I was recently invited to present some of my thinking (about TEL) to the Indian National Conference on the use of Technology in Higher Education. The event was organised on behalf of the Government of India ‘Ministry of Human Resource Development’ and the ‘Planning Commission Government of India’. My invitation came from the British Council (India)
A fascinating two days with a number of highlights. There is clearly much interest in TEL in India and also (amongst the delegates and presentations) a significant interest in flipped classroom and MOOCs.
What was striking was the Indian Government’s significant drive and investment to support education and notably to support education through TEL. Quite simply I doubt you could build HE institutions quick enough to cater for the growth and existing scale of HE in India. MOOCs, for instance, were discussed out of necessity for reach.
Whilst I struggled to understand and relate to their issues of scale, there were a number of conversations about which we too are concerned. Such included…
- The use of content and the constraints relating to use, re-use and copyright.
- The ways in which we need to develop our curricular to embrace the benefits that TEL can bring.
- Students’ expectations of their educational experience and the possible tension between what they might want and how we might move to blended learning without compromising the importance of student-centricity.
- The need for faculty to be versed in their subject, pedagogy and technology awareness. The subject of which I wrote about previously.
They are not blinkered to the scale of work and learning that lies ahead of them (as a national endeavour) but frankly we could learn a lot from their work to date as well as learn from what they are planning to achieve. I wish them all the very best of success.
In closing the conference, the Government Secretary for Higher Education, notes this [the countrywide venture in TEL] is “so innovative it is scary”. Moreover he observes, this is “Central to the growth of the economy”. A significant reinforcer for the importance of education and TEL.
My trip was a fascinating experience and I will now keep a watchful eye on their developments and achievements.
Prof. Mark Russell
Director of Technology Enhanced Learning
Head of the Centre for Technology Enhanced Learning
