New mechanism of learning English in government schools

A small but growing number of cos using tech-driven solutions to assist teachers, improve learning

In a quiet classroom, class six students follow the cursor on their digitised textbook on a large projector facing them in a government school in Delhi. Deepa reads the text, slowly and with emphasis on every word. Whenever the class encounters a difficult word, she slows down. When the cursor is dragged to the word, she opens a visual dictionary on the screen, showing the students what it means. She also pauses to allow the students to read the text aloud after her. But Deepa is not a person - it's a "neutral" South Asian voice that education technology company English Helper (EH) uses across India as a digital teaching aid in government classrooms.

Using a patented technology that converts text into voice, and with two human editors to oversee the process, EH can digitise a 100-page textbook in a week.

Swift scaling-up

"Once the technology and the digital infrastructure are in place, we can scale up at speeds that traditional educational interventions can't dream of," says EH's CEO, Sanjay Gupta. In Maharashtra, for example, from 125 government schools, EH was able to reach 3,720 in mere weeks. Learning outcomes have improved significantly: A 2016 assessment of 12 schools in Aurangabad by independent agency Grey Matters shows that reading comprehension among students almost doubled after a year of implementation of the EH program.

At $1 per child per annum (standardised across the world), EH has accelerated from 300 to 6,000 schools across nine states in one year. Now, it is setting its sights higher: "We could take less than three months to intervene in all the 150,000 Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled government schools across the country," Gupta prophesies.

English Helper shows how smart technologies can transform the Indian education sector, which is churning out batch after batch of unemployable educated youths out of sync with a rapidly globalising job market that's intimately connected to the internet.

"The challenge in India right now is to offer good-quality education to a huge number of people in a very short time," says Venkat Srinivasan, author of The Intelligent Enterprise in the Era of Big Data (2016). "Artificial intelligence technologies can provide teaching aids as well as give students (regardless of where they are) access to top quality learning materials in tune with their level of learning and learning styles."

He should know. Srinivasan founded Rage Frameworks in the US (recently bought over by Genpact) which develops Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for different industrial sectors. He also founded EH in India, in the belief that intelligent technologies have the potential of democratising education and standardising the quality of teaching across schools.

"AI can automate basic classroom activities like assessment, leaving the teacher with much more time to motivate students and facilitate their learning," he says. "And of course, it can provide students access to the latest study materials, making them global learners."

Growing numbers

Today, there is a small but growing number of companies using technology-driven solutions to assist teachers and improve learning outcomes among students in India's government schools. In 2007, Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services IL&FS launched K-Yan, a single-wire computer with internet connectivity, a projector, a multimedia device in 35,000 government and private schools.

The device is pre-loaded with educational materials and converts any wall into a smart projector screen and even a blackboard. A report published in Case Studies on e-Governance in India (2013-14) found that after the introduction of K-Yan in rural schools in West Bengal, student learning outcomes and school attendance improved discernibly. Moreover, teachers said that they were able to cover the syllabus faster with all the hi-tech help that K-Yan provided. This was Phase One.

In June, IL&FS Education and Technology Services unveiled Phase Two - the next-gen educational app Geneo, which gives students access to curated digital content from multiple sources with continuous assessments and round-the-clock mentor support. What sets it apart from the plethora of learning solutions in the market like Meritnation, Byjus, and more, is that the app is adaptive. The assessments allow the app to deduce how much, and how fast the user is learning.

"Depending on each user's learning patterns, the app adapts itself to throw forth more complex ideas, or explain the basics in greater detail," RCM Reddy, managing director of IL&FS Education and Technology Services, explains. "Not only will the app take learning out of the classroom and into the cloud, it will adapt to user needs and ensure that their learning is comprehensive." Startups like Hyderabad-based Next Steps are offering assessment solutions that allow apps to tailor themselves to their users.

The question of the hour is whether Deepa, and other computer-generated voices, can ever replace teachers. The answer, as of now, is a resounding NO. Reddy envisions Geneo as a product that students can use to supplement what they learn in school. Also, teachers control the K-Yan in the classroom, deciding how they want to use it. "For us, the teacher will always be at the centre of the learning universe," he says.

EH's Right to Read pedagogy is also designed as a teaching aid, not a replacement for the teacher. Srinivasan, however, adds a caveat: "Teachers will have to rethink their roles in the classroom, keeping in mind the fact that their students may not remain dependent upon them for educational content," he says. "They will in future, need constant training to stay relevant and enable their students to ask the right questions, instead of providing all the answers themselves."

Indeed, digital teacher-training platforms are coming up, like the American India Foundation's (AIF's) Digital Equalizer Programme, which trains teachers in use of technology, and Google Educators Group, which facilitates online learning groups of teachers. Another company, Beyond Teaching, offers several online courses and forums for teachers to upgrade their skills. Their motto? No teacher left behind?

Given that the 2016 Union Budget has pledged funds to connect 60 million rural households through 'digital highways' in the next three years, implementing smart, intelligent technologies in schools will perhaps become easier. The extent of their impact remains to be seen, but one thing is for sure. Boring old-fashioned classrooms are in for a makeover.
 

How K-YAN is changing education as we know it 
 

A study published by the National Institute for Smart Government on the impact of IL&FS’s K-YAN in select West Bengal schools shows the following results:

• 98% of schools surveyed reported the quality of teaching improved after implementing K-YAN Classroom group activities increased from 67% to 78% as teachers were able to complete the syllabus before time.
• 48.52% teachers felt they became more confident in class.
• 57% teachers organised special competitions or tests based on K-YAN lessons.