The Teachers as a Facilitator in a Classroom of Googlers

Dr. Dheeraj Mehrotra

http://dheerajmehrotra.tripod.com The learning today is manifested with WWW (Whatever, Whenever, Whereever), to the s rprise of many. The new generation encaps lates a new order of delivery with e!tension of a "nowledge society and not a content delivery or an interpretation of #oo" "nowledge in real life. The innovation is the ltimate to generate interest of learning for the "ids today. $t mo nts a lot of energy and tho ghts to #e an innovative ed cator who is of certain re% isite to deliver the "nowledge to the cy#er society of today. The mantra is Engage Me or &nrage Me, from the side of the st dents at large. 's a matter of fact it is tr e to the world that the teachers are no longer the sole imparters of "nowledge # t they need to empower the st dents to learn at pace and at their leis re thro gh personal learning networ"s "eeping their special traits of talents and interests. The teachers j st don(t end p after the class is over # t on the jolt for )* ho rs aro nd the cy#er lin"age or social networ"s f rther. There is no wall now or the #o ndary of learning. The innovative ed cator has to evolve a personal learning networ" for his or her improvement first. +ot only this, it has to reach to the st dents as well where in there is no #o ndary of limitation in a #ig way. $t is a way to # ild ones( own classroom and one(s own networ" of learning. The change or the shift here is that we can connect aro nd and share ideas which is not so in the one to many mode of classroom learning. What is demanded is &!cellence. &d cation is the pathway to it. $t is reflected #y the involvement of the , ality $nfrastr ct re at the learning arena which otherwise is not of any se. The parents decode, -omp ters, software, -Ds and .mart Toys o ght to #e considered as a s pplement to the other, more concrete learning activities li"e completing p //les, # ilding with 0ego and #loc"s, reading #oo"s, creating art projects and playing on the playgro nd12, is o#vio s #y o r o#servations and research, o t of the present day scenario.

+o wonder yo tell a child to write an essay as homewor", he/she is #o nd to download the content to present #efore yo the ne!t day, ma"ing yo #affle to the interest of the many others lying in the % e e. The parents often thin" this as a menace o t of the challenging wor" wisdom they possess in order to earn their daily living. Their frames are not yet over with more demands for the -D34 rner and .canner for more comp ting and smart3st dy as they call it. The only option availa#le to the poor parents of the $T age is to ponder over for solace and to accept novel ways to convince their f t re generations in regards to motivations and g ided involvement. The tilt from We# 5.6 to ).6 and now to 7.6 offers re% isite of each and every st dent of today to #e $T ena#led #y chal" and the cheese. The T&'-8&9. need to harness the re% irements to the #est of their a#ilities and interest f rther. 8ence, with no reason, the teachers need to have a #alanced approach to policies and practices for children:s se of the $nternet. ;ne m st at the same time initiate conversations with teachers, administrators, and parents, rather than set and implement r les that may #e perceived as too rigid. ;ne m st ta"e note that all sta"eholders have a chance to contri# te to the decision3ma"ing process. There is no do #t in the fact that a comp ter and a great software can #e f n and e!citing learning tools, and can even provide practice of pre3academic and academic s"ills. +o wonder, we have e CLASSROOMS now in every school # t does that solve the p rpose< $ do #t to my e!perience. $t is the mindset of the teachers, the ed cators which needs to #e f nctioned well. The Teacher o ght to #e a T9'$+&9/ 0&'9+&9/ '00 9;=+D&9, with his/ her presence in the ->4&9 .?'-& mandatory. +o longer having an &M'$0 $D and an e!pertise of M. ;@@$-& # t more and more1vi/1.having a W&4.$T&, 40;A, WiBi, and more, apart from #eing .;-$'00> +&TW;9B&D )*!C. A;+& '9& T8& D'>. ;@ ?;W&9?;$+T.. 4 t at the same time it is indispensa#ly tr e to "eep in mind, however, that comp ter software cannot teach a child the concepts that he/she is not developmentally ready for. -omp ters sho ld always #e considered as a s pplement to other, more concrete learning activities li"e completing p //les, # ilding with 0ego and #loc"s, reading #oo"s, creating art projects and playing on the playgro nd. $t is niversally tr e "eeping the data#ase analysis in view o t of the day. Today the child is a .M'9T vi/. .ystematic, Metic lo s, 'ctive, 9ealistic and Tactf l to involve himself in the learning process within the classroom only when with the condition that he is give something to "now what he did not "now earlier. 'nd so is the need for the teacher for the teacher today is a )6 th -ent ry 0earner who needs to coin his e!pertise towards the )5 st -ent ry learning re% irements. $t is at majority of the time that he is told the same things what has #een already shared with him #y their parents/ friends or at the online t torial option thro gh

the vario s search engines, primarily, the A;;A0&. We encaps late the very nat re of learning # t with a little intelligence otherwise they come p to s (pro#a#ly if not, will with the march of time and tide), $ % ote, D.ir/ Madam, $t is already in the #oo". ?lease tell s something new2. Do we have a reply to them< '#ove all, as some scholar has rightly commented that, DAood teaching is also a#o t style. .ho ld good teaching #e entertaining< >o #etE Does this mean that it lac"s in s #stance< +ot a chanceE &ffective teaching is not a#o t #eing loc"ed with #oth hands gl ed to a podi m or having yo r eyes fi!ated on a slide projector while yo drone on. Aood teachers wor" the room and every st dent in it. They reali/e that they are the cond ctors and the class is the orchestra. 'll st dents play different instr ments and at varying proficiencies.2 0et as #e prepared towards the rgent demand #y o r B$D. in the classroom to #e of f lly prepared for the la nch as a Bnowledge #ase and it is only possi#le when we deal them as a h # of "nowledge themselves. What is in demand is the re% irement of T'4=0'T$;+ of "nowledge #y we teachers in ma"ing their learning novel and innovative. To s rprise, a fact comes thro gh a a national s rvey, teachers say they #elieve that sing digital games in the classroom helps st dents maintain concentration and enth siasm for learning, while ma"ing it easier for teachers to differentiate instr ction and assess st dents. The s rvey of F6F teachers who se digital games in their B3G classrooms aims to identify what teachers thin" a#o t game3#ased learning and how digital games affect st dents #eyond academic achievement. $t offers a mi! of % alitative interviews with % antitative data to offer a more ro nded pict re of teacher opinions.

's @acilitators, we m st #e pto date in o r padagogical approaches. 4 t most importantly, we m st move towards 'ndragogy, ena#ling the st dents to ass me responsi#ility for their learning. 'ccording to =+&.-; g idelines, access to e% ipment, networ"s and % ality reso rces is a prere% isite for the deployment and tili/ation of $-T. Therefore the integration of technologies in the ed cation system re% ires a s pportive environment. This nderlines the importance of policy consistency and the need to ta"e advantage of a #roader movement of $-T infrastr ct re development. $n many co ntries this also implies forging innovative alliances #etween the p #lic sector and private companies which often control the $-T sector. $n that respect $-T in ed cation policies offer a rich e!ample of the potential for p #lic3private partnerships.

*DGM-K12, S.Chand Harcourt India Pvt. Ltd, New De hi !India" www.#ch.co.in