Teachers should get comfortable with technology to help the current generation learn
with interest
Dr. V. Kalyanaraman

I remember that day when Rahul, my student of Class IX last year, came rushing towards me from his
seat very eagerly, guessing that I was wondering how to operate the smartboard smartly.

“Thank you so much, Rahul,” I said, admiring the way he handled the computer as if it was an innate
quality, even as my voice tried to hide the fact of my being at the crossroads – of a rampant flow of
information, and little assimilation of it, making me a late bloomer in the context of digital teaching.

I understand that teaching not only demands a wide knowledge of the subject matter and a caring attitude but also a desire to help students progress. Great teachers are able to find the good in each person, uncover talents in every student, and fuel the fire of greatness that exists in us all.

Rahul made me optimistic with his capability to accomplish great things in the learning process with
his own creative and inventive skills. He succeeded in his attempt in front of my eyes.

Great! I have found something good in Rahul. Each one of us is both a student and a teacher. We
are at our best when we equip ourselves with what we need to learn.

Earlier I had a kind of apprehension that the computer would take over my role of a teacher and that I may have to merely operate the computer. I was also sure that neither Google nor Yahoo could
understand the various behaviour patterns of the learners nor motivate the children to think
creatively and independently by establishing a personal rapport. Surfing the Internet to gather
information, getting the homework completed with the help of software to calculate problems,
check spelling and grammar without analysing and correlating the reliability and the correctness
of the information gathered would create more copycats.

But it is true that the generation born after 1990 has never known a life without the Internet, and is not interested in learning in the conventional sense but expects the teachers to go beyond the text
book. That doesn’t mean merely any PPT or YouTube; for them, exposure to info-tech advancements is as integral to learning as it is to their social lives. It is also willing to be a part of change in the world.

At the same time this generation also helps a lot – with frequent updates to reflect changes in technology or the thinking on a subject, which will otherwise take more than a decade to appear in a
textbook.

Teaching has become quite challenging in this digital academic arena where teachers are expected to ensure that the students retain interest in their studies. These challenges can never be considered
insurmountable for the teachers who can figure out their own way of inspiring or mesmerising the
students (rather than call it teaching) by making effective use of technology.

Innovation in teaching need not be fashionable but must be unique in adapting informal strategies to
make the learners feel comfortable and interact with the teachers. A good teacher would never
embarrass the students even in informal situations, acceding the fact that there has been a complete
shift in the teaching-learning relationship where tech-savvy children have adequate knowledge
of blogging, searching, and exploring the internet.

The pace of technological change has generated much soulsearching about how internetdelivered
courses will change the art of learning in a relaxed manner. If classrooms are called the temples of learning, then let the students relax their minds releasing their stress, as would a devotee meditating in front of God.

Thanks to social media applications that have got our students glued not only to the laptops but also to their smartphones, using them for teaching and learning makes them virtual classrooms. According to modern education researchers, virtual learning is the result of necessity rather than choice.

It is a mashup between Facebook, Whatsapp, Twitter, Skype, Google and Yahoo, because this system
allows the students to collaborate with teachers online using a chatstyle messaging system happily not only to learn the lessons with the help of the soft copy of textbooks but also do science experiments through virtual labs. It just needs teachers to update themselves with digital technology.

The writer is Principal, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Perambalur, Tamil Nadu