The adoption of future technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Augmented Reality lend promise and will drive growth in the education sector, Anil Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) said at the 11th edition of The New Indian Express's ThinkEdu 2023 Conclave in Chennai. He was of the opinion that new-age technologies will play a major role in crafting the curriculum. "We should reach a meeting ground with universities, educators and start-up companies to know how to create technological content," he added.
Speaking at a session titled, 'Into the Future: Adapting to Change,' the Chairman said that discussions about the overarching role of technology and Artificial Intelligence and its influence over people should also include the use of technology for the betterment of the individual, society, nation, and the planet. "To understand how certain technological domains such as rocket engines etc. perform can be easily simulated by Augmented Reality (AR). Learning to learn becomes easier with these technologies," he said.
The Chair of the session, Ravi Shankar, Consulting Editor, Sunday Standard, however, questioned the society's preparedness in adopting this change. "We are technology savvy people. More than 135 crore people have Aadhar card, the number of users of UPI has also increased. Around 40 percent of the population are using digital transactions - everyone from a vegetable vendor in rural areas to the literate high tech areas," he reckoned. "Hence, it wouldn't be difficult to infuse technology into the society," Sahasrabudhe said. He, however, envisaged a problem with the cost of technology that could hinder large scale implementation. "Many of these technologies are expensive. We have been thinking how we can innovate and bring down the cost at the same time," he said.
Youth, AI and the future of education
The chair questioned the ‘brain drain’ of the youth where the young leave the country to secure jobs elsewhere. Anil Sahasrabudhe said, “If you look at statistics from two decades ago, students going abroad for jobs has reduced drastically. Opportunities are opening up in the country...students might be going for higher education,” he said. He augured that many youngsters are now proficient in writing code and are contributing in creating products using Python, Java and C++, languages that are often used in coding.
Even as other aspects of technology and its implementation were discussed, the panelists did emphasize on the need to address the psychological impact of unequal distribution of such opportunity in the rural areas. Ravi Shankar was quick to add, “But technology is a leveller. It is an equaliser. You just need to learn the skill or how to code."
Engaging in a bit of crystalball gazing, the panelists painted a picture of how new-age technologies will impact education. Anil Sahasrabudhe said that AI will be the one of the finest trends in the coming years. “We should look at how technology can bring in life skills. We can look at how stories of Mahabharata and Ramayana that bring morality, ethics, and integrity can be brought to students with animation," he said.
