Studies in Schools (CLASS) paving the way for a more comprehensive centrally sponsored scheme – Information and Communication Technology @ Schools in 2004 (MHRD). However, the usage of technologies was minimal. There was a lack of a full-fledged policy concerning the use of ICT devices in the teaching-learning processes. Later the government launched a couple of policies and initiatives to effectively utilize and disseminate technologies (ICT resources). Some of them are as follows: ### 1.7.1 National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education The National Policy on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in School Education was notified by the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development in 2012. This policy endeavours to provide guidelines to assist the States in optimizing the use of ICT in school education within a national policy framework. The mission of the policy was "To devise, catalyze, support and sustain ICT and ICT enabled activities and processes to improve access, quality and efficiency in the school system". The goal of the policy is as follows: To create - an environment to develop a community knowledgeable about ICT. - an ICT literate community that can deploy, utilize, benefit from ICT and contribute to nation-building. - an environment of collaboration, cooperation, and sharing, conducive to the creation of a demand for optimal utilization of and optimum returns on the potentials of ICT in education. Promote - universal, equitable, open, and free access to state-of-the-art ICT and ICT-enabled tools and resources to all students and teachers. - development of local and localized quality content and enable students and teachers to partner in the development and critical use of shared digital resources. - development of professional networks of teachers, resource persons, and schools to catalyze and support resource sharing, upgradation, and continuing education of teachers; guidance, counselling, and academic support to students; and resource sharing, management, and networking of school managers and administrators, resulting in improved efficiencies in the schooling process. - research, evaluation, and experimentation in ICT tools and ICT-enabled practices to inform, guide, and utilize the potential of ICT in school education. - a critical understanding of ICT, its benefits, dangers, and limitations. Motivate and enable - wider participation of all sections of society in strengthening the school education process through appropriate utilization of ICT" (National Policy on ICT, 2012). The policy proposes various strategies and plans for the effective use of ICT in the teaching-learning processes. The policy mentions that ICT literacy has three 'levels of competence'. As and when both students and teachers are introduced to ICT, they may progress at different levels namely basic, intermediate and advanced. At the 'basic' level, skills such as operating computers, managing data, using a computer for word processing tasks, connecting to computers, surfing the internet, connecting a computer to external devices, etc., are expected. The 'intermediate' level focuses on creating and managing content using a variety of software applications and digital devices; using websites and search engines to locate, retrieve and manage content, tools, and resources; install, uninstall and troubleshoot simple software applications, etc" (National Policy on ICT, 2012). While the 'advanced' level aims at using software applications for self-learning, participating in social networks for collaborative and cooperative learning, and developing awareness of cyber security and safe use of ICT. ### 1.7.2 National Education Policy 2020 The recent National Education Policy 2020 also proposed various recommendations for the use of ICT in the teaching-learning processes. The policy elucidates various plans concerning school and higher education in four parts. Part I concerns 'school education', Part II on 'higher education', Part III 'other key areas of focus', and Part IV about 'making it happen'. Under part III, Chapters 23 and 24 discusses technology use in education. The policy proposes that "an autonomous body, the National Educational Technology Forum (NETF), will be created to provide a platform for the free exchange of ideas on the use of technology to enhance learning, assessment, planning, administration, and so on, both for school and higher education. The NETF will aim to facilitate decision-making on the induction, deployment, and use of technology, by providing to the leadership of education institutions, state and central governments, and other stakeholders, the latest knowledge and research as well as the opportunity to consult and share the best practices” (NEP, 2020). The other major recommendations of National Education Policy 2020 on ICT use are as follows: - **Pilot studies for online education**: The organizations like NETF, CIET, NIOS, IGNOU, IITs, NITs, etc., shall undertake research studies to explore the most preferred technologies and other related aspects of technology use in education. - **Digital infrastructure**: The govt and other educational institutions should set up adequate digital infrastructural facilities for the optimum use of technologies in the teaching-learning processes. - **Online teaching platform and tools**: The services of existing platforms like SWAYAM, DIKSHA, SWAYAM PRABHA, NDL, etc, must be utilized for organizing technology-enabled teaching. - **Content creation, digital repository, and dissemination**: The digital repository for storing digital teaching-learning resources will be developed with provisions for rating effectiveness and quality by the users. - **Addressing the digital divide**: The digital divide restricts a mass number of stakeholders from accessing digital teaching-learning resources. This also prohibits conducting technology-enabled teaching. Adequate steps must be taken to minimize the digital divide, and digital teaching-learning resources will be made available in regional and local languages for the benefit of learners. - **Virtual labs**: The existing platforms like SWAYAM, DIKSHA, and SWAYAM PRABHA will be utilized for creating virtual labs for students to have equal access to quality practical and hands-on experiment-based learning experiences. - **Training and incentives for teachers**: The teachers will be given rigorous training to organize technology-enabled teaching and develop quality digital teaching-learning resources. The teachers will also be provided incentives for best practices that pertain to technology use in education. - **Online assessment and examinations**: Appropriate bodies such as the proposed National Assessment Centre or PARAKH, School Boards, NTA, etc., shall devise mechanisms to assess the progress of learning of children and measure competencies, learning outcomes, twenty-first-century skills, etc., through suitable technology-based assessment strategies. - **Blended models of learning**: Among the existing teaching strategies, blended learning is the best of all, and therefore initiatives will be taken to practice blended learning at all levels of education. - **Laying down standards**: Appropriate norms, parameters, and standards will be developed for online/digital teaching-learning. ### 1.7.3 Operation Digital Board (ODB) In the year 2019, Ministry of Human Resources Development (MHRD) notified a new scheme called 'operation digital blackboard' to ensure smart boards (interactive whiteboards) and other technological infrastructures in educational institutions for carrying out technology-enabled teaching-learning thereby turning the classroom into the digital classroom by 2022. The objective of ODB also includes making teaching-learning interactive through technologies and popularising flipped learning as a pedagogical approach. As per this scheme, the digital board will be introduced in all the government and aided educational institutions from class 9th onwards. ODB aims at converting a classroom into a digital classroom. ODB also recommends ensuring the availability of e-resources at any time and any place to students. The initiative will also help in the provisioning of personalized adaptive learning as well as 'intelligent tutoring' by exploiting emerging technologies like machine learning, artificial intelligence, and data analytics (PIB, 2019). ### 1.7.4 Indian ICT Initiatives There are also many Indian ICT initiatives for planning, storing, sharing, and making educational resources accessible to anyone at any place and any time. Some of them are as follows: - **National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER)**: NROER is a collaborative platform to store digital educational resources of various formats such as text-based materials (e-text), audio-video programmes, etc. The educational resources available at NROER are open educational resources. NROER platform is initiated by the Department of School Education and Literacy, MHRD (now Ministry of Education), Govt. of India and managed by the Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). (Weblink: https://nroer.gov.in/).- **e-Pathshala**: e-Pathshala is developed by NCERT. It showcases and disseminates educational resources such as textbooks, audio-video programmes, periodicals and a variety of other digital materials. The NCERT publications have been digitized and uploaded on e-Pathshala. Currently, the e-contents are available in languages like Hindi, English and Urdu. (Weblink: http://epathshala.nic.in/). - **e-PG Pathshala**: This is an initiative of the MHRD under its National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT) and is being executed by the University Grants Commission (UGC). This is similar to e-Pathshala but for the PG level. E-contents for PG courses belonging to all disciplines of social sciences, arts, fine arts and humanities, natural & mathematical sciences, etc., are available on e-PG Pathshala. (Weblink: https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/). - **Swayam**: Swayam is India's Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) platform launched in 2017 and offers online courses on all disciplines viz. Engineering, Law, Management, Humanities & Social Sciences and Professional Courses. SWAYAM is an indigenously developed cloud-based IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th standard till postgraduation to be accessed by anyone, anytime, anywhere free of cost. The courses on SWAYAM are interactive, prepared by reputed teachers in the country and accessible through computers or mobile phones (MHRD, 2019). (Weblink: https://swayam.gov.in/). - **Swayam Prabha**: Swayam Prabha is a group of 32 DTH (Direct to Home) channels that telecast high-quality educational video programmes related to higher education, school education, lifelong learning and competitive examinations for 11th and 12th standard students on a 24X7 basis. The video programmes are developed by NPTEL, IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU, NCERT and NIOS. The INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web portal of Swayam Prabha. (Weblink: https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in/). - **National Digital Library of India (NDL India)**: NDL India is a project initiated by the MHRD under the aegis of NMEICT to provide a framework for the virtual repository of learning resources with a single-window search facility. NDL is developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. At present NDL stores e-content of various forms for school, higher education, differently-abled and lifelong learners and researchers. (Weblink: https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/). - **Virtual Labs**: Virtual Labs is a project initiated by MHRD under the aegis of NMEICT. This is a consortium activity of twelve participating institutes and IIT Delhi is the coordinating institute. Virtual labs do not require any laboratories at the students/faculties end to perform experiments but the simulation-based experiments available on virtual labs can be accessed through the internet. Virtual labs cover more than 100 virtual labs consisting of approximately 700+ web-enabled experiments. (Weblink: http://www.vlab.co.in/). - **e-Gyankosh**: e-Gyankosh is a national digital repository developed by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) to store, index, preserve, distribute and share the digital learning resources developed by the open and distance learning (ODL) institutions of the country. Anyone can freely access the soft copy of the self-learning materials (SLMs) and other digital resources developed by the