Teachers And The Technology In The Classroom: Friends Or Foes?

SUMMARY

Edtech is upending the classroom dynamics as teachers are no longer the primary source of information

Parents are reluctant to rely completely on tech products for learning, owing to fears of skill deficiencies

Even among schools where tech has entered the classrooms, the question is how effective it really is

Technology is upending the traditional ways of teaching and learning. What does the future of education hold?“10 years from now children will not be coming to school to learn but to develop social skills, to develop friendships because with educational technology coming in big time, kids can access everything from home.”“Side-by-side, students and teachers can become engineers of collaboration, designers of learning experiences, leaders, guides, and catalysts of change,” said the US state department of education.“A lot of people then had said that how can online shopping get popular with India’s shopping habits. Three years back teachers were very wary of technology but now teachers are not just warmed up to it but also looking forward to jumping on to the online education bandwagon as they say that this is where the future lies.”“It all depends on what kind of student you are, if you are dishonest, edtech makes it easier for you to cheat.” – Nisha Vashist, Delhi-based chemistry teacher.“The Solow Paradox is creeping into the field of education,” Shahani told us.“There’s this assumption that just by providing access to the technology you’re somehow creating a better learning future for kids, but that is not always the case.”

A quick throwback. In the popular 60’s cartoon show “The Jetsons” on the life of a family of four living 100 years in the future, the youngest of the kids Elroy is being schooled by a robot teacher named Mrs Brainmocker. Now nearly 60 years later, a Bengaluru school has created a humanoid teacher who teaches seventh to ninth grade kids five subjects as technology takes Indian schools towards the future.