UPSC Sociology Mains Syllabus
Paper 2 – Chapter 10 – Social Change in modern Society
- (a) Sociological theories of social change.
- (b) Development and dependency.
- (c) Agents of social change.
- (d) Education and social change.
- (e) Science, technology and social change.
THE CONTEXT
India has made great strides from being the land of gurukuls to being competent in becoming the world’s Ed-tech capital. The industry was worth $750 million in 2020 and is expected to grow to $4 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 39.77 per cent.
WHAT IS ED-TECH?
Edtech, or education technology, is the combination of IT tools and educational practices aimed at facilitating and enhancing learning.
RELEVANCE OF ED-TECH IN DISCIPLINE OF SOCIOLOGY
Devices such as tablets and smartphones are now common means of interacting with people, consuming media, interacting with institutions and generally living out many aspects of our daily lives. In an organisational sense digital technologies are now central to the ‘formal’ organisation of education: free online courses have emerged to supplement and compete with traditional bricks and mortar institutions; national governments now spend billions on digital education resources and have ed tech policies and initiatives; and digital education is entwined with a global economics and politics and ongoing changes as to what counts for knowledge skills.
ADVANTAGES OF ED-TECH
With easy access to the internet all across the county, EdTech can reach far-off places in our country.
Provides a better interactive experience during the learning and teaching process. Provides access to an unlimited amount of current information and data from a variety of sources With the introduction of technology in education, resources have become more accessible, which resulted in declining tuition fees, the need for books and their price, as well as the reduced need for school supplies.
Students can choose between real-time learning or learning at their own pace.
DISADVANTAGES
Devices can be distracting.
Technology are costly and it has led to increasing digital divide.
Digital illiteracy prevents some sections from accessing the technology.
Lack of digital infrastructure for educational purposes.
It reduces direct peer interaction.
INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION
Egalitarianism is an ideological position, belief, or principle that advocates equal rights, opportunities, and prospects for all individuals within a society. Discriminatory factors such as wealth distribution, caste, gender, geography, and so on have further exacerbated education disparities. According to the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2019, only 16% of children in Class 1 in 26 surveyed rural districts can read the text at the prescribed level, and nearly 40% cannot even recognise letters.
ED-TECH IN REDUCING INEQUALITY IN EDUCATION
By making resources accessible and affordable, Ed-tech players are facilitating a common platform for all and simultaneously making learners’ geographical and economic backgrounds irrelevant.
Edtech can be used to facilitate learning by setting different questions for different pupils, depending on their ability or learning style.
Cloud-based technology helps to bridge the gap between the poorest and most wealthy schools, providing universal access to the very latest, freely-available online resources.
CONCLUSION
Technology has the potential to be a great equaliser, with the right tools helping to close the educational divide and making classrooms a genuinely inclusive place for all.
