Nellore: Digital classrooms hit by poor quality of lessons

Nellore: Though the education wing authorities claim that digital classrooms are very useful to the students, teachers have reservations over the quality of the lessons prepared for this purpose. Digital classrooms have been introduced in 181 high schools across Nellore district last year for the benefit of students from Class VI to X. 

Teachers have been underlining the need to improve the content to draw the attention of the students. They allege that there is hardly any creativity such as animation in the CD’s containing lessons to hold the interest of the students. The students have been asking us to switch off the system under the plea that it is boring and one of the reasons for this is one tutor is teaching all the lessons, a teacher alleged. 

Expressing dissatisfaction over the poor quality of the lessons prepared for the digital classrooms by some private agencies, Biological Science Teachers Forum member Gali Srinivasulu has questioned the rational behind involving private firms in the process instead. 

“We can't understand why they are not using the services of eminent teachers available for every subject at the government high schools in the state to prepare the lessons in an interesting manner so as to hold the attention of the students. We have also complained to the state council of education research and training 1on the issue through a letter sometime back” Mr Srinivasulu said.  

In fact some schools are not even using the equipment supplied because students are not interested. However certain schools are effectively using the equipment to project lessons available from YouTube or some education oriented websites wherever internet connection is available. Some teachers have been using the internet facility in their phones to make use of the digital classrooms, a teacher in Nayudupeta said. 

When contacted, District Education Officer K. Samuel has differed with the observation of teachers over quality of the lessons supplied through CD’s. “I have observed that the performance of the students is improving because of visual presentation of the lessons. They are able to memorise the lessons and securing better marks then before after we introduced digital classrooms,” the DEO asserted.