Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing (DIKSHA)

Ministry of Education

Context:

Union Education Minister reviews the Digital Education initiatives of the Ministry

About:

• DIKSHA (Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing) has been formally launched by the Hon’ble Vice President of India on 5^th September 2017.
•  It is a National Teacher Platform which is currently being used by teachers and students across the nation to provide school education through distance mode.
• Amidst the disruption of schooling due to COVID-19, DIKSHA makes it possible for all states and Union Territories to enable learning and education at home through innovative state programs. DIKSHA is leapfrogging the use of technology for the benefit of teachers and learners across India.

• DIKSHA is a national platform for school education launched on September 5th 2017
• It is an initiative in the domain of digital learning by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) and the Ministry of Human Resource Development – MHRD
• It was developed based on the core principles of open architecture, open access, open licensing diversity, choice and autonomy as outlined in the Strategy and Approach Paper for the National Teacher Platform.
• National Teacher Platform has been branded as DIKSHA. The motto of DIKSHA is ‘our teachers are our heroes’.
• DIKSHA – National Teachers Platform is built to host Open Educational Resources (OER) and tools for teachers in schools, teacher educators in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) and student teachers in TEIs.
• The aim of this initiative is to help teachers and the students to continue their studies as usual and ensure holistic learning for both.
• NTP is a minimal and generalised technology platform built using Open Standards and Application Program Interfaces (APIs) and will host Open Educational Resources (OER). It will also have tools and interfaces for the creation and consumption of teaching and learning content. As a shared infrastructure the platform will avoid duplication of effort and save costs.
• It will cater to the needs of teachers including the development of attitude, skill and knowledge. The platform will continuously develop and evolve in an iterative manner based on user needs and stakeholder feedback.
• NTP will cater to teachers from all stages of school education including pre-primary, primary, upper primary, secondary and senior secondary.
• DIKSHA is available for the use of all states and UTs of India. Currently, it supports 18+ languages and the various curriculum of NCERT, CBSE and SCERTs across India.

Features of DIKSHA Portal

Here are some important features of DIKSHA portal for easy access of students:

1. QR Code – National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers and students can be accessed after scanning the QR code provided in their NCERT books. After scanning the QR code, the portal will come up with suggestions and topics that you want to study.
2. Language – The portal is accessible in English and varied languages that include Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu and so (18 languages). You can choose any language depending upon your comfort and convenience.
3. Location-based – The portal would first ask for the location to which you belong. For example, you choose Delhi as an option, it would further ask you to choose ‘sub-location’ means in which locality of Delhi you reside. Accordingly, it will show you the courses that are going on in that region from which you can choose the desired course as per your skill set.
4. Class Based – DIKSHA portal requires a user to choose the class whose study material has to be accessed. Click on the standard whose study material you wish to access and enter the SUBMIT button.

DIKSHA Mobile App

• DIKSHA portal is an advanced platform that is available for the android and iOS users also.
• App can be download the DIKSHA app from Google Play Store.
• The mobile app is available for not just teachers but also for the students and parents.
• The app is loaded with engaging learning material that fits the needs of prescribed school curriculum.

App Highlights

• Explore interactive material created by teachers and the best Indian content creators for teachers and students in India. By India, for India!
• Scan QR codes from textbooks and find additional learning material associated with the topic
• Store and share content offline, even without Internet connectivity
• Find lessons and worksheets relevant to what is taught in the school classroom
• Experience the app in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Urdu with additional Indian languages coming soon!
• Supports multiple content formats like Video, PDF, HTML, ePub, H5P, Quizzes – and more formats coming soon!

DIKSHA e-learning Portal Benefits

For Teachers – 

1. DIKSHA will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers. All teachers across the nation will be equipped with advanced digital technology.
2. It is built considering the whole teacher’s life cycle – from the time student teachers enroll in Teacher Education Institutes (TEIs) to after they retire as teachers.
3. The DIKSH e-learning portal enables the teachers to understand their career span. From the time they join the school to their retirement, they can map out their career progression and can work on their skills accordingly.
4. It will aid teachers to learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available. It will help teachers to create training content, profile, in-class resources, assessment aids, news and announcements and connect with the teacher community.

For Students – 

1. There will be direct interaction between teachers and students. 
2. Students will be able to understand concepts in an easy and interactive manner.
3. The app or e-learning portal of DIKSHA also facilitates the students to do quick revisions and test his/her learning through self-assessment practice exercises.

For Parents-

1. Parents can follow classroom activities and can clear their doubts outside school hours through one to one sessions with the teachers. It is a comprehensive platform for hassle-free interaction of all the stakeholders involved.

DIKSHA -National Teachers Platform Significance

1. It leverages existing highly scalable and flexible digital infrastructures while keeping teachers at the centre.
2. NTP aims to provide Teacher training courses such as training on learning outcomes, CCE, etc. Teaching resources such as lesson plans, concept videos, worksheets, mapped to curriculum and Assessments for teachers, to find out their strengths and areas of improvement. 
3. It enables, accelerates and amplifies solutions in the realm of teacher education.
4. States, government bodies and even private organisations, can integrate DIKSHA into their respective teacher initiatives based on their goals, needs and capabilities.
5. The digital learning app is directed to access and created a comprehensive learning environment where both tutor and student can grow. 
6. It also provides access to NCERT textbooks and lessons, following the regular school curriculum.
7. The policies and tools of the platform make it possible for the education ecosystem to participate, contribute and leverage a common platform to achieve learning goals at scale for the country.
8. The platform is being leveraged and developed for school education, foundational learning programs and to support inclusive learning for underserved and differently-abled communities.

National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS)

1. NIOS was established in November 1989. It was formerly known as National Open School (NOS). 
2. It was an autonomous organization in pursuance of National Policy on Education 1986 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development. Know about New Education Policy 2020 on the given link. 
3. NIOS provides a number of vocational, life enrichment and community oriented courses besides General and Academic Courses at Secondary and Senior Secondary level.
4. It also offers Elementary level Courses through its Open Basic Education Programmes (OBE).
5. Government of India has vested NIOS with the authority to examine and certify learners registered with it up to pre-degree level courses whether Academic, Technical or Vocational.

Source: PIB

Must Visit: DIKSHA

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