Model of Learning Enhancement for Students with Access to Learning Through Digital Devices

Introduction
Recommended screentime for children
Suggested model

The school education system in India encompasses a student population that is larger than the population of each of the countries located in the European and African continents,having more than 240 million students and 8.5 million teachers across primary, upper-primary, secondary and senior-secondary stages.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of schools, and students and teachers have been confined in their homes. Due to closure of schools, the course of formal learning in the form of teaching-learning of curriculum, including academic calendar, has been disturbed. However, the nature of learning is such that it never stops. Learning occurs naturally with interaction with nature, objects and individuals; sometimes with the learner not even realising it.

During the pandemic, formal learning that takes place in schools in the form of face-to-face interaction between teachers and students as well as among the fellow learners, has been replaced by the use of various alternative modes–online, TV, mobile, radio, textbooks, etc.

The States/UTs and Ministry of Education have been making efforts for providing education to children at their homes through alternate means of delivery such as, distribution of textbooks at homes of learners, telephonic guidance by teachers, online and digital content through various media, online classes conducted by the teachers, activity based learning through the Alternate Academic Calendar released by NCERT, etc.

The alternative modes, though praiseworthy, have certain limitations. The alternative modes do not ensure equitable quality learning for all students due to various factors such as unequal distribution of time of teachers, students having differential access to technological devices, and lack of support for learning at homes in several cases. As a result, closure of schools is likely to lead to loss of learning and deficiencies in the achievement of students‟ learning outcomes.

The ensuing suggestions for Learning Enhancement (LE) during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic have been prepared to address the issues related to gaps and/or loss of learning among students, during and after the lockdown, by the Ministry of Education through NCERT for children having Access to Digital Learning Devices.

Introduction

Students who have access to digital devices for learning may be provided with online classes, and activities, etc., using social media tools. However of the amount of time for which they get accessibility to these devices needs to be kept in view. It is recommended to follow PRAGYATA guidelines issued by the DoSEL, Ministry of Education, GoI in this regard. Most of the digital devices are being used by the parents and shared by the students. So, while making a plan for these children, suitable day timing for conducting synchronous classes needs to be chosen for different stages. Moreover, arrangements may also be made to record the sessions and repeat these sessions in the evening so that children can attend this repeat session as and when they have access to mobile or laptop.

Synchronous classes need to be utilized for giving guidance on doing self-study and assignment as well as solving children's queries. These may also be utilized to provide information to children about various web resources available on e-pathshala, DISKHSHA, SWAYAM and NROER as well as on various other web-portals with a brief guideline as how to use and where to use these web-learning resources.

Recommended screentime for children

It is highly recommended to follow PRAGYATA Guidelines of the Ministry of Education with regard to the amount of screen time for synchronous classes. The guidelines make the recommendations for screen time for different categories of children as follows, keeping in mind overall development :

Class	Screen time Recommendation
Pre Primary	On a given day for interacting with parents and guiding them, not more than 30 minutes.
Classes 1 to 12	Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT
Classes 1 to 8	Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections.
Classes 9 to 12	Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each of the days as decided by States/UTs.

Suggested model

Alternative Academic Calendar has been developed for children in all kinds of situations. So, this may be contextualized and used for children across classes. This model will be similar to the model for children with limited digital devices, however, in the modalities, more focus is there using online mode.

Detailed model is given below :

Classes/Subjects	Learning Opportunities to be Provided	Modalities
Classes-I to V Subjects - For classes I-II Languages and Mathematics (Environmental Concerns are integrated across these two subject areas) For classes III-V Languages and Mathematics and Environmental Studies (EVS)	Content/Activities Learning outcomes based Activities which can be done by the children at home Listening and reading interesting Stories Challenging daily life related mathematical problems in the form of games Language Skills Focus will be on listening, speaking and reading (Parents may be asked to observe and give the feedback to teachers) Small writing exercises must be given only when child himself/herself wants to write. Fitness and Creativity Age appropriate physical activities integrated with music and dance Drawing/Painting activities Competencies	Guidelines/Document for support- Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome- based activities PRAGYATA- Guidelines for Digital Education developed by the NCERT, released by the Ministry of Education: Class Recommendations – Use of Energized Textbooks At present textbooks are generally having QR codes which contain many e-contents mapped with the learning outcomes available on e-pathshala, DIKSHA, NROER, etc. Children and parents may be guided to use these QR codes using smartphone for enhancing learning Digital Tools SMS/Message (to be used to send the message about online classes) Live stories may be told by the teachers through Smart phones Social Media and Google Meet, Gsuit etc. (for children in class III onwards) Learning Resources Web resources showing EVS and Science Activities (children may be motivated to do the activities at home) Web resources showing Mathematics and children doing these activities using activity box Children‟ literature on different web portals Story books and relevant age-appropriate reading material (in hard and soft forms) News Papers (printed and e-version) Magazines and Periodicals Textbooks (printed and e-version) Frequency Pre-Primary On a given day for interacting with parents and guiding them, not more than 30 minutes. Classes 1 to 5 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections Online classes for guiding purpose may be conducted five days a week.
	Time Duration For Classes- 1-2 One hour a day in a staggered manner as per the readiness of children for activities of their choice for example – drawing or physical activity or writing or doing mathematics. For Classes- 3-5 One and half hour a day in a staggered manner as per the readiness of children for activities of their choice for example –drawing or physical activity or writing or doing mathematics. (For primary classes, teachers may guide parents to support children for learning)
	Assessment Discussion with parents on the following parameter- whether the child is taking interest in listening the stories and doing activities The child answers questions asked in the stories narrated by the teacher The child does activities (language and mathematics and EVS) independently or with the help of parents Child's drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring that child has been learning at home.
Upper Primary (Classes 6-8)	Content/Activities Learning outcomes based Activities which can be done by the children at home. Reading Stories and supplementary material Writing stories and experiences Challenging daily life related mathematical problems in the form of games Daily life related scientific experiments and activities using material available at home. Small interdisciplinary projects Language Skills Focus will be on listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as doing activities (Parents may be asked to observe and give feedback to teachers) Small writing exercises must be given only when child himself/herself wants to write. Fitness and Creativity Age appropriate physical activities integrated with music and dance Drawing/Painting /dance/music related and activities Time Duration- One and half hour a day in a staggered manner- which may be divided as follows- 15 minutes each for each of the curricular areas- Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Languages, Art Education and Health and Physical Education. Online mode to be used to guide children for self –study and doing activities with the participation of parents. (It must not be used as replacement of face-to-face classes) Messages from students and parents may be encouraged for resolving queries and follow-up. Activities under Arts Education and Health and Physical Education to be encouraged to release mental stress of children. Assessment Discussion with parents on the following parameter- whether child is taking interest in reading stories or other relevant reading material doing activities Child discusses or tells stories to sibling or with parents or ask questions related to stories /reading material Child does activities (language, mathematics, Science, Social Sciences, Arts, Health and Physical Education) independently or with the help of parents Child‟s drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring and promoting child's progress in learning at home	Guidelines/Document for support - Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities: Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT PRAGYATA- Guidelines for Digital Education developed by the NCERT, released by the MINISTRY OF EDUCATION: Class Recommendation Pre-Primary On a given day for interacting with parents and guiding them, not more than 30 minutes. Classes 6 to 8 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections Use of Energized Textbooks Digital Tools SMS/Message (to be used to send the message about online classes) Live stories may be told by the teachers through Smart phones Social Media and Google Meet, Gsuit etc. (for children in class III onwards) Learning Resources Web resources showing Science (children may be motivated to do the activities at home) Web resources showing Mathematics and children doing these activities using activity box Children‟ literature on different web portals Story books and relevant age-appropriate reading material (in hard and soft forms) Newspapers (printed and e-version) Magazines and Periodicals Textbooks (printed and e-version) Frequency Classes 6 to 8 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than two sessions of 30-45 minutes each on the days the States/UTs decide to have online classes for primary sections
Secondary (Class 9 and 10)	Content/Activities Learning outcomes based Activities which can be done by the children at home. Reading Stories and other relevant readings Writing stories and experiences Solving challenging daily life related mathematical problems in the form of games /activities Daily life related scientific experiments and activities using material available at home. Small interdisciplinary projects on Science and Social Sciences Language Skills Focus will be on listening, speaking, reading and writing as well as doing activities (Parents may be asked to observe and give the feedback to teachers) Writing and speaking exercises Fitness and Creativity Age appropriate physical activities integrated with music and dance Drawing/Painting /dance/music related and activities Time Duration Three hours a day in a staggered manner- which may be divided as follows- 45 minutes for each of the curricular areas- Science, Mathematics, Social Sciences and Languages and one hour for Art Education and Health and Physical Education. Other subject areas like computers, etc. may be given time of half-an- hour if required. Online mode to be used to guide children for self –study and doing activities with the participation of parents. (It must not be used as replacement of face-to-face classes) Messages from students and parents may be encouraged for resolving queries and follow-up. Activities under Arts Education and Health and Physical Education to be encouraged to release mental stress of children. Assessment Discussion with parents on the following parameter - whether child is taking interest in reading stories or other relevant reading material doing activities Child discusses or tells stories to sibling or with parents or ask questions related to stories /reading material Child does activities (language, mathematics, Science, Social Sciences, Arts, Health and Physical Education) independently or with the help of parents Child‟s drawing or some writing work may be asked through WhatsApp for ensuring and promoting child's progress in learning at home	PRAGYATA Recommendations (Guidelines prepared by the NCERT for online Education) Classes 9 to 12 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each of the days as decided by States/UTs. Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome- based activities: Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT Use of Energized Textbooks
Higher Secondary (Classes 11-12)	Note – Since there are different combinations of subject areas at the higher secondary stage, teachers have to plan activities as per the requirement of the subject area, however, before planning any activity learning outcomes must be decided. At this stage, students generally have friends who support them; therefore, peer and group learning may be promoted using social media but making them alert on cyber security front Subject wise open resources – MOOCs, etc. are available on NROER and e-pathshala, which may be used by the children. Teachers need to inform about this material and also the state developed material However, online classes must not be of more than three-hour duration. One class may be of 30-45 minutes for a subject area.	PRAGYATA Recommendations (Guidelines prepared by the NCERT for online Education) Classes 9 to 12 Online synchronous learning may be undertaken for not more than four sessions of 30-45 minutes on each of the days as decided by States/UTs. Alternative Academic Calendar developed by the NCERT includes detailed guidelines about conducting learning outcome-based activities: Classes 1 to 12 Recommended to adopt/adapt the alternative academic calendar of NCERT

Source : Students’ Learning Enhancement Guidelines 2020

Last Modified : 8/23/2021

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