Dell Addresses Challenges Around Low Pc Adoption In India
· Digital Literacy Mission touches 1 million students, 70,000+ teachers in 4000+ schools across 79 cities with the culmination of the 1st year of Dell Aarambh
· With the vision to overcome inhibitions around adoption of PCs by non-users, Dell extends program to deepen engagement with teacher-student-parent trio
New Delhi: Dell in India announced the conclusion of one year of the first of its kind pan India ‘PC for Education’ initiative – Dell Aarambh. A survey commissioned by Dell in 2015 had revealed that emerging India will contribute to the next wave of PC adoption, and that India sees the PC as an important tool for content creation. As a leading innovator in personal computing, Dell has been keen to address the challenges that inhibit PC adoption. In 2016, ‘Dell Aarambh’ was launched with the cause of increasing PC adoption in the country, by establishing it as an indispensable tool for learning, harnessing creativity and building critical thinking, in a student’s formative years.
Through Dell Aarambh, Dell has been engaging with 3 key audiences – students, teachers and parents – in a series of activities meant to familiarize them with PC usage and utilization of computing skills in the education of a child. Asserting its determination with regards to enhancing PC penetration in the country, Dell has been focused on establishing that PC adoption can enable the nurturing of digital citizens who will serve as the future workforce for a rapidly digitalizing environment. Having conducted digital literacy trainings for the effective use of a personal computer in teaching with over 70,000 teachers in over 4000 schools across 79 tier 2- tier 4 cities in the country, Dell has witnessed an encouraging response from the educator community to the use interactive methods of learning delivered through the use of a PC. Through a variety of on-ground and online engagement initiatives, Dell has also touched over 1 million students, empowering them with the experience of using the personal computer for their individual learning and growth.
Insights from Dell Aarambh
Engaging with three key user groups that will contribute to PC adoption yielded the below insights:
· Teachers – Teachers across tier 2- tier 4 towns shared positive feedback upon being able to utilize technology in the classroom with 98% teachers rating the training as being useful.
o 12% trained teachers stated greater comfort in using the PC in education, thereby perceiving a heightened interest from their students in learning new concepts.
o In a series of conversations held between Dell, school principals and teachers, educators consistently expressed their belief in the PC’s potential to build upon a student’s capability to find a secure footing in a digital environment.
· Parents – The key insight that emerged from mothers who received PC training was their eagerness to participate in their child’s learning process, and to be able to contribute to it. Upon accessing the PC they were equally interested in learning how it can ease their everyday lives, and in learning of its relevance in their child’s education.
· Students – A series of engagement initiatives inviting participation from students in the Dell Aarambh schools brought forth where they place the PC in their lives. Dell also hosted activities for students and parents in schools across India, which showcased how collaborative use of PC can foster creativity in the learning process.
According to P. Krishnakumar, Vice President & General Manager, Consumer & Small Business, Dell India; “The PC is critical to India; to a Digital India. PCs as a category continues to be dynamic as India presents the potential of million families and individuals, who are yet to visualize the utility of a PC. When we launched Aarambh, our goal then was to enable the reimagining of the personal computer as a knowledge hub which can enhance learning, augment skills, and serve as a fundamental tool for young Indians. For us, Aarambh was the ‘bridge’ between emerging India’s aspirations and the capability to harness the individual potential of citizens with the help of PC technology, as the nation steadily progresses towards becoming a digital economy. The response from students, teachers, and parents alike across the 75+ Dell Aarambh cities, is a testimony to the value ascribed by them to building digital capability for individuals, in order to fit seamlessly into Digital India. This has given us the confidence to persevere and to continue addressing the need for PC adoption.”
Dell Aarambh 2017-18
In the past year, Dell garnered insights from the program’s audience that are serving as the launch pad for its second year of outreach. The program will deepen its focus across the student-teacher-parent trio, to further break down the barriers to PC adoption among first time adopters of technology.
In 2017, Dell Aarambh will see the introduction of a number of initiatives that are focused on building easier access and a deeper understanding of PC usage among teachers, students, and parents.
· Empowering educators and students: Implementing a demonstrative approach, trained teachers will qualify for advanced training including practical usage scenarios including students and teachers. Teachers will have access to advanced training modules by Dell and NIIT, as they collaborate with students to use the PC. By revisiting the existing audience for the program, Dell is focused on monitoring progress to ensure sustained access to the PC, and offer digital literacy trainings to parents through Dell Aarambh schools.
· Educating mothers: After a successful pilot for Dell DigiMoms in two states – Karnataka and Maharashtra, Dell will engage with 100,000 mothers across 3 more states and will conduct on-ground trainings in communities via self-help groups, mahila mandals, as well as Dell on Wheels, a mobile training center reaching out to the masses. These trainings will be held within communities to ensure ease of access for mothers of school students.
· Addressing perceived barriers: Gauging that the cost of a PC is a perceived barrier by first time technology adopters, Dell is collaborating with micro-financing partner Kissht, to offer Dell exclusive financing schemes in these markets which will ease the process of owning a PC
· Content focus: Taking from the positive response to interactive trainings, Dell will enhance its focus on educational content in partnership with Edurite, for teachers and parents alike, to showcase the practical utilization of the PC in their lives, as well as the lives of students
The next stage of Dell Aarambh is a step forward in Dell’s vision to realize a nation constituting digital citizens, who are equipped to leverage their technology readiness to shape the future of a digital economy.