Benefits of ICT Lab

In one of the earlier blogs, we have written about what is the meaning of the ICT Lab and how it has transitioned from when they were introduced in our classrooms to how progressive they look today. 

In this blog, we are going to put forth some of the benefits of the typical ICT Lab with a processor, mouse, keyboard, screen, projector & a sound system. So, if you are planning to set up one in your school, this blog would be very helpful. 

There are 3 key stakeholders – schools, teachers and the students and we are going to look at the benefits from the perspective of all three of them. 

For Schools:

1. Availability of Grant: Under the ICT scheme, there is a provision for getting upto 75% of the project cost from the central ministry while the balance 25% needs to come from the State Government. There is an exception for NE States where the split is 90-10
2. Increase enrolments: A school with an ICT Lab is looked upon as a progressive school, inclining parents to enrol their kids in this particular school
3. Improved daily attendance: If students enjoy the experience of learning, they will be excited to visit school every day leading to improved attendance
4. Better Learning Outcomes: This is ofcourse a hope. A general assumption is that with animations and engaging videos, students will learn better and therefore do well in their exams

For Teachers:

1. Supplementary Teaching aide: Teachers can use the digital content provided in the ICT Lab to supplement their teaching in the classroom and help students to visualise the concept better, under the assumption that this would lead to better understanding
2. Training for the Teachers: Under the ICT scheme, teachers have an opportunity to upgrade their skills by attending capacity enhancement trainings
3. Opportunity for National Recognition: Every year ICT awards are given out at a national level for recognise the teachers who utilise the ICT setup in their school effectively

For Students:

1. Learning is fun: Students are engaged better in the classroom as they enjoy watching the audio-visual digital content
2. Improved conceptual understanding: When students also see what their teacher taught in the classroom, they relate to concepts better and hence understand them better

Let us know in the comments section, if you have a computer based ICT Lab in your school, what are the benefits that you have observed? 

In our next blog in this series on ICT Labs, we are going to be looking at what are some of the challenges in setting up, running and managing the typical ICT Lab. 

PS: If you would like to understand, how we at iDream Education are bringing finer innovations in the way ICT labs are set up, used and maintained, please do visit us at https://www.idreameducation.org/