The State government’s efforts to introduce innovative practices in digital education for schoollchildren has been termed as “pioneering effort” by the Education Ministry.
The India report on Digital Education has provided a survey of technology and innovative practices used by various States.
According to the report, Tamil Nadu’s content creation, practice and assessment questions have been much appreciated and termed pioneering.
The report on remote learning initiatives across the country praised the State’s use of television to provide education. At the time the report was prepared in June, it spoke of the State using Kalvi TV for classroom teaching. Kalvi TV has since taken off in the State.
“It has also set up a very good content team, structure and processes,” the report said. Tamil Nadu has a clear programme for in-house centralised content creation.
Elaborate team
Having constituted a Diksha (the national infrastructure facility for teachers) cell in Chennai, it has in place an elaborate team for content creation.
At the district-level, it engages the teacher training institutes (DIETs) through a structured process for remote content creation.
The State has involved industry experts and agencies for the purpose, the report stated.
Content repository
The State’s e-learning platform, with its customised content repository, has received mention. The State has provided online practice tests with detailed analysis for aided and government school students preparing for the NEET entrance test.
The QR code provision in books and over 14,000 resources for Classes 1 to 12 in both Tamil and English medium are available online. Students can also access over 500 science experiments and over 1,000 videos related to the curriculum. A cascading WhatsApp network daily enables students to revise course content in smaller chunks.
For teachers too, professional development courses are offered. They are expected to contribute and a repository of content is built. Contributing teachers are also recognised for their efforts through digital certificates, the report said.