3-day TECH 2019 from December 10

As a prelude to event, policymakers discuss use of digital technology in education

A three-day TECH (Transforming Education Conference for Humanity) 2019, being organised jointly by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP), is being held at Novotel hotel here from December 10.

As a prelude to TECH 2019, the organisers brought together policymakers on digital learning, representatives from educational technology companies and other stakeholders at a Policy Forum on Digital Learning.

The forum provided a platform for policy dialogue around the use of digital technology in education, including the role of Artificial Intelligence in supporting teaching and learning. Director of UNESCO MGIEP Anantha Duraiappah inaugurated the forum here on Monday.

Building on the Vizag Declaration on ‘Guidelines for digital learning’, adopted last year, the forum discussed the current state and future prospects on the use of digital technology with exchange of some insights to ensure quality digital learning, in support of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Official country delegates from Bangladesh, Japan, Maldives, New Zealand, Quebec (Canada), South African and Sri Lanka, who comprised experts nominated by governments, senior government officials and policymakers representing the ICT or digital education units within the Ministries of Education or other Ministries or Departments in charge of digitalisation of education participated.

The event was also attended by delegates from Sweden, the former Minister of Higher Education and Research in Sweden Tobias Kranz, and an expert from Kyrgyzstan, as well as by Indian policymakers and teachers from five countries including Bhutan. The event helped in unifying the agenda to form ‘Friends of UNESCO MGIEP’, a group of countries committed to promoting the wise, innovative and ethical use of digital technology as a new dimension in achieving inclusive and equitable quality education.

Transformative digital pedagogy

Mr. Duraiappah said that such discussions were imperative to drive awareness about transformative digital pedagogy. The world was changing at a brisk pace, and through these conversations, education systems would prepare learners and educators for the changes and the challenges of the 21st century.

Building on the neuro sciences of learning, which shows that parts of the brain could be ‘trained’ in intellectual as well as emotional intelligence, the institute promotes the whole-brain approach to learning and harnesses the power of digital technologies to enable innovative pedagogies.