Government schools all over India are rapidly moving toward digitalization. Smart classrooms, ICT labs, digital libraries, tablets, and large interactive displays are becoming increasingly common. In order to close the digital divide and modernize infrastructure, significant public funds are being invested. On paper, the goal is clear: use technology to change teaching and learning.
However, most implementations have stopped digitizing at the hardware level
Structured learning solutions, high-quality digital content, Learning Management Systems (LMS), Personalized Adaptive Learning (PAL), teaching-learning analytics, and outcome-focused reporting dashboards—the very things that make up Digital Education—are conspicuously absent. The emphasis has largely remained on procurement and installation, rather than on what learners and teachers are expected to do with the technology.
Classrooms therefore reflect fragmented practices
- Teachers are sometimes asked to play recorded videos of other teachers in some schools. In some, DIKSHA content or PDFs are copied to pen drives without an LMS, tracking, or insight into usage or learning.
- In several large-scale government projects, there is no defined content, LMS, PAL, or learning framework at all.
In addition, this is frequently justified by the presumption that teachers will independently produce content by utilizing AI tools, YouTube, or free resources.
Is this a model for public education that can last and is fair?
These distortions persist because, as a system, we still lack even basic mandate for digital content across K–12, and for LMS, PAL, analytics, and reporting dashboards. What kind of digital content works best for different teaching–learning scenarios and how to measure outcomes are unclear.
