Education technology (EdTech) has been a central focus of states’ efforts to enhance the quality of education for over a decade. With the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 emphasizing the integration of technology into education, this policy is not just a guideline but a vision for the future of India’s education system. In the fiscal year 2023-24, under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), state governments allocated around ₹4600 crores to equip nearly 80,000 schools with the necessary technology, including hardware, software, and digital content. However, simply providing digital tools is not enough. It is crucial to have a strategic approach to ensure that EdTech enhances both access to digital resources and improves learning outcomes.
A well-defined approach to EdTech adoption includes four key steps:
- Problem Articulation – Identifying the specific educational challenges that need to be addressed.
- Research-backed Technologies – Selecting technologies that have proven to be effective based on evidence and research.
- Solution Design – Creating the right mix of content and software tailored to the identified needs.
- Capacity Building – Strengthening states’ ability to implement and manage digital initiatives.
While EdTech adoption can be a transformative force, it is important to remember that technology is a means to an end, not the end itself. A strategic, research-based approach to EdTech is essential to select the right tools and methods to address educational challenges effectively.
This is often overlooked. UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report highlights the failure of some EdTech initiatives due to a lack of focus on learning outcomes. For instance, in Peru’s One Laptop Per Child program, over a million laptops were distributed without improving student learning. The primary issue was the focus on device provision rather than the quality of pedagogical integration. Effective EdTech initiatives should be rooted in understanding specific problems through consultations, classroom observations, assessments, and data analysis.
Targeted technological interventions can address issues like low student engagement, limited access to resources, and poor learning levels. For example, Personalised Adaptive Learning (PAL) solutions have proven effective in tailoring educational experiences to individual students’ needs, providing real-time content adjustments that optimize learning outcomes. Despite such evidence, many states still prefer teacher-led solutions like SmartClasses, which have limited proven impact, over student-led approaches like PAL.
In 2018, the Andhra Pradesh government undertook a research-backed initiative to address low learning outcomes, demonstrating how focusing on well-researched solutions can lead to better results.
States often focus too much on hardware procurement, overlooking the importance of solution design. A good solution includes high-quality, curriculum-aligned content and user-friendly software that works seamlessly across devices. States without the expertise to create their own content and software would benefit from exploring off-the-shelf solutions rather than attempting to build in-house systems without the necessary resources.
