Giving Compass' Take:

• The author explains that progress to get technology into Indian classrooms is slow and only exists in some Indian schools, while virtual classes are on the rise. 

• How will Indian communities address accessibility if virtual classrooms continue to grow?

• Read about the role of technology in education. 

Classrooms the world over are increasingly turning futuristic, with the latest gadgets and technology replacing chalk-and-board teaching. The process is on in India, too, albeit only in pockets.

Mohammed Fazil, who teaches grades four to eight in a government school in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, uses augmented reality to trigger computer-generated images around his classroom. He uses Google Cardboard, a virtual reality platform, and Google’s Expeditions app to take students on virtual field trips. Fazil also uses motion-sensing technology with a Microsoft Kinect device to play math games.

Elsewhere, in Solapur, Maharashtra, in western India, another government school teacher, Ranjitsinh Disale, is creating quick response (QR) codes in textbooks that link out to online materials—a good hack to extend learning outside the classroom, check absenteeism through engagement, and keep in touch with parents.

These are anecdotes mentioned in a January 2017 report “Teaching and Technology: Case Studies from India” by the Central Square Foundation, a venture philanthropy fund and policy think tank based in New Delhi.

Having realised their potential, especially in rural areas, the Indian government is setting up hundreds of virtual classrooms. Likewise, girls from one of the world’s largest slums, Dharavi in Mumbai, are learning to code courtesy the non-profit Dharavi Diary.

Yet, these are only exceptions, a recent survey by Cambridge Assessment International Education, a not-for-profit arm of the Cambridge University, has found.

If one zooms out and looks at the bigger picture, India’s classrooms are by and large outdated. Most Indian classrooms lag in incorporating smartphones, tablets, or even the simple whiteboard.

Read the full article about technology in India's classrooms by Ananya Bhattacharya at Quartz India.