Indian parents lead the world in embracing smart technology to transform education: Lenovo survey
More than anywhere else in the world, parents in India are embracing technology to transform education and balance their lives, according to new research released today by global technology company Lenovo. The survey results show how education around the world has been positively transformed thanks to smarter technology, creating a generation of independent learners and problem solvers. In particular, India (89 percent) and China (85 percent) have seen a rise in parents using technology to assist with their kids’ learning in recent years. The research surveyed over 15,000 individuals globally, including India, US, Mexico, Brazil, China, Japan, UK, Germany, France, and Italy.
Around the world, technology is aiding future generations to be “more independent learners and problem solvers”. Indian parents are most likely to agree with this concept (91 percent), with parents in the United States least likely (59 percent). The new study gives further context to Indian parents’ growing enthusiasm for the use of technology to help educate younger generations, including the use of virtual reality in Indian schools to create inclusive and immersive learning environments, supporting students facing physical, social or cognitive disabilities.
Technology provides parents with better educational resources
The study also found that the parental burden of helping with homework is becoming a thing of the past: three-quarters of parents surveyed worldwide (75 percent) say their kids are more likely to look something up online than ask them for help when it comes to a question about schoolwork.
On the flip side, however, 60 percent of parents also say they have, at least once, looked something up online and then pretended they already knew the answer when helping their child with schoolwork. This was most common with STEM subjects such as mathematics (45 percent) and science (38 percent), but was also true in geography (36 percent) and foreign languages (35 percent).
Most global respondents (83 percent) agreed that advances in technology in education are helping students perform better in school. Likewise, a substantial majority of working parents (84 percent) said current and new technologies encourage more parents to remain in the workforce due to the personal benefits they bring, while also enabling them to stay more connected with their families. This was highest in China and India, with a massive 95 percent of respondents in both countries believing tech is helping to balance their careers and parenting lives, followed by Brazil at 89 percent. The countries that agreed least with this sentiment were Germany (68 percent) along with Italy (71 percent).
The growth of Education start-ups in India is opening up newer possibilities
There has been a rapid growth of technology-enabled education start-ups in India. A lot of these new-age companies use Lenovo tablets, where students can access all the study material. The use of tablets has positively impacted students’ reading and writing proficiency and helped increase their overall academic performance, setting a great example of the use of technology for better learning.
Rahul Agarwal, CEO, and MD, Lenovo India, commented, “There is a huge scope to improve effectiveness & efficiency of education delivery in India through technology adoption. Technology will help circumvent challenges around the availability of quality teaching talent, especially in remote areas. In India, Lenovo is at the forefront of transforming the education-technology industry, by partnering with leading edu-tech players such as BYJU’S, Vedantu, and Topper. With a 61.4% share in Commercial Android Tablets (including Education), we are the most preferred technology partner for educational companies due to high-quality product performance, smooth and easy-to-use experience, and reliable after-sales service. Going forward, we will take the education delivery experience to the next level through our new-age smart devices like AR/VR headsets. We have already started piloting VR based induction sessions for new-joiners in Lenovo India and are highly optimistic to extend the use-cases to the education industry”.
Tech empowering a new generation of independent learners
While technology has many positives in aiding learning (use of the high-speed Internet, automated translation tools, and accessibility features), 72 percent of parents said they have concerns it could create dependencies in young people, potentially affecting social skills. However, 73 percent said they trust technology is aiding future generations to be “more independent learners and problem solvers”. Global Gen Z and millennials generally feel that technology has had a positive role in their education, with 44 percent agreeing it makes it easier to find out about causes or social issues they care about. The sentiment was shared by the general population, too, with almost half (49 percent) believing technology will be “extremely important” in solving future challenges in education.
