Binish Qadri
Education at present-day is beyond what is seen and observed for it does not merely speculate or predict out the premier levels of skills and knowledge conquered by great civilizations of the world at a given point of time but a perpetual shackle of bustle and movement that has a dual role: on the one hand it generates new knowledge to endure life from corner to corner and on another hand it improves the productive capacity of the learners. It is important to remember that ‘education’ takes account of ‘literacy’, but it is not cramped to literateness or three R’s alone. It figures out much more: It is the procuring of knowledge or learning, coupled with the information and communication technology, which provides the information and proper communication that will facilitate understanding of the different forms of communication including non-verbal communication and help improve vocabulary and verbal expression, listening skills, lettering, and presentation skills for social and professional interactions. Since the obtaining of knowledge and improvement of the information and communication skills for its solicitation are parts of a dynamic process which depend heavily upon the information and communication technology, education of information and communication technology is very important in the contemporary digital age and an enduring exercise. Technology is, for that reason, never complete in an uninterruptedly evolving dynamic make-up of information and communication sector. If technology and innovations become stationary, it leads to apathy, indolence, and stagnation in an economy, which must be circumvented by developing a good interface between education and information and communication technology.
History is witness to the fact that education has been trying to produce national arousal with national issues on a peak like secularism, socialism, national unity, family planning, ecological balance and so on coupled global processes like modernization, globalization, and westernization. In the earlier times, the process of globalization was noticeable or obvious predominantly in terms of physical goods and exchanges but then again in the present day we have entered a phase of digital globalization, distinct, well-defined, and demarcated by and large by imperceptible flows of data and information.
Nowadays, information and communication technology generate digital flows of data and information which in turn generate more economic value than the evident flow of physical exchange. Due to the information and communication technology, the world witnessed digital globalization which is why globalization has entered a more broad-based and inclusive phase for the reason that every Tom, Dick, and Harry can play a part or chip in digital globalization. The aim and objective of digital globalization are to fashion out a ‘digital global world’ and this is the new-fangled innovative age of global flows (Qadri, Bhat, & Jamal, 2017). As we are living in the digital 21st century therefore, it is obligatory that a good and suitable education should be delivered through appropriate, straightforwardly comprehensible technology. Information and communication technology used in education is one such step. In digital globalization, there is a shift from pen to keyboard, blackboard to the projector and power-point presentation, from classroom learning to independent e-learning or digital learning etc. Nowadays, students want to be an active, dynamic, and continuous beneficiary of knowledge. As a result, the system of education everywhere is under cumulative compression to use Information and communication technology (ICT) as an important tool to teach students smartly by integrating technology with knowledge.
Currently, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the main protagonist in the education sector as it plays a significant role, particularly in the process of investing, empowering, and authorizing the know-how into the enlightening, didactic, and informative undertakings. An externality in economics refers to the cost or benefit that have an emotional impact on a party who did not decide on or cherry-pick to incur that cost or benefit(Buchanan& Craig, 1962). Education sector can turn out to be the most active and operational sector to antedate and eradicate the negative externality of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). There is value-addition in education with the consumption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by ornamenting and improving the learning outcomes and efficiency levels .
Till the recent past, higher education in general and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in particular has been fundamentally for all intents and purposes the responsibility of the public sector, both in terms of finance and distribution. On the other hand, with the introduction of economic reforms of 1991, particularly, the process of Globalization, Liberalization, and Privatization, higher education and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is systematically and carefully on the global front observed as made up of public, private, public-private models, and semi-public arrangements that make up a multi-institutional, multi-sectoral, culturally diverse or multiethnic system. Subsequently understandings and models on higher education have shifted its highlighting and importance from Information and Communication Technology (ICT) or technological proficiency to human resource development for economic development that is participatory and therefore inclusive and sustainable, it is very important to understand the role of human resource and human capital in the process of economic development. It is a supplementary facet to knowledge and learning process that was not previously available. After the commencement of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools, colleges, and universities students found knowledge and wisdom in a techno-sound setting more inspiring and thought-provoking coupled with appealing contrary to old-style classroom atmosphere. Therefore, it is very important to promote a more and more techno-sound atmosphere so as to boost the efficiency levels of all sectors and drive the economy on the path of growth and development.

References:
Buchanan, J. W. C. S. (1962). Externality. Economica, 29(116), 371–84. http://doi.org/10.2307/2551386
Qadri, B., Bhat, A., & Jamal, A. (2017). The Rational Expectations in Globalisation: Gauged Globalisation. FOCUS: Journal of International Business, 4(2), 44–58. http://doi.org/10.17492/focus.v4i02.11686
—The author can be reached at: [email protected]

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