Rohan Parikh
While technology has taken the world by storm, it has also managed to introduce some innovations in the educational paradigm. As blended learning starts gaining prominence, educational institutions have realised the need for a 360-degree approach to teaching and learning.
Online classrooms have replaced physical classrooms. eBooks have now become the new notebooks. Google calendars have taken the place of traditional timetables. Web-based searches have taken precedence over library-based learning. And this is just the beginning. Let’s delve deeper into how technology is transforming the way education is perceived.
The new era of education: With tech at the centre of it
Technology is changing the way we teach, learn, and communicate. Teachers need to make the most of technology and create meaningful experiences for their students. But, to embrace technology, we need to comprehend ways in which it is transforming how people learn.
1.Collaborative learning
Ever-growing technology has made information sharing easier and faster. While ideas are being discussed over instant messages, projects are being worked upon remotely. Unlike ever before, today the right digital tools are making co-teaching/co-learning the new norm, with not only the educators and students in the same classroom but also with other classrooms around the world. Focused on student growth, technology has made collaborative teaching and learning easier and more engaging than ever before.
2. Instant access to knowledge
The gift of technology has given educators the golden opportunity to share their knowledge with the students without any hindrance. With the right assistance from their teachers, students can easily find the best sources for their research and get access to quality information. Moreover, going beyond the textbook opens a plethora of options for young, learning minds.
3. Real-time feedback
In this fast-paced digital world, agile learning makes all the difference. When backed by robust feedback, the outcome becomes more constructive. Real-time feedback takes this game to a different level altogether. Through a variety of carefully curated tools, teachers can receive an understanding of things, such as where their students are on the learning curve, the effectiveness of a topic/teaching method, and what needs to be focussed on the most.
4. Active participation
Technology breaks the traditional passive learning mould in students by keeping them more engaged. This not only demands active participation in the learning process, but also helps teachers make learning more interesting, real, and interactive. Educators often turn to trusted applications to enhance traditional ways of teaching, and this opens newer horizons for the young minds they teach.
Getting teachers to adopt modern technology
While technology has the potential to transform education, here are ways in which teachers can be trained to include modern technology into their teachings.
- Using user-friendly technology that helps teachers learn quickly and easily
- Starting small by giving teachers the time to get comfortable with the technology
- Communicating the benefits of using modern technology and how it can help them in the daily classroom
- Offering training that allows teachers to use technology properly and making the most of its benefits
- Creating a shared environment where educators can form a community and share new resources
Today, technology is everywhere. By planning the necessary budget, checking the availability of resources, and carefully monitoring the process, traditional teaching methods can be enhanced to prepare teachers and students of today to become smart and progressive digital citizens of tomorrow.
—The writer is Managing Director of Seven River International School – A school by The Acres Foundation
Help them grow
Sangeet Sandhu
Spending upto six hours a day, with your eyes glued to a computer screen is certainly a gruelling task. As a teacher, I feel that it is imperative for us to constantly remind our students of how proud we are of them for coping with everything so well in these tough times.
The lockdown has caused many children to slip into a state of hopelessness and mental exhaustion. Online classes are more arduous than traditional lectures. Thus, I feel that we should adopt a little more flexible approach to teaching and take into consideration the millions of micro emotions that students go through each day, to effectively create a learning environment suitable for everyone.
The pandemic has caused them to miss out on the key aspects of their intellectual development.
Students are able to gain more practical knowledge when in physical proximity with one another. It also allows for better collaboration and the healthy debates associated with the stimulating conversations that transpire in a traditional classroom set up push them to think differently.
Now the question arises: “What can we do?”
As we go deeper into the realms of online education, there are a few things that we need to do to make sure that this format does not provide resistance to the process of our students developing into free thinking global citizens.
We need to have our students’ best interests at heart and lure them out of their comfort zones, to help them set out on a path of self-discovery.
To reverse the boredom and hopelessness that came with the virus, we need to prepare them for intellectual adventures. We need to exhort them to try different things and experiment. Students need to be pushed to test their boundaries and to play around fields that genuinely interest them, and there has not been a better time than this to do the same.
But the experimentation is not limited to them alone, us teachers can do that too! We can encourage them to voice their opinions on certain matters and make them realise that their opinions matter, and that their participation in society shall definitely trigger societal development.
It is also essential for us to encourage students to engage in open conversations about stigmatised, sensitive topics that are not usually touched upon. We need to make sure that their education extends beyond textbooks, and that it equips them with the necessary knowledge to positively impact the world.
But the biggest thing we can do for our students is simply to be there. Lend an ear. Give them advice. And make them realize that they’re beings of the present, who shall go on to achieve wonderful things in the future. Not only do we have to help them reach their full potential, but also help them realize that they’ve always had the spark in them. We have to make them learners for life, who extract lessons from every encounter of life.
—Teacher, YPS, Patiala
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