Connecting Teachers

The need for a teacher network

There are over 5.8 million teachers across 1.25 million schools across India, teaching over 185 million students in K-8 levels (2009 & 2009c). 87% of the schools are located in rural India. (Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, 2010).

Teacher shortages are very significant. There are 4 teachers per school in rural India (2009a) and 7.9 teachers per school in Urban India (2009b). A relatively recent phenomenon is the employment of para-teachers. Para-teachers are not regular teachers- they are employed on a contractual basis, earning a salary less than the regular primary teachers. There are over 538,000 para-teachers in India- 9.4% of the total number of teachers (Press Information Bureau, Govt. of India, 2010). The approach seems to be to improve the pupil-teacher ratio at a lower cost.

Only about 40% of the teachers claim to have received in-service training (2009a). Low income and inadequate training and resources have a detrimental impact on teacher motivation levels. Teacher absenteeism is a major concern in India, ranging from 15-42% for various states and averaging at 25% (2006).

In India, access to computers and penetration of internet on computers is still limited. At the all India level, 14% of the all schools have a computer. The percentage of primary schools with computers is 6% compared to 14% in independent upper primary schools/ sections (2009). Schools under private management are more likely to have computers compared to Government schools (2007). The incidence of use of computers by (or for training) teachers, is likely to be even lower. Sometimes, even access to basic needs such as electricity can be an issue with power outages for over 6 hours every day in rural areas.

Further, dispersed geographic locations, different languages and limited financial resources pose serious barriers. Even if the financial constraints were removed and some training was provided for the use of computers, language barriers would still limit the productivity.

Given all the constraints outlined, how can school teachers, especially in rural India gain access to information, training and resources that their peers in the developed world have, where access to computers, to the internet and portable technologies is easier and more affordable? How can these teachers connect with other teachers, with people or organizations holding interests in the education sector such as training providers, educational content creators, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and educational policy makers?

Mobile phones as an alternative to computers

There are over 45 million internet users in India (2008). Considering that India has a population of 1.1 billion, this number is rather small. On the other hand, the number of mobile subscribers is already over 400 million (2009d). Clearly, mobile as a device offers huge potential to connect people. Going forward, the growth in mobile penetration is expected to come from subscriptions in rural India.

A computer still costs at least USD 400, not including the cost of internet access (if it exists), which would be well over USD 100 per annum. On the other hand, a mobile device (with capability to connect to the internet) costs under USD 50 and the average monthly billing is under USD 4. As mobile phones with better features become affordable and given that usage charges are relatively lower compared to the developed nations, there is a case to set up a mobile based network to enable teachers by providing them access to relevant information and resources. It should be possible to even customize the information in terms of location, language and level of teaching.

What should be the scope of the Teacher Network?

· Sharing useful resources, best teaching practices

· Announce information relevant to teachers

· Support for in-service distance learning

· Platform to express views and post questions

· Recognition of special efforts/ Awards

· Enable making connections with teachers within a district and across India

How can connecting teachers help?

· Positive impact on teacher motivation

· Better access to and utilization of resources

· Bridging the gap between urban and rural India in terms of access- effectively and efficiently

· Significant improvements in their current practice

· Opportunity for continued contact rather than one time/ irregular training schedules

These would in turn have a positive impact on the quality of education the students receive and their lives.

References

Global campaign for education – more teachers needed. (2006, 24 April). Retrieved 31 Jan, 2010, from http://www.unicef.org/india/resources_1551.htm

India adds 11.08 mln GSM subscribers in November. (2009d). Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.telecompaper.com/news/article.aspx?cid=709135

India progressing towards universal elementary education: Where goes missing 40% efficiency? [Electronic (2007). Version]. Digital Learning. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://schoolreportcards.in/Media/m52.html

Internet & Mobile Association of India. (2008). 45 Million Internet users in India. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.imrbint.com/media/45..pdf : Internet & Mobile Association of India

Muralidharan, K., & Sundararaman, V. (2009). Teacher performance pay: Experimental evidence from India. National Bureau of Economic Research. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://econ.ucsd.edu/~kamurali/teacher%20performance%20pay.pdf

National University of Educational Planning and Administration & Department of School Education and Literacy (2009). Elementary Education in India: (State Report Cards 2007-08). Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.dise.in/Downloads/Publication 2007-08/src0708/SRC 2007-08.pdf

National University of Educational Planning and Administration & Department of School Education and Literacy (2009a). Elementary Education in Rural/ Urban India 2007-08: Rural India (Analytical Tables): Teacher-Related Indicators Part I. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.dise.in/Downloads/Publication%202007-08/Rural0708/teacher_part1.pdf

National University of Educational Planning and Administration & Department of School Education and Literacy (2009b). Elementary Education in Rural/ Urban India 2007-08: Urban India (Analytical Tables): Teacher-Related Indicators Part I. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.dise.in/Downloads/Publication%202007-08/Urban0708/Teacher-Part%20I.pdf

National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) & Department of School Education and Literacy. (2009c). Flash Statistics: Elementary Education in India: Progress towards UEE. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://www.dise.in/DISE-Flash-Statistics-2008-09-nuepa.pdf

Press Information Bureau, Government of India (2010). Enrolment at primary and upper primary level increases to 134.38 million in 2008-09 from 101.16 million in 2002-03. Retrieved 31 Jan 2010 from http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=57231

Somekh, B., & Lewin, C. (Eds.). (2007). Research Methods in the Social Sciences.

Traxler, J. (2007). Using mobile phones: Training teachers with text messages, Footsteps (71). Retrieved 31 Jan, 2010, from http://tilz.tearfund.org/Publications/Footsteps+71-80/Footsteps+71/Using+mobile+phones+-+Training+teachers+with+text+messages.htm

Weller, M. (2007). The distance from isolation: Why communities are the logical conclusion in e-learning. Computers & Education, 49(2), 148-159.

Using concepts from advertising in education

What is “learning”? According to the dictionary, it is to gain knowledge or skill by study, by experience or being taught, to become aware of through information or observation, to memorize or to realize.

Advertising, irrespective of the medium, aims to tell us something. In most cases it seeks to sell us something or make us part with our money. And it does that in thirty seconds on TV! I am sure there are times when you see the commercial just once and you feel like buying the product or service. You are convinced that you need it and the next time you visit the grocery store, you ask for it by name or look for it on the shelves.

How many times we see a commercial does impact our ability to remember it. However, there are instances when we remember the commercial even after seeing it just once and sometimes we remember advertising that we saw years ago. On the other hand, we have difficulty in remembering at an exam, what we studied the night before! Perhaps there is something that can be borrowed from advertising here.

In preparing a TV commercial, an advertising brief is translated into a 30 sec commercial. A typical brief covers the following aspects:
- An understanding of the consumer, the purchaser, the influencer in terms of demographics and psychographics
- Details about the product or service to be promoted, it’s price, purchase occasion
- The brand image and the direction it is to take
- The call to action- purchase a product/ call a number/ donate money/ join an organization
- A listing of the competitive set which can range within or across category
- The output required and the media to be used

How does all this get translated into a 60 or a 30 sec TV commercial? The creative teams are adept at doing this. They take special care of the executional aspects-the setting, the music, the actors, the dialogue, the colors used. All these work in a synergistic manner to ensure that you remember the brand name and the message about the brand.

How does the advertising work? Advertising messages tell a story in less than 60 seconds, sometimes even 30 seconds. Teaching can be as simple or exciting as telling a story. Teaching science can be a story too- for instance- what scientists originally thought about a phenomenon, how they experimented, how more modern research confirmed or disproved theories on a subject and what are the applications and relevance for today, and where do they expect the subject in study to find applications in future, which organizations or institutions are now working on that particular subject. By providing a more complete picture, learning the subject does not become memorizing a set of answers but rather understanding the subject and it’s relevance to their study and in life.



For an advertising campaign to be effective, the advertising message has to be seen by the potential customer a few times. Traditional theory puts this at a minimum of three exposures. The more recent theory of “recency” relies on the idea that a message will be retained at a time when it’s most relevant- a detergent ad is most remembered when the box in your house is about to get over, you are most likely to notice advertising for cars when you are about to buy one. In such situations, the impact of the most recent exposure will be the highest. Schools, libraries, websites, museums and science centers must use this idea and tailor the promotions and activities in accordance with the school syllabus.

Advertising messages that are liked, that are enjoyable are remembered most easily. That means if we are able to make learning experiences more enjoyable, more relevant, they will be more memorable. The converse is true as well-advertising that does not offer a pleasant experience will have a negative impact on the brand. Similarly, learning that is not pleasant or that is being forced on a student who is not interested is bound to go waste. (Was I happy when I could opt out of Physics at senior college!)

Just as an advertiser keeps you interested in his brand over a number of years, the teacher/ school/ website has to find ways to sustain a student’s interest in a subject over a number of years. To maintain continuity and sustain interest, we should treat knowledge as building blocks, adding one block at a time, moving from the know to unknown. Identify concepts which are key, finding applications in the future years of education or work and pay special attention to them, reminding about them at periodic intervals.

Call to action - The advertiser expects the commercial to have some impact on you- in most situations; the expectation is that you rush out to buy the product. Similarly, what should the student do after learning something on a particular subject? Forget it just after the exams are over? If the education offers a call to action, say a real life project, where the concepts learnt in the classroom are applied, not only will the retention be better but its relevance will also be appreciated. Special attention should be given to those students who are ahead of the curve and want to know more about that subject. The teacher must be able to advise where the student can go to learn more on a particular topic.

Media multiplier effect- How can we use that in education?
What is media multiplier effect? Media multiplier works in two ways-


- When more than one medium is used in advertising communication, it helps increase reach as there will be people who will be reached by only one of those media
- When the same audience is reached by the same message in different media, it has an incremental effect- those people will have a stronger retention of the brand name and the message and would be more likely to have a positive inclination in purchasing the product or service


How can we use this effect in teaching?

Integrate classroom learning with what students learn from various educational websites, TV channels, Educational DVDs and VCDs, Museums, Science centers, Libraries.
With repeated “exposures” across media, the retention of the message will be stronger. Some media agencies treat the different media as “touchpoints” and ensure that the potential consumer is reached via every possible touchpoint.

As all students will not have opportunities to be exposed to all these media, the net reach among this audience will be higher.

The key thing is timing. These exposures across media should be about the same time for the multimedia effect to work.

We should explore borrowing such concepts into school education and measure the impact as the advertising industry measures the return on advertising investment.