This is DPS Tapi’s 10thyear since inception, celebrated in an online and cyber age. In this much vaunted age of technology, smart devices are a ‘must have’ in our modern lifestyles. From the itinerant maidservant to the millionaire in his penthouse, mobile smart devices with attendant wi-fi Internet services are a survival need as well as an addiction. A quarter century ago, unlimited information access was a luxury restricted to the privileged few whereas today we have a surfeit of information at our fingertips. What then, is the foundation of education in smart technology?
Believe it or not, the foundation of good education still is Reading, Writing and Computing or the three ‘R’s, as they used to be known. Why so – parents often ask, when teachers insist on legible handwriting or allot reading homework. Why read and write? Aren’t these skills outmoded as smart software can now read aloud to us and write as we dictate?The answer is both Yes and No. If reading and writing are considered as only hand and eye functions, then Yes, this manual aspect can be left to smart devices, if you’re willing to be totally dependent on them! But could you really accept being unable to do even simple computations and totally helpless without a calculator?
Do not forget therefore, our human brain that sets us apart as a species. Reading is the brain’s most time-efficient information input device. Writing reflects how coherently our brain processes what we know. The brain thus, benefits when we develop our reading, writing and computing skills to process input with increasing expertise. Then the answer to the question above is – No, smart devices do not develop the brain as much as reading and writing can. Unless usedsmartly, these devices are more likely to convert us into passive recipients of technology. So, do make reading and writing a part of your child’s daily routine.
Reading should not be restricted only to the prescribed syllabus. Nor, as in the past, do children need to seek knowledge only in libraries housed in buildings. Google, Bing, Yahoo and other search engines provide visual and textual reinforcements to what children learn at school. They can, in addition, read about current affairs or past history, look up satellite maps, watch Shakespeare unfold in videos, read award-winning fiction, delve into science and technology, and discover authors and artists, mathematicians and musicians. From the distant stars to the latest atomic particle discovered and from the Big Bang to the immediate Present – both time and space in the vast known universe are theirs to explore and to extend their knowledge horizon.
Even with such an immense learning adventure beckoning, our students often lose their way in the quicksand of social media, becoming addicted to reading and posting facile ‘emojis’, multiple pics and inane status updates on Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and other clones. They become vulnerable to cyber bullying, suicidal online challenges and other predatory perils in the dark halo of the World Wide Web. Why go there and linger, when there are myriad sites of legitimate knowledge and interest? It is the child’s brain that needs to be educated for making suitable choices, setting motivated goals and marking a disciplined route to reach there.
Knowledge is too vast to master in a lifetime. But without reading at least some of the great minds that signpost the pinnacles of our civilization, we cannot call ourselves truly educated. Endless education policies, curriculum frameworks and pedagogical reviews have suggested new learning needs, fresh reforms and path-breaking innovations over the past century. Currently, strident debate on the National Education Policy dominates national media. At the heart of this timeless debate, however, remains one immutable core fact – reading and writing will educate us, and education will liberate us from wrong choices and decisions made in ignorance. Not the teacher, nor school, nor smart software alone can educate the human brain as can advanced and independent reading and writing skills. So, it’s Back to Basics – read and write more and better to make the best use of technology today.
Dr. Sanjukta Sivakumar
Principal