Karnataka government schoolkids to get online learning resources from Khan Academy | Bengaluru News

Bengaluru: In what could be the biggest digital intervention project for govt school students in the state, the department of school education and literacy has entered into an MoU with US-based not-for-profit Khan Academy to offer online learning resources to children of classes 6-II PU. With this, students will have access to maths, physics, chemistry, biology, economics, and English resources. One hour on Saturdays will be dedicated to using these resources in schools. Students and teachers will be given a login ID, mobile app, and access to KhanMigo artificial intelligence tool free of cost. The account can be used throughout their lives free of cost.“Teachers should guide students to use vast learning resources on the portal, the practice tests and skills, and revision modules for supplemental understanding, clarification of concepts, achieving higher learning levels, self-study for competitive examinations, etc. The teachers will also train students of classes 8-II PU on how to use the KhanMigo artificial intelligence tool, which itself will work as a digital tutor,” said an official.A budget of Rs 5.4 crore will be set apart for training of teachers. “This will enable teachers to upgrade/refresh their skills and subject knowledge, use content for quizzes, tests, use KhanMigo as a teaching assistant, prepare lesson plans for classes, etc. It is a win-win situation for all,” the official said.The contents are also expected to help in preparation for competitive exams. The project is expected to help 15.9 lakh students in 26,597 govt schools and about 3.1 lakh students from 1,229 govt PU colleges. The contents are in sync with National Council of Educational Research and Training textbooks, which are used by the state syllabus schools.The department officials said the data on the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS) regarding the availability of functional computers is wrong and misleading; most schools have the infrastructure. “If not a computer, all schools have digital boards on which the content can be projected from a mobile. This year, Rs 35 crore is allotted in the state budget and separately under Samagra Shikshana each for digital boards/computers,” said the official. The govt order states no grant will be released to Khan Academy for the implementation of this programme.