INTRODUCTION:

The Digital Education is the innovative use of digital tools and technologies during teaching and learning, and is often referred to as Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) or e-Learning. Exploring the use of digital technologies gives educators the opportunity to design engaging learning opportunities in the courses they teach, and these can take the form of blended or fully online courses and programmes (The University of Edinburgh (2023)). However, digital education is an evolving area which is primarily concerned with the teaching learning-process using digital medium.

This has evolved from activities such as sharing of text resources and students submitting assignments online to availability of various types of content such as audio, video and multimedia resources. The continuous advancement in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and the internet (with virtually unlimited supply of digital resources) has made multiple modes of digital education possible (PRAGYATA: Guidelines for Digital Education (2023), p.2).

Elizabeth R.Kazakoff says technology in the classroom takes many forms from the crayons to the books to electronic white boards. All these tools are technology. Digital Technology tools such as desktop computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, digital and video cameras, electronic white boards, mobile phones, and software tools have been using in the higher education sector in India. These Digital Technologies are evolving rapidly in India. When used appropriately, digital tools have the power to create personalized learning experiences for students, assist teachers in managing daily tasks, and teach digital literacy skills for use in future careers. Digital Technologies in the classroom come in many shapes and sizes with varying computational power. Educators may be managing the hardware (e.g. laptops, desktops, digital cameras) or software (e.g. word processing programs, applications, games) or likely both. Some classrooms may even have digital building tools such as robotics kits. Digital Technologies in particular online video technology have led to a new approach to classroom teaching referred as the flipped classroom. In the flipped classroom, the students view course materials, typically prerecorded video lectures produced or curated by the teacher before arriving in class (Elizabeth R.Kazakoff (2015), p.255)).

Erstad viewed that a distinction is traditionally made between orality and literacy with the latter being defined as reading and writing. In recent years, there has been an interest in how traditional conceptions of literacy change due to new Digital Technologies. An important point is that technology literacy and fluency changes over time due to socio cultural processes (Erstad (2010), p.35). M.Bakia says that internet based education is referred to by multiple terms including online learning, e-learning, cyber learning and web based learning. Internationally and particularly in developing countries, the term open schooling is also used. Although open schooling traditionally relies on radio, television and correspondence technologies. Internet based resources are increasingly common as internet access expands around the world. More recently, the term Open Educational Resources (OERs) is being used to represent content tools and software that are freely available on the web for educational purposes. These terms are used some what interchangeably both within the education community and in the text that follows (M.Bakia(2010),p.102).

Higher education and to a lesser extent the corporate training industry were principal drivers of online learning starting in the mid 1990s as internet access began to take hold in many places around the world. The example of just one university in US demonstrates the impact that internet based educational resources can have internationally. In 2000, the MIT made core content such as syllabi, reading lists and video based lectures available freely on the web. Since then 90 universities and colleges from 14 countries have adopted or adapted MIT’s resources for local use (M.Bakia(2010),p.102).

Chris Dede and Eamon Kelly says that rapid advances in information technology have reshaped the learning styles of many students. For example, the Web, by its nature, rewards comparing multiple sources of information that are individually incomplete and collectively inconsistent. This induces learning based on seeking, sieving, and synthesizing, rather than on assimilating a single "validated" source of knowledge as from books, television, or a professor lecturing (lecturing (Chris Dede and Eamon Kelly(2005),p.10). Tinmaz has suggested that a connected network offers the potential for ‘learners to increase their capacities, performances, and levels of knowledge while creating and reforming the information’ and that social networking technologies ‘have a superior potential to enrich learners’ current knowledge, skills, and abilities’. A connected network might, therefore, be a vital part of what Brown, Dehoney and Millichap (2015) term the ‘next generation digital learning environment (NGDLE)’ to come after the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)( Eileen Kennedy, Tim Neumann, Steve Rowett and Fiona Strawbridge (2017),p.189).

The concept of accessibility means the quality of being able to be reached or entered. According to Cambridge dictionary, it means the fact of being able to be reached or obtained easily and it also defined as the quality of being able to be entered or used by everyone, including people who have a disability(Accessibility(2023)).The concept of inclusive means including all the services or items normally expected or required. It aiming to provide equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those having physical or intellectual disabilities or belonging to other minority groups. According to Cambridge dictionary, it means an inclusive group or organization tries to include many different types of people and treat them all fairly and equally (Inclusive(2023)).

While digital or online education cannot replace classroom learning, it has some advantages. It allows flexible and personalized learning at the speed of the learner and one can continuously augment and expand content through digital means. The rapid increase in internet penetration and various government initiatives such as Digital India campaign have created a conducive environment for moving towards digital higher education (PRAGYATA: Guidelines for Digital Education (2023),p.1).

The availability of digital infrastructure such as computer, laptop, smartphone etc are very important for the smooth functioning of digital higher education system in India. No digital device and no internet connection, very poor network coverage or no internet at all means digital education system faces accessibility and inclusive problem in order to attain the digital higher education. The vastness and diversity of India is reflected in the scale at which higher education operates in the country, which is characterized by geographical, socio-cultural and linguistic diversity. Therefore, decentralised planning and implementation is advisable for the digital education system to work, keeping in view the ground realities of each State and Union Territory (presently India is divided into 28 states and 8 UTs). Depending upon the availability of ICT infrastructure, one can choose an appropriate mode for implementing necessary internet based digital higher education in India.

Ramakrishna Ramaswamy says that the discussions on the challenges that face the Indian higher education scenario inevitably focus on the issues of access, equity within the constraints posed by our demography. The large and very heterogeneous numbers of potential students that need to be addressed, and the range of skills that need to be imparted are practically and logistically overwhelming, given the state of the infrastructure available, the funding that is given to the higher education sector at this time, and the linguistic and social diversity of our population (Ramakrishna Ramaswamy (2014),p.27).

The internet is a great equaliser, and the easy availability of both information and instruction has been making inroads in the Indian educational system. An important step has been the setting up of the National Mission on Education through Information Communication Technology (NMEICT) and the ambitious National Knowledge Network (NKN), that aims to connect as many of the educational establishments in India as possible. Already the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) have made a significant advance in making instruction in a variety of technical subjects widely available through the National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL). The NKN is itself used in real time for the sharing of lectures among institutions that have a similar structure, like the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research that have common courses courses (Ramakrishna Ramaswamy (2014),p.29).

The MHRD (renamed as Ministry of Education) has the e-Pathashala programme whereby lectures in a wide range of subjects are being prepared for online transmission for higher education purpose. While these are welcome developments, it should be added that there has been little research into how this form of distance instruction could be made effective so as to have the outcomes that are desired. For the most part these courses tend to be a video version of the standard classroom lectures (Ramakrishna Ramaswamy (2014),p.29).

ICT Public Policy initiatives of union Ministry of Education for Digital Higher Education in India:

The following are the major Information and communication technology (ICT) public policies initiatives of the union Ministry of Education for implementing an accessible and inclusive digital higher education purpose in India are analysed below.

1) Swayam:

SWAYAM is a programme initiated by Government of India and designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy such as access, equity and quality. The objective of this effort is to take the best teaching learning resources to all, including the most disadvantaged. Swayam seeks to bridge the digital divide for students who have hitherto remained untouched by the digital revolution and have not been able to join the mainstream of the knowledge economy. This is done through an indigenous developed IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time. The respective learner can choose from hundreds of his or her respective courses. All the courses are interactive, prepared by the best teachers in the country and are available, free of cost to the residents in India. More than 1,000 specially chosen faculty and teachers from across the Country have participated in preparing these courses (https://ugcmoocs.inflibnet.ac.in/index.php/swayam).

The courses hosted on SWAYAM will be in 4 quadrants such as (1) video lecture, (2) specially prepared reading material that can be downloaded/printed (3) self-assessment tests through tests and quizzes and (4) an online discussion forum for clearing the doubts. Steps have been taken to enrich the learning experience by using audio-video and multi-media and state of the art pedagogy and technology (https://ugcmoocs.inflibnet.ac.in/index.php/swayam). In order to ensure that best quality content is produced and delivered, nine National Coordinators have been appointed. They are such as:

1. AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) for self-paced and international courses

2. NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning) for Engineering

3. UGC (University Grants Commission) for non technical post-graduation education

4. CEC (Consortium for Educational Communication) for under-graduate education

5. NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) for school education

6. NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) for school education

7. IGNOU (Indira Gandhi National Open University) for out-of-school students

8. IIMB (Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore) for management studies

9. NITTTR (National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research) for Teacher Training programme

The courses delivered through SWAYAM are available free of cost to the learners, however learners wanting a SWAYAM certificate should register for the final proctored exams that come at a fee and attend in-person at designated centres on specified dates. Eligibility for the certificate will be announced on the course page and learners will get certificates only if this criteria is matched. Universities and colleges approving credit transfer for these courses can use the marks and certificate obtained in these courses for the same(https://swayam.gov.in/about). The UGC has already issued the UGC (Credit Framework for online learning courses through Swayam) Regulation 2016 advising the Universities to identify courses where credits can be transferred on to the academic record of the students for courses done on Swayam. The AICTE has also put out gazette notification in 2016 and subsequently for adoption of these courses for credit transfer(https://swayam.gov.in/about).

The main objective of the Swayam is to provide Massive Open Online Courses(MOOC). The students and researchers earn credit through these online courses(https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives). However, the Swayam has the following benefits such as1)Best-in-Class Instructors. So, through this empowering the learners with knowledge and skills,2)Weekly Assignments. This ensuring the learnersprogress in timely manner, 3) Proctored exams are channelized through Swayam authorized partners, 4) Easy Credit Transfer, which will complementing the learners academic program,5)Active Local Chapters for enhancing effectiveness of MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses), and 6)Systematic Approach, which will be enabling the learners towards desired learning goals(https://swayam.gov.in/).

2) Swayam Prabha:

The Swayam Prabha is a group of 40 Direct To Home (DTH) channels such as Vageesh, Sanskriti, Prabodh, Saaraswat, Prabandhan, Vidhik, Vyas-UGC and so on devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programmes on 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite. Its main objective is view digital courses on TV. Every day, there will be new content for at least 4 hours which would be repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience. The channels are uplinked from BISAG-N, Gandhinagar. The contents are provided by IITs, UGC, CEC, IGNOU. The INFLIBNET Centre maintains the web portal(https://www.swayamprabha.gov.in/index.php/about). The DTH Satellite TV is the best medium to reach out to the wider population of India. Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi had envisaged this and suggested to use DTH medium for wider dissemination of education. The audio and video e-content is provided to the learners under this Swayam Prabha(https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives).

3) National Digital Library:

To make available to the learners community learning resources through a single-window, National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT) has sponsored the National Digital Library of India (NDLI) project and arranged funding through Ministry of Education. Educational materials available from Primary to Postgraduate levels. Educational materials available for all subject areas like Technology, Social Science, Literature, Law, Medical, etc. All types of resources, such as Books, Audio Books/Lectures, Video lectures, Lecture Presentations/Notes, Simulations, Question Papers, Solutions, etc. available in this National Digital Library of India(one library all of India). Huge volume of educational materials authored by large number of authors available. Content of all languages available. User interface available in widely used Indian languages. This library integrates contents from Institutional Digital Repositories of large number of Indian Educational and Research institutions. The students and researchers can access e-content on multiple disciplines. This library materials useful to the candidates for studying the various tests preparation purpose such as IIT-JEE and NEET, Joint Admission Test for Masters(JAM), Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering(GATE),National Eligibility Test(UGC-NET), and career development and recruitment (https://ndl.iitkgp.ac.in/).

4) e-PG Pathshala:

The e-PG Pathshala is an initiative of the MHRD(name changed as Ministry of Education) under its National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT) being executed by the UGC. This is a gateway for e-books upto PG. The students and the researchers can get free books and curriculum-based e-content. The content and its quality being the key component of education system, high quality, curriculum based, interactive e-content in 70 subjects across all disciplines of social sciences, arts, fine arts and humanities, natural and mathematical sciences(https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/Home).

Its covers three initiatives such as E-Adhyayan(E-Books), UGC-MOOCs(Online Courses) and e-Pathya(Offline Access). The E-Adhyayan(E-Books), which is a platform to provide 700+ e-Books for the Post-Graduate Courses. All the e-Books are derived from e-PG Pathshala courses. It also facilitates play-list of video content. The UGC-MOOCs is another MHRD initiatives, which is one of vertical to produce course on Post Graduate subjects in SWAYAM (Online Courses). UGC is one of the national coordinator of SWAYAM & INFLIBNET is technical partner for UGC-MOOCs(https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/Home).The e-Pathya(Offline Access) is also one the verticals of e-PG Pathshala, which is software driven course and content package that facilitates students pursuing higher education (PG level) in distance learning as well as campus learning mode. it also facilitate offline access(https://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/Home).

5)e-ShodhSindhu:

It deals with the e-journals. The students and researchers can get access to full text e-resources(https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives). It provides access to e-resources to Universities, Colleges and centrally funded technical institutions in India(https://ess.inflibnet.ac.in/). The main objective of the e-ShodhSindu (Consortia for Higher Education E-Resources) is to provide access to qualitative electronic resources including full-text, bibliographic and factual databases to academic institutions at a lower rates of subscription. The major aims and objectives of the e-Shodh Sindhu are as follows such as 1) Develop a formidable collection of e-journals, e-journal archives and e-books on perpetual access basis,2) Monitor and promote usage of e-resources in member universities, colleges and technical institutions in India through awareness and training programmes;3) Provide access to subscription-based scholarly information(e-books and e-journals)to all educational institutions;4) Provide access to scholarly content available in open access through subject portals and subject gateways;5) Bridge digital divide and move towards an information-rich society; 6) Provide access to selected e-resources to additional institutions including open universities and MHRD-funded institutions that are not covered under existing consortia;7) take-up additional activities and services that require collaborative platform and are not being performed by existing Consortia; and 8) Moving towards developing a National Electronic Library with electronic journals and electronic books as its major building blocks(https://ess.inflibnet.ac.in/about.php). The e-ShodhSindhu will continue to provide current as well as archival access to more than 10,000 core and peer-reviewed journals and a number of bibliographic, citation and factual databases in different disciplines from a large number of publishers and aggregators to its member institutions including centrally-funded technical institutions, universities and colleges that are covered under 12(B) and 2(f) Sections of the UGC Act (https://ess.inflibnet.ac.in/about.php).

6) e-Yantra:

It is a robotics outreach program funded by the Ministry of Education and hosted at IIT Bombay. The students can get hands on experience on embedded systems. The goal is to harness the talent of young engineers to solve problems using technology across a variety of domains such as agriculture, manufacturing, defence, home, smart-city maintenance and service industries(https://www.e-yantra.org/).

7) Virtual Labs:

The Virtual Labs project addresses issue of lack of good lab facilities, as well as trained teachers, by providing remote-access to simulation-based Labs in various disciplines of science and engineering. Yet another objective is to arouse the curiosity of the students and permit them to learn at their own pace. This student-centric approach facilitates the absorption of basic and advanced concepts through simulation-based experimentation. Internet-based experimentation further permits use of additional web-resources, video-lectures, animated demonstrations and self-evaluation. Specifically, the Virtual Labs project addresses the following such as 1) Access to online labs to those engineering colleges that lack these lab facilities, 2)Access to online labs as a complementary facility to those colleges that already have labs and 3) Training and skill-set augmentation through workshops and on-site/ online training. The virtual labs are any place, any pace, any-time, any-type labs. It is a paradigm shift in student-centric, online education(https://www.vlab.co.in/#philosophy).

8) National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT):

The Ministry of Education has announced NEAT as a Public-Private partnership model between the Government (through its implementing agency AICTE) and the Education Technology companies of India. Through an open invitation and screening, companies are invited to showcase their products on a National Portal developed for the learners, who may procure them based on their requirements. The aim of NEAT is to bring the best technological Products in education pedagogy on a single platform for the convenience of learners. Technology products using Artificial Intelligence for customized learning or e-content in niche areas having highly employable skills would be identified for showcasing on the portal. The scheme also includes free seats for existing students of higher education from weaker sections of society. The distribution of free seats would be done through the NEAT portal, based on student information shared by educational institutions. During the first phase, the portal would be launched as a pilot phase in AICTE approved Government Colleges of India only(https://neat.aicte-india.org/).

CONCLUSION:

The digital higher education system is functioning well, except the National Education Policy(NEP),2020 implementation. India is number one populous country in the world. India is also very diverse and plural country. So, NEP is not suitable for practical implementation in India. The Indian Parliamentary Standing Committee on Education also recommended that multiple entry and exit option in higher studies may not suit in India. So, the researcher’s recommendation is that the whole NEP,2020 should be repeal in India in order to have a best earlier higher education system , which includes the digital higher education system to be continue consistent sustainably without any problems. The more centralization in the digital higher education system is also not good and suitable for India.

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Received on 26.11.2023 Modified on 10.01.2024

Res. J. Humanities and Social Sciences. 2024;15(1)90-95.

DOI: 10.52711/2321-5828.2024.00014