OCCE 2018, Keynote: Amina Charania. This presentation highlights Constructivist use of ICT in education-India story and presents best practices in India in government schools.

1. Authentic and Contextual Learning with ICT for
the most Marginalized Adolescents in India
Amina Charania
Tata Institute of Social Sciences
1

2. 2
India – Land of Diversities
India’s literacy rate is about 74% with a quarter of the population without
basic reading and writing skills.
287 million, or 37% of the world’s illiterate people, are Indian according
to UNESCO.
Country ranks a low 108 out of 144 in the global gender gap report,
World Economic Forum (WEF) 2017
While 22% of Indians fall below poverty line, it has been estimated that
more than half of the nation’s population lack even basic literacy skills.
As per Annual Status of Education Report report 2018, after eight years of schooling only 43% of 14-18 year olds could do simple division; slightly less than half
couldn’t add weights in kilograms; more than 40% couldn’t tell hours and minutes from a clock; 46% didn’t know which city was the capital of India.
78% of out-of-school children are girls who will be calculated as illiterate
women in the next census
Home to thousand year old ornately sculptured temples, the world
famous Taj Mahal, modern skyscrapers.
Geographical, historical and religious influences have weaved the
colorful fabric of Indian culture.
The country has given great scholars like Amartya Sen & Dr. A. P. J.
Abdul Kalam.
Traditions, rituals, art, music and dance, drama, literature, movies,
recreation, sports and cuisine all have their distinct flavors
However, modern India is also a struggling young country, trying to meet
up with the challenges of a staggering population of 1.3 billion.

3. Government Schools in India
The trend of attending government schools has declined over the years and the enrolment in private schools has increased over time…
3
Government
Private
Change in student enrolment in Government
and Private schools (20 States , Mn Students)
2015-16 2010-11
113.08
126.20
65% of children attend
government run and
funded elementary
schools
Private schools bring in status, English medium and better learning outcomes, for quality outcome-although there are mixed findings when it comes to
low paid & low quality private schools.
Students who attend government schools are mostly from the lower socio
economic rung.
As per the RTE ACT, elementary education is free for all children.
Mid-day meal is provided in all government schools which serve as a big
incentive to attend schools.
44.31
61.83
Source: The Private Schooling Phenomenon in India: A Review, IZA Institute of Labor Economics

4. 1986, 1992
National Policy on
Education in India
Policy led to two central
schemes for ICT & Education
launched in 2004.
Schemes focused on
computer learning and
computer aided learning
ICT Status in India
National and International Frameworks in education such as Incheon Declaration, SDG4, National Curriculum Framework and ICT have
reiterated that ICT should be leveraged to ensure that teaching and learning is effective, authentic and contextualized. Policy documents and
guidelines on paper echo global standards and practices in ICT in Education, however, there is a huge gap between policies and reality on
ground…
DigitalDivide
Interest to employ ICT tools
Actual use
Inadequate Infrastructure
2012
ICT Policy in School
Education
Policy focused on developing,
accelerating, supporting and
sustaining ICT and ICT.
Stated that technology should
not only be about learning ICT
but also about developing
knowledge in the core
subjects.
4
Competence of teachers to use
technology
Teachers’ professional
development in integrating ICT
Teacher beliefs about technology use
Access to digital resources
in local languages
“In India and other South Asian Countries, the interest to employ ICT tools and devices in school is high but its actual use is low” - Infodev (2010)

5. ICT Usage Trends in India
Smart
Classes
Digital Literacy
Computer
Aided Learning
OER
Dichotomy of
Platforms Exists
in Schools
5

6. 6
Best Practices

7. Connected Learning Initiative (CLIx)
The connected Learning Initiative is a collaboration between the Tata Trusts, TISS - Mumbai and the MIT - Cambridge to enhance access to
quality education for secondary school students particularly from Government schools, through the thoughtful use of technology.
CLIx supplements the high school curriculum in key areas, namely Digital literacy, Communicative English, Mathematics, the Science subjects of
Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and Value Education. CLIx keeps teachers at the centre of education quality transformation and teacher professional
development is an integral part of CLIx
Collaboration
Authentic
LearnFrom
Mistakes
CLIx
Mapped to curriculum

8. CLIx Learning Impact & Reach
Impact On
• Learning outcomes
• Life skills
• STEM interest and aspirations
• Career access and choices

9. 9
Integrated approach to
Technology in Education

10. Students’
Knowledge
Creation
ITE Approach
10
C
Content
Knowledge
P
Pedagogical
Knowledge
T
Technological
Knowledge
Pedagogical
Content
Knowledge
Technological Pedagogical
Knowledge
Technological
Content
Knowledge
Technological
Pedagogical
Content
Knowledge
Life &
Career
Skills
Life & Innovation
Skills – 4Cs
• Critical Thinking
• Communication
• Creativity
• Collaboration
Information
Media &
Technology
Skills
Core Subjects
– 3Rs and 21st Century Themes
21st Century Skills from Partnership for 21st Century Skills (2011)
Objectives :
• Bridge the digital divide and
foster digital citizenship
• Improve learning and trigger
higher order thinking skills
• Increased interest in learning and
schooling
• Improve teaching pedagogy
Targets :
• Teachers design learning
activities through lesson plans
• Students create learning
artifacts with the help of
technology
• Activities are integrated with the
curriculum
Features of adoption :
• Student agency and creativity are
central
• Language independent
• Organic-teacher designs using
the curriculum
• Works even in the remotest-basic
infrastructure

11. Context & Spread
Uttar Pradesh
Uttaranchal Assam
West Bengal
Jharkhand
Orissa
Maharashtra
Gujarat
Around 33,000
students and 1900
teachers have been
covered under ITE

12. 12
Student Projects

13. Project - Nutrition Metabolism and Digestion

14. Project - The Difference of Rainfall between two states

15. 15
Project - Unemployment and Poverty

16. Project – Sound Change

17. 17
Project – Sound Change

18. 18
Community Project - Rindanga Threatened by the River (Kora)
Student project on
river erosion in their
village, made by
students participating
in Integrated
Technology in
Education project at
Suchana.
The project is made in
the student's first
language, Kora.

19. 19
ITE adoption-
Implementation phases

20. Evolution of the ITE in phases

21. Creation of ITE Vision & Concept (2011-12)
21
ITE was conceptualized
during the process of
writing a conference
paper in 2011
Idea was shared with
Street Survivors and
program leader of the
Sir Dorabji Tata Trusts.
Pilot project was
launched with a grant
from Tata Trusts at
Street Survivors
The ITE project was
launched within the
already supported by
academic coaching
centers
The pilot was successful in
terms of gaining students’
interest & teachers’ ability to
integrate technology in
lesson plans. Quality of
projects was an issue
Students, mostly first
time computer users
were excited and
started creating many
projects
Rigorous training of NGO
teachers was undertaken

22. ITE
Suchana
Vikramshila
Stakeholder Partnership Establishment (2012-13)
22
NGO Initiatives
• Vikramshila Education Resource Society (another
West Bengali NGO) joined with the ITE initiative at
its learning centers in partnership with police and
other community members
• Trusts’ partnership with the Suchana NGO enabled
ITE to be layered into the NGO’s work.
West Bengal
Uttar Pradesh
NGO Initiatives
• NGOs working in madrasas in Uttar Pradesh
reallocated their existing budgets so they could
integrate the ITE into their work
2011-13 : Partnership reached out to 10,000 young people in the state of West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh..
The ITE initiative began spreading via existing Trust partners to other states.
Existing TATA Trust Partners

23. Scaling of ITE (2014-15)
Existing Partners
were asked to work
with government
schools
New Partners became part of ITE which
brought infrastructure competencies
A committee dedicated to ITE was established
within Assam State Government
Memorandum of Understanding was signed
with Assam and West Bengal/district
Government
Trust started using state
level initiatives-UP and
Odisha
71
225
775
2015 2016 2017
Scaling of Schools in
Assam

24. State
Departments
Trinity
College
NGO
Teachers
Government
Teachers
Stakeholder Partnership Consolidation (2016-19)
24
The proposal for the Tata Institute of Social Sciences to convert ITE training into certified courses for government-appointed and NGO teachers
came into practice in the year 2016…
Conducting
research related
to ITE
Capacity building
of all ITE partner
members
implementing ITE
TISS
TATA Trust
ITE Certificate Course
Scaling up of ITE through nested model of Teacher
Professional Development
Each certificate course candidate would prepare 15 more
teachers in the neighborhood schools in the ITE approach and
the TISS team would provide them with technical support in the
blended mode.

25. ITE Smart Partnership retrieved from Leahy et al (2016)
ITE partnerships charted on Davis Arena

26. 26
Certificate Course

27. 27
Need For CPD
Teacher absenteeism, lack of motivation, and lack of appropriate and continuous professional development have been discussed and studied by a few
researchers and agencies (Weiner (1990), Drèze and Gazdar (1997), PROBE (1999), . Kremer et. al, 2005; MHRD, 2007; Sankar, 2007, Muralidharan and
Sundararaman, 2009; Duflo and Hanna, 2005, Pritchett and Murgai, 2007.)
Teachers in India and especially government teachers are perceived as disinterested and unmotivated to update themselves or engage with such CPD
activities (Ramchandran et al 2005 and Bennel and Akyeampong 2007).
One of the studies conducted by Padwad and Dixit (2011) it revealed that that teachers blamed other stakeholders for the lack of opportunities and
support for CPD, while other stakeholders blamed teachers for the lack of initiative and motivation and none of the stakeholders’ indicated strategies
or solutions to move forward and resolve the situation.
Currently teacher professional development for all government teachers per state is assigned 20 days a month with some honorarium to cover food
and travel which is about Rs. 130 to Rs. 200.
These trainings are designed and administered in a top down way, all F2F and often unconnected with another.
One of the concerns listed by NCERT (Chaper 6) clearly mentions that professional development as being one time workshop has not been effective practice
and CPD should be way to go.

28. The Course Design - 4 months blended mode
Face to face Mode (36 hours)
Distance and implementation mode
Criteria for completion
• Discussion on readings and practical issues on
implementation, hands on activities to explore
applications
• 45 hours of implementation on ground and training
others
• 60 hours of working on assignments and participating
on whatsapp forming a community of practice and
use moodle for assignments and reflections
• Attend 100% F2F component
• Participate on online platform
• Completion of two assignments (graded): Lesson
implementation in classroom with students in and
handhold 12 to 15 teachers in the neighbourhood
schools.
• Engage in Online reflections and quizzes (graded)
• Submit a digital portfolio synthesizing their learning
and reflection in the course

29. Face to Face
Training
Sharing
Sessions
Online CoP
Classroom
Implementation
District Level
Training
Course of Activities & Assignments

30. Face to Face Training in Assam & Kolkata

31. Sharing Sessions in Respective Schools

32. Online CoP

33. Classroom Implementation

34. District Level Training
Each master trainer trains at least 15 teachers- contributing to scale for ITE

35. Digital Portfolio & Convocation
- Convocation of Certificate in ICT and Education for School Teachers, Assam was
held at TISS, Guwahati campus on 1st June, 2017
- Prof. S. Parasuraman (Director, TISS), Prof. D.K. Srivastava (Deputy Director,
TISS Guwahati Campus, Guwahati) and Mr. R.C. Jain (Commissioner and
Secretary of Secondary Education Department, Assam) graced the programme.
- 5 distinction participants received ITE shields from Education Minister of Assam
in TISS Guwahati convocation on 31st May, 2017
- Convocation of Certificate in ICT and Education for School Teachers Kolkata
was held at Jagadis Bose National Science Talent Search on 25th November,
2017
- Prof. Shalini Bharat (Deputy Director, TISS Mumbai), Mr. Kartick Ch. Manna
(Chairman, SSM, Kolkata), Dr. Chanda Ray (Director, SCERT, Government of
West Bengal), Mr. Abid Hussain (Director, Directorate of Madrasah) guests
awarded certificates, Grade cards and ITE shields to participants and ITE
facilitators

36. 74 government & 35 NGO teachers have completed certificate course and created an outreach of
900 teachers. 58 teachers are still undergoing certification course.
Certificate in ICT and Education for School Teachers
With SSM, West
Bengal
With West
Bengal Board
of Madrasah
Education
With RMSA,
Assam
With Tibetan
Central
Administration

37. 37
Learning and Challenges of Certificate Course
Mobilizing district level trainings
Sustaining Interest on CoP after the
certification Course
Burn out
ICT Infrastructure for practice
Teacher Digital Literacy

38. 38
Changes and Experiences

39. Project to problem based, ITE as an added to
sole-comprehensive activity (spiral Bloom)
Resources, Computational thinking, use of
OER
Authentic learning and knowledge deepening
Workshop method to Continuous
Professional development, academic
credentials
Implementation experts to developing
pedagogic and ICT competence
District to State Departments
Nested model through certificate course
Trinity Colleges, CLIx/MIT, academicians and
leaders in ICT
Changes over time
39
P
Changes
over
Time
Pedagogy
Newer
areas and
application
Learning
outcomes
redefined
Teacher
Professional
Development
International
collaboration
and projects
Scaling
Strategy
Nature of
Partnership
Nature of
Organizations
Changed

40. 40
Transference in classroom practices
ITE also advertised for school enrollment
Community projects
Support integration of other binaries-Dinni
and Dunyavi
Self agency in teachers and students-
empowerment
Some trends show overall school
improvement-Ganotsav schools
Trajectory of Integration in lessons
State funding and support
Breaking stereotypes of Government teachers
Rewarding Experiences

41. 41
Revelations from Case Studies
Self Agency
I was observing a science class in a school in rural Assam. The teacher
asked a girl to answer a question about electricity and conductors. The
girl was unable to answer the question, which was answered by another
student correctly. The bell rang just a few minutes later and the same
teacher started his ITE class in Biology. Laptops were given to each
group of students and were asked to continue working on the projects
they were making. The girl who was unable to answer the question a few
minutes ago, grabbed the laptop, opened Google and started reading
about the question that she was unable to answer. A few minutes later,
she started explaining to the students next to her as to why she was
unable to answer the question asked before and how she understands
the concept better. This is a clear example of student agency.
- TISS Resourse Team Member
Knowledge Deepening
The students of Dunkuni Sr. Madrasah presented their project on
“Measuring Force and Pressure”; they were asked why they multiplied
mass with 9.8, instead they could have multiplied it with 10 which is
easier. Audience were stunt when an instant replay came that the earth
applies 9.8 Newton force on each 1 kg mass so we calculated it with 9.8.
Further they were asked if it is calculated in moon what will happen. At
once they answered that then the weight will be one sixth that of on earth.
- TISS Resourse Team Member

42. 42
Challenges
High value on content creation by resource agencies-lack of
appreciation for a pedagogic approach
Government system: unpredictability in personnel, admin issues-
money and decisions moved to different departments
Partners financial support: Change in Trusts’ policies and strategies,
affects attrition at organization
Scalable implementation in a particular location is not necessarily
sustainable-Systemic integration-has to enter the fabric of
curriculum and assessment which depends on 100% scale
Infrastructure a huge challenge
Key Challenges

43. 43
Sustaining informal learning centers during scaling was an asset
ITE showcase activities (Mela & Camps) to be used for state buy in
Measurement is very complex and early intervention was required
Energies spent on newer states and partners-but vision not clear for ITE adoption
Focus on government teachers was required much earlier-needed a mix model of TPD right from the start
Lessons Learned

44. 44
Students
and
Teachers
TPACK
21ST Century Skills
Spiral Bloom’s taxonomy
Authentic learning
Student creation-Constructivist approaches,
Project and Problem based learning
Teacher beliefs for ICT adoption-Peggy Ertmer
UNESCO teacher competency-technology
literacy,
Knowledge deepening,
UNESCO Knowledge creation-however non
linear connections
NCF
Frameworks & Concepts in the Sector
Adoption
Davis’ arena
CBAM
Smart Partnerships
Bridging formal and informal
learning through ICT

45. 45
Framework for ICT
Intervention – Learning
from ITE

46. Access to adequate infrastructure in terms of devices, electricity, and some Internet connectivity is available ?
Outsourcing to external vendors has created problems in the past, where the vendors had created their separate space
within the school making unilateral decisions on access and use.
46
Framework for ICT Intervention – Learning from ITE
Learning Design
Type of learning
Role of the teacher
Role of the student
Open Resources
Contextual
Systemic
Adoption
Infrastructural access
Nature of collaboration
Teacher Professional
Development
FrameworkforICTIntervention
Aiming towards deep learning in subjects, higher
computational thinking, authentic or connected
learning ?
Is learning with ICT targeted towards remembering
the content, remedial practice ?
Has the teacher been involved in the design of the
content, media, and pedagogy ?
Is the role of the teacher focused on delivering the
content which is packaged by an outside agency ?
Is technology in their hands and they are actively
engaging with it ? Are students creating their own
learning artifacts ?
Are students mere recipient of the digital content ?
Are they merely responding to the digital media and
content ?
Their usage is restricted due to accessibility,
language, context, licensing or infrastructure ?
Whether ICT tools and resources are accessible,
free and open to be adapted and reused ?
Whether the ICT intervention is situated and
adapted to the local context ?
Public private partnerships are crucial to make meaningful ICT integration in education for the government schools.
Civil societies plays an important role in bringing all stakeholders come together and implement an ICT intervention.
Multi-stakeholder partnership is the key to scaling ICT intervention.
Tie-up with an academic institute would be ideal as ICT in Education has to go beyond a particular intervention or tool.
Continuous professional development along with credentials to generate interest is necessary.
OR
Its not innovative if its not working on ground
Integration in pedagogy & system

47. 47
Research & Impact Trends

48. Assam Study - 8 Schools
Method
• Observations
• Interviews
• Focus Group
Discussion
Participants
• ITE & Non
ITE teachers
• Headmasters
• Students
• Facilitators
Tools
• ITE Classes
• Lesson plans
• Students
projects
Trends Identified:
 Before ITE - No concept of authentic learning and 21st
century skills
 “…backbenchers” motivated & interested.
 Confidence building & presentation skills
 Creativity
 Real world application in class
 Problem based learning
 Research skills develop
 Group work
 Exposure & interactions with local community
 Change in teaching methods
 Transference effect in non ITE classes
“Students apply,
read and research.
They have taken
their learning into
their own hands.”
-ITE facilitator
“In normal classes our teaching
methods are outdated. In ITE there
is creativity and analysis and no
rote learning. I am now motivated
to learn more ICT myself and do
better and go further.”- ITE teacher
“I can find information about
every corner of the world.”
-Student
“I am able to speak
in Hindi because of
ITE.” ITE Teacher

49. Student Assessment Tool
Class Find your weight in different planets
VI- VII
Find the Muslim population in Bardhwan, Birbhum
and Hoogly (any three districts of their own states)
and compare it with the total population of those
districts in spreadsheet
VI-VII
Find the marriage age of parents of all the students
in your class and calculate average using
spreadsheet
VIII-IX
Find the temperature of last week of your city/village
from the internet and compare it using spreadsheet
Digital literacy indicator Scale
Can start a computer 1-no, 2- with difficulty, 3-with ease
Can surf internet
1-no, 2- with difficulty, 3-with ease
Can fill an online form
1-no, 2- with difficulty, 3-with ease
Student Assessment Tool
Authentic learning and digital literacy of students significantly improved
over a period of one year-from pre to post
Digital citizenship (identified through self-report questions- can fill
online form, can apply for PAN card etc) has not improved for all
organizations but the ones who directly provides opportunities

50. Teacher Survey Questionnaires
Teacher use of
technology in the
classroom
•Use of computers in the classroom significantly increased (t= -3.293, p<0.000) from pre-test (M= 2.3, SD=0.7493) to post-test (M= 2.8, SD= 0.5013)
•Browsing internet to collect teaching materials increased (t=-2.647, p<0.01) from pre-test (M=2.3, SD=0.65) to post-test (M=2.826, SD=0.3)
Teacher digital
literacy and digital
citizenship
•Usage of E-mail significantly increased (t=-2.647, p<0.01) from pre-test (M=1.87, SD=0.86) to post-test (M=2.3, SD=0.70)
•Teachers checking government websites increased (t=-3.148, p<0.01) from pre-test (M=1.91, SD=0.91) to post-test (M=2.34, SD=0.92)
•Filling online forms increased (t=-2.077, p<0.05) from pre-test (M=1.91, SD=0.84) to post-test (M=2.34, SD=0.77)
Teacher beliefs on
ICT integration in
the classroom
•ICT integration is valuable for teachers significantly increased from (t=-1.281, p<0.01) pre- test (M=3.36, SD=0.48) to post-test (M=3.52, SD=0.58)
•“ICT integration can improve student learning” has increased (t=3.098, p<0.000) significantly from pre-test (M=1.72, SD=.67) to post-test (M=1.32,
SD=0.55)
•“ICT integration can improve classroom instruction” significantly increased (t=-4.09, p<0.01) from pre (M=3.12, SD=0.43) to post (M=3.6, SD=0.5)
Teacher survey questionnaire tool was developed by the ITE resource team to understand teacher opinions and perspectives
on access and use of technology, teacher digital literacy and citizenship, teacher beliefs on ICT integration in the classroom
and perceived difficulties in integrating ICT

51. 15 Master Trainers from Assam who completed the ICT in Education certificate course were interviewed during the period of
the course to understand their opinions, value attached, learning's and challenges of the course.
11 out of 15 teachers
mentioned that they were able
to integrate technology better in
the classrooms after the course
by using TPACK and 21st
century skills in their lesson
plans
7 out of 15 teachers mentioned
that they are using more
activity and project-based
learning in the classroom with
real-life application
12 out of 15 teachers said that
working with Moodle has been
a very new and enriching
experience
Value
10 out of 15 teachers reported
that student interest and
participation have increased
significantly during the
implementation of their lesson
plans, when students did
projects and activities in groups
9 out of 15 teachers reported
that their teaching methods
changed after the course
8 out of 15 teachers mentioned
that they started giving more
activities using technology to
their students in the classroom
Transference
5 out of 15 teachers mentioned
that the duration for F2F
training has to be increased
5 out of 15 teachers mentioned
that they need more help in
working with Moodle
9 out of 15 teachers mentioned
that their implementation of
lesson plan suffered time
delays due to lack of ICT
infrastructure in the classroom
Challenges
Teacher Interviews

52. Future Steps
A ITE case-
study book
More robust
student
assessment
Disseminate
courses through
online platforms
at scale
Integration of
ITE at pre –
service
Integration of
ITE in
curriculum and
assessment

53. Upcoming research
Thank
You