According to an HP India survey on Future of Learning (2022), approximately 89% of parents, 85% of teachers and approximately 68% of students prefer to continue using online learning as a complement to traditional learning methods.
By Amit Kapoor
Don’t limit children to your own learning process… because they were born in a different time. —Rabindranath Tagore
The quote applies to every generation. My parents didn’t like my way of learning when I was growing up. Today I am catching up with my own son’s learning style, which is difficult. And this will go on forever. The form and factor are contextual. And this context is with the given circumstance which is very different from before. That’s evolution, I guess.
The ‘boomers’ and ‘gen-x’ (generation born before 1980) had limited choices and exposure. At most 2 sports to follow, 2 places to go, 2 ways of looking at things – ‘black’ or ‘white’, 2 ways of learning – ‘books’ or ‘teachers’. Virtually 2-dimensional life. The “millennials” and “gen-z” (born between 1981 and 2012) were vastly different from the previous generations in every form. They really enjoyed and lived the multidimensional life. And then the ‘gene alpha’ (generation born after 2012) happened. They are the digital first generation and are capable of adjusting a dimension for themselves. And people like ‘metaverse’ feed it.
This transition has happened at an unprecedented pace and the only thing that is lagging behind this growth is our ability to manage it. This management requires rewiring in each of us and education and learning play a big part in this. But then the same playbook of education and learning is insufficient. It requires a review of the approach. And it requires clear roles from key stakeholders to perform for greater impact. The physical school and the textbooks play an irreplaceable role, but this must be made possible with technology to give relevance and recognition to the new generation. Our teachers and parents have played a key role in the student’s life. Now the same teachers and the parents have to adapt to the new standard of dealing with 21st century learning skills. Every student is unique; therefore, the learning skills are unique. Therefore, traditional learning tools need to be upgraded with technology that reads each student’s data points and personalizes learning solutions.
Fortunately, NEP 2020 recognized it and set in motion a framework that expects outcomes from boards, school principals, teachers, parents, publishers and has also defined a clear role for ed-tech companies. With the changes articulated in the NEP 2020, the real demographic dividend of the future can be guaranteed. India has approximately 230 million students enrolled in 1.4 million schools in the K-12 segment. Unlike the recent pandemic, no disaster in the future should be strong enough to disrupt the learning continuum for our students.
The disconnected gears in the education environment have exacerbated the pain of the recent pandemic. With this in perspective, the role for ed-tech is clearly portrayed. The EdTech companies will add value while delivering the next in the Indian education ecosystem.
Curriculum and pedagogy in schools – this requires a three-dimensional approach. (a) the updated curriculum and pedagogy must transcend both school and home for seamless and integrated learning. Therefore, bundle tools to strengthen subject-related learning outcomes, for example for virtual labs for core subjects mathematics, science and language. (b) provide an engaging UI and UX for end users – educators and students. (c) introduce learning solutions that are flexible, versatile, multi-level, play, activity and inquiry learning. This promotes experiential learning and competence-based learning and education.
Transform assessments for student development. AI-based software that can be used by students to track their growth based on learning data and interactive questionnaires. Enable the Student Progress Map, which becomes a holistic, 360-degree, multi-dimensional report that reflects in detail the progress and uniqueness of each student in the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
Enable a school environment to download a printable version of all textbooks provided by all states/UTs and NCERT to help save the environment and reduce logistical burden. Deploy online apps with quizzes, competitions, assessments, enrichment materials, and online communities to share for students.
Provide a continuous professional development (CPD) platform for teachers to regularly update their skills.
Help develop efficient resources and effective governance through school complexes/clusters.
In the past 2 years, online learning has been massively adopted – of course out of necessity – but this has always been the need. While the supply of bandwidth is available, the supply chain surrounding the consumption of this bandwidth is still inadequate, resulting in only a partial population living in the metros and urban India benefiting from online learning. And while the ‘bharat’ has seen tremendous growth in data usage, the per capita penetration of devices is still limited, undermining online learning potential. Out of the total number of schools, only a fraction of them have taught online classes, trained teachers and helped them with online teaching materials, while others continue to struggle for multiple reasons.
According to a recent study by HP India on Future of Learning (2022), most participants suggested that hybrid learning is indispensable. The survey, which covered 13 cities in India, including Level II and Level III cities, found that about 89% of parents, 85% of teachers and about 68% of students prefer to use online learning to complement traditional learning methods in India. the post-pandemic world. This is good news for the ed tech companies to work towards making the technology stronger and getting the best content from all over the world and cater to Indian schools.
Even when the schools are opened across India, a unified platform of ed-tech companies can enable a complete school management system for schools, including content management system (CMS), learning management system (LMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Also in the hybrid world, this will go a long way, not only to keep track of the business of the school, but also to manage learning and assessments in the easiest way possible. Such a system helps educators better understand their students, allowing them to tailor sessions, lessons, exams and content.
In summary, gene alpha is better placed to acclimate to new-age learning. The educators and parents will have to make extra efforts and apply different techniques to achieve/maintain the concentration level of the students. To borrow from António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations: “The future of education is here. We must now take bold steps to create inclusive, resilient, quality education systems that are fit for the future.”
The author is cofounder, Eupheus Learning†
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