One of the State Level Seminars
which I attended recently was the one held at Titus II Teachers College, Tiruvalla, Kerala State, India. The
theme of the seminar was Implication of
Novel Technological Approaches in Education. Experts from the field of Educational
Technology and ICT which included among
others Dr. Achut Sankar S Nair spoke on
the theme. In addition to the talk by experts, sixteen papers were presented by scholars on themes
related to the use of technology in
education. Some thoughts worth pondering on is given below:
- Technology
is Janus faced. You can use it for promoting both negative and positive
purposes.
- In
the contemporary world one cannot afford to ignore the use of technology for teaching.
- In
educational institutions, technology can be applied separately for each of
the following: A. Academic work B.
Administration C. Finance
But, for a proper integration of A, B and C, an Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) solution is required.
- If
appropriate direction is given to students, we can channelize student energy and avoid misuse
of technology.
- Technology extends human power. But, Skinner
rightly pointed out that the failure to provide for individual differences
among students is perhaps the greatest single source of inefficiency in
education.
- Technology
is still the norm in teaching, but
the technology you think is useful for teaching may be perceived as
inappropriate by children living in
a media saturated world!
- The
advantages of ICT include, Direct
cost saving , Competitive advantage and Rich information. But let us remember, that any kind of learning, when the human element is taken away, results in the
loss of the socializing process. This is one reason why, even the most
boring lecture, can be seen as providing some kind of learning experience!
- The
teacher of today is easily deceived
in choosing Media for teaching. They need to remind themselves that Media
experience is subjective, depends on age, and time and that the children
of today are de-sensitized with Media overload. This naturally puts pressure on teachers who ultimately
have to become entertainers!
- According
to a recent survey, India churns out 4.5 Lakh IT professionals every year,
and Kerala alone produces 35,000 each year. There are at present an estimated 40 Crore mobile phone in use
in India. So with proper planning, we can work wonders, in the use of
technology for education.
- The
modern computer laboratories in
schools are well furnished. Many
have closed windows that keep away
the dust. Air-conditioned rooms with cozy furniture prompts the learner to surf the internet
uninterrupted until the school bell
rings. Gone are the class rooms of yester years, when the child accidentally peeps out of the
window to see a streaming brook or a lush green valley in the horizon, which would have transported the child to a world of dreams!. Are we
really starving our children of such dreams??
- Chatting
on the internet is mere child’s
play. One could chat with total strangers of the opposite sex, send
passionate messages and within minutes simply log off with the message, ‘I am not
interested any more’! Is it
possible in real life to show
affection to an individual of the opposite sex and just drop him / or her
like a hot potato… At least in
Kerala, all hell will break loose
on the on the individual who dares to do it! Does chatting on the Internet
by children affect their social behaviour?
- Most
of the websites of universities in
Kerala are a kind of glorified diary.
They provide information about courses offered, staff details etc. But
many foreign universities have made their websites minefields of academic information which
they regularly update. When are we
going to change ours, in God’s Own Country?
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