How the digital
era is breaking learning barriers
In the digital
era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an integral part
of almost every economic and social activity. Education, the most revered and
productive human activity, too is highly influenced by the power of 1 and 0 in
the action packed digital era.
Dr
Heidi Hayes Jacobs, one of the most recognised education leaders and the
inventor of Curriculum Mapping once said, "Teachers need to integrate
technology seamlessly into the curriculum instead of viewing it as an add-on,
an afterthought, or an event."
In
the digital era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an
integral part of almost every economic and social activity. Without digital
technology, life is a big challenge to live and move forward because everything
is governed and controlled by it today. Education, the most revered and
productive human activity, too is highly influenced by the power of 1 and 0 in
the action packed digital era.
Today,
digitised information crosses barriers of time, space and efficiency. One can
search for knowledge in multiple ways using multiple tools irrespective of the
location and time. A smart search on Google through mobile, laptop or tab offer
tons of learning options such as MOOCs, lectures, Skype classes, webinars,
video conferencing and online chat with the master of a subject.
Benefits
of an ICT-enabled education sector:
With
the onset of ICT in the education sector, knowledge sharing has become an easy
and effective activity. The accessibility to knowledge sources leads to speedy
sharing, storage and analysis of content under a definite perspective. The
ability to sift through a large amount of data is the biggest advantage of
digital techniques and processes.
However,
the role of digital technology in education is not restricted knowledge
acquisition, its impact is rather wider and deeper in conducting a research,
managing a library of books and data, and collating the synthesised information
for further analysis. The cutting edge technology eradicates many learning
barriers and facilitates both teachers and students in the whole
process.
Digital
era: Win-win situation for both teachers and students
Digital
technology, with its many tentacles of communication hacking and information
sharing, has breathed fresh life into classroom learning. Usage of digital
boards and multimedia content leads to increased attention and engagement of
the students and better interaction between teachers and students. Learning has
become more interesting and animated for pupils, while on the other hand,
teachers also feel less burdened with the easy availability of quality content on
the internet.
Use
of social media for learning:
Things
become further easier on both ends after the introduction of social media in
the field of education. Now, teachers can upload the text as well as AV files
pertaining to their lesson plan on various social media sites such as Facebook,
Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. As per the convenience, students can read the
same on laptop, smart-phone or tab, or they can also take the printout of the
shared notes as per their need. This way, lesson planning is no more a tiring
and dull practice for the subject teachers.
Teachers
can also create professional learning networks on the aforesaid channels for
projects, dissertations and other types of research work. Social media is
equally advantageous to students if used in a controlled manner under the
guidance of parents and teachers.
Digital
technology helps students in the collection, exchange and evaluation of the
information (course material). It instigates them to explore the practical
aspects of learning and how it is going to benefit them in the career they want
to pursue.
Authored by
Prof. Ramola Kumar, Dean, Delhi School of Communication
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