TNOER need

Educational Context

Across several curricular and policy documents, two factors have been emphasized as being key contributors to the quality of education:

   a) Availability of good quality curricular resources 
   b) Strengthening the quality of teacher development within the education system

Digital technologies have the potential to address both these requirements and it is important to design and develop programs that build upon the possibilities that digital technologies can provide in terms of pathways of resource creation, possibilities for learning and processes of teaching-learning. While the current worldwide discourse during the COVID pandemic has focused on the movement to digital learning, we would need to leverage this scenario to use digital technologies in education in an inclusive and empowering manner. Need for a curated resource repository Traditionally, curricular resources have been created by SCERT for the school system and these have been disseminated across schools. This kind of a centralized resource creation, while being large scale, has some limitations – in terms of limited number of resources, less flexibility in adding resources and also the inability for resources to be contextualized for the learners’ needs. It is also difficult, if not impossible, for teachers to share their experiences from trying out these resources in classrooms. Teachers’ engagement in curricular resource creation is recognized as a key aspect of making available relevant and contextual resources; and such an engagement is also an enduring and sustainable method of teacher development and resource creation. On the other hand, in today’s context digital resources are available in plenty – along various paradigms of access - and many educational technology companies are seeking to access students’ mind space and attention through multiple forms of e-content. This plethora of digital resources available today has created an urgent need in terms of building a critical understanding of what constitutes a good quality learning resource and what paradigms of learning one should allow with the increasing use of digital content and platforms. Having a dynamic, contextualized reosurce repository, that supports teachers in their classroom transaction is an essential component for strengthening teacher development and training programs. This note outlines the objectives, proposed design and processes for creating such a repository.

Objectives of the resource repository

   i. To provide multiple resources for the teacher to support her classroom teaching
   ii. To provide resources for deepening teachers’ pedagogic content knowledge
   iii. To provide supplementary and enrichment resources for students
   iv. To provide resource support for the planned teacher development programs
   v. To provide a platform for teachers to share their experiences and resources

Form and structure of the resources

The resources should be designed to support the achievement of educational aims, as applicable for all subjects, and keeping in view a constructivist approach. The resources are also meant to be a support for strengthening teachers’ classroom practice and strengthening student leanring.

Key principles in the design of resources

   1. The resources should be in line with the overall objectives of any subject and also have contextually relevant content
   2. The content should be accurate and free of any bias or prejudices and should also be accessible for children with special needs, and be available as open educational resources
   3. The resources should be able to address learners at multiple learning levels 
   4. The resources will be in different formats and will be accessible online and offline
   5. The resources must allow for continuous revision through teachers, experts and other stakeholders in the education system
   6. The resource repository must also allow for monitoring and feedback from the teachers on the training and the extent of implementation

Structure of the resources

Broadly the resource repository will have three kinds of content being added:

   i. Teaching-learning resources for use in the classroom
   ii. Resources for teacher preparation 
   iii. Monitoring and evaluation resources for the administration 

(i) and (ii) will have large elements of overlap; to the extent that any (training) program specific resources are involved, they will need to be added in addition to the curricular resources.

Organization of curricular resources

The resources should be structured in such a way that concepts are linked and built, across grade levels and should have clarity on the learning objectives. The resources should be developed as a set of lessons and not as discrete resource units.

   1. Organize the resources by topic (not by class) – each topic must have a concept map that links all the underlying concepts and relevant basic concepts, creating teaching trajectories 
   2. For each of the concepts, map the different kinds of tools that can be used 
   3. Under each concept, list down the activities (can be bundled into any number of lessons)
   4. A full description of the activities – including hands-on experimentation, observation, field visits, community interaction, computer simulations, audiovisual content (both readily available and teacher made). The activities will also invoke multiple resources 
   5. Inclusion of questions and ideas that will provoke the learners to go beyond the syllabus requirements and connect various subjects
   6. Methods of assessment – multiple methods of assessments to be included. 
   7. Appropriate metadata must be added to all content created so that teachers can access this by concept/ grade/ type of resource/ purpose of resource, etc.  
   8. The resources can also be made available periodically offline and through an app. 

This is a general design for the curricular content; this needs to be qualified and specialized for different subjects/ grades as the project gets underway.