Are schools becoming cool?

Itrsquos 945 am on a wet weekday morning Tucked away in a little corner of the verdant Dadar Parsi Colony the Dadar Parsi Youth Assembly better known as the DPYA School is abuzz with scampering feet making the most of their 10minute snack break With a naughty glint in his eye one boy takes off his tie and uses it to mockwhip his oblivious friend who is chomping on a vada pav Some are playing games and the cacophony continues till a bell rings and the children run back into their classrooms We trudge to the fourth floor with a kind of a nostalgia and expectation of seeing a teacher seated at her table with a textbook in hand occasionally reproaching the backbenchers Students at DPYA School watch with rapt attention as their teacher conducts a class using the Educomp Smartclass Pic Atul Kamble Instead we stumble upon a class in which the conventional blackboard has been segregated to make space for a whiteboard A projector is displaying a video on the whiteboard half It merges 2D animation with graphics photographs and videos A clear male voice emanating from the speakers is talking to the Std XB students about the central nervous system The teacher lets lsquohimrsquo talk for a minute after which she pauses the system and asks a couple of questions to test the attention span of her class They answer in unison She is satisfied and the male voiceover continues to talk about the divisions in the brain Even the backbenchers are paying attention Since February this year the DPYA School has introduced a digital module known as Educomp Smartclass mdash that has been developed by education company Educomp Solutions mdash in each of its classrooms to supplement the chalkandtalk teaching methods with technology This Maharashtra State Board SSCmedium school is not alone Hundreds of schools across the country have imbibed multimedia teaching tools that make use of curriculumbased digital content in a bid to make drab lessons more fun ldquoIt would be so cool to learn like thisrdquo says Diya Rangwani an eighthgrader who goes to a school in Andheri ldquoOur school still does not have this If I could see pictures of Australia while studying about it even I would like studying and score above 80 per centrdquo Split wide open ldquoAt one time the dilemma was about which board you wanted your childrsquos school to have mdash SSC ICSE CBSE or IB Today it seems like the question everyone is asking is whether the school is open to adapting to technology or notrdquo says marketing professional Richa Sheth mother of one yearold Viha ldquoWe are already worried about the kind of school we want Viha to go to We would like it if the school introduces Viha to technology from a young age because my husband and I are both heavily into gadgets That is the future after allrdquo Alison Pinto artist who ensures that she spends time with her daughter Lisa doing realworld learning activities like cookingu00a0 Pic Rane Ashishu00a0 Competing for a slice of share in the market are companies such as Haryanabased Educomp Solutions Punebased EduSmart New Delhibased Classteacher Learning Systems as well as Tata Interactive Systems and Navneetrsquos sister concern eSense among others ldquoWhen we prepare a chapter there is a team of five expert teachers behind itrdquo says Seema Ranade educational consultant and vicepresident of marketing and administration EduSmart Software Solutions ldquoOverall 200 people including animators and teachers work on this modulerdquo EduSmartrsquos smart learning software Chanakya has been installed in 3425 schools nationwide While most softwares in the market are meant for school use companies like Classteacher have also introduced athome solutions for students It comes in the form of a sleek seven or eightinch tablet going by the moniker of Classpad loaded with ebooks and apps and on which you can watch movies play games watch YouTube videos or chat using Google Talk Teachers can transfer class work to the studentsrsquo tablets and conduct tests on it too Students using Classpad at Father Agnel School Gautam Nagar New Delhi Pic Courtesy Father Agnel School ldquoWe have come out with many products ahead of the times because of our fascination with interactive technologyrdquo says Rohit Pande CEO Classteacher Learning Systems ldquoThe introduction of whiteboards represented a milestone in the field of education five years back Today itrsquos these devices We are putting technology out there for use by the right generationrdquo u00a0 While we would prefer seeing thirdgraders play a game of HideandSeek over a game on their personal Androidbased tablet techoriented parents might find it heartening to know that they u00a0have company in over 15000 parents who have already bought a Classpad for their kid ldquoThe arguments of Internet security and nonemphasis on handwriting will always come up but the reality of the market is that the parents today are hypercompetitiverdquo says Pande This competitiveness though comes at a price The Classpad is priced between Rs 9999 and Rs 13999 Schools like DPYA went through a long mulling process as the price tag came with a pinch The cost for the installation of EduSmartrsquos software in a school for example would work up to approximately Rs 70000 per annum Some schools pay for this by upping their school fees while some have their trustees shell out money Even Tata Skyrsquos Actve Educational Services which make kids learn rhymes take quizzes and listen to stories comes with the price you have to shell out to buy the set top box Drawing boundaries Little cousins nephews nieces kids and grandkids in almost all houses are playing with mobile phones and laptops today But it seems that not all parents are too happy with the invasion of technology in every sphere of our lives Selftaught artist Alison Pinto would rather have her thirdgrader daughter LisaAnn paint on a piece of paper than on the computer and read physical books over ebooks ldquoI am not quite aware of these newage educational modules but Irsquod rather not expose Lisa to them all at oncerdquo she tells us ldquoI have noticed that most kids who grow up with a computer or some form of technology develop tunnel vision and lose out on the personal talents they are gifted with These devices are so addictive that you find it hard to focus on other things and only want them with the exclusion of everything else Because childrenrsquos minds are so open to stimulation they find it unable to control their levels of exposurerdquo Children at a DPYA classroom PicAtul Kamble So while Lisa is allowed to play cooking and dressup games on the family computer she is also encouraged to play with Lego blocks paint with her parents help her mom with the cooking and go for skating and dancing lessons ldquoIt is unavoidable to keep a kid away from technology We do not want to do that and Lisa is given every opportunity to learn from different mediums but it is all strictly regulatedrdquou00a0Pintorsquos words are echoed by a Bandrabased parent whose 10 yearold child attends a Santacruzbased international school but would rather remain anonymous ldquoThis school is one of the most reputed in the city and the principal is a media favouriterdquo the dad tells us ldquoBut itrsquos ridiculous that they asked parents to buy an iPad for their kid The expense is totally unnecessary and more importantly all kids ask for it even though you have a choice to not buy it just because their friends have itrdquou00a0Complaints among some parents we spoke to at schools that have some form of interactive learning include their child developing headaches and watery eyes ldquoMy daughter is tall and hence she is amongst the backbenchers She ends up squinting during some fine print in the audiovisual What to dordquo What next While technologydriven educational modules and devices still seem supplementary today Pande believes that it is only a matter of time before they become part of the learning process ldquoSoon we will have textbooks with both interactive and traditional formats This can happen in three yearsrdquo As the principal of DPYA School Diana Pereira points out ldquoTeachers today have become facilitators of knowledgerdquo But will the role of teachers soon diminish as the prerecorded voiceovers take on our life With handheld devices providing options of instantaneous results to class tests and with selflearning being promoted through various apps and games where does that ubiquitous teacher stand five years from now Says Pande ldquoFor the large part mantoman interaction will still be the driving force in a country like Indiardquo We definitely hope so We would rather fondly remember the pretty Ms Wykes who taught us English in the seventh grade than that anonymous cool and casual digital voiceover 3 questions for Nipa Mehta Clinical psychologist How do you feel about schools opting using technology Complementing conventional techniques with audiovisual ones is a great step forward However I am apprehensive about schools introducing iPads and encouraging parents to buy them This increases the financial burden on parents and exposes children to things they can avoid at an early age That said going beyond the conventional method is great for those with learning disabilities as engaging the sensory system means that they can pick up things faster So does the onus ultimately lie on parents If the school is providing the technology on campus parents canrsquot do much But at home the association with technology should be monitored Techsavvy kids will definitely be more informed but there is also a risk of it affecting their social skills It hampers their interaction with family members because they are glued to technology Schools should opt for devices that have customised applications that serve an educational purpose and not unrestricted Internet access Does the thought of educational devices saturating the market in the near future worry you You canrsquot fight technology You can only improvise it to suit your needs and then monitor it well There are three types of learners mdash visual auditory and kinaesthetic Even if a child has been exposed to just the auditory style when teachers read out from a book or talk in class to teach they usually grasp things fast if introduced to modern methods By introducing them to visual learning style associated with images and kinaesthetic in which learning takes place by the student carrying out a physical activity techniques understanding becomes easier So move with the times but be vigilant And donrsquot forbid interaction with technology altogether mdash forbidden fruit means that they will want it even more u00a0