The University Grants Commission (UGC) very recently released a draft of Comprehensive Accessibility Guidelines and Standards for Higher Education Institutions and Universities to ensure persons with disabilities (PwD) have easy access to higher education. In addition to this, the Government of India launched the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) to ensure the equal participation and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all activities. Initiatives such as extending a robust roadmap to inclusive education are commendable and a step in the right direction. The guidelines cover the nuances of accessibility measures while keeping abreast with the role of inclusive technology in education and
Universities need to evolve. University 1.0 was driven by religion. University 2.0 was driven by the state. University 3.0 was driven by philanthropy. All three versions of universities will continue but we need University 4.0 (U4.0) that will consider cost, employability and equity as objectives besides excellence.
Many educators agree online learning can transform education. We believe that the massification of machine learning could be the missing ingredient—enabling personalization, flip classrooms, rethinking assessments, enabling non-conventional credentialing, etc
In India, just about 45% of our fresh graduates are employable. Our education system needs to be more case-study based so that students can develop their cognitive and intuitive skills and are able to cope with real-life situations.
The more traditional and rigid teaching models are now being replaced by adaptive and personalized pedagogies, examples of which include mobile based learning, open educational resources, and utilization of AR and VR for learning, and mobile-based learning.