‘www’ is regarded as the second name for the Internet. However, for childern today, it is actually ‘Whatever, Whenever and Wherever’
By Dr Dheeraj Mehrotra
Education is the pathway to excellence. But this excellence can only be achieved when we have quality infrastructure. Many experts in the education space have now started regarding the Internet as the core infrastructure for education. When you tell a child to write an essay, he/she is might download the content and present it before you in no time. Some parents have started thinking that the Internet is a menace, as it is making their children lazy by giving them easy access to course material. But the truth is that the Internet has a large role to play in the process of education. It is not a menace, if properly used, it can be a boon.
The tilt from Web 1.0 to 2.0 and now to 3.0 offers new opportunities to our students. It is up to the teachers to guide their students through the maze of the digital world. Teachers need to develop a balanced approach in developing new policies and practices that can guide the students in regards to usage of the Internet. Conservations and discussions on the best ways of taking advantage of the Internet has to be conducted between the teachers, administrators, and parents. It is not necessary to have rules that are too rigid. All stakeholders should have a chance to contribute to the decision-making process. There is no doubt that a computer empowered with vibrant software can be an exciting tool for learning.
| In my view, a quality educator must be deeply networked with all his students. He needs to have the following:a. A website. b. At least 200 links on the Internet. Many of the links can be in “About the Teacher” sections. c. He/she must share websites with the children. d. He/she must expand the scope of learning through 24/7 availability. e. Be a Facilitator by walk not only by the talk. f. Activate self and open to learning rather than teaching. g. Respect the knowledge of students that students already possess. h. He/she must be capable of criticizing privately and praising publicly. i. He/she must have blogs j. He must share YouTube videos of his own |
It
should come as no surprise that we are having e-Classrooms in every school. But the true potential of the e-Classrooms can only be achieved once the teachers and the school administration are able to develop an affinity for the digital systems. In today’s environment, it is imperative for a teacher to be a trainer, learner and an all rounder. He should be well conversed with the modalities of the cyber space. It is advisable for teachers to have presence in social networks, blogs, etc.
The modern kid is SMART – Systematic, Meticulous, Active, Realistic and Tactful. He will be involved with the learning process in the classroom only when he is being taught something that he did not know earlier. A teacher has to be aware of the 21st century learning requirements. The teacher should not be teaching what the kids already know through parents/friends or through interactions on the social networks. If he tries to teach what is already well known, then he might have to hear this kind of words in the classroom, “Sir/ Madam, It is already in the book. Please tell us something new”. Do we have a reply to such questions from kids?
Someone has rightly commented, “Good teaching is also about style.” Should good teaching be entertaining? You bet it should!
Author
Dheeraj Mehrotra
Deputy General Manager (DGM) (K12 Education),
Scand Harcourt (India) Pvt Ltd
