From searching for content to teaching with it: strengthening digital learning in Ganjam, Odisha
Across government schools, investments in digital infrastructure are creating new possibilities for classroom teaching. But having a digital television, solar-powered systems or other technology in place is only one part of the process. For teachers, the day-to-day question is often more practical: how easily can they find and use content that fits the lesson they are teaching? When accessing relevant digital resources depends on internet connectivity and searching online, even well-equipped classrooms can find it difficult to make digital learning a consistent part of everyday teaching.
This was the situation at a government school located near a manufacturing plant in Ganjam, Odisha.
The school already had solar-powered infrastructure and digital televisions. However, teachers largely depended on internet connectivity and manually searched for educational videos relevant to their lessons. Finding suitable content could take preparation time and made it harder to use digital resources consistently across classrooms.
To address this practical challenge, the CSR arms of one of India’s leading producers of industrial chemicals, crop nutrition and technical ammonium nitrate partnered with iDream Education to strengthen digital teaching and learning at the school.
The intervention focused on making relevant content readily available within the school’s existing setup. iDream provided curriculum-aligned offline digital learning content in both Odia and English through plug-and-play pen drives. Teachers could access the resources through the school’s digital televisions without depending on internet connectivity or searching online for every lesson.
What was interesting to see is: the head teacher became an active partner in keeping the content aligned with classroom requirements by sharing updated textbooks with the implementation team in a timely manner. This helped support continued syllabus alignment as teaching progressed.
For teachers, having ready-to-use, curriculum-aligned content reduced preparation time and made it easier to bring digital resources into regular classroom instruction. More teachers began incorporating digital content into their teaching, allowing classroom time to focus less on finding resources and more on using them with learners.
Within few months of implementation the school recorded over 120 digital learning sessions and nearly 10 hours of classroom engagement. These observations point to encouraging adoption of the solution and its integration into classroom routines.
Our next step is to build on this adoption by continuing to align resources with the school’s evolving syllabus and supporting teachers to use digital content purposefully. The focus remains on making digital learning a practical, accessible part of everyday classroom teaching.