Operation Digital Board

The Ministry of Human Resource Development launched the Operation Digital Board (ODB) on 20 February 2019 to leverage technology to boost quality education in India. The ODB aims to have interactive and digital boards in every classroom, on the lines of Operation Blackboard, started in 1987 to provide the bare minimum essential facilities for all primary schools. The ODB is a revolutionary step which will make the teaching and learning process interactive and popularise flipped learning. 

Features of ODB

• Digital boards will be introduced across the country in government and government-aided schools from the 9th class onwards and in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) from 2019.
• ODB will digitise around 7,00,000 classrooms, which includes 5,00,000 in schools and 2,00,000 HEIs.
• University Grants Commission (UGC) is the implementing agency for the ODB in HEIs. It is a Central Government scheme implemented by taking a loan from the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA).
• At the school level, the Central Government will provide Digital or SMART boards in all government and government-aided schools in collaboration with the States and UTs.
• The ODB aims to convert classrooms into digital classrooms.
• It ensures the availability of e-resources at any place and time to students.
• It helps to facilitate intelligent tutoring and personalised adaptive learning by exploiting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and data analytics.

Benefits of ODB

• It helps improve the quality of learning by providing the required high-quality content to every classroom.
• The technology-enabled learning can inspire teachers to raise their standards of teaching.
• Other initiatives like DIKSHA, e-Pathshala, National Repository of Open Educational Resources (NROER), e-PG Pathshala, SWAYAM, National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and SWAYAM-Prabha DTH channels etc., have provided the required content of high quality thereby facilitating flip class learning and blended learning.

Implementation of ODB

The UGC is the implementing agency for ODB in HEIs. In its commission meeting, the UGC passed the resolution to extend digital education to all classrooms in the country by 2022. It is estimated that around five lakh classrooms in schools aided by centre or state governments will benefit from ODB. Out of this, the UGC proposed to take up 10,000 colleges and 300 universities based on the readiness in the first phase covering two lakh classrooms.

The UGC will set up a portal for the publicly funded HEIs to log in, opt for the ODB scheme and give details of this facility. The cost of the two lakh classrooms is estimated at Rs.2,000 crores. Digital or SMART boards are provided to all government and government-aided schools having senior secondary and secondary classes. Around 1.5 lakh secondary and senior secondary schools will be covered under the ODB scheme in collaboration with the states and UTs.