25 September,2021 07:33 AM IST | Mumbai | Pallavi Smart
The study seeks to show the implications of online learning to both parents and teachers and help them change learning processes. Representation pic
The rise of the pandemic-induced virtual world is starting to show its effect on children's connection with the world they inhabit. Try showing your four-year-old a photo of a parrot and chances are they may not recognise it. But if shown a cartoon parrot, a quick answer may be forthcoming. A recent survey of children at the early age has called for a review of online learning and the importance of offline learning.
Children as young as seven were able to recognise an e-commerce giant's logo, but only 46 per cent could identify a sunflower from its photo. Additionally, 68 per cent of four-year-olds can recognise a lion from a cartoon but not from the photo of a real one.
The survey found that children between the ages of four and eight were very familiar with logos of food and home delivery brands, cars and apps, but were unable to recognise pictures of common animals, birds and flowers. Children in the age group of two to six years were able to recognise an animal or bird from a cartoon picture but not the picture of a real creature. The survey was conducted by the Early Childhood Association (ECA) and Association for Primary Education and Research (APER) in collaboration with the Podar Institute of Education, which runs pre-schools across India.
The survey report stated, "Children struggled to recognise the real picture of a parrot, honey bee and coconut tree, whereas they found it easier to recognise the cartoon picture of the same! It shows that our children are being exposed to an unreal, comic world more than the real, natural one. Even television habits revolved around cartoons rather than wildlife programmes and parents and teachers were found to be using books and pictures, even videos that show the cartoon version of these instead of the real thing. In schools, these come under general knowledge and understanding. It is time we become conscious of the mistakes we are making in getting children to understand their real world. Children as young as four were easily able to recognise and name the brands from logos shown to them...but found it difficult to recognise rhinoceros, snails or sunflowers. It is a wake-up call on how we are slowly endangering our children's knowledge and sense of recall which seems limited only to merchandise and brands. It's time to expose them to books and videos that help them learn about the real world around them, the world they inhabit."
The objective of the survey was to help parents and teachers change the way they expose children to learning and knowledge. And help them understand the power of constant exposure and repetition on children's brains and of unconscious learning that happens by constant exposure to television, videos and apps. It also states, "Children's experiences of the natural world have diminished. During the pandemic, in virtual learning sessions, teachers were using more cartoon pictures to teach children about the world around them. Being away from the physical world completely, these children lost the âknowledge' about how animals and birds and trees and plants look in the real world."
President of ECA and APER, Swati Popat, who is also the director of Podar Institute of Education, said, "It is important that we keep a balance between the real world and virtual world; between cartoon and lifelike. Let us not forget to talk about and expose children to the natural world, even if they are at home and cannot go out. If brand logos can be learnt, it is important to teach them about the world they live in. Otherwise, we will end up with a generation that has lost its sense of belonging to the natural world and will be materialistic in ânature'."
Popat added how the survey shows teachers and parents that if academics are done in a similarly interesting manner, children can learn to read, recognise and understand easily. "Constant exposure has helped children build a recall value of brand logos. If the same technique were used in education, maybe children would also learn to read in a fun manner."
