7. From Know-ledge... by Kanwar

The dynamics of change

The world is going through a period of swift and challenging time on account of an emerging global society and economy, supplemented with innovations in information and communication technologies. Change, the inevitable phenomenon of this global society, demands a compatible change in the current, traditional educational environment.

Technology has, today, revolutionized the affairs of the world, creating an indelible mark on the quality of human life, yet the academicians and the education industry continue to stagnate, undertaking little or no research and development in innovating and designing a comparable educational network in order to augment the current campus-architecture of faculty, students, class-room and course-content.

Transition beyond tradition

Over the years, teaching has evolved through different stages. From a gurukul system, where guru-shishya parampara was the hallmark of Indian educational ethos, to a regimental, scholastic environment of the 19th Century, adopted in line with the European educational system, to yet another liberal academic environment of the 21st Century, the change in our educational system has been phenomenal.

Technology should be effectively used by educators for simulating situations close to real world and thereby providing an alternate instructional process through highly interactive, critique-provoking and personalized sharing of knowledge. Through increased exposure and competent use of technology, educators can hugely improve “the quality of teaching and learning [and] student motivation” (Gilbert, 1996, p. 12).

Content- the arterial force

The information glut which we experience today has sadly diluted the quality of content. Today, learners are exposed to so much, readily available data, resulting in lowering levels of individual curiosity and discovery, but a larger dependence on information searches.

On being asked a question, the learners are more dependent on the internet for quenching their thirst of knowledge rather than their teachers. Digital Natives… like to parallel process and multi-task. They prefer their graphics before their text rather than the opposite. They prefer random access (like hypertext). They function best when networked. They thrive on instant gratification and frequent rewards. (Prensky, 2001).

There is no doubt; a great challenge in the way, content is being thrown at the learners, threatening the position of a teacher towards redundancy. Also, many teachers in their quest for meeting the demands of the challenging times treat digital content as the sole motivating force to liven up their dull classrooms. Mere digitization of content cannot inspire an already saturated innovation hungry audience. Designing of the content in an effective manner to map the learning objectives and ensure effective learning outcomes by using technology can only result in using content as an arterial force in the scheme of things.

Pedagogical Leap

Students today have become accustomed to learning through multimedia and are easily bored by traditional pedagogies. Pedagogy needs to be improved across educational contexts to set the tune for a futuristic educational environment. Technology propels a lot of variation in presentation, simplification of complex disciplines, dynamism in teaching difficult topics, flexibility in dealing with a varied set of learners along with adding a lot of appeal into a mundane class routine.

Not only this, technology has reduced the constraints of space and time as it is able to connect to learners across the world at any given time. This demands a new mandate for educators to introspect on their teaching methodology so that they are able to channelize their teaching towards productive learning outcomes. Although, the transition in today’s word is extremely rapid, technology is not a substitute but a support to the academic growth process and a tool to augment the erudite as well as creative strengths in individuals.

Technique to use Technology

Insightful technological interventions could provide visible impetus in academic performance, provided the teachers adeptly evolve their teaching methods and content. It is critical to reexamine traditionally held pedagogical beliefs in order to prepare the Gen Y for the future.

Technology empowers teachers to bridge the gap between multiple learners by providing a different conundrum in which diverse intelligences and abilities are provided the corresponding learning environment, thus facilitating their understanding. For example, some learners might require a kinesthetic stimulus for engagement and deeper comprehension, thus multi modal interventions in this regard will take care of diverse learning needs.

Not only that, technology has ensured a paradigm shift from shallow learning through rote memorization to application oriented and analytical skill development. Educators thus need to use this to their advantage by improvising instructional and assessment strategies to give a personalized enabling environment. There needs to be a synergized adaptation of technology on understanding its various facets. Instructional or educational technology should be “integral to teaching practice” (Chism, 2004, p. 43) and not viewed as an add-on to teaching (Bates, 1995; Bates and Poole, 2003; Grasha and Yangarber-Hicks, 2000).

Innovation in thought and action

Technology is the harbinger of excellence in education and has become an imperative force in articulating the theory of change. Teachers need to acknowledge and use this asset pro actively in order to make the change transformative and sustainable. They also need to give more authority and autonomy to their students in order to engage them effectively. A real time personalized learning environment catalysed by technology is going to be the hallmark in coming times and therefore teachers need to innovate both in thought as well as action.

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Education is, not merely a transaction of ‘giving by the teacher and ‘taking’ by the students, but it is intimate sharing and collaborating of knowledge between a teacher and a set of students. The current educational system does not create a community of enthusiastic scholars, nor are the existing educational institutions suitably equipped to provide the right kind of stimulation and inspiration for learning. The basic learning skills and the course-content, rendered by traditional and formal means, have no semblance with the real, contemporary world. Unless we create a synergy of the real time learning environment of the faculty, the students, the class-room and the course-content, transition beyond the traditional learning system may not take place.

Why Innovate?

A changing society and economy place great demands on our traditional education system. Today, young people need higher-level skills and qualifications than ever before, so that they can meet the demands of a highly diverse and complex society, learn independently, logically and creatively and work towards sustainable development. As the current educational environment has failed to render these benefits, we ought to innovate and find new ways and means.

It is important to recognize these essential advantages in innovation, beginning in range and scope with questioning of the traditional education theory, built on acquisition and transfer of knowledge, and culminating with use of the knowledge as an all pervasive and seamless entity for human empowerment and comparable personal growth. An innovative, high quality academic environment can be built by strengthening knowledge-base and leveraging technological advances. Articulating a vision in this context will demystify the educational scenario, laced with contemporary and real time innovative practices. All these changes must, per se, resonate well with the teaching fraternity.

Evolving as an Educator

In response to the new global perspective, future trends in teaching are now shifting towards creating new benchmarks that allow maximum value addition to all – the faculty, the students, the class-room and the course. At the same time, as educators, we want to provide opportunities for our students to interact – whether with the content, the instructor or other students (Moore, 1989).

With the global world gradually, but ultimately, culminating into a knowledge society, inter-connectedness of knowledge through communication, digital and storage technologies is setting new levels of excellence. In this regard, however, the ever potent driving force towards a contemporary educational environment shall focus on teachers’ ability to apply technology for creating a personalized learning environment.

The new world order in education

With the increasing use of smart technology in our classrooms and with the students being comfortable in using on-line, audio-video technology, it is important for the faculty to understand the pedagogical implications of integrating technology into their classrooms (Gilbert, 1995; Watts and Hammons, 2002). The students of today enter a class room with the perception that technology is a natural part of their environment and should be equally as natural, pervasive and transparent in the educational environment (Oblinger, 2003). As a result, teachers need to keep themselves abreast with the latest trends in technology so as to be allied with the new cohort of learners.