Tech is finally being accepted in schools and education says Meenakshi Uberoi, Founding Director, De Pedagogics

Meenakshi Uberoi, Founding Director De Pedagogics, talks about tech finally being accepted in an exclusive interview at SGEF 2017

What are the top global trends you think could be incorporated in the Indian education system?
1. What would really work well is bringing in technology, not as a tool but understanding the technology and how it can enhance classrooms and the way it can help the facilitator. Using these tools we can make learning more meaningful and can make the student’s voice heard.

2. Apart from that, what’s trending is student-centred learning. We should give the students opportunities to ask questions. The art of asking questions will play a big role in the days to come.

3. We also need to look at the special needs of the children, as every child has different needs or has his/her way of learning. Though various schools say that they have implemented different styles of learning there is still a gap and these institutes can lend a lot more to learning in classrooms.

Advertisement

4. Teacher training is another area I would say is overrated. Every school holds training sessions, but are those one day sessions really meaningful? Is there anyone they can go back to, to ask questions? Can a teacher find out where something was implemented and was successful or realise where she had to pause and go back. Long term relationships with learning communities need to be built. There are not many educator communities that are existent globally. There is Microsoft Educator Community, where global educators come in and interact, reach out to learn from each other, bring exchange programs and open out their classrooms to the world. There is Learning Forward India which is led by Sandeep Dutt where you can join by paying a nominal fee of Rs.500 a year and is a very effective program due to the way the professional training platform is built. It is something that you and I must look at in the days to come.

Can we ever hope to break away from the rote system of learning and examination?
I would put it differently; I would not want to do away with the system of rote learning because it is going to be ages before this system goes away. I would say let’s find some effective ways of rote learning. This system of learning that we have in India has produced the Satya Nadellas (Microsoft) and Sundar Pichais (Google) of the world, so why do away with a system that is doing so well? The world might come back asking you for better methods of making rote learning more interesting. So let’s find ways to make rote learning more approachable, adaptable and engaging.

How do you think we can improve communication amongst children?
I think the quietest child gets a voice once technology comes in, because with technology you are interacting with yourself and a device. There is no one to give you feedback which might be challenging or which might be right/ wrong. So it becomes more like journal writing and you doing it with your mind means you are literally spilling your thoughts onto your screen, be it through your writing or speaking. Through this you are sharing yourself in a very non- threatening way. I believe that technology has removed the threat from learning.

This interview appeared in the September 2017 issue of ScooNews magazine.

Advertisement