ICT and its impact on education

There have been significant changes information and communication technology (ICT) has brought about in everyday life. Examples include online booking of train and air tickets, online banking, communication, collection of information and social networking. ICT has much larger role to play, which will bring about changes that are similar to the industrial revolution. The real benefit of ICT lies with creating a “knowledge society”, which will take India among the best in the world.

Technology began to be adopted in the classrooms in the 1980’s. Now the government is also planning to introduce technology in class rooms to make the process of teaching and learning more effective. In the case of government aided and private schools and colleges, computer and projectors have taken up the place of blackboards. This has made education more interactive and engaging as it includes slide shows, videos and audio which support the process of teaching. This will create interest among students and since they can learn by visualising, the process becomes meaningful.

There is an increasing adoption of technology in classrooms across the country among education institutions which are either government aided or private. There are even virtual learning methods which gives students access to study material and other information. Virtual classrooms help a teacher at a particular location to engage students in different location, while actively monitoring them. This gives the students to interact with a wider community of teachers and students and thus expand their knowledge.