siliconindia | | March 20189used in India when Al-Beruni visited the subcontinent in the year 1030 CE. These were technological break-throughs in their days. The inventions in Education Tech-nology have not only changed the didactic experience, but they have also changed the history of the world. Without the invention of paper in China by Cai Lun in 105 CE, one could argue, the history of the world would have taken a different course and we would have found ourselves today in a very different present. In every techno-logical change in the instruments of education, there lies a revolutionary upheaval of the world. A great and posi-tive cataclysmic change now awaits us as we stand at the threshold of yet another educational revolution. From calcium to silicon has been our glorious pro-gress! Smart devices with interactivity levelsaping the human, to computers with memories capable of storing every single book from every library in the world in a single place, have the potential to change the face of edu-cation, and how it is imparted. The major innovations to take place in the classroom began with the replacement of the blackboard with the projector and the projection screen. In India, video-based learning has gained in prom-inence with the rise of projectors. In an article entitled `6 Technology Trends that are Pushing up Digital Educa-tion in India' published in Indiatoday.in, we are told that by the end of 2018, video-based lectures will rise by 80 percent. Storability of lectures and the access to it by stu-dents across the globe are making the harrowing prob-lem of pupil-teacher ratio a thing of the past. Free avail-ability of lectures from top-notch universities on online platforms like Coursera and EdX, which today boast of more than 1.5 million Indian users, has played a semi-nal role in the democratization of education in the world. An achievement which the traditional pen-and-paper state of Education Technology could not have imagined. Ad-vancements in audio-visual technology and the innova-tions in the techniques of their universal dissemination have greatly impacted, and even encouraged, Online Distance Educa-tion in India which according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (2014-15) conducted by the HRD Ministry ac-counts for 11.7 percent of Indian students. Smart devices, from mobile phones, iPads and palmtops to the trendiest new readers by Amazon and Kobo, are fast replacing paper books from the hands of students. The number of trees this has saved, and is likely in the future to save, is itself a great consolation to contemplate! Audio-learning initiatives from founda-tions like LibriVox and Audible and their integration with learning institutions at the school and university levels is bound to bring into the fold visually disadvantaged stu-dents in the near future.The future impact of technology in the Indian Educa-tion sector is not easy to foresee. The rise of technology means the increase of tools for learning at the hands of distant and regular students, whether abled or differently abled. Interactive Screens, Virtual Reality simulators, Screen-Casting devices and software applications like Learning Management System (LMS), Learning Record Store (LRS) and others have already sunk their teeth in the Indian educational system. Virtual Reality technology is predicted to make headways in the teaching of Archi-tecture, BioEngineering, Civil Engineering, Mining, and Molecular Genetics by augmenting both the grasp and love of the students for the subjects. A virtual simulation of a DNA strand, for instance, can have the same effect of direct experience that the Hubble Telescope gives of the starry heavens above. Enterprising new startups in this field like Trimensions and GazeMatic are making the ubiquitous availability of VR a very near possibility. Change in Educational Technology is a harbinger of a greater and wider civilizational change. Developments in the methods of learning and the distribution of knowledge send ripple-effects across the entire society and culture. As we stand on the shores of the immediate future, we can see a huge tidal wave covering the horizon, heading our way, ready to sweep away everything about us and to build anew a world entirely unforeseen. Universal educa-tion, integration of different teaching techniques, learning as per convenience, an enriched learning experience for one and all, the removal of all barriers of time and space to learning ­ these we must expect, and for these we must work. The inventions in Education Technology have not only changed the didactic experience, but they have also changed the history of the worldDr. Sarika Lidoria
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