Online Education : Next Level...

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Online Education: Next Level of Education

I was talking to my 9-year-old nephew who is glued on to mobile and laptop and works with them like an expert. He knows how to use Google, various apps and gets things organized in the best possible way. I was visualizing myself as a 9-year-old kept admiring my nephew, the skill with which he was using technology to his advantage.

Today when I look around, I can seldom think of any field which is untouched with technology. Right from booking tickets, ordering food, watching movies, getting your sofa cleaned…you name it and the online platform is there for your rescue.

Education, in India customarily has been a very sacred and meticulous process with a very strong connect of teacher to students in a physical classroom. It is the connect which helps the student to understand and re-iterate and practice with a close follow-up from the teacher. The professional/personal bond that gets created also helps the student to create a liking for the subject. Technical subjects like Mathematics and Scienec need consistent efforts by the students to succeed. These efforts coupled with technology, however, can revolutionize the field of education.

India has always provided the best of talent pool to the world, it could be the field of Engineering, Medicine, Research, Biotechnology, Aeronautics and the list can go on. All this was achieved over the years with a scenario of customary education. Imagine if India were to slowly move towards synergizing education with technology, the results could be magnanimous. The need of the hour is to take the field of education to the next level where our classrooms are aided with audio visual content. A scenario where a teacher can use her skills more effectively with the use of an audio visual combined with some interesting and engaging content. Today’s student is extremely comfortable with various gadgets and knows exactly how to extract the best out of them.

We at Empower strongly believe that a computer or a gadget can’t substitute a teacher. However, a teacher can be made equipped with some interesting methods to enhance the experience for the student. This can make the learning experience more powerful and long lasting. It is the time to take the next step in education to accelerate this transformation.

A scenario where a virtual classroom is created where students are given the same experience as that of a physical classroom is possible. Subjects like Mathematics and Science can be taught with the same finesse and expertise using audiovisual aids, virtual white boards, MCQ polls, interactive tests. It is very essential to keep the student engaged and exposed to new dose of knowledge while keeping the academic angle intact.

This is also a revolution from a teacher’s point of view, where Charles’ Darwin theory of Survival of the Fittest holds true. The new era of online education not only demands a teacher with academic skills but also a teacher who can adapt to the online era. While I already mentioned that a Student Teacher bond that gets created in a physical classroom can’t be replaced, it is very much true that a teacher will have to find ways and means to make the virtual classroom experience very very close to reality. With the boundaries of marketplace going beyond the cities and countries, a teacher will have to be ready for a global student.

A knowledgeable, experienced teacher will be competing against a teacher who is knowledgeable, experienced but equipped with application like scribble on a zoom platform or Google meet and showing calculations in an online virtual class and can reach an audience of 500 students sitting in few cities of India and beyond.

A science teacher who has always taught using a white board in a school classroom is today competing against a digital board projecting audiovisual of a human heart with a voiceover in the background and an automated MCQ being conducted by an animated teacher, interestingly students enjoying and gaining from such a session.

The day is not far when every city and smallest of the village of India can create a virtual classroom in your own living room and your television set will have a study hour and a teacher will teach English and History. With the advent of technology and the internet getting affordable for a common man, smartphone becoming a reality for masses, it will be a reality very soon where we may have schools moving on online platforms and more education content like, video lectures, online lectures, online testing, online attendance, online PTA becoming a reality.

The question is are we ready and equipped for such a mega revolution. In a mammoth country like India this could be an opportunity to change the face of education across the length and breadth. It is time that we realize that eLearning is not only a concept, but eLearning is going to be center stage and it is the future.  We make our teachers enlightened and ready to make this concept a reality.

………………Padhega India Tabhi To Badhega India!!