Business Standard | English Language
Computers in the Classroom
Does technology have a role to play in improving learning outcomes for children in government schools in India? Evidence from Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidyalaya, Delhi, suggests that the answer is yes! Children from class VI have had their English language textbooks digitized and the content appears on the screen in front of them.
What makes this classroom unusual is the enthusiastic class participation. All 35 hands go up whenever the teacher asks a question. “To think that when these students joined this school last year, some couldn’t even write their names in Hindi,” says Sunita Sharma, the principal. “But ever since they began learning English using the computer under the RightToRead initiative, their reading and comprehension levels have improved substantially.”
As of February 2016 assessment of the impact of the RightToRead initiative, conducted across 12 sample schools in Aurangabad district by independent agency Grey Matters, shows that English reading comprehension among students almost doubled after a year of implementation. “This is the impact that technology integrated with curriculum can have on learning outcomes,” says Sanjay Gupta, CEO of EnglishHelper. Since 2013, when the initiative was launched, they’ve partnered with American India Foundation and IL&FS Education, who provide infrastructural support for the program.
As of now, USAID is sponsoring much of the RightToRead initiative. It is currently operational in over 5,000 schools spread across nine states and impacts about one million children. “In the years ahead, we plan to impact schools in most states in India,” says Gupta.
To know more about the RightToRead initiative and the impact it has had on students and teachers in governments schools, click on the link below.
The original article has been written and published by the Business Standard:
http://www.business-standard.com/article/specials/computers-in-the-classroom-117012701292_1.html
(January 2017)
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