Indian teachers making good use of edtech tools, UK study finds

LONDON: Indian teachers displayed resourcefulness in using ed-tech tools to keep students learning and to monitor their progress during COVID-19 lockdowns so they could address learning gaps when schools reopened, according to a new post-pandemic study in the UK release on Thursday. The research entitled 'Effective Assessment and Progress Monitoring in an Online Environment' was conducted in six countries – India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, and South Africa – to shed light on how technology for monitoring student progress needs to be improved to ensure no student is left behind.

The study by London-headquartered non-profit T4 Education, in collaboration with global research collaboration EdTech Hub, concluded that effective education technology (ed-tech) tools are needed to support teachers who had to rely on innovative techniques to keep students learning and monitor progress during the pandemic. "The extreme challenge placed on teachers in India and around the world to provide continuity of learning for students in a long-term emergency environment is something from which we must learn," said Verna Lalbeharie, Executive Director of EdTech Hub. "There is no piece of technology that can replace the art of good teaching. This was true before the pandemic and has been deeply underscored in the last two years. What we can do, however, is enhance that art by providing teachers with evidence-based, effective tools and assessment systems which are essential to tackling learning losses in LMICs [low- and middle-income countries] exacerbated by the pandemic. And drawing on the lessons learned in this report, we can prepare for and properly monitor student progress the next time a crisis forces schools to close,” she said.

The report reveals how edtech tools such as free-to-use multiple-choice quizzing tools like Google Forms were widely used and comparatively easy to deploy when students in India had good digital access during lockdown, and that these had a positive impact on student engagement. However, limited student access to digital devices and poor connectivity was often a challenge, especially in rural parts of the country. Focus group participants shared how many students had to share a device with parents or siblings and were only able to use it in the evenings or weekends, with younger siblings especially missing out. Teachers would often have to deploy innovative techniques to compensate for these big challenges, turning to asynchronous approaches to keep track of their learning. In these instances, teachers often sent instructions via recorded voice messages and resources on WhatsApp or links to a third-party quizzing tool. Some students, however, were unable to access even a shared device and teachers had to rely on others in the community to help them submit their work. Teachers also stepped up to support students who were struggling with the cost of mobile data.

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Students’ parents who had lost their jobs during the pandemic and had seen their income drop were suddenly faced with further hardships including data costs for virtual learning. In response, teachers often utilised their own devices and data to communicate with students at personal expense. School leaders were also able to train parents to optimise their phones, including deleting apps to increase storage space to compensate for poor quality of devices available. The pressure of attempting to ensure learning continued and progress was monitored effectively online, despite limited device access and data cost issues, put a lot of strain on teachers who were reliant on receiving hundreds of WhatsApp messages a day from students at different hours. This created significant workloads, stress, and often direct financial costs for teachers.

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The lack of student access to devices during the day often meant teachers working into the night. Indian teachers also came up with ways to help students cope with the trauma of the pandemic. As a result, some teachers sought to move away from traditional instruction and assessment methods and design activities to support the emotional needs of children. Practices involved special online celebrations for birthdays and various festivals that engaged students in school but with the priority being on students’ mental well-being, the report notes.