2021 : A year of innovative and blended pedagogy

The pandemic Forced millions of children out of school and is perceived to have done damage to their education and mental health. To bring students and teachers back to school seems a distant dream. It’s unclear when they will before the vaccine is distributed. We must remember schools have been an origin for socialisation, learning, food and childcare. A closure so sudden has heightened the instability. We have to learn and teach our children to break all shackles to establish a sense of normalcy in order to demonstrate resilience, creativity and innovation. Crisis strengthens resilience and pushes us towards innovation. We have to prepare our children towards an innovation processed learning to face a crisis proof future.

The post pandemic time will be more creatively strengthened because innovation through cheap tools, access to high powered inexpensive computing, access to invent new products and services has become a norm.

Industrial revolution produced a world which created a divide between employers, employees, and educators. The progress of digitisation and globalisation of services has been remarkably hastened by the pandemic because the world has come together more tightly than ever. Strong fundamentals in learning maths, reading and writing has always remained strong parameters for assessing learning. But the pandemic has unveiled a trail which demands creativity, curiosity and passion to be the dominant structure underpinning learning.  Now as the world is moving towards a skill-based education and towards something like work and learn situation, it’s very much required that the new hybrid learning needs to be designed and not transferred from traditional lessons. Crisis like this, cannot-be refrained from, our education system has to be strengthened to meet every eventuality in future. A virtual school can bring about a more equitable situation if we can overcome the digital divide.

Hybrid model, intended to restrict density in schools and permit social distancing should be followed. More interactivity and collaboration in the-learning modules is required to keep students engaged. A mix of digital and in- person teaching can be the way forward. Remediation classes can be conducted online. There is a need for inclusion of more formative assessments such as presentations, projects and activities to encourage the learning by doing concept. Invigilation’s and evaluations are required to be rigorously monitored and digitalised. Technical knowledge upskilling is the need of the moment, because this generation has access to plenty of websites offering lessons, our educators need to make learning more interesting, informative to make it look helpful. We have to focus in getting the best of both mediums. virtual learning helps self-directed students and one on one helps students those struggling. Introducing audio- visual enabled textbooks in schools. Therefore, there are features in online learning that should be embraced simultaneously we have to address the inequities associated with it so that there are no students left behind. We have to also make way for a space where children can meet their friends.

Uncovering something new brings about innovation in education. Different ways of looking into the world issues and solving it is the need of the hour, and this can be achieved through innovative education. Our education should have a real life connect.

Why innovation is required?

It has been found out that 40% employers find it difficult to recruit employees with difficulty in communications and critical thinking skills. It’s required to cultivate these skills to meet 21st century needs.

To strengthen the education workforce, teachers are required to be facilitators rather than transmitters of content. 21st century learning skills will be creativity, problem solving, communication and analytical thinking, these skills are to be included in the curriculum.

Conceptual learning by making students learn by teaching method. Make learning interesting and application oriented. There has to be innovation in teaching. Give students a real-life world problem to tackle, fail try again. Giving opportunity to students to voice on matters. A pedagogy based on discovery and inquiry is far more interesting than remembering dates and information. Open ended questions also guide in honing leadership skills. Lesson plans must integrate critical thinking and communication skills.

Moreover, classrooms are required to be fluid and provide flexibility to support one to one learning, collaboration and group discussions. A flipped classroom is also an innovative method where students view lectures, read texts or do research as their home assignment, the time spent in class should be reserved for activities, that can include peer to peer learning or collaborative work.

Innovation is always required to bring about qualitative change in education as opposed to quantitative changes. Technology is essential and needs to be harnessed to bolster effective and qualitative learning, and foster equity in the way other public sectors have. It’s so much important today that we have to nurture the critical thinking skills, creativity, imagination skills which can cultivated by adopting proper practices in an interdisciplinary platform.

If we notice the pandemic witnessed a steep increase in the use of digital devices and the internet. Schools, universities have taken to technology. Increase in the online teaching has expanded the possibilities of learning beyond classroom and how.  Past few days have seen the narrowing down of digital divide, the crisis has equipped us with the required support to administer digital online education in a much convenient way.

In recent years government has spent heavily on ICT in schools. This has increased the quality of educational resources including ICT and connectivity. However international survey has found that digital technologies have not yet been fully integrated into teaching and learning. Teachers are not sufficiently skilled to use ICT effectively.

The potential of technology has saved us to an extent in this crisis. We have to innovate effective pedagogical goals and learning goals which needs to be blended with technology meaningfully.

Dr. Mona Lisa Bal  

ChairpersonKiiT International School