Digital content is being viewed by hundreds of students thanks to quick response codes.
Schools reopened across the Indian state of Tamil Nadu on June 1 and data has shown that students are keen on using the QR codes included in the revamped syllabus for the new textbooks for Classes I, VI and IX, reported The Hindu.
The new access to digital content is hosted on DIKSHA.
The online content accessed via QR codes within the textbooks is hosted on the national digital platform of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, known as DIKSHA.
From June 1 to June 11, the number of times content was viewed using these unique bar codes was 938,779. There were 379,205 distinct users and the total DIKSHA App downloads were 89,006. The most viewed at more than 25,000 times was “Aalamarathil Vlayadu.”
Students can use any Android-compatible QR codes scanner to link to the portal.
The online resources that are hosted on the DIKSHA platform were created by the School Education Department. Students can link to the portal to access content by downloading the DIKSHA app or they can use any QR code scanner available on Android mobile phones to link to it.
“The massive response to QR codes indicates several basic parameters are quite strong in the State such as reasonable e-literacy and exposure to online content among students and teachers,” said a senior official from the department, as quoted by The Hindu.
“The hosting of content for Classes I, VI, and IX as part of the new textbooks and revamped syllabus has meant that Tamil Nadu has also emerged as one of the States in the forefront of providing digital content for students and teachers,” the senior official added.
This isn’t the first time quick response codes have been used within India’s education system. QR Code press reported recently that Delhi University administration used these codes to help new college applicants discover the appropriate colleges, departments and institutes, part of Delhi University.
As for Tamil Nadu, in addition to the textbook QR codes that link to online resources, the education department is also working to build a digital repository of video lessons from both teachers and subject experts. The videos will be in Tamil with English subtitles first and the intention is to make these video lessons available to all classes.
