If our grandparents were to enroll in school and college today, they would go through a huge culture shock. This is simply because of the Technological Disruption that has shaken the education industry globally. In fact, in the last decade, I have so evidently noticed few of these disruptions within the four walls of our homes. Children have started using mobile apps to enhance learning, the aged have become mobile-friendly and we practically live our lives immersed in screens.
Today collaborative classwork and home assignments encourage students to study together and nurture the behavior ofpatience and empathy with more focus on teamwork.
We need to accept that knowledge is dynamic and ever changing. This inevitably leads to the evolution of teaching methods as well. What was once considered a monotonous subject delivery in class, has now upgraded to subject matter expertise. Teachers today cannot afford to limit themselves to textbooks. Thanks to the disposal of the inexpensive internet and abundance of resources today, students are well equipped with a lot of knowledge on subjects, leading teachers to start playing the role of coaches and mentors. Teachers today need to convert as much information to experiential learning. The rest of the syllabus should be covered through storytelling which is an art of telling a story to illustrate a point or bring an idea to life in the human imagination. To explain how an electrical circuit works, teachers would describe how a train can only move along tracks that are connected to each other. If you think about it, storytelling is as old as human civilization perhaps. Parents have been teaching basic habits and behaviors to their children at a very early age through life lesson stories of kings, princesses, monsters and the list can go on. All that we need to do now as educationists is to re-start this habit of explaining through the good guy and the bay guy. An exceptional teacher is someone who manages to touch the five senses of students through their stories. Think about your geography teacher who shows the map of India to you and later gives you props related to each state to touch and feel for yourself. What if the teacher manages to make you taste the food specialties of each state? Do you think students will ever forget the different states in India?
Most of us use the Snapchat app or would have played Pokemon Goin the past where 2D and 3D computer-generated effects are superimposed over real life images that your camera displays. It gave us a feeling that Pokemon was part of our world. Learners these days look for a similar immersive understanding of subjects. These are nothing but concepts of Virtual realityand Augmented Reality which have now also been considered to be pedagogical tools. These toolsare evolving to be the next ‘basic’ way of teaching subjects like Biology for instance. You can take your students to field trips inside a human body. Imagine a student who can see a 3-dimensional human body in front of him. It would be so easy for him to separate layers of tissues and muscles till he reaches the bones and organs. Imagine wearing an oxygen mask and sitting on a red blood cell, sliding through the veins of the heart. You learn the three tissue layers that make its structure. You would easily be able to envision the features, functions, quirks and mysteries of the human body. This would be a virtual encyclopedia with a heavy dose of ‘wow’.
In the current scenario, the concept of gamified education is ruling the mindshare of our learners. There are a lot of virtual games being developed to virtually transport students to the Indus Valley Civilization in History or the Grand Canyon to understand its landscape in Geography or learning chemical reactions and the innumerable laws in Physics.Imagine explaining the concepts of arithmetic and robotics through LEGO blocks. This new form of learning is nothing but edutainment where education and entertainment run parallelly and the result of this kind of learning isnot only better grades but also knowledge that is retained for a lifetime. Learners earn badges and points as they play, and feedback is given instantly. It not only leads to healthy competition but also improves their social connections. The most interesting part of this kind of learning is, that students are given the freedom to fail without coercive steps taken by teachers. One of the personally used examples of gamification in learning is the app DuoLingo, which helps you learn languages for free and without the fear of being judged. You start as a beginner and as the learning advances, the complexity increases. Indirectly, this type of learning helps build your confidence significantly.
Today collaborative classwork and home assignments encourage students to study together and nurture the behavior ofpatience and empathy with more focus on teamwork. These extreme changes show a definite shift from the paradigms of an outdated past. The digital age has nowinstitutedan open learning culture for students. Amidst all of this hi-tech craziness, what educationists should not ignore is what I learnt from my father - You can teach Science, Algebra, French or anything else through all of these tools; however, YOUR REAL SUBJECT WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR STUDENT
