vii

Editorial

v;a fut% ijks osfr x.kuk y?kq psrlkeAv;a fut% ijks osfr x.kuk y?kq psrlkeA
mnkjpfjrkuka rq olqèkSo dqVqEcde~Amnkjpfjrkuka rq olqèkSo dqVqEcde~A

("He, who perceives the distinction of 'mine' and 'other' , has a narrow mind. 
But for those with a noble character, the entire world is one family.")

… Maha Upnishad

As we step into 2024, the New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration (NDLD) (https://www.g20.
in/en/index.html) of the G20 summit held on 9-10 September, 2023 in New Delhi 
provide a beacon of light to the people and the planet. The G20 accounted for “85% 
of global GDP, 75% of world trade and 2/3rd of world population”. ‘Vasudhaiva 
Kutumbakam’, which is part of India’s cultural heritage and was the central 
theme of the G20, is interwoven into the recommendations of the NDLD. The 
recommendations included on issues of ‘sustainable, green and inclusive growth’, 
‘quality education’, ‘digital infrastructure’, ‘climate action’, etc. On quality education, it 
recognizes the importance of “foundational learning (literacy, numeracy, and socio-
emotional skills) as the primary building block for education and employment”; 
reiterates the “commitment to harness digital technologies to overcome the 
digital divides for all learners”; extends “support to educational institutions and 
teachers to enable them to keep pace with emerging trends and technological 
advances including Artificial Intelligence (AI)”; emphasizes “expanding access to 
high-quality Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET)”; reaffirmed 
the “commitment to promote open, equitable and secure scientific collaboration” 
and encouraged “mobility of students, scholars, researchers, and scientists across 
research and higher education institutions” and emphasized the “importance of 
enabling life-long learning focused on skilling, reskilling, and upskilling especially 
for vulnerable groups”.

The NDLD sees potential in technology for bridging digital divides besides being 
a tool for rapid transformations for inclusive and sustainable development. It 
further talks about “creating digital public infrastructure (DPI), which is safe, secure, 
trusted, accountable, inclusive and capable of delivering services at societal-scale.”  
In also recognises “the importance of data” and their role in development. It also 
emphasises the flow of data across borders within the applicable legal frameworks. 
The NDLD also “welcomed India’s plan to build and maintain a Global Digital Public 
Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR), a virtual repository of DPI, voluntarily shared by 
G20 members and beyond.” It also took “note of the Indian Presidency’s proposal 
of the One Future Alliance (OFA), a voluntary initiative aimed to build capacity, and 
provide technical assistance and adequate funding support for implementing DPI 
in Low/Middle Income Countries (LMICs). It also welcomed the “G20 Toolkit on 
Cyber Education and Cyber Awareness of Children and Youth.” It recognises the 
immense potential of the AI and thus recommends “promoting a responsible AI for 
achieving SDGs.” 

This shared commitment of the G20 countries was presided over by Bharat. India is 
taking some definite steps to turn India’s economy into 22 trillion dollar economies 
by 2047, when India will be celebrating the centenary year of her freedom from 
British colonialism. The EdTech industry is going to play a crucial role in this 



viii

transformation. EdTech’s role will not only be through the market alone but as 
NDLD above says the EdTech will become a tool for this transformation as well. The 
EdTech industry was valued at over 2.8 billion USD in 2020 which is estimated to 
become close to 10 billion USD in 2025 (https://www.statista.com).

So, what will drive this market? What innovations will fuel this transformation? 
It is hoped that with the continuous evolution of technology, the perennial 
contradictions arising from delivering uniform instructions to a class with diverse 
students, each possessing a unique learning style, can be effectively reconciled. 
Some of the areas where we can see these innovations in education are discussed 
below. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning are set to revolutionise learning. 
Both are capable of providing personalised learning experiences, either by 
intelligent tutoring and adaptive assessments or by analysing students’ data to 
tailor instructional content to suit the learning styles of the individual students. 
The immersive technologies in form of virtual and augmented reality contents 
help students and teachers to go beyond the textbooks to learn new concepts and 
engage in complex simulations. One of the important roles that technology has 
played historically in education has been towards equitable education. Assistive 
technologies, such as speech-to-text and text-to-speech applications, are making 
education more accessible to Divyang children. Blockchain technology is truly 
disrupting the older ways in the manner in which it secures and verify academic 
records and thus bring transparency and trust in the educational system. This 
not only streamlines the hiring process for the employers but also a sense of 
empowerment to students by giving them greater control over their academic 
achievements.

In this latest edition of the Indian Journal of Educational Technology (IJET), different 
types of articles such as general articles, research articles and book review have 
been included to cover various aspects of educational technology. General articles 
explore the topics such as cyber safety and ICT competencies. Some of the contents 
range from the impact of multimedia and gaming on the dynamics of learning and 
teaching to the perceptions and attitudes of pre-service and in-service teachers 
towards the integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). This 
issue of the IJET also inquire into the challenges and prospects of implementing ICT 
in remote tribal areas, scrutinizing the efficacy of the Government of India's digital 
initiatives, such as DIKSHA. It continues to survey the impacts that the pandemic 
had on educational technology per se. Further, it critically reviews the praxis of 
flipped learning, investigates the role of social media in reshaping teaching and 
learning habits, and explores how social media content responded to the debates 
on history textbooks. Additionally, the issue probes instructional strategies in the 
context of the digital technology, assesses the perception of Geographic Information 
Systems (GIS) by school teachers, and deliberates on the broader implications 
of Augmented Reality in teaching. It also engages with the ethical dimensions of 
Artificial Intelligence in education, examines assisted technologies, scrutinizes the 
integration of robots into the Indian educational landscape, and explores diverse 
models of technology-mediated learning.

(ABHAY KUMAR)
Editor