The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Why schools need to do things differently

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 02, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Why schools need to do things differently

By R.K. Radhakrishnan

Annamalai Muthiah, founder, International Society for Technology in Education— India, (extreme left), and members from educational institutions, lifting lighted candles at a function in Chennai on Wednesday. — Photo: N. Balaji

CHENNAI, DEC. 1. A 15-year-old in the United States wanted to be a lawyer.

But he was not good enough at school. He dropped out but his interest did not wane.

He watched television shows and movies that featured legal issues and surfed the Internet.

He later registered himself at askme.com. The rest is history: he became the top legal advisor on the site very quickly. "He was rated much higher than those with academic backgrounds," said Annamalai Muthiah, founder, (ISTE-India) International Society for Technology in Education, who narrated the incident and a few other similar stories to as many as 110 heads of schools at a meeting here.

His aim — to drive home the point that students could take other paths than the school to bring out the potential in them. And hence, why not provide the same environment and facilities in school?

"Ten years ago when a student dropped out that was the end for him or her. Now there are alternatives. And the alternatives look better," he said.

It was imperative that schools improve their systems and rope in the technologies available, said Don Knezek, chief executive, ISTE, USA and Saroja Sundararajan, director (academics), ISTE-India.

Evolved scenario

Why should schools adapt? Mr. Muthiah has the answer: "The system we have today was developed for a different era — for the era of industrialisation. The requirement then was to have people with similar skills... today technology has evolved. There are very many ways to bring out the potential of a student," he said and added that the question was if educationists were using those ways.

The meeting today was about the need to re-look at the system and to find out what should be done differently in schools to ensure that students give their best, he said at the colloquium to spark the learning revolution and establishment of the local chapter of ISTE-India.

`Re-examine teaching'

"If the world is different from what it was, then teaching must change. Or at least it must be re-examined," said Mr. Knezek, who has been associated with the U.S. education system at various levels for about three decades.

In his view, technology was not an end in itself. It should aid the average learner and bring out the potential in all. Proper application of technology could shift education from a teacher-centred process to a learner-centred activity; could stimulate multiple senses; could make learning more active, exploratory and inspiring and could become a collaborative work instead of becoming an isolated activity.

In short, the new environment would enable more effective strategies to involve the student and help him achieve full potential. "It really is worth it to invest in technology," he said.

The political/economic officer, United States Consulate in south India, Robert D.King, who presided, said that his first perception of education was that it was a way to advance in life.

He said that he recognised now that education could build bridges between cultures, countries and civilisations.

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