Karnataka govt colleges to get 2,500 smart classrooms soon

Teaching in government colleges in the state will get a hi-tech touch with the Department of Collegiate Education launching "smart classrooms".

This new initiative is to improve teaching and learning levels at colleges by utilising all the available digital resources. "Over 2,500 smart classrooms will be ready by the next two months," said Higher Education Minister C N Ashwath Narayan.

However, the department aims to turn the rest of the 6,500 classrooms into smart classrooms and has submitted a proposal to the Chief Minister to allocate funds in the 2021-22 Budget and plans to complete it over six months.

According to details available from the department, it costs Rs 27 crore to turn 2,500 classrooms into smart classrooms. Elaborating, commissioner, Department of Collegiate Education P Pradeep told DH, "Under the smart classrooms project, we will turn all colleges into wi-fi campuses and projectors will be installed in classrooms for better teaching-learning management."

"As second-year students have been given laptops by the government, we have decided to convert those classrooms into smart classrooms in the first phase. For the remaining 6,500 classrooms, students will be given tablets," said Pradeep.

Along with digital equipment in classrooms, whiteboards will be retained. "The concept of white boards will continue along with smart classes. Sometimes, teachers need whiteboards to explain subjects to students," added Pradeep.

Smart classrooms:

- WiFi campus
- Projector and UPS in classrooms
- Android box
- Teachers will conduct classes with PPT presentations
- If teachers find anything interesting or beneficial for students, they can display it though the projector, it could even be a movie
- Content created by teachers for digital classrooms will be uploaded on Learning Management System created by the department and can be accessed by students