Digital India

Digital India is a campaign initiated by the Government of India under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 1 July 2015, the programme aims to transform the country's economy by promoting inclusive growth in electronic services, product manufacturing and job prospects.

The campaign includes various projects designed to build technological infrastructure, increase internet connectivity, improve e-literacy and promote the use of technologies for the delivery of services. It focuses on nine pillars: broadband highways, universal access to mobile connectivity, public internet access programme, e-governance project, the electronic delivery of services (e-Kranti), information for all, electronics manufacturing, IT for jobs and early harvest programmes. The initiative aims to leverage digital technology to empower crores of Indian citizens and foster inclusive development across the country.

Digital Initiative of Education:

Education is essential for the nation’s social and economic progress. The Government of India has taken various digital initiatives in higher education to promote access to higher education for all the country’s citizens. The Central Ministry of Human Resource Development is responsible for implementing digital initiatives in higher education in partnership with different organisations. With technology and internet access, the Government of India has launched various digital initiatives in higher education to improve the quality of higher education in the country. Interested people can start their courses for different programmes online with the help of these initiatives.

The digital revolution has transformed the education industry, and almost every institute is taking the necessary initiatives to promote digital education. Digital technology in higher education can revolutionize it shortly. Using technology in education has become crucial for achieving the various targeted objectives. There are many advantages of technology in higher education. The Government’s digital initiatives are one such attempt to integrate digital technology with higher education. Integration of technology with education allows students to access the content and material of different courses from anywhere.

This blog talks about the various digital initiatives in higher education that the Government of India has undertaken to improve the quality of higher education. Digital Initiatives in Higher Education. A few initiatives that the Government of India has taken to enhance the quality and reach of higher education are below.

1. SWAYAM (Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds)

It is an online platform designed to provide the best quality education, and anyone can access it anytime with an IT system. SWAYAM initiative allows the sharing of quality education with everyone, thus bringing equity, and the AICTE and MHRD developed it with the assistance of Microsoft. It has the capability of hosting 2000 courses and various professional programmes, and Indian experts have designed all the courses on the SWAYAM platform. Students can take all programmes on SWAYAM free of cost. If they require a certificate, they can acquire it by paying a small fee.

2. SWAYAM Prabha

SWAYAM Prabha Digital Initiative in Education contains a group of 32 DTH channels dedicated to telecasting high-quality educational programmes 24×7 with a GSAT-15 satellite. New content will be there, and they will telecast each video five times a day to help students learn according to their convenience. It covers different courses useful for students of various backgrounds. UGC, NIOS, IGNOU, NCERT, and CEC will provide content on this platform.

3. National Digital Library (NDL)

It is one of the digital initiatives in higher education developed by the Ministry of Human Resource Development under its NMEICT to provide a framework for an online repository of learning resources. NDL collects metadata from top educational institutions in India and abroad. It holds the content of all languages and provides interface support for leading Indian languages. This digital initiative’s objective is to collect, preserve and disseminate intellectual content of the country and provide access to students of all educational levels.

4. National Academic Depository (NAD)

It is a digital initiative of the MHRD launched to facilitate digital storage, issuance, verification and access of Academic Awards issued by the Academic Institutions. It is a unique initiative under Digital India and was launched with a motive to achieve the enablement of Education Records.

5. E-Yantra

It is one of the digital initiatives in higher education implemented by MHRD to incorporate robotics into engineering education to engage students through applied mathematics, computer science and engineering principles. The e-Yantra initiative is running successfully in 100 colleges. It is creating skills in students by developing infrastructure for project-based learning. All the projects and codes are made available on the e-Yantra website.

6. e-Shodh Sindhu

The e-Shodh Sindhu is a digital initiative of MHRD formed on the recommendations of the Expert Committee by merging three consortia initiatives. So many e-books and international electronic journals have been made available to all higher education institutions through this initiative. It provides access to the best education in the world using digital technology.

7. Talk To A Teacher

It is an initiative of the National Mission on Education and receives funding from MHRD. Its objective is to provide selected graduate and post-graduate courses by professionals and scholars. Registration is not essential because it does not have any certification process. It uses A-view collaboration tools to provide the facility of virtual classrooms to the faculty in the country. Talk to a Teacher digital initiative covers the Humanities and Social Science disciplines with Computer Science and Engineering.

8. E-Acharya

It is also known as the Integrated e-Content Portal and is an official repository of all the content produced under NMEICT. This portal also has the metadata of all the content and can become a vertical form of the National Digital Library (NDL). This digital initiative gets backed by a robust 24×7 Data Centre.

9. E-Vidwan

It is one of the best digital initiatives taken up by the Information and Library Network(INFLIBNET) centre that gets financial support from NMEICT. It collects profiles of scientists and research scientists working in R&D organisations in India and abroad, establishes direct communication with the experts and creates a platform for information exchange among the scientists. The e-Vidwan database helps you to choose experts for various committees and task forces established by the Govt. It assists policymakers and funding agencies in policy intervention and decision-making.

10. Spoken Tutorial

It is an award-winning content portal for digital initiatives. One can learn various free and open-source software by oneself with the help of Spoken Tutorial. Anybody with a computer and an interest in learning can acquire knowledge from any place in their comfortable language. It is a friendly online discussion forum. Anyone can start a new discussion or join the existing ones and get replies from the Spoken Tutorial Community. It is easy to use and takes only a few minutes to register.

11. CEC-UGC

The Consortium for Educational Communication, popularly known as CEC, is one of the Inter University Centres set up by the University Grants Commission of India. It has been established to address the needs of Higher Education through the powerful medium of Television along with the appropriate use of emerging Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Realizing the potential and power of television to act as a means of educational knowledge dissemination, UGC started the Countrywide Classroom Programmes in the year 1984. For the production of such programmes, Media Centres were set up at 6 Universities. Subsequently, CEC emerged in 1993 as a nodal agency to coordinate, guide & facilitate such Educational production at the National level. Today 21 Media Centres work towards achieving this goal under the umbrella of CEC.

Objectives of CEC :

Close Coordination, facilitation, overall guidance and direction towards the activities of the Media Centres set up by the UGC in various Universities throughout the country. Dissemination of Educational programmes through broadcast as well as non-broadcast modes. Production of Educational programmes (Audio/Visual and Web Based) and related support material further setting up of appropriate facilities for such production. Research activities related to optimizing the effectiveness of such programmes. Providing a forum for the active involvement of academics and other scholars in the creation of appropriate educational programmes. Studying, promoting & experimenting with new technology that will increase the reach and/or effectiveness of educational communication.

12. e-PG Pathshala

e-PG Pathshala is an initiative of the MHRD under its National Mission on Education through ICT (NME-ICT) being executed by the UGC. The content and its quality is the key component of the education system, high quality, curriculum-based, interactive e-content in 70 subjects across all disciplines of social sciences, arts, fine arts and humanities, natural & mathematical sciences, linguistics and languages have been developed by the subject experts working in Indian universities and other R & D institutes across the country. Every subject had a team of principal investigators, paper coordinators, content writers, content reviewers, Language editors and multimedia team.

13. PM e-VIDYA

A comprehensive initiative called PM e-VIDYA is launched which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. This will benefit nearly 25 crore school-going children across the country.

14. NPTEL

About Us NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), is a joint venture of the IITs and IISc, funded by the Ministry of Education (MoE) Government of India, and was launched in 2003. Initially started as a project to take quality education to all corners of the country, NPTEL now offers close to 600+ certification courses every semester in about 22 disciplines.

Some highlights:

1. Largest online repository in the world of courses in engineering, basic sciences and selected humanities and management subjects
2. YouTube channel for NPTEL – most subscribed educational channel, 1.3 billion views and 40+ lakhs subscribers
3. More than 56000 hours of video content, transcribed and subtitled.
4. Most accessed library of peer-reviewed educational content in the world.
5. Translation of more than 12000 hrs of English transcripts in regional Indian languages.

15. MahapragyaCollege Youtube Channel

The mission of ASMIE is to provide digital education for students anywhere. Our channel provides students with important lessons about Arts, Science, Commerce, Education, Computer Science and the relevant subjects of MDS University Ajmer. It shares videos of different activities and functions that are organised from time to time, you can also get videos of different perspectives of life and your career paths.
All these digital initiatives of the Central Government launched in collaboration with various organisations aim to enhance the access and quality of higher education.

16. Fossee

FOSSEE (Free/Libre and Open Source Software for Education) project promotes the use of FLOSS tools in academia and research. The FOSSEE project is part of the National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Ministry of Education (MoE), Government of India. Below is the list of projects which are promoted by FOSSEE.

17. Virtual Labs

One of the primary advantages associated with the utilization of Virtual Laboratory is the ability for students to engage in self-paced learning. This technology facilitates students in engaging in studying, preparing for, and doing laboratory experiments at their own convenience, regardless of time and location.

18. National Internship Portal

Internships for students & fresh Engineers Apprenticeship embedded courses.

19. National Educational Alliance for Technology Portal

It is developed for the learners Free seats for existing students of higher education from weaker sections of society.

20. University Enterprise Resource Planning

Student development Life Cycle E-Governance for Institutions/Universities to Track your progress.

21. Shodh Shudhhi (PDS): Plagiarism Detection Software

Unique ideas, concepts and information without duplication. 1.Encourage original information by preventing plagiarism. 2.Better research outcomes. 3.Reputation of the institution/university.

22. Academic Bank of Credits (ABC)

Student’s Academic Credit Repository Facility to Store, Transfer and Credit redemption.

23. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE)

The National Council for Teacher Education, commonly known as the Council or the General Body of the NCTE, is constituted by the Government of India under Section 3 of the NCTE Act. It is the highest decision-making body of the NCTE. It lays down policy, frames regulations and takes final decisions on various aspects of the mandate given to it under the NCTE Act.

24. All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)

All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) was set up in November 1945 as a national-level apex advisory body to conduct a survey on the facilities available for technical education and to promote development in the country in a coordinated and integrated manner. And to ensure the same, as stipulated in the National Policy of Education (1986), AICTE was vested with:

1. Statutory authority for planning, formulation, and maintenance of norms & standards
2. Quality assurance through accreditation
3. Funding in priority areas, monitoring, and evaluation
4. Maintaining parity of certification & awards
5. The management of technical education in the country