Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

`The concept of teacher should be redefined'

Staff Reporter

Educators need to be up-to-date with modern technology

COIMBATORE: "The concepts of teacher and teaching methodology have undergone a rapid change. They need to be redefined," R.Karpaga Kumaravel, Dean, Faculty of Arts, Professor and Head of Department of Educational Technology, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, said here on Sunday.

Speaking at a seminar on `Information Communication Technology in Teacher Education' at Dr. N.G.P.College of Education, he pointed out the need for training teachers for the digital age.

Competition

Unlike earlier times when the teacher was the only source of information for the students, the teacher now had to compete with various forms of technology to be able to provide students with the information they needed. It was essential for the teachers of the present day to be up-to-date with computer technology in order not to be obsolete, he said.

It was not just for their professional development, but also for their survival, he added.

Combination

Also, only those institutions that offered a combination of conventional and information and technology courses would withstand the stiff competition, Mr.Kumaravel said.

Equipping teachers with the latest developments in Information Technology, training them in e-tutoring skills and adopting modern day tools to take the concepts across to students were important.

A multimedia approach would also be beneficial for the students, as they would grasp the subject better if it were put across to them in the form of animated images or video clippings. "Teaching needs to be made a multi-sensory process," he said.

Information and Communication Technology also was the thrust area for both the University Grants Commission and the National Council for Teacher Education.

Though technology could not replace teachers, a teacher who makes use of technology in teaching would be able to get the message across to the students in a better way.

E-content

Teachers should also be trained in developing e-content for their subjects. In addition to the conventional talk and chalk method, this kind of a resource material would also make the process of learning interesting for students.

Though the number of first generation learners had gone up in the country, there was no uniformity of the quality of education, he observed.

Equality in access to quality education was still a matter of concern in our country, which had a student population of 8.8 million.

"E-content knowledge packaging is essential, as it empowers the learners.

The best results are produced when pedagogy is combined with technology," he said.

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