by
M. Mobeen
The dawn of new age brings to the
classroom new techniques, technology and resources. However, those stuck in
medieval times continue to make use of the age old ways of rote (Rata) learning and theoretical knowledge
instead of practical. In Pakistan, there is a pertinent question that all
educationists and those in the education “industry” should ask themselves –
what plans do we have for the children of 21st century?
The answer is probably the tried
and tested ‘Mr. Chips’ approach, which basically means that we keep teaching
what we learned and the way we learned, as it is, to our children. So there’s no
room for something like “generation gap” in our classrooms. No doubt, teachers find it easier to simply teach what they were taught instead of learning new
things and then teaching them to students. After all, we’re all defendants
of the status-quo. As I was once told by my teacher in a reproachful tone,
“Remember the Chinese proverb, ‘the nail that strikes out – gets
hammered!’”. I sure did never forget that but in hand with it I also learnt a
proverb from the less conservative Americans that says, ‘the squeaky wheel gets the
grease’. So well our team at Taleem Portal is more than just squeaking for
change!
We’re talking about making
schools COOL for kids. We say do away with the boring classroom where to ask a
question is to invite hell on yourself or more appropriately ‘the hammer’ on
you. We say make the classroom interactive, bring in tools that help interaction
between students and teachers – Interactive Whiteboards and
Classroom Response System. So that the lesson INVOLVES students. Make use of the internet for promoting e-learning at
schools as well as at homes. Get world renowned Britannica’s Online tools –
Britannica Online Encyclopædia, SmartMath, Pathways: Science & Image Quest!
Do away with those science diagrams that students have to copy in to their
journals just to show they are "learning" and bring in to your labs 3D science animations from Genome!
The goal is to enhance student’s
learning and not only their performance in final exams. Teach what is relevant
in a manner that the student would WANT to learn and you have a school that is
COOL!
