Telangana ICT textbook development plan and approach

Background

The objective of the state education department is to integrate technology into teaching and learning in sustained and meaningful ways. The department is upgrading the school labs in 3,000 schools by building a digital lab and through equipping the classrooms with digital resources. ITfC has been working with the Telangana education department over the last year, to build ‘communities of practice’ amongst mathematics, science and social science teachers in the state. ITfC has trained around 70 Master Trainers in these three subjects. The maths and science resource persons are expected to train their colleagues at the district level during 2016­-17.

SCERT has decided to develop ICT text books which will be used by the school teachers for transacting the ICT curriculum in classes 8 to 10. The text book that is currently available has very limited focus on a few proprietary software applications, not directly connected to school subjects. SCERT has decided to adopt the ICT curriculum developed by NCERT, as the basis for the text book, which leverages the possibilities of ICTs for connecting and learning and creating and learning.

In a consultative workshop, conducted in February with ITfC, NCERT-CIET and HBSCE, SCERT members and a core group of teachers, a plan was developed for the creation of student textbook and teacher handbook, based on the NCERT ICT curriculum. Subsequently, Telangana also participated in a consultative meeting held in RIE Mysuru, by CEMCA, for collaboration on programs on ICT in Education, specifically OER creation. Pursuant to this meeting, in view of CEMCA's experience in the area of OER creation, the Telangana Department of School Education has invited CEMCA to support the creation of ICT textbook and handbook, as outlined above, with ITfC as an implementation partner.

A proposed plan of action has also been prepared and submitted to SCERT for the development of the ICT textbook and handbook.

Scope of the ICT textbook and handbook

It is proposed to develop the ICT syllabus with the following components:

1. A textbook for students, that introduces ICT skills and applications in a project based way, integrated with the different school subjects. The core competencies and skills to be covered in the text book will be determined based on the National ICT curriculum and the Telangana state subject text books and academic standards. The text book will take a project based approach to the attainment of these learning competencies.
2. A handbook for teachers and teacher educators to help them implement the syllabus as well as support their own knowledge and learning of the ICT applications based on the NCERT ICT curriculum. This accompanying handbook will facilitate the transaction of the ICT syllabus and also provide meaningful linkages to curricular and co-­curricular areas.
3. The text book will need to be planned keeping in mind the existing timetable and syllabus requirements and will also make recommendations on guidelines for school level implementation.

Key principles of development of the textbook and handbook

1. The ICT text book development will be done in a collaborative manner, with the resource group set up by SCERT.
2. This will be developed and shared on a portal called the Telangana Open Educational Resources (TOER) which can form the basis for further OER development by teachers and teacher educators in the state. This portal will be using the media­wiki platform.
3. Teachers and teacher educators will get familiar with the OER principles while using and developing curricular resources – re­use, revise, remix, retain and re­distribute.
4. Through participating in processes of resource creation, capacities of SCERT, teachers and teacher educators will be developed in adopt OER.
5. The ICT text book will be based on the NCERT ICT curriculum, hence it has reasonable chances of being re­used / adapted in other states in India. Telangana could be undertaking a pioneering effort in the creation of curricular materials that can be adopted across the country.
6. This will be developed in a phased manner, with focus on completion of materials for 1 year at a time, this has been mapped to Class 8 of the Telangana state syllabus. After class 8 text book is completed and reviewed, a similar approach may be taken fir classes 9 and 10. If all three classes ICT texts are produced as OER, it will help state governments across the country to adapt the same for their ICT@Schools high school program, which is a MHRD program, being implemented across the country.

Proposed activities

Area of work	Activities	Type of effort	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Jan
Planning and designing the work	Initial consultative workshop with SCERT to review framework and also design the OER for the state Initial mapping of the curriculum in line with the syllabus and identification of linkages between student textbook and teacher handbook Approval from SCERT for this mapping Identification of team of teachers and teacher educators who will collaborate on the creation of resource units and workshop planning Approval for initial design of web pages for the textbook	Consultation with SCERT, teachers, teacher educators	x
Collaborative resource creation	Design of a web portal for collaboration as Telangana Open Educational Resources Workshops for resource creation – from mathematics and science teachers and teacher educators (5 days) Online and virtual facilitation of teachers' created content which will be compiled for the textbook activities)	Workshop Online interactions and offline work, facilitated by ITfC	x	x
Review of work	Internal review by IT for Change of compiled, contributed materials from teachers Preparation of a review checklist and an internal review completion document Scoping out areas for the inputs/ review from expert workshop and facilitation of review workshop	Internal desk work by ITfC Workshop		x	x	x
Publishing and training	Compiling feedback, editing, publishing Dissemination and training workshops for teachers and teacher educators on orienting on the student curriculum and how to implement in schools Distribution and dissemination – putting on school server, etc	Internal desk work by ITfC Workshop				x	x

Approach and intent of the NCERT ICT curriculum

The curriculum has been based on the aspirations and guidelines set in the National ICT Policy which focuses on building the skills of computing, creating and collaborating through safe, ethical, legal means of using ICT. Ability to handle ICT environment, creating original content, sharing and learning and focusing on educational and learning processes rather than on specific applications are the key principles of this curriculum. The curriculum has been designed keeping in mind the various possibilities of creative expression possible through ICT applications and platforms available today and also seeks to build a mindset that will explore and such applications on an ongoing basis. Hence, the curriculum does not take a conventional approach to building digital literacy on specific applications but rather emphasizes a thematic, project based approach to ICT learning. Such an approach will also enable integration of ICT with multiple school subjects.

There is a curriculum for teachers to develop their ICT skills as well as for students. The overall principles of the student and teacher curriculum remain the same though specific areas of content focus may differ.

The National ICT curriculum is built along the following themes:

1. Connecting with the world: Technology is providing new ways for us to access information and learn. Along with this, evaluating information and using it appropriately become skills to be developed. This theme will focus on accessing the internet, evaluating resources available and creating meaningful personal digital libraries for self learning
2. Connecting with each other: A related dimension of connecting through ICT is in possibilities for learning in communities from each other. The focus of this theme will be on how to interact and learn in peer learning settings and through online, virtual forums. Collaborating an learning is a key learning expectation from this curriculum.
3. Interacting with ICT: Building skills and aptitudes in a technology environment is an important expectation of this curriculum. The theme will focus on building a more proactive approach to engaging with technology, evaluating appropriate technology choices, maintaining ICT infrastructure and becoming critical users of technology, being aware of the social and economic implications of technology.
4. Creating with ICT: This is a theme that focuses on building computing and creating skills an
5. Possibilities in education

Year 1

1. Overall plan for Year 1
2. Student textbook
3. Teacher handbook
4. Suggested areas for revision of regular textbooks