For students growing in cities, the internet is something which is easily available. But many children in rural classrooms continue to depend largely on textbooks and traditional blackboards for basic education. However, in Sarai Tand, a village some 63 km from Gaya’s district centre in Bihar, a government school is showing how technology can reach children even when reliable internet access is not available.At Government Higher Secondary School, a dedicated smart classroom is bringing digital lessons to 660 students and 14 teachers, including children who travel from six neighbouring villages to attend classes. It’s an incredible effort in the education sector.No internet, no problem
Teacher with aa smart board (PC: iDream Foundation)
At the school in Sarai Tand, teachers don’t rely exclusively on written notes and verbal descriptions, they use animated videos, visual demonstrations and practice exercises to supplement regular teaching.The teachers here can present a difficult concept through images and animation. A lesson can have activities that encourage students to engage with what they are learning. Such resources offer children different ways to approach a subject, particularly when they struggle to understand an explanation through text alone.The school has a single dedicated smart classroom that is shared by students across different grades which makes the space an important common resource. For children from Sarai Tand and the surrounding villages, the change is about gaining access to learning tools that might otherwise be difficult to use regularly.Why learning without the internet mattersIn rural areas, mostly the internet connection is a little disturbed or patchy. Online educational platforms can be difficult to use consistently.Sarai Tand’s smart classroom understands this issue. And keeps its educational content available offline. The system uses an interactive flat panel with preloaded, curriculum-aligned digital resources. It allows teachers to access lessons without the internet.The unique classroomThe classroom was developed with support from an education-focused non-profit organisation in partnership with iDream Education. According to the implementation details shared by iDream Education, the setup includes a 65-inch LG interactive flat panel and the iPrep smart-class learning management system, with Bihar State Board-aligned content in Hindi for Classes 1 to 12.Teachers remain at the heart of digital education
Teacher in a classroom (PC: iDream Foundation)
It is important for teachers to understand how to use the available resources and use them in their regular teachings. At Sarai Tand, the school prepared a separate room for digital learning, arranged desks and electrical fittings.Teachers also received training on navigating the learning management system, accessing subject-wise content and incorporating videos, practice modules and assessments into lessons.For a school serving children from six villages, making this additional resource available to different grades requires planning and shared access. The dedicated classroom therefore represents both an investment in equipment and an effort to integrate it into the school’s educational routine.When access matters more than internet connectivityFor the 660 students going to Government Higher Secondary School, the smart classroom creates an opportunity to get lessons in a different and unique way. For their 14 teachers, it offers additional resources to explain subjects while engaging students.The main aim of the initiative is to understand that digital education need not remain out of reach simply because internet connectivity is unreliable. Curriculum-aligned content can be brought into the classroom, stored locally and used as part of regular teaching.In Sarai Tand, a digital classroom is doing more than the internet could bring to a school. It is creating another way for children to see, explore and understand what they learn, without making internet connectivity a condition for every lesson.Sources: iDream Education