‘Edutech must start to gamify, animate syllabi’
Technology has become an inherent part of our lives today, right from
waking up with news on our mobiles to reading ebooks. Could anyone in
the 1970s have imagined that day-today communication through emails
would be possible? Similarly, technological disruption that seemed
shores away from India is now changing businesses across sectors.
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In India, we continually hear about new technical developments whirling
across sectors and introducing changes at a pace faster than expected.
While we are surrounded with businesses that are rapidly changing with technical innovations, the education sector is not far behind. Processes, employees and the entire product cycle is progressing through technology as is the mode of education. 2017 witnessed the expansion of Mass Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Education technology, or ed-tech, made a major foray in India through executive and higher education. The launch of Byju’s app animated the basic concepts in maths and wooed students and parents alike.
There are several other applications by Indian students which impart vocational courses online, for skills like programming and coding.
The online certification for a host of courses has seen many professionals sign up to upgrade their skills and knowledge. Technology is changing the face of education; the very fabric of traditional learning has now extended into new and more evolved learning methodologies. According to a recent report by Google and KPMG, online education in India will grow approximately eight times in the next five years.
This will have a significant impact on the ed-tech market, which has a potential to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.
The rise of online education in 2018 will connect more youth and children in small towns to teachers online. Knowledge will reach the unreachable.
While we are surrounded with businesses that are rapidly changing with technical innovations, the education sector is not far behind. Processes, employees and the entire product cycle is progressing through technology as is the mode of education. 2017 witnessed the expansion of Mass Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
Education technology, or ed-tech, made a major foray in India through executive and higher education. The launch of Byju’s app animated the basic concepts in maths and wooed students and parents alike.
There are several other applications by Indian students which impart vocational courses online, for skills like programming and coding.
The online certification for a host of courses has seen many professionals sign up to upgrade their skills and knowledge. Technology is changing the face of education; the very fabric of traditional learning has now extended into new and more evolved learning methodologies. According to a recent report by Google and KPMG, online education in India will grow approximately eight times in the next five years.
This will have a significant impact on the ed-tech market, which has a potential to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.
The rise of online education in 2018 will connect more youth and children in small towns to teachers online. Knowledge will reach the unreachable.
Some ongoing changes in edumust cation, as a result of technology,
are worth noting. While technology is changing the paradigms in
education, it is also nurturing the teacher-student
bond offline,which today goes beyond the four walls of the classroom,
with more social media channels and easy access to the internet. All
students from each batch/ classroom discuss and submit projects online.
However, a clutter of information on the internet makes the role of the teacher comprehensive. The teacher
here becomes a mentor who guides the student in the right direction
through the internet. The virtual touch certainly facilitates knowledge
exchange in real-time.
Multimedia is also influencing teacher-student interaction inside classroom, as teachers
need to grasp tech-based tools to optimise student participation.
Technology-based learning is bringing a universe of choices in the
education sector in India, with customisation helping suit the
requirements of students and the working-class alike. Teachers
integrate media content when addressing the students, using statistics
and visual representations of chapters and topics. Multimedia formats
are demystifying complex concepts. With this, the pedagogical tool is
now being digitised.
Today technology has opened avenues to global learning, on your
laptop, sitting at home. Subject-expert faculty are able to impart
knowledge to students overseas. Such collaboration between national and
international universities will benefit students by inviting faculty
experts overseas.
While technology is raising the bar of education, there are challenges to be listed and solved on priority. Teachers
must begin integrating technology to explain concepts. Infographics
replace massive notes. Presentations need to be more animated. Student
projects must be paperless and more tech-driven, through cloud computing
and gamification. Higher education institutes require greater autonomy
from regulators to imbibe technology in their curriculum and pedagogy.
Government-led support will allow reforms to move at a faster
pace. A clear vision from the education regulators will add impetus to
the already self-aware institutes. Distance education should be
customised to provide content offline, for when the internet speed is
low.
The right to access education should be a key agenda for stakeholders in education.
On a concluding note, the blackboard, which is a teacher’s canvas to draw important aspects of the lessons, is reshaping its form and impact. Jack Ma, a former teacher
and a selfmade entrepreneur summarised well the key points about
education in the age of machine learning at the World Economic Forum
2018, saying, “Teachers
must stop teaching knowledge. We have to teach something unique so that
the machine can never catch up with us. These are soft skills, values,
believing, independent thinking, team work and caring for others.”
(The author is group director of WeSchool, a management institute in Mumbai.)
Source : http://paper.hindustantimes.com/epaper/viewer.aspx
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