It is that day of the year again, the eve of the Day Dedicated to Teachers. On September 5 at least, most all students remember their teachers/lecturers-cum-mentors. A great thing in my opinion because it proves yet again my faith that most youngsters are NOT what they are portrayed to be, callous, careless, casual.
It is against this background that I would like to open up a few issues. March 21, 2020 onwards, teaching/learning has assumed the online avataar. This version of learning actually gets the teacher virtually in the student's study room/corner. Of course, the disadvantaged students do face gargantuan problems. That issue can, at least partially, be addressed through making audio/video lectures available because televisions/radios and related electricity bills are not as daunting as a multi-media mobile and the inevitable data pack.
What I found truly distressing in the whole process, however, was the attitude to teaching and teachers. To give an instance, using Zoom/Meet/Teams for teaching takes at the most two sessions to get used to these teaching platforms, if explained with patience. One can learn the process step by step online as well. Surely, it is not rocket science or space technology.
It was, however, made out to be something oh-so-special if one used an electronic chalk instead of the traditional white chalk and blackboard. Initially, at least, there was an almost a new cast(e), the technologically disadvantaged teachers. Such `stupid' souls were made to appear antiques. God help you if your service provider shied away from providing broadband fast enough. Did you get an earful then, betcha!
Next in this line of acquiring useful skills was facing the camera while online or while prepaing video's. Well, despite multiple takes, even an Amitabh Bachchan or a Shabana Azmi gets conscious, fumbles, forgets, fidgets in front of a camera. So why minimise a teacher's sincere efforts if there were to be a minor glitch?
What was the much hyped online material anyways? Most often than not, it would be the ppt's made of available online materials, a little `beautified', as the wapp sharing puts it! So pre-lecture prep was less reading up critiques, nay, even the texts! Rather, it was more about looking up app's always already available on the net and/or breaking down available info in to pretty ppt's which once prepared could be used till the syllabus changed. Content took a solid backseat pitted against smart showmanship, indeed a great loss to the very notion of education.
What was much worse was that the next gen, tech savvy students anyways knew all such sources, youtube videos, all sorts of app's, online guides of all varieties,charts/figures of all types, and what have you, avilable at a click at the google or some such search engine. No wonder, they chose to remain absent. For them, too, learning got reduced to downloading (like earlier xeroxing was), and no longer a process of discussing, debating the text/the idea from multiple perspectives.
As a result, respect for teachers nosedived, too, since they felt that a lecture (moreover, `recorded', and hence available according to their convenience beyond the bunked lecture, easier done with the video/audio muted ) was available as online material beginning from the wikipedia onwards ad infinitum. So teachers started appearing as if they were a (not always) better dressed version of the internet booth owners who downloaded all you needed in case you do not have a laptop or a p.c.of your own.
All sorts of memes making fun of teaching/learning started floating around, and nobody felt any shame sharing them. Parents, who would attend online instead of the brat or the babe, found it convenient to mock, to take to task teachers. Teaching/learning got reduced to "money's worth" matter!
Much worse was the online exam. Proctored or not, finding answers online was easy because surely thousand of mcq's were anyways available, and locating these/browsing through these became prep for the exam because the students were sure the final paper would sure be from such material! As there, most often, would be one more instrument accessible, writing short notes kinda assignment was also short shrift. Corona was indeed corrosive as far as education is concerned!
Am I suggesting then that online material should not be used? Sure it can/must be, but not in the classrooms as the ever ubiquitous ppt's and/or downloaded video's, et al. Instead, creative assignments based on it could be provided. Online material has to be complementary, not supplementary to actual teaching. Online lectures, too, must be explication, discussion, analysis, stuff students cannot get downloaded. Otherwise, education, too, is sure to suffer a multi-organ failure, much worse than even a much suffering Covid patient!
pratima@alladin must be a mature `master' of the genie!
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