In an exclusive interview with Rohit Prakash, the Co-Founder and CEO of iDream Education, we’ll delve into the significance of ensuring access to supplementary learning solutions in rural homes and how with the advent of 5G technology and increasing Internet penetration, it is crucial to provide students with the support they need for supplementary learning in their local languages and English in alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP).
1. What is the role of digital content in vernacular languages in bridging the learning gap in students in Rural areas?
I observed that children living near government schools in rural areas predominantly communicate in their local languages with their families and the people around them. This strong linguistic connection is the reason I firmly believe in the importance of providing educational content and instruction in the local language. Especially from kindergarten to key formative years of schooling. I further believe the transition from a playful environment to a formal learning setting should be as smooth as possible for children. Introducing a foreign language suddenly can make this transition challenging and uncomfortable for them because while growing up they have interacted exclusively in their local language with friends, neighbors, and teachers. Therefore, it is vital to support and complement the existing school ecosystem by offering learning content in the regional language. While English is valuable, it should not be the dominant medium of learning in the early years of education; instead, local languages should be considered as a priority medium of instruction.
Moreover, in my opinion promoting local language content has the added advantage of fostering a deeper understanding of our rich history and literature. Much of our literary and historical treasures are written in local languages such as Kannada, Tamil and more. But students often struggle to connect with them due to their unfamiliarity with these languages. By emphasizing learning and content delivery in local languages, we can expose students to the profound literary and historical heritage of India. This not only enhances their education but also instills a sense of belonging and cultural awareness, ultimately contributing to a more well-rounded and informed generation of learners.
Also Read: Smart Class Technology – A Complement, Not A Replacement Of Teachers
2. What role do you think 5G and Internet penetration will play in the near future in the Education ecosystem?
I feel that the growing internet accessibility within the education sector will significantly enhance Access and enable Unlimited Learning & Growth Opportunities.
Looking back, the internet has fundamentally transformed education. Students now have the flexibility to learn from the comfort of their homes, which earlier was not possible. Back then, education relied solely on school infrastructure or, in some cases, after school tuition/coaching. However, rural areas and even Tier 2 or 3 towns, often lack access to good coaching, leaving students dependent on schools for all of their education.
The increasing penetration of the internet has bridged this gap, bringing learning directly to the homes of children, representing a substantial advantage. This also complements the traditional school system, where teachers deliver structured lessons, while students can continue personalized learning at home via their mobile devices or tablets with internet connectivity.
Furthermore, I feel the second significant advantage of increasing internet penetration is the virtually limitless access to learning and growth content. If you want to read for example, you have access to thousands of titles of all genres in the language you want. This empowers students with the opportunity to explore and acquire knowledge as per their interests, abilities and life goals they set for themselves.
I would explain this with one of our initiatives in Jammu and Kashmir. In this region, we had set up smart classrooms and a tablet-based digital library in schools, and provided access to the iPrep App for Home learning. Prior to this, these students were growing up in a very restricted learning environment. However, when they gained access to the iPrep App to learn from their homes, we, their teachers and people around them started noticing change. They not only read books but also expanded their interests by staying informed about changes happening outside the state. These students even created educational videos on subjects of personal interest and shared them on social media through their teachers. The digital content and books on iPrep have significantly broadened their exposure. As a result, I believe that increased internet connectivity in the near future will open up endless learning possibilities for students in even the most remote corners and that means that we will discover talent where no one was even looking.
Also Read: Learn Unlimited: An Interview with Pawan Kumar of iDream Education
3. What challenges has iDream Education faced in implementing digital learning in Rural areas and how were these tackled?
When we were coming up with the idea for iDream Education, the first challenge we noticed was that most government schools didn’t have enough space or furniture. Also, setting up a traditional smart classroom required a lot of complicated wiring that schools found hard to handle. Not just this, the second challenge we noticed was a psychological barrier where teachers were resistant to use technology while students were willing to use technology. With research and a lot of consideration, we started with a student-centric model and introduced tablet-based learning. To resolve the issue of space and furniture, we created a special charging rack for the tablets. This rack made it easier for teachers to manage and store the devices. They could simply use a single box weighing around 30 kg, about 2-3 feet in size, and equipped with wheels to move it around easily to any labs or classrooms. This box eliminated the need for extra space, wiring, or furniture.
As we continued, we also developed a teacher centric model, a smart classroom setup that was a PC Free Smart Class. With some finer innovation, we made it possible to set up a smart classroom using just one hardware device and a learning solution provided on a Pendrive. This made it possible to have a smart classroom in any regular classroom without a lot of extra equipment or wiring.
The charging rack I mentioned earlier also ensures that there is continuity in learning during school hours. Why? Because many rural areas have limited power supply which impacts their usage of technology and was the third challenge for us. But, with the rack, all the tablets get charged simultaneously and need only 3-4 hours of charging anytime during the day and could be used for the entire school day, which is usually about 7-8 hours.
Now with 3 challenges which I have mentioned above, the fourth challenge we faced was poor internet connectivity in rural areas.
While internet penetration continues to grow, there are still remote rural areas lacking adequate internet connectivity. To resolve this, we started offering our solution offline and became the first EdTech organization offering our solution offline. To ensure easy access, we streamlined the process by enabling our content preloaded on SD cards and pen drives, that can be accessed on any device offline.
Now, the fifth challenge and perhaps the most important challenge is learning gaps. And this, I feel, keeps on increasing because students get promoted to the next grade based solely on their cumulative scores. Nevertheless, learning gaps persist and continue to grow due to irregular class attendance, an inability to seek clarification in class for fear of judgment, discontinued learning, and more. Therefore, with multi-grade access on iPrep, we provide students with unrestricted access to digital content from all grade levels. This empowers them to bridge their existing learning gaps and also prepare them for higher grades.
Also Read: iDream Education: Your Trusted K-12 Content Provider in India
4. How can digital learning enable goals taken under the Government’s NEP 2020?
The NEP 2020 is all about making sure every child learns well. To do this, we need to pay close attention to how each child learns best, and I think the best way to do this is by using technology. In the NEP, the government is bringing in new ways of teaching and learning, like vocational learning, skills-based learning, coding, artificial intelligence, and more. But finding enough teachers to teach this content will take a long time. But, technology in this case can help us enable this very quickly. Like, if we create digital lessons for these subjects, we can easily share them with students all over the country using technology. This is just one example, I feel of how digital learning can help us reach the goals of the NEP 2020.
Also Read: Digital Divide and Infrastructure equalizers for India’s Digital Learning
5. What are some of the long term non-academic benefits of Digital Learning solutions for school learners of Rural India?
I think that digital learning, technology, and the internet gives students access to content of their choice. And, if students in rural areas can use these tools to access vocational, skills based, job based content, it will make them better at those skills. This, in turn, will help them find better job opportunities. This way our country will have more skilled workers and human capital. With iPrep, we have a similar goal. We provide students with all the content they need for learning and growth. So, iDream Education with iPrep, not only helps students with their school learning but also offers nonacademic content that helps them in their holistic growth and development. With this, in the coming 10 to 15 years or sooner if we collectively work, we can enable a sustainable learning environment for students across India.
If in case you would like to know more about iPrep by iDream Education, visit their website, www.idreameducation.org or write to them at share@idreameducation.org
