The Moloch Dilemma: Intersection Between Technology and Education

By Prof. Manoj Kumar Saxena and Showkat Ahmad Mir

The process of education in the 21^st century has seen dramatic shifts and repositions in the delivery of education. The thinking of educational thinkers shifted towards the pros and cons of digitization of education. The Pedagogues and educationists started thinking about the impact of new technology on the teaching and learning process. They find this new change cultural, social, and political as well. The significant questions that arose due to the advent of technology were mainly concerned with digital inequalities. However, the impact of information and communication technology can be seen in wide spectrums of education. In the 21^st century, technology has already changed various dimensions of one’s culture and society. Moreover, the idea of technological integration into education was much debated in the context of providing education to the masses. On one side, digital inequality was considered as one of the major hindrances that could hamper the purpose of the integration of technology in education, on the other, thinking about education without technology in the 21^st century cannot be a rational approach towards addressing the modern needs of students. 

The Idea of de-schooling seems to become real in the context of the digitization of education, however, though arguable. Policymakers seem to prescribe and recommend the inculcation of technological culture within the schools. The recommendations seem pertinent because the methods of accessing information and knowledge have changed to a great extent in the 21st century. However, the emerging focus on digital technology poses a challenge to educationists about socio-economical landscapes. In the aforementioned context, Saettler’s (1968) argument seems interesting, that “Books will soon be obsolete in the schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye. It is possible to teach every branch of human knowledge with the motion picture. Our school system will be completely changed in ten years”. The importance of books and teachers can never be sidelined however technology could emerge. In current times we have seen drastic technological shifts in engaging with learners, which make us skeptical of the idea that If integration of digital technology could truly serve the purpose of conscientization of young minds with little role of teachers. 

The transactions of knowledge within modern schools have found new methods with multiple ways of accessing knowledge across newly created digital resources. Accessing digital resources needs some prerequisite conditions. There must be very good infrastructure for digital classrooms. Teachers must be well acquainted with modern technology. However, there are certain lapses in these indicators in India. Different studies like, Ramachandran (2006), Bano and Hoda (2018), Hota, (2023) have made known the apathy of school infrastructure in India. To use technology, teachers need to have information and communication technology capability, which influences the teaching and learning process. In this regard, Marshal and Katz (2003), argue that “what the user knows about ICT affects the quality and quantity of the learning with ICT. The features of ICT that aid learning include interactivity and provisionality. To exploit interactivity, the user must know how to respond to screen prompts from the software. In order to exploit provisionality, the user must know how to save load and edit work in progress.” They further add that “if learners do not have sufficient skills in using ICT, they experience the ICT interference factor”. Similarly, teachers’ digital inadequacy could also contribute to the interference factor. 

The process does not stop here, as there are other stakeholders in the process of education. What about the society, culture, and more importantly family of a child? The experiences that children have due to their cultural capital affect the learning performances within schools. A family which is well acquainted with digital technology can facilitate their children smoothly in accessing digital resources, which may later, help these children in schools as well. On the other side, there may be hindrances for the poor children who lack the capital. There is always the possibility that those schools that have more material resources shall have more access to digital platforms than the schools with fewer resources and located in far-flung areas. Infusing technology in the classroom can be one of the ebullient steps but there is the possibility of utilizing technology by have’s strengthening already existing inequalities. That problem will again strengthen what Kahn and Kellner (2007) call ‘techno-capitalism’. In this way, there are chances of technology impeding the desired ends instead of achieving them. This factor must be taken into consideration by the authorities. 

In India, there are 14.89 lacks schools, out of which 10.12 lakhs are Govt. schools. The total number of students reaches 26.52 crores and that of the total teachers is 95 lakh. Looking at this huge education structure, the integration of technology needs an epimethean approach keeping the digital inequalities into consideration. Indian Inequality Report (2022) highlights that “The proportion of students having access to a computer with internet was higher in urban area (21 percent) than rural (4 percent) in India. Furthermore, access to the internet was much better in urban India (44 percent) than in rural (17 percent) India”. The report further highlights that “The currently enrolled students from advantaged socio-economic groups have relatively better access to digital infrastructure”. The scenario becomes even worse after looking at caste and gender dimensions into consideration. The inequality in digital infrastructure was also highlighted by UDISE (2021-22), it highlights that “the overall percentage of schools in India with digital library availability is relatively low… there are about 14,89,115 schools in India, and only 32,762 schools have had a digital library in 2021-22.” The variations were also found in different categories of schools, government schools were found to have only 1.2 percent of digital libraries availability in India. This percentage is lower compared to government-aided schools and Private unaided schools, which are 3.2 percent and 5.1 percent respectively.  Besides this, the intention of turning modern schools into techno-hubs seems progressive but not viable simultaneously. The cut-throat competition, inadequate textbooks, and syllabi guided by ideological dogmas are a few other concerns of our education system in India. The question arises, is the new technology only the means for infotainment which is guided by ‘techno-capitalism’ or does it have epimethean character? This way technology can be said to have an ambivalent nature, which may swing both ways of the line and may lead to the Moloch dilemma.  

Views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the editorial stance of Kashmir Observer 

• Prof. Manoj Kumar Saxena is Dean and Head, School of Education, Central University of Himachal Pradesh and Showkat Ahmad Mir is a Research Associate in the ICSSR research project at the Central University of Himachal Pradesh. They can be contacted at [email protected] and [email protected] 

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