Are emerging technologies the way forward for Education?

As part of its ongoing efforts to support stakeholders, UNESCO New Delhi and UNESCO Bangkok collaborated to convene an online symposium for over 20 policymakers, field experts and practitioners to share their knowledge of best practices, compare challenges faced and discuss emerging technologies as potential solutions. The second South Asia Regional Symposium on ICT for Education 2020 (SARSIE) took place on 15-16 October, under the theme of “Rebuilding Towards ICT-Enabled Resilient Education in the COVID-19 Era”.
 
Over 1.5 billion students globally have been impacted due to the interruption of classroom-based learning; some 430 million students reside in South Asia. Sudden school closures forced many institutions shift rapidly to distance-based learning, an approach that is reliant on Information and Communication technologies like the radio, television and the internet. 
 
This has proved to be an unprecedented challenge for governments to respond effectively in terms of policy support, ICT infrastructure investments, teacher capacity building and relevant curricula and contents development. At particular risk are vulnerable communities such as students from resource-poor areas, remote rural areas, and low-income households as well as students with disabilities 
 
Day 1 of the symposium discussed the conceptual foundations of the education system and how they need to be updated for the new normal. By questioning assumptions around access to education, it would be possible for society to shift away from the traditional measurement of ‘human capital’ to an expanded long-term definition of ‘human flourishing’. By incorporating mental wellbeing and new digital pedagogies, it is possible to improve education quality and prepare for a technology enabled school of the future.  
 
National representatives from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal noted some common challenges faced by their governments: Building teacher capacity, ensuring a cost-effective spread of digital infrastructure, reaching every child in an inclusive way and monitoring actual learning outcomes. Some countries did however, come out ahead on some of these challenges as they were already working on ICT in education prior to the pandemic. 
 
Day 2 featured in depth discussion of the innovative ICT tools available to prepare teachers and trainers, enhance inclusion of the marginalized and bridge the gap between education and the labour market. Tools such as Social Media can be leveraged to build holistic training models, scale up impact, create transparency and increase access to opportunities. Speakers shared several inspiring case studies of these tools being applied in a collaborative way with governments, the private sector, academic institutions and associations working together for the benefit of teachers and students.  
 
Find more details about the event, including presentations of all speakers can be viewed here. 
 
Watch full videos of proceedings Day 1 and Day 2