Of late, there has been a lot of hype and noise over what a smart class could achieve for student learning. However, teachers are slowly realising that the smart class concept is nothing but a set of videos and animations with oft-repeated technical glitches.
These gadgets are believed to help students visualise classroom concepts. Unfortunately, this is not the case as there is absence of follow-up measures, including student assessments and remedial action on weak areas. Course correction is needed so that teachers can identify learning gaps in individual students and assist in plugging them through latest Edtech methodologies.
It is time to rethink what the actual requirement is in a ‘one teacher-many students' scenario. The real challenge is question is how to target the content towards students.
Merely running animated content on the whiteboard or lED is not a smart class. The important thing is how much a student can understand and assimilate. A student’s post-class assessment that guides him to the next classroom session should be the key to the smart class concept in schools.
A Wi-Fi equipped environment is essential for personalised learning, an environment that fully understands the student, that tells him how his past record has been, what his today’s lecture would be, what he is going to learn from his teacher and what he’s going to be assessed on post-class.
The true 360 degree learning would answer two fundamental questions: What does each student need to learnIJ What is to be done next in the identified areasIJ
Top Career & You (TYC) Teacher Assistant is one such programme which answers these questions because individualised learning through continuous assessments is the bedrock of this programme tailored for CBSE schools in the country. So far, over 100 schools have adopted this programme all of which have experienced a spurt in competency levels of their students in Maths and Science. The teachers can use a battery of tests available through teacher assistant on the platform (www.schools.tcyonline.com) to assess students. Once a student takes the online tests, a detailed analysis guides the teacher on how the next remedial lecture should be planned to take care of the needs of students and provides insights into what is preventing each pupil from performing to his maximum potential. A customised report can then be accessed by students and parents through a mobile app, TCY-K12, which not only tell the student where he stands but also what to do next.
A student’s online test follows the completion of each module of a chapter in his class. The assessment engine generates actionable reports to guide students, parents and teachers. The end-result assures improvements in students with corrective action by the stakeholders.
Students get to know topics mastered, topics to improve on and performance relative to other students. Parents know exactly where to help. They get involved as they know how their child is doing and feel empowered to help him. On the other hand, teachers, for whom this teaching tool is made, can individualise learning. They get in-depth analysis to know student’s strengths/weaknesses, identify common misconceptions and arrange effective remedial classes. Principals get real-time control over academics. They get snapshots of the entire school, on relative performance of the school, how each class is progressing and how each teacher is performing.
(The writer is Meenakshi Kachroo Chatta, school education expert with TCYonline)