Digital revolution is fast catching up among state board schoolteachers and now the government has stepped in to maximize its potential academic value and also to streamline 'information overload'. TOI was the first to report earlier this year about how teachers in schools run directly or financially aided by state are leveraging technology to increase the quality of education. Now the education department has brought all e-content generated by teachers under one website where it will be monitored and also updated based on demand.
This e-content is a resource to help teachers augment the curriculum being taught in schools and learn or adapt new teaching methodologies. Almost all of the content has been generated by teachers themselves and is currently available on multiple personal blogs or websites. But now everything is coming under one banner to make it easier for teachers and the education department. The new website https://community.ekstep.in will have all educational resources available for teachers with a mobile app called 'Ekstep Genie' to complement these efforts. The state government will get real time information about which content is being downloaded the most and then decide which areas it needs to generate more. Also there will be discussion groups through which feedback will be taken to update the content.
TOI was the first to report in July about how tech-savvy teachers are voluntarily signing up with the education department offering help. With the help of these teachers, the education department hopes to build an online platform and an immensely powerful knowledge-sharing resource community. Each of these teachers at their local level have formed WhatsApp groups where they discuss teaching methodology and share educational content. TOI also reported about one such group of teachers at Malegaon that started their online Marathi radio station which broadcasts curriculum related content. Some have microblogging sites, some make power point presentations about experimental learning and distribute it freely to others while some share experiences of improving school infrastructure using community resources. Now all these scattered groups have been brought together by the state education department to build a database that is likely to usher in a new era in digital teaching. In the near future the state has plans, with help from central government projects, to make each classroom in Maharashtra a digital one.
