By Mudabbira Khan
Rapid development in technology has changed the world around us, and it's functioning. It has brought some exciting changes in the education sector as well. As we are well aware of the fact that an average kid has more exposure to smartphones and laptops than any other previous generation it is essential to study the trends of these machineries too. These changes are gear for kids to faster learning and pushing them further to entrepreneurial paths at a very young age.
Digital Classroom
It seems that in many schools digital screen/projectors are in the process of replacing blackboards. Many schools have developed at least one such special digital Classroom. These classrooms are well equipped with projectors and Tablets. Audiovisual learning is possible because of it. Many complicated concepts now can be taught to students with simple animation videos and sound effects. It means, your kid will retain more of what he learned in the classroom as visual medium lasts longer than words. Government schools in rural areas have started it. Attendance in such classes is maximum which shows students love this methodology.
Kids have started developing their apps too. A 15-year-old Class XI student, Simran Choudhary, has developed a ‘Password Management System Mobile application which assists users to store their passwords securely and avoid any data theft.
Parent Teacher Association with tech assistance
Many schools have started their WhatsApp group for school student. Teachers regularly update the group by posting assignments and homework. It saves the time to contact every parent and brings in more scrutiny on the kid's routine activity. A parent can keep a vigil whether his kid is doing assignments or not.
Many colleges have made Google classroom compulsory for the students. Google classroom is an excellent tool for teachers to update everyone and keep track of everybody's assignments.
At home when a student gets stuck in between a math problem, he can post the question in the WhatsApp student teachers group. We have come across many teachers who seem to be happy with helping kids out even after school. So, now the student doesn't have to wait until tomorrow. It has improved the general productivity of the student and bond between master and disciple.
Teacher Hiring Process
The hiring process has become more stringent. Schools are welcoming teachers who have a well-developed personality to influence the students positively. Strong background screening for teaching and non-teaching staff is being opted out by the schools.
Sexual harassment is not uncommon in rural education set up. In recent times a thorough background check has been made compulsory to consolidate the trust of parents in school.
Teacher training programmes, offered online, offline or in a combination, are key to upskilling our educators. Recently in Delhi, many teachers were sent to prestigious institutions like IIM, IIT and even international Universities in Finland and London for training. Equipping our teachers with such training and faith improves their confidence and executive skills, which will eventually seep into students.
Practical and Inclusive learning
This emphasis on practical learning is not very uncommon in India but lately, it's has found its home in the heart of technology. Students are being encouraged by teachers to create PPTs and lecture in front of class rather than a written report. Many schools have started short film competition amongst them. Themes of such short films is often a topic for an essay like Advantages of technology or How to keep our city clean. In making such projects a kid is not only playing with words, but his is exercise a variety of skills like teamwork, Multi-process inter-dependent working style, thinking in images, learning and understanding the process from ideation to execution.
This kind of changes will make our students more confident when it comes to taking on real-life projects. It will amp up the performance of kids in school. And more important than anything it will help students to flex their most important muscle imagination.
RISE
Through a new initiative RISE (Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Education), the government has planned to a total investment of Rs 1, 00, 000 crore in the next four years to step up investments in research related infrastructure in premier educational institutions.
It is being implemented by in tune with "NEW INDIA - 2022". Government is hoping to revolutionize the infrastructure in public schools by 2022.
This year’s budget was a step in the same direction, and Jaitley focused on improving the quality of education with the aid of technology. The government’s goal is to assist and provide an opportunity to every Indian to realize his or her potential to the core.
Virtual Reality and Augmented reality
Although in a very nascent stage this technology has been phenomenally growing in the past two years. Students are experiencing new worlds through this medium. Orange Planetarium has been doing wonderfully in the sector. A 3-dimensional reality to help students understand elements of space or underwater. This technology will soon catch up, and many creative uses will be derived from it.
For now, all we can say is VR/AR is the future. Google is exploring this sector to help us get maximum benefit out of this medium.
There is still a regional disparity in Indian education system. Urban schools are way ahead in the race than rural school. This gap needs to be decimated. Government is trying it's best to marginalize the gap. However, these changes are a positive sign it just gives us a hint of idea where we will be in the next two decades. With more and more of changes being proposed for near future, Indian Education System, even though not the most perfect in the world, is up for a an evolution.
Author Mudabbira Khan is an English Hons. Graduate. She is a passionate about writing and blogging and currently working as contributing editor at TheArticle.in.