Education Technology | Innovations and Insights - Edinbox

The state government of Uttar Pradesh has launched the 'ITI Chalo Abhiyan', a statewide campaign for encouraging admissions in Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) for the 2025 academic year. This program was inaugurated on May 12 and aims to enhance the technical proficiency of rural and urban youth, skill them for employment, as per flagship national initiatives such as Make in India and Digital India.

Principal Secretary of Vocational Education Dr. Hariom has directed all District Magistrates to earnestly promote the campaign, highlighting its power to make Uttar Pradesh a skill development leader. The government has launched a multi-pronged drive for awareness through school authorities, Gram Sabha meetings, and block-level meetings to ensure maximum outreach. District School Inspectors and Basic Education Officers will carry out the drive in schools, while Block Development Officers will promote grassroots support through village heads.

The progress of the campaign will be reviewed in weekly review meetings convened by Chief Development Officers. In a notable industry-academia tie-up, 149 government ITIs have joined hands with Tata Technologies to provide 11 long-term courses that are industry-relevant as per current industry needs. The Department of Vocational Education also got 27,000 youth employed through recent memorandum with 22 industry partners.

This program is the state government's collective effort to eliminate the gap between employment and education, with ITI graduates being expected to give Uttar Pradesh an economic boost. The government has distributed far-reaching publicity material in all ITIs so that more people are made aware of the scheme and the advantages it has to offer.

Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has opened online applications for BTech Mathematics and Computing. The new course, launched in 2022, is focused on exploring an emerging area and building future leaders "who will be at the forefront of research, development, and innovation in futuristic disciplines and next-generation technologies."

Aspiring students can apply for it on iisc.ac.in/admissions.

Schedules of significance

Online application process to begin on: May 1, 2025

Online application deadline: June 6, 2025 (11:59 pm)

Reporting date to the institute: Will be intimated later

Classes to begin from: August 1, 2025

A valid Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Advanced is required for admission to this course.

"There is a great hunger and demand in the industry for such an offering. Students from this program will be sought after as graduate students anywhere globally. IISc's presence in Bengaluru, India's technology capital will be an added benefit," the institute said on the course.

The core program, spread over four semesters, comprises six courses in Mathematics and Computing each. There will also be courses in sciences, humanities, and other streams of engineering.

Students can then choose softcore credits from the courses from the Mathematics and Computing streams and other electives from across the institute.

The institute has designed study streams in Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, Computational Science, Theoretical Computer Science, Quantum Computing, Signal Processing, Computational Biology and Mathematical Finance to help the students select from the variety of courses available and channelize them towards specialisation.

In the fourth year of study, they have a choice of undertaking research or industry projects. They can even do an MTech by taking an additional year of coursework and project credits.

B.Tech in Computer Science had been equivalent to a dream career in India's IT sector for more than a decade. With the outsourcing boom and the world's need for software engineers, knowledge of codes and algorithms has been the key to success for a career. But all that has totally changed, considering how fast artificial intelligence (AI) and automation have revolutionized the industry.

Today, AI code can generate and test software and debug them, and all these functions were previously performed by trained engineers. This implies traditional IT jobs are dwindling, and even tech-savvy students' luck is at stake.

As conventional software development careers dwindle, the need for creative problem solvers is substantially increasing in another field-design and digital media. The demand has never been more critical for creative problem-solvers who can help impact the convergence of technology and human experience. This program is building a new future that will equip graduates with unique competencies to meet the needs of the new world.

With automation transforming the tech sector, engineering requires a design orientation. Professor (Dr.) Sanjay Gupta, Vice Chancellor, World University of Design, emphasizes the need to integrate design and computer science for jobs that are ready for the future.

WHY COMBINE COMPUTER SCIENCE AND DESIGN

The virtual world not just aims for efficiency but is also good at experience. Any program, site, game, or virtual interface that is being utilized is constructed out of the amalgamation of design and engineering. The top digital products in the present day do not become successful simply because coding is in the right place; they simultaneously possess intuitive, beautiful, and completely absorbing qualities.

The B.Tech in computer science and Design (CSD) is based on the premise that a tomorrow's world engineer must also be a designer. The course does not simply provide students with coding abilities; but also enables them to think creatively, design intuitive experiences, and comprehend the basics of aesthetics, storytelling, and digital interaction.

There is an entire palette of skills - from UI/UX design to game development, virtual immersive worlds, and AI-generated digital art - the crossroads of technology and design are enabling new paths of innovation.

Consider giant corporations today such as Apple and Google, which long ago realized that design plays a significant part in technology.

Apple has been the leader in user-centered design, while Google Material Design has reached classic levels in intuitive user interface designs. The graduates of the CSD will understand the same language as these firms, where design and technology converge.

It would be better to opt for a B. Tech in Computer Science and Design instead of a Bachelor of Design (B.Des) since the B.Des degrees are all about beauty and conceptualization and to make students acquire strong computational and analytical abilities with creative skills.

EXPLOSIVE JOB GROWTH IN DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY

More importantly, as per industry reports, the design industry in India is flourishing at 23-25% year-on-year due to rising consumer expectations, digitisation reaching every sector, and a vibrant startup environment. But this is far behind the need because the demand for designers is more than 62,000 individuals annually, while trained designers of roughly 7,000 make an appearance in India every year.

For those looking at career opportunities, this gap is a goldmine. B.Tech Computer Science and Design graduates are well-placed to join fast-growing sectors like: Gaming & Animation - a sector which is going to be worth over $300 billion by 2026, and India's own gaming industry is growing fast; UI/UX Design.

As digital platforms have become the core of every business, investment in user experience design has become a 'must'; Virtual & Augmented Reality (VR/AR) - these immersive technologies are transforming industries ranging from entertainment to education to healthcare; Human-AI Interaction - for designing intuitive and ethical AI interactions to everyday life; and, Digital Media & Interactive Arts - for Digital advertising, film-making, and multimedia storytelling.

As the situation evolves over time, the need for an engineer, who performs like a designer, will be more prevalent. And this isn't the future of education-it's the future of work.

Despite a decade of progress in education, women are still severely underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as a field, the UNESCO Global Education Monitoring (GEM) finds. Data from 2018-2023 shows that women comprised just 35% of global STEM graduates, with no to little progress toward reducing the gender gap over the past decade.

It attributes this stagnation to entrenched gender stereotypes and a conspicuous lack of confidence among girls in fields like mathematics — even when their grades are equal or superior to those of the boys. These early setbacks, officials say, have far-reaching consequences and influence career decisions.

The gap between the sexes is even wider in the virtual workplace.

According to GEM statistics, only 26% of data science and artificial intelligence experts are women, with representation dropping even lower in specialist fields such as cloud computing (12%) and engineering (15%). One in four women with a degree in IT in the European Union goes on to work in the digital industry, whereas more than half of their male counterparts follow suit.

"Men are taking over the digital revolution and that's a loss for society at large," GEM team member said, emphasizing the need to diversify the pool of tech talent driving the pursuit of innovation.

While 68% of countries have national policies supporting STEM education, only half of those include specific measures to encourage girls and women. In response, UNESCO has launched an advocacy brief calling for targeted reforms to make STEM education more inclusive and gender-responsive.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE

Gender-sensitive career counselling in schools to help girls envision themselves in STEM and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).

Training school administrators and teachers to identify and counteract gender bias in the curriculum and classroom.

Developing female-led STEM clubs and mentorship programs to provide role models and experience in the real world.

Partnering with local industries and professionals to expose girls to successful women working in STEM fields.

Developing digital literacy models that ensure equal access for both female and male students to develop essential 21st-century skills.

The memo also highlights the importance of early action. From gender-neutral language in writing to introducing girls to classrooms who are female STEM professionals, the focus is to integrate science and technology in a way that is relevant and comprehensible to girls from the outset.

"Teachers are the catalysts for changing attitudes and boosting confidence. By helping girls overcome math phobia and linking STEM to their realities, we can construct a more equitable and creative future," the advocacy note concludes.

UNESCO's report is a call to wake-up for teachers, policymakers, and communities to remove systemic barriers stopping half the world's potential inventors.

Chegg announced on Monday it would reduce its staff by approximately 22%, or 248 workers, in an effort to save money and streamline operations as more students rely on artificial intelligence-based tools like ChatGPT instead of legacy edtech solutions.

The company, an online education firm that offers textbook rentals, homework help and tutoring, has been grappling with a decline in web traffic for months and warned that the trend would likely worsen before improving.

Google's rollout of AI Overviews is keeping web traffic within its search ecosystem while increasingly routing searches to its Gemini AI platform, Chegg added, noting other AI firms such as OpenAI and Anthropic were wooing scholars with grants for free subscription access.

As a part of the restructuring on Monday, Chegg is also closing its U.S. and Canada offices within the year and trying to scale back on its marketing, product development initiatives and general and administrative costs.

Most of the resulting charges of between $34 million and $38 million are to be taken within the second and third quarters.

Chegg forecasts cost savings of $45 million to $55 million in 2025 and $100 million to $110 million in 2026 from restructuring.

It also released first-quarter results on Monday, reporting that subscribers fell 31% during the period to 3.2 million. Revenue fell 30% to $121 million, as its revenue from subscription services dropped by almost a third to $108 million.

Chegg sued Google in February alleging Google's web search engine was eroding original content demand and destabilizing publishers' competitiveness with its artificial intelligence-produced summaries, consequently leading to a decline in visitors and subscribers.

Chegg employed 1,271 people as of December 31.

The global education system was tested to the unprecedented level by the pandemic of COVID-19, but also to a new response. In rural Odisha village, a junior teacher Priyanka embodied such innovation. Using the challenge of how to teach children who did not even have smartphones and fixed internet access, she employed WhatsApp voice messages and radio stations to give directions. This alternative approach not only provided continuity of instruction but also brought into perspective the future of low-technology interventions in closing the knowledge gap.

India's NEP 2020 has set serious emphasis on digital-first learning induced by intervention across the digital learning framework and deployment via television and radio. The e-learning laboratory and tablet-classroom implementations were initiated for the first time in Kerala and Maharashtra. But all that glory is accompanied with problems that still beset it. Internet coverage in rural village locales stands at 24% of networked homes, but still 42% of networked homes are in cities. Furthermore, educators too are not yet properly trained with digital technology competencies, and scale, unbridled use of untested EdTech tools undermine pedagogy and data privacy. India's lessons are belated, but timely, ones for other countries, particularly the Global South. They are:

Low-tech solutions: Radio, SMS, and offline mobile apps can be utilized in order to access students in low density pockets of internet reach. NCERT's e-pathshala offline app, for example, has gone the extra mile in accessing education content to non-internet students.

Public-private collaborations: Public-private collaborations among the state and EdTech companies can fuel innovation and scaling already visible through startup creation in the style of BYJU'S and Unacademy.

Decentralizing innovation: Grass-root campaigns like Kerala's "Little KITEs" effort to teach students as digital ambassadors are just the ticket.

Teacher training a priority: Projects like Tamil Nadu's "TechSaksham" program to give 150,000 teachers training on tech tools embody the teacher-readiness imperative.

Student privacy protection: With greater EdTech penetration occurring, there must be tougher privacy policies in place to avoid exposing students to exploitation.

Equity and inclusion must be the sole impelling forces behind India's EdTech revolution for all. This involves:

Erasing rural-urban digital divide: Offline-first applications and affordable devices like second-hand mobile phones can be the catalysts in rural areas.

Creating mother-tongue content: Local-language learning material at affordable rates can bridge language gaps and expand access to learning.

Learning outcome measurement: Rather than app download measurement silos, measuring effect on learning outcome of EdTech intervention is a requirement.

India's EdTech model is a model that can be followed by other countries in the Global South. By adopting innovation, equity, and inclusion, we can have a more inclusive and improved education system. We policymakers, teachers, and journalists need to ask hard questions about what are the implications of EdTech programs and how to build a world where every child will learn anywhere.