DIKSHA technology by National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) is a great tripartite platform offering teachers, students, and parents participatory learning material relevant to the prescribed school curriculum. It is a pool of digital infrastructure for promoting growth and development prospects of schools. Its effectiveness is more than just getting the participants connected and offering relevant subject material. It is by and large about how to engage and involve students and improve their lessons with those tools.
When this technology is properly used ( with continuity, consistency, smoothness, and thoughtfulness), teachers, students, and parents not only become more participatory but start taking more control over their own knowledge, skills, and education, too. As a result, they generate better learning outcomes. It brings positive changes in classroom refinements and dynamics thereby promoting smart-learning. Modern techno-rich education under DIKSHA has a dual role. On one hand, it develops skills and knowledge of its participants in general and students in particular. On the other hand, it encourages or stimulates technology.
It is very important to maintain good interaction among its participants who are teachers, students, and parents. If the interaction is not good, it will create bad chemistry between education and technology thereby turning DIKSHA (education) a failure or disappointment. Now, a million-dollar question is what causes such a good interaction? It is not only better communication skills but the knowledge of DIKSHA technology and its benefits too.
If they have good knowledge about the use and benefits of DIKSHA technology (DIKSHA App), their interaction with each other will be good and smooth coupled with good communication skills. And if such knowledge is weak, it will generate weak interaction. But, we must not forget that it is a teacher who ought to highly well versed in the knowledge of technology because he can impart his student guidance and knowledge in a better way alongside offer relevant learning material.
Therefore, skills, particularly communication and technical skills of teachers are very important for not only the capacity building of the students but for the smooth functioning and effectiveness of DIKSHA technology.
Teachers have to make sure that they provide proper skills, particularly technical skills for capacity building of their students because it will create necessary conditions for achieving excellence in digital technology and smart learning.
If the skills, mainly practical skills and communication skills of the students are not well developed, then the basic purpose of any technology is lost. Therefore, the need of the hour is to work upon the development of practical and communication skills of students so that whatever technology is introduced in education it will be effective and useful.
With an interaction with director JKBOSE Dr. Farooq Peer it was brought to my notice that virtual orientation workshop on DIKSHA outreach was organized on 23rd of June 2020 by Directorate of SAMAGRA Shiksha J&K UT on JK-Knowledge Network Platform. In the workshop, stress was laid upon the maximum download and usage of DIKSHA App by the teachers, students, and parents.
Also, it was advised to the CEOs and DIET principals to issue necessary guidelines in this regard so that both students and teachers may be able to get proper benefit from the DIKSHA technology. More workshops and webinars on zoom and online platforms (nowadays very popular) must be conducted by different educational stakeholders so that there will be more outreach of DIKSHA across the country.
Educational heads should support teachers, especially highly skilled teachers who will come forward for creating their own e-learning content to get it uploaded on DIKSHA portal. It is very important to create a WhatsApp group of the DIKSHA participants whose admins should be respectable educated persons of the society such as retired teachers, principals, good researchers, and highly educated youth, etc. They will monitor the teaching-learning process under DIKSHA and offer their valuable suggestions especially with regard to learning material pertinent to the given school curriculum.
Binish Qadri ICSSR Doctoral Fellow pursuing Ph.D. in Economics at Department of Economics, Central University of Kashmir; Quarterly Franklin Member, London Journals Press