Value added online features in state’s new textbooks yet to activated

NAGPUR: The state government’s new textbooks for Std X have hit the stores this week but a ‘value added’ feature in it is not yet fully functional. The textbooks come with a quick response code (QRC) which, when scanned with a specific app, should give access to audio-visual content on the same topic on a government managed web site DIKSHA.

Scanning the QR code through smartphone currently takes user to DIKSHA site only and not specific content. The state’s education department claims that back-end work related to the QR code is in progress.

Sunil Magar, director of Maharashtra State Bureau of Textbook and Curriculum Research, said, “Everything will be ready before the start of the next academic session in June. The work for QR coding is currently on and we will be linking it to specific content soon. Students or schools need not be worried about this.”

The importance of linking the content with DIKSHA lies in the rich warehouse of knowledge the site provides. The DIKSHA web site, where the audio-visual content will be available, is managed under supervision of ministry of human resource and development (MHRD).

The DIKSHA site is described as MHRD’s national digital platform for teachers which offers resources for teaching, learning, and professional development. DIKSHA provides open, modular and scalable technology that state governments and other organizations can seamlessly integrate with their respective teacher-centric initiatives.

The audio-visual content has been prepared by teachers from various states and can be accessed by all to enhance their learning experience. Teachers from Maharashtra too have contributed to DIKSHA by sharing resources from a similar database called MITRA, where almost 5,000 learning videos have been uploaded.

TOI was the first to report in June 2016 about Maharashtra’s ‘tech-savvy’ teachers who are developing audio-visual content on a voluntary basis. Connecting through WhatsApp, with the state’s supervision, teachers have been sharing learning resources with each other.

The state’s school education secretary Nand Kumar’s testimonial on DIKSHA web site mentions that over 1 lakh tech-savvy teachers from Maharashtra have been instrumental in creating thousands of audio-visual content that will be shared through DIKSHA.



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