Experts tell you that a balance between practical experience and technological tools is actually helping children to innovate. From kinder gogy, ICT led curriculum in colleges to annual Tedx events, techfests and model village projects, technology in education is now seen as a blessing in disguise. However, the onus is on the teachers to make sure that the child doesn’t become addicted to the Internet. Sriya reddy reports
Recall the recent advertisement by MTS 3Gplus (Internet baby) where a baby steps out of the womb only to explore the web with superior technologyIJ The younger generation (known as ‘digital natives’), especially infants of two to three years of age are effortlessly using electronic gadgets like smartphones, tablets and laptops to learn with the help of innovative applications.
With the advancement in technology over the past few years, education has gone through a drastic change, marking a new revolution in this field. From primary, secondary to higher education, technology has left a huge impact at every level, making teaching and learning process more intuitive, interactive and holistic.
Evolution of kinder gogy
Kinder gogy is the latest terminology in edtech industry which means integrating technology in the kindergarten curriculum. The 21st century kindergarden and preschool are slowly revamping themselves in preparing children in the two to four years age category for primary education. learning rhymes, music, alphabets and its pronunciation, identifying animals and their sound, colours, seasons, learning how to read e-books etc helps children to grasp things easily.
But is it okay to expose young children to tech friendly tools rather than giving them scope to experimentIJ Experts tell you that there should be an ideal balance. “Technology in education is great but it doesn’t provide complete learning. It is more important that the children put their learnings into practise for their holistic development. They should come up with their own ideas for story-telling, making creative handicraft, etc.
“There has to be a balance of technology and traditional style of learning that includes playing outdoor games and indulging in group activities. But, teachers should be mindful that the Internet doesn't become an addiction for young children,” Amol Arora, VC and MD, Shemrock and Shemford Group of Schools, says.
ICT led curriculum
The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) provides high quality, core-curriculum products related to CBSE and AICTE syllabus. With the help of smart labs with interactive white boards, educational tablets, cloud technology, open source and access tools, virtual conference tools, tv presenter, etc, teaching and learning becomes easier.
A lot of initiatives have been taken over by many IT enterprise companies like intel, hewlett-packard, educomp, ncomputing, classteacher learning systems, national instruments, adobe India, simplilearn.com, nazara technologies, etc, to set-up their innovative technology in schools and remote places in India for e-learnings and better teaching.
“Educators want to provide students access to conducive learning environments but limited IT budgets, IT infrastructure management hassles, limited staff, space and energy constraints act as impediments. These challenges are driving educators to adopt new technologies that improve teaching and are affordable and easy to manage.
“Many IT companies are working with the Central and State governments and many non-government agencies to make computing solutions available at the most economical costs so that the benefits of computing reach far and wide in the country. Through this, every student is able to learn, discover, experiment and collaborate with their peers in different countries and get equipped with competitive abilities to venture out confidently into today’s global economy,” Monali Handa, director marketing, NComputing, tells you.
TedX Summits & e-programmes
There are students who aspire to be an innovator, creator or entrepreneur. Tedx is one such platform which enables such students to showcase their talent.
Such events are becoming like an annual affair where students get an opportunity to interact with the guest speakers who teach them the nuances of setting up a start-up.
“Tedx has given us a platform to spread out ideas to millions. The events are mindblowing and it actually aspires us to do something special and innovative. Many students hooked to the TedX videos on YouTube to know more about extraordinary people in various walks of life,” 16-year-old Sahil Bansal, Class XI student of DPS Mathura Road, tells you. He was awarded the youngest editor-in-chief of Inkspire, India’s first art magazine, by limca Book of Records.
Special initiatives are also taken up by some schools so that the child gets to experience technology-enabled innovations from an early age.
“DPS conducts programmes on e-gadgets on Saturdays and holidays where many students come up with games and e-learning programmes which they have created,” Manju Mehra, academic coordinator, DPS Mathura road, says. She tells you that this creativity coupled with hi-tech tools is the right way of preparing a child to face the world.
Model Village & competitions
It is not just the primary and secondary schools which are inspiring and encouraging their students to come up with own innovations, but it has also led college administrators take keen interest in this mode of teaching.
With the prior motive to give their students a first-hand learning experience, premier institutions in the Capital and elsewhere have been exposing students to a model village concept. “We create problems which can be easily solved by the help of the latest tech aids. Our students get to participate on a live solution to a problem arrangement and they learn a lot from such exchanges,” Hriitu Rana, founder of Anant Vikas, a collaborative initiative by students of St Stephens College in New Delhi .
Apart from these out of the box concepts, various competitions like mobile application development, software coding, innovations to showcase in science exhibitions, there are a plenty of technology-related activities happening in colleges.
“My friends have created games and puzzles for the android OS on phones and are also getting paid for it! This encourages us to create something new, copyright it and sell it to a company. Many companies who come for placements, test our talent through our creation and technical skills,” says Rohan Verma, student, BITS Pilani, Goa. He is the co-founder of a helicam called ‘The Willow — a complete aerial surveillance system’. Verma adds that the BITS Connect programme is another initiative where with the help of telepresence polycam, students of all BITs campus gets connected for lectures.
Online learning and exam mode
YouTube tutorials on all topics has opened the doors for leaning, bringing world-class education and perspective from across the world to your mobile phones, or video conference through Skype or new model of multi-campus education through telepresence polycam. With the introduction of e-coaching centres in India by Hughes Communications, Aakash Education, Chopras, online university by ITM-Group or others, Massive Open Online Course courses and online exam mode, all this have made learning process easier and at the comfort zone.
Oflate, Groupon India has also launched online courses on stand-up comedy or wedding planning, app design, anger management, time management, weight management, language courses (English, Spanish, German,French), photography, web development, microsoft office, etc which makes it easier for a student to opt for a subject of his choice.