Over the past ten years, the digital education revolution has been gaining speed as more and more educators use cutting-edge techniques to engage their students. Research indicates that youngsters are becoming less interested in typical school settings, which is one of the primary causes of this less enrollment. (Hallowell, 2013). Pakistan has one of the highest populations in the world, and it is expanding faster than the majority of other nations.

Digital education in Pakistan

Pakistan's literacy rate currently stands at roughly 59%. This figure may sound low, but it's not as bad as you might imagine when compared to China's 86% literacy rate or India's 53%. By expanding digital access to knowledge and resources for people who otherwise cannot afford them, the current government of Pakistan is making great efforts to raise the standard of education for all of its citizens.

A new method of teaching in Pakistan called "digital education" uses technology to address problems in traditional schooling. Programs for digital education enable teachers and students to capitalize on their strengths and use technology to help them overcome some of their deficiencies.

Four pillars form the foundation of these programs:

1. Using extensive courses
2. Blended learning
3. Simple-to-use technological tools
4. Efficient methods of instruction

Since Pakistan's National eLearning Initiative (NELI) was introduced in 2002, the nation has had digital education. It was introduced to provide learning possibilities to those whose access to formal education was restricted by geography or other personal circumstances.

The Ministry of Education's e-learning program aims to close Pakistan's digital gap and offer educational opportunities to all.

Currently, NELI connects 2,400 schools to 3,100 community colleges and more than 500 other institutions. It will soon be expanded to include over 40,000 schools.

Teaching and Learning Resources

Community colleges are exchanging instructional materials based on a unified curriculum structure. The National Curriculum Cell of the Ministry of Education reorganized the national curriculum into modules for this reason. As a result, students all over Pakistan are studying fundamental courses.

The process of consulting with communities and schools to understand their needs and goals served as the foundation for the program's creation. Up until now, content development has been done in three stages, with local educators creating modules that adhere to national curriculum requirements. Additionally, student input is considered.

Based on the availability of community colleges, clusters of e-learning schools will be established to reach out to a greater number of students, particularly those residing in rural areas. These Steam-oriented e-learning institutions will offer easy access to teaching tools and curriculum materials.

STEM/STEAM-Based Learning

The goal of the stem education program is to improve instructors' pedagogical subject understanding in stem education so they can impart their expertise to others. The staff at community colleges is also receiving training on how to use stem education resources.

1,839 community colleges have approved stem education thus far, and many educators have embraced stem-based instruction and attended workshops on the subject.

Nevertheless, government authorities are not paying attention to digital education because it is viewed as a low-impact initiative. The primary cause is the dearth of skilled educators in the field of stem education, as well as the fact that traditional teaching methods and stem teaching approaches have not yet converged.

If stem education becomes an elective, all teachers must complete a stem-based training program in order to implement stem methodology in their teaching methods.

The stem education curriculum must be updated often in order to raise the caliber of stem approaches and materials.

As the goal of stem training is to transform the entire educational system, not simply the materials used in classes, the emphasis of stem training should likewise be more on stem-based teaching approaches than on stem content alone.

Lastly, if stem education is included in higher education, it will be successful.

E-learning institutions have embraced the idea of "one teacher, one school," in which teachers do not have more than one school assignment. This has aided in resolving problems with instructors' accessibility and availability as well as their subject-matter expertise.

Knowledge integration and a learning management system that links several parts into a network form the basis of the concept. Future e-learning institutions will be built around a distributed school model.

The goal is to provide teachers and students with new chances that are unrestricted by traditional learning paradigms, as well as to construct strong educational institutions using ICT infrastructure.

In order to improve education in all its forms—formal, non-formal, and informal—information and communication technology (ICT) should be viewed as a vital tool.

In addition, the government is creating an ICT curriculum that will include a series of training modules for educators.

The Pakistan Education Task Force and the Community College Development Program (CCDP) are in charge of carrying out the digital education initiatives. The Pakistan Education Task Force has created a short-term e-learning program to aid in teacher training. Students that participate in this program learn keyboarding and internet navigation as foundational computer literacy skills.

The Digital Education Program is providing training in stem education and stem-based teaching approaches to all of the instructors who will be hired. Students from the field of education undergo a six-week course that precedes the training.

Teachers who have completed stem-based training will lead the training program. The course will be primarily focused on improving teaching skills and ensuring accuracy and consistency. In addition, case studies, innovative teaching strategies, and lessons gained from using digital technology will be included.

Through stem education, this initiative seeks to increase teacher educators' capacity for short-term deployment and development in secondary schools.

More than 1,839 instructors who work in the field of stem education will benefit from this program. The curriculum is made up of cutting-edge stem education concepts taught by qualified educators.

Pakistan's Digital Education Program was established to provide pupils with ICT tools at the school level and a foundational understanding of computers, while also enhancing instructors' ability to teach core subjects.

The national level is where the Digital Education Program is being implemented. The initiative is being implemented in three stages, namely development, deployment, and sustainability.

Issues Facing Pakistan's Educational Systems

The government ought to prioritize education and see to it that adequate funding is allocated to it.

Corruption costs the education sector a lot of money as well, so the government needs to act to end this wicked practice.

To deliver education in accordance with each teacher's potential, it is imperative that teachers be rotated throughout various schools. A teacher's three years of institutional teaching are now insufficient for them to learn and develop into competent educators.

Given that education levels are quite low, particularly in remote places, the education department should concentrate on delivering high-quality education in rural areas as well. If the government hopes to see improvements in the education sector even after all this time, reforms must be initiated. Pakistan's education system is ill-prepared to handle the needs of an expanding population as a result of the several difficulties the sector is currently confronting.

In Pakistan, the use of digital education is growing. Students no longer need to leave their homes to learn at their own pace online, thanks to high-speed internet and more reasonably priced cellphones. Many parents and educators are concerned about how the digital change will impact traditional schools and whether it will be challenging for kids who don't have access to these technologies at home. Recently, a lot of digital efforts have been undertaken to raise the standard and accessibility of education there. These include the government-backed initiatives by Khan Academy and Google's Smart Classes and Coursera.