Schooling and education have been the prime concerns for parents, educators and the government alike. Schooling, as we traditionally know it, is slowly changing and making way for an improved way of learning – the new age schools. Digitization has brought about a transformation in the way education is imparted in schools and colleges today. The schools of today are characterized by wi-fi enabled digital classrooms, eLearning modules, smart interactive software, and whiteboards.
The striking disparity between traditional schools and the new age schools is the level of interaction. A traditional school would generally feature lessons revolving structurally around the teachers and their styles of imparting learning. New age schools, on the contrary, have student-centric teaching media which focuses on one-on-one interactions. This way they are able to imbibe learning into their daily lives and discover the practical aspects of what they learn.
Ways of Imparting Education
We live in an age where technology is no more about sturdy and bulky equipment; it has attained a more manageable, invisible form. This has aided mobility and flexibility, and new age schools are a live testament of this. According to a recent report, the growth of self-paced eLearning in India is 55%. Smart classes have thus become a reality in these new age schools where books and notebooks have given way to tablets, mobile apps, and whiteboards.
How this is Impacting a Student’s/Teacher’s/Parent’s Life?
The most obvious impact on students is the enhancement of engagement, which develops conducive environment for learning. A recent report from Intel’s eLearning solution points out a 60 percent enhancement in the level of engagement amongst the students, which has increased their chances of imbibing the 21st century skills easily.
You can also notice a positive change in the attitude of teachers. With lectures becoming less labor intensive and monotonous teachers finally have the opportunity to unleash their creativity. This enables them to concentrate on each student more actively, and hence has a positive spillover effect on the entire learning system. Family interactions are also better as students take home experiences, rather than just lessons, and are able to connect with their parents better.
Latest Trends among Technology in Schools
Digitization is certainly driving the modern-day education like a wave. Books have paved way for tablets and PDAs, which are making learning extremely interactive. Internet based fusion or hybrid eLearning is the most marked improvement in this regard, which has come to the forefront in the past decade. Likes of NIIT Nguru are building solutions targeted towards transforming classrooms. These solutions combine the good aspects of traditional learning approach such as individual hand holding and attention with internet based learning mechanisms, which bring in the self-learning aspects (Bershin, 2004). Such an approach sees most of the learning and lectures being hosted over the internet, with in class time brought down, but not being done away with completely. This removes any geographical barriers between the imparting institutions and the pupils, along with bringing down costs of educating considerably.
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