From the land of Vedas
By: Utkarsha Malkar
Tags: Indian Education System, Pandemic, Education, Education Reform, Virtual Education

AI enables a new knowledge landscape in India

Pic credit: pexels-agung-pandit-wiguna-3401403

As the world undergoes many rapid changes in what seems to be a new world order due to the pandemic. Many changes are welcome as a breath of fresh air and many are yet fall in place. July 29'- 2020 was historic in the Indian Education ecosystem as after almost three decades, NEP (National Education Policy ) was launched amidst much anticipation.

In a bid to ramp up digital learning, a National Educational Technology Forum (NETF) would be created. E-courses will be developed in eight regional languages initially along. with virtual labs.

The new Education Policy lays particular emphasis on the development of the creative potential of each individual. It is based on the principle that education must develop not only cognitive capacities — both the ‘foundational capacities ’of literacy and numeracy and ‘higher-order’ cognitive capacities, such as critical thinking and problem-solving — but also social, ethical, and emotional capacities and dispositions.

Communication Designer Sanyukta Mathure -ISDI Parsons (AIML |A Whole New World) identifies the gaps in the current situation where there is lack of after school assistance for online education, a lack of personalised feedback and assistance for well being on all fronts and lack of data collection based on behavioural issues.

Case study: Innovative Schools Union (ISU)

ISU uses the ISU App for all their schools (ISDI, ISME, ISDI WPP). It is used for marking attendance, scheduling classes, faculty reviews and fee management. During the pandemic, they have transitioned into a completely virtual education system. They wish to make this transition smooth and hassle-free for their students while overcoming the challenges posed by a lack of physical interactions.

The success of online education may even encourage educational institutions to continue a hybrid model of teaching even after the pandemic ends. This will enable them to have a global reach towards education without being bothered by physical limitations.

However, interpersonal interactions between faculty and their students have always been an important part of education. Virtual interactions do not have the same personal touch as they had in the pre-pandemic days. It is challenging for the teachers to understand their students’ problems, mental wellbeing and any issues they may be facing on all fronts, during these challenging times.

Proposed Solution: A digital platform that dives deeper into the psyche of a student to understand the reasons behind their absenteeism and provides automatic assistance after collecting relevant data.

Sanyukta Mathure — Communication Design -ISDI Parsons (AIML |A Whole New World)

Studying Behavioural Patterns — Gathering Contextual Data — Extend Automated Assistance— Create Collaborative Groups — Monitoring and Moderating

Sanyukta Mathure — Communication Design -ISDI Parsons (AIML |A Whole New World)

Once a student has missed a session, they get a notification directing them to the app, to know the reason behind their absenteeism, based on the data collected over months, the student receives a notification for their monthly analysis.

AI-enables a certain pattern which is noticed in their attendance over months, they are then provided with a suggestion to address the issue, in the form of in-app notifications and further assistance in any form that is suitable.