Until recently, reading, writing, and arithmetic were considered the essential cornerstones of early education. But in today’s interconnected world, digital skills must be added as the fourth foundational pillar. The OECD's 2024 Education Outlook notes that children without digital skills are just as disadvantaged as those who can’t read. A UNESCO-GEM report (2023) stresses that digital literacy is not merely vocational—it is essential to democratic participation, job access, and cognitive development.
In India, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 makes this linkage explicit, stating that “digital literacy is as important as literacy and numeracy” for 21st-century learning. This redefinition has far-reaching implications for curricula, pedagogy, and infrastructure.
PCs as catalysts: Not just access, but agencyDigital literacy is not about using smartphones to consume content—it’s about learning to navigate, evaluate, create, and communicate in digital environments. This level of cognitive engagement is best fostered through PCs, not mobile devices alone.
Research has revealed that students show higher engagement in digital tasks when using PCs compared to tablets or phones. PCs allow children to develop essential digital workflows—document formatting, coding logic, multimedia creation—that are core to academic and workplace success.
In India, states like Kerala and Karnataka that introduced PC-based classroom models earlier have recorded higher digital proficiency rates among students, especially in problem-solving and STEM applications, as per the 2024 NCERT Digital Learning
From optional tool to academic lifeline: Why AI is now central to student learning
In 2024, the Digital Education Council conducted a sweeping global survey that revealed what many educators suspected but few had quantified: artificial intelligence has become a cornerstone of contemporary student life. Drawing on responses from 3,839 students across 16 countries, the Global AI Student Survey paints a portrait not of fringe adoption, but of systemic integration. Some 86% of students reported using AI regularly, with 54% relying on it weekly. ChatGPT emerged as the dominant tool—used by two-thirds of respondents—while others turned to platforms like Grammarly and Microsoft Copilot. The average student engaged with more than two AI tools concurrently, not as a novelty, but as an essential academic aid.
AI’s appeal lies in its utility. Students are not using it for entertainment; they are using it to survive. Nearly 70% cited AI as their preferred method for information searches, while a similar proportion leaned on it for summarising complex texts. Paraphrasing, grammar checks, and first-draft generation also featured prominently. In other words, AI has become a digital co-author, an ever-present research assistant, and a cognitive shortcut for overburdened minds.
Yet beneath the adoption lies anxiety. A full 58% of students admitted they lacked adequate knowledge to use AI effectively. 48% felt unprepared for an AI-driven workplace. And perhaps most damning: 80% believed their institutions were not meeting their expectations for AI integration. They want universities to teach AI literacy , embed it in curricula, and communicate policies clearly. They also want a seat at the table: 71% said they should be consulted on how AI is governed in education, but only 34% felt that was happening.
The message is clear. Students have embraced AI, but they are navigating it without a map. It is time for academia to catch up—or risk becoming irrelevant.
Final wordsDigital literacy is no longer a luxury—it is the new literacy. As AI becomes a fixture in classrooms and students increasingly rely on digital tools not just for learning but for survival, the education system must respond with urgency. Just as we teach children to read and count, we must now teach them to code, create, and critically assess digital content. PCs and AI are not peripheral; they are the new pens and pencils of 21st-century learning. If India wants to build a future-ready generation, digital fluency must move from aspiration to action—from the policy document to the school timetable.
In India, the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 makes this linkage explicit, stating that “digital literacy is as important as literacy and numeracy” for 21st-century learning. This redefinition has far-reaching implications for curricula, pedagogy, and infrastructure.
PCs as catalysts: Not just access, but agencyDigital literacy is not about using smartphones to consume content—it’s about learning to navigate, evaluate, create, and communicate in digital environments. This level of cognitive engagement is best fostered through PCs, not mobile devices alone.
Research has revealed that students show higher engagement in digital tasks when using PCs compared to tablets or phones. PCs allow children to develop essential digital workflows—document formatting, coding logic, multimedia creation—that are core to academic and workplace success.
In India, states like Kerala and Karnataka that introduced PC-based classroom models earlier have recorded higher digital proficiency rates among students, especially in problem-solving and STEM applications, as per the 2024 NCERT Digital Learning
From optional tool to academic lifeline: Why AI is now central to student learning
In 2024, the Digital Education Council conducted a sweeping global survey that revealed what many educators suspected but few had quantified: artificial intelligence has become a cornerstone of contemporary student life. Drawing on responses from 3,839 students across 16 countries, the Global AI Student Survey paints a portrait not of fringe adoption, but of systemic integration. Some 86% of students reported using AI regularly, with 54% relying on it weekly. ChatGPT emerged as the dominant tool—used by two-thirds of respondents—while others turned to platforms like Grammarly and Microsoft Copilot. The average student engaged with more than two AI tools concurrently, not as a novelty, but as an essential academic aid.
AI’s appeal lies in its utility. Students are not using it for entertainment; they are using it to survive. Nearly 70% cited AI as their preferred method for information searches, while a similar proportion leaned on it for summarising complex texts. Paraphrasing, grammar checks, and first-draft generation also featured prominently. In other words, AI has become a digital co-author, an ever-present research assistant, and a cognitive shortcut for overburdened minds.
Yet beneath the adoption lies anxiety. A full 58% of students admitted they lacked adequate knowledge to use AI effectively. 48% felt unprepared for an AI-driven workplace. And perhaps most damning: 80% believed their institutions were not meeting their expectations for AI integration. They want universities to teach AI literacy , embed it in curricula, and communicate policies clearly. They also want a seat at the table: 71% said they should be consulted on how AI is governed in education, but only 34% felt that was happening.
The message is clear. Students have embraced AI, but they are navigating it without a map. It is time for academia to catch up—or risk becoming irrelevant.
Final wordsDigital literacy is no longer a luxury—it is the new literacy. As AI becomes a fixture in classrooms and students increasingly rely on digital tools not just for learning but for survival, the education system must respond with urgency. Just as we teach children to read and count, we must now teach them to code, create, and critically assess digital content. PCs and AI are not peripheral; they are the new pens and pencils of 21st-century learning. If India wants to build a future-ready generation, digital fluency must move from aspiration to action—from the policy document to the school timetable.
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