Importance of Digital Learning in Early Education: A Roadmap for Success

The Indian education system is infused with waves of digitisation, mainly driven by data-oriented educational approaches, proactive educational policies like the NEP 2025, digital learning, and parents’ evolving mindsets. 

Today, traditional teacher-centred instruction methods, such as worksheets, textbook learning, and rote memorisation, are being complemented with Smart Classes that facilitate more flexible teaching techniques that perfectly blend different learning styles, including visual, kinesthetic, social, and auditory. 

Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has played a key role in driving the urgency of shifting to digital learning platforms and deploying digital education strategies worldwide. In fact, 

A UNESCO report states that more than 90% of countries turned to digital education strategies during the pandemic, emphasising the increasing reliance on technology in the education space. 

This article examines the benefits of digital learning in early education and the impact of data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and interactive assessment on a child’s all-around development. 

Key Benefits of Digital Learning in Early Education

The Indian government’s push for ‘Digital India’ is coupled with a growing emphasis on integrating technology in education. But why?

Let’s examine the benefits of digital learning in education, particularly highlighting the impact on foundational literacy and numeracy. 

1. Customised Learning Opportunities to Define a Clear Career Path

Personalised learning is a new educational style that pivots from traditional teaching to harness the power of technology and data and cater to student’s unique interests and learning styles. 

Despite its best efforts, the Indian education system has not escaped the clutches of the “one-size-fits-all” teaching methodology. However, multiple studies conducted worldwide reveal that personalised learning equips students to fare well in the long run. 

For instance, more than 76% of teachers said that personalised learning plays an important role in improving student engagement and academic performance. 

Cutting-edge technologies, including AI, are profoundly impacting self-learning and early education.  As a case in point, iPrep PAL (Personalized Adaptive Learning) offers personalised learning materials to deliver better educational experiences for students. 

Based on the EdTech Tulna framework for Personalized Adaptive Learning, PAL comes with bilingual content, diagnostic tests and grade-level proficiency, along with granular analytics. 

This allows educators to identify every student’s strengths, weaknesses, and learning styles.

2. Equipping Educators for Improved Learning Outcomes

While online learning offers significant benefits to students, it opens up new opportunities and frontiers for educators. For instance, 

The consumption of e-learning content in India has increased by 50% annually between 2020 and 2022, and around 90% of urban students used at least one form of digital learning during the pandemic. 

 As the digital learning wave continues gaining momentum, educators need to capitalise on it to provide better learning experiences and outcomes.

iDream Education’s Digital Class is a good example, allowing teachers to create experiential training material and high-quality K-12 digital content for all subjects. 

The integrated reporting and monitoring tools provide real-time analytics, classroom usage insights, and in-depth performance reports that help parents and teachers identify the areas of improvement for each child at an early age. 

The most noteworthy advantage of digital learning is that it allows teachers to support different learning styles at a comfortable pace. For instance, interactive applications allow students of different skill levels to become familiar with different colours and numbers interactively, building confidence.

3. Higher Parent Engagement in Early Education

Communication between students, teachers, and parents is key to better academic outcomes and the holistic development of children at an early age. 

Further, increasing evidence suggests that students whose parents are actively involved with academics and extracurricular activities tend to adjust more in school and have a higher sense of belonging. 

But what can schools do to enhance parental engagement? 

Numerous digital learning platforms provide reading and study materials that encourage parental involvement. Moreover, these data-driven tools usually feature a parental dashboard where parents can monitor their child’s progress, review teacher feedback, and access well-being updates. 

Furthermore, parents can stay informed about the latest announcements and gain a comprehensive overview of upcoming activities and events. 

For instance, the iPrep educational app includes a specialised parental dashboard that gives parents valuable insights into their children’s progress.

Integration of Technology in Preschools

Although Indian schools are increasing their efforts to integrate technology in preschools, there is scope for improvement. 

Here’s how they can do it. 

1. Find the Right Tech Solution

With so many digital learning platforms to choose from, it is crucial to introduce a suitable tool that caters to the unique needs of preschoolers. 

Schools should ensure they do not overburden the kids with multiple complex tools – the goal should be to use simple tools that have a very short learning curve. 

2. Focus on a Gradual Transition

The introduction of new technology, including learning platforms for preschoolers, isn’t straightforward—it should be done with care and patience. 

School management, teachers, and parents should make concrete efforts to introduce technology smoothly and help the students understand the basics. The idea is to educate them on how learning tools benefit them. 

3. Interactive Learning Applications

One of the most effective ways to introduce technology during early education is through interactive applications. These apps help young students learn something new and ensure they transition to new tools as smoothly as possible.

The iPrep Junior YouTube channel is a repository of engaging and interactive videos that cover a wide range of basic concepts in science, math, language, and more. These videos are designed to foster interactive learning and create a fun learning experience for students studying from KG to Class 5. 

Further, interactive learning goes beyond formal schooling and can empower Anganwadis with Learning TVs, TLM to support early childhood education. 

Parting Notes

India’s education system is at the cusp of digital transformation and how young students learn. While the fundamental concepts of traditional teachings and schooling will remain intact, the advent of technology is set to complement the conventional teaching mediums and promote digital learning in early education. 

Technology fosters parental engagement, interactive learning, and more. For instance, educators are using AI, data analytics, and data-driven teaching to create tailored education experiences that cater to each student’s strengths and weaknesses. 

iDream Education offers an array of solutions, including Smart Class, Interactive Whiteboard, PAL, Digital Library, and iPrep, the Learning Super App, to facilitate seamless and effective digital learning in early education. 

Interested in learning more about our solutions? 
Get in touch via email at [email protected] or contact us on +91-7678265039.

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