Smart classrooms in TN govt schools from October

In a bid to improve academic performance by enhancing learning techniques, smart classrooms equipped with smart boards that offer 3-D animation and virtual laboratories for students between Classes 8 and 10 would be made functional in over 7,500 government schools in the State by October this year, sources said.

While officials mentioned that the smart learning initiative was in its final stages of implementation, all the smart classrooms will be equipped with a white smart board, which can also be used as a screen to see video clippings and show slideshows. The classrooms would also offer 3-D animations, graphs, animated videos to teach all subjects, including Tamil and English, besides providing virtual laboratories for learning science, official sources said.

A senior official from the School Education department told that online resources such as Wi-Fi connection, overhead projectors, laptops and desktops for teachers are being set up in the smart classrooms. “In addition, the classroom will also have CCTV cameras, speakers and LED lighting set-up,” the official added.

Stating that the government had already taken the initiative of establishing smart classrooms by mobilising funds from various schemes, the official said the Directorate of School Education also encouraged mobilisation of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) support to set up smart classrooms in the State-run schools. According to the official, study textbook material, which are available in the website, can be accessed by the teachers through QR code using a computer and it, in turn, can be displayed on the smart board through the overhead projector. “This will not only make learning an enjoyable experience for students but also improve their academic performance,” the official added.

Pointing out that more than 30,000 teachers will be trained to teach students in smart classrooms, the official added that about 20,000 teachers have already been trained. “Teachers will also be trained to use computers for accessing textbook and course materials from the website,” the official added.

Claiming that all the smart classrooms will be on a par with those in top private schools, the official said that experts were already hired to train the teachers batch-wise. “The training will be completed by September-end,” the official said. The government is also considering the move to provide tablets to students, the official added.