BHUBANESWAR: Taking the concept of smart classrooms a step ahead, the state government has initiated measures for establishment of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual classrooms and digital assessment system in over 5,000 schools across secondary and higher secondary level.

Sources in the School and Mass Education (SME) department said the Odisha School Education Programme Authority (OSEPA) has initiated steps for implementation of the move in 5,370 government and government-aided schools to facilitate geographically and financially-disadvantaged students in accessing advanced learning in government schools.

An official from the department said the primary objective of the project is to make students learn the concepts faster and in efficient ways with the help of engaging digital contents and AI technology. As per the department’s plan, the AI-powered virtual classrooms will be set up in 5,370 schools and integrated with four main broadcasting studios in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack and eight regional studios in four zonal headquarters across the state.

The main and regional broadcasting studios will facilitate remote interactive learning for the students and share digital content in both Odia and English languages for all classes from VI to XII as teacher support resource, while the virtual classrooms with AI-integrated interactive panel will help students access these contents and facilitate them to learn from state-level experts via virtual mode. School teachers will also be able to deliver live classes from anywhere on their desktop, laptop and smartphone.

On the other hand, the digital assessment platform will help in detecting realtime attention level of the students, offer insights on realtime students’ participation and help teachers monitor the academic progress of the students in a more efficient manner. OSEPA will also use the AI and digital assessment system for teacher training, extra-curricular courses, skill development etc.

As a majority of rural regions in the state lack internet connectivity, sources said around 50 per cent of the schools will be provided BharatNet or Fibernet connectivity, while in the remaining schools, satellite connectivity will be established to provide reliable and high-uptime connections, ensuring access even in the most remote areas.

Edge AI will be used to process data locally on devices for speed and offline function and to reduce privacy risk. The project will be implemented in compliance with regulations including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Further, to maintain students’ privacy, the application to be developed for the purpose will generate an avatar for each student and no photographs will be used in any reports even in the local dashboards meant for the class teachers.

This story is reported by Sudarsan Maharana of The New Indian Express.