IIT Kanpur collaborates with UP govt, SCERT to train 900 secondary teachers in digital skills

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has partnered with the Uttar Pradesh government and the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to support secondary school teachers by expanding its Digital Literacy & Computational Thinking Concepts for Teachers (DLCCAI) programme to secondary education.

The eight-week IIT Kanpur programme will train 900 secondary school teachers, lecturers from District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and officials from associated units of SCERT. The announcement was made in an official press release. The training will include digital literacy, computational thinking, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other topics for the use of technology in teaching.

The programme will be conducted by IIT Kanpur’s Office of Outreach Activities (OOA) and the Department of Design in collaboration with SCERT Uttar Pradesh. The training is created for teachers with limited or no previous experience with computers, coding, or AI. Participants can work on practical tasks like preparing lessons and notices, making presentations and marksheets, conducting assessments and creating digital teaching resources.

Speaking on the occasion, Ramkumar J, Coordinator, DLCCAI Programme, IIT Kanpur, said, "Subjects like coding, computational thinking, and AI are no longer the preserve of engineering colleges — they belong in Secondary Education classrooms today, because the problems our students will face tomorrow rarely respect the boundaries of a single discipline.”

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IIT Kanpur programme will combine classroom, online training

The DLCCAI programme will use a blended format which will mix classroom sessions at IIT Kanpur with online learning, mentoring and practical assignments. It will be held in six batches that will have 150 participants each.

The first five-day residential session will teach participants about computers, productivity tools, spreadsheets, Artificial Intelligence, block-based programming and basic Python. Then over the next six weeks, teachers will participate in online classes through Google Classroom. To answer participants’ questions. weekly mentoring and live sessions will also be conducted.

The programme will end with a two-day immersion at IIT Kanpur, where teachers can present their projects and participate in peer learning and assessment. Those who complete the quizzes, assignments, projects and final presentation will get a joint certificate from IIT Kanpur and SCERT Uttar Pradesh. The programme will also teach about tools like Scratch, Python, ChatGPT, Google Classroom and Khan Academy. Teachers will also get hands-on robotics training on robot assembly and sensors.

Two IIT professors, Satyaki Roy and Vimal Kumar, said that technology can support teaching, but teachers will continue to play the central role in the classroom. Also, IIT Kanpur will share its knowledge beyond the campus.