Meta, CBSE expand tie-up to enable 10 mn students to embrace immersive tech

Over the next three years, Meta (formerly Facebook) will expand its partnership with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to provide a digital safety, online well-being, and augmented reality (AR) curriculum to over 10 million students and 1 million teachers across India.

In addition, in keeping with the government's goal of universalizing education, Meta and CBSE will democratize the high school curriculum by providing students with online access to high-quality educational information via modules hosted on CBSE's website.

Mr. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta made the news at Meta's Fuel for India 2021.

"I'm really excited about this partnership and I think it's a huge opportunity to (invest in) this entrepreneurial spirit and bring some of these tools around the metaverse, and training to the education system here in India, he mentioned.

The first phase of the Facebook for Education program began in June 2020, with the goal of educating students and teachers for the future of work while also providing a safe online environment and learning environment.

Over 500,000 pupils expressed interest in digital safety and online well-being, while over 14,000 teachers applied for augmented reality training.

The cooperation will also strive to provide instructors with cutting-edge tools and abilities to help Generation Z and Alpha kids grow into responsible digital citizens.

Meta and CBSE will collaborate on content curation and curriculum development that integrates immersive technologies, augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) that is relevant for the evolving digital landscape by introducing these as skills subjects for students, in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Students will be able to collaborate more actively and develop using emerging technologies in the future if AR experiences are included in the curriculum. Immersive education will also allow students with a variety of learning disabilities and limited access to lab materials to learn in a fun and engaging way.

Through its community skill centers, CBSE will attempt to empower students in India's underserved regions by making these new-age skills available to the youth and assisting them in becoming creators in the digital economy through fair access to resources.

The pandemic has affected lives all around the world, according to Dr. Biswajit Saha, Director (Skills Education and Training) at CBSE.

The learning process has changed in an unexpected way. This significant shift has created a new set of obstacles in terms of assisting the learning process. We intend to expand our online teaching and curricular capabilities with the help of Meta and make them available to students across the country, Dr. Saha added.

This collaboration will help our teachers gain the necessary skills to effectively use online tools for student engagement, according to Dr. Saha.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.