Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are getting into the mainstream education system at the school level in a big way by selling the ideas of ‘smart school’ and ‘smart classroom’. The age of ICTs has dawned and digital educational technology is getting into the school system and institutions need to get ready to intergrate ICTs for running the system as well as creating pedagogically sound digital content.
Imparting education through innovation, digitization and ICTs for e-management of the school and e-learning in the classrooms are the core components of the smart school concept. It is being said that a smart school can perform efficiently and effectively by providing innovative educational solutions in managing the system and teaching-learning material with digital transaction.
Thus, a smart school makes use of educational technology expertise in digital multi-media hardware, software and teaching pedagogy. In other words, the school has to acquire core competence in creating instructional technology-based education solutions internally as well as mobilising such solutions externally by a tie-up with an expert company.
A smart school uses a technology platform as a medium on which learning and specific teaching expertise are made available to students both at school and home without any compromise to the quality of information transfer with effective teaching methods developed locally, regionally or internationally.
The Smart Schools are going to spearhead ICT integration and implementationnot only in teaching and learning but also across the educational system management. In future, the skills and knowledge of ICTs will be at the centre stage of the school system and play a vital role in the school management systems, classroom processes and continuous school-home links.
In this scenario, it becomes essential to produce highly skilled and knowledgeable human capital as educational technologists able to use ICTs as a paradigm shift in the educational system. In the days to come, the Smart School concept will play a crucial role in providing a strong foundation for the students to develop and increase their abilities as individuals to hangde digitized content.
Smart School needs to transact curriculum that takes into consideration different capabilities and needs of all students, a school climate that is conducive to learning, an on-going assessment that supports good instruction, strong and professional principals and teachers as educational technologists and a high level of parent and community involvement and support system to link the school with the home.
Smart schools digitize both the school management and classroom instruction using information and and communication technologies (ICTs). Such schools are being projected as a revolutionary product for the next generation schools in the ICT domain. The product has been designed to harness the best possible technology available and overcome the deficiencies in the offering of the existing players in the e-learning sector.
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