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Lighthouses
On The Horizon
Lighthouse
3
Defining Learning
Through Technologies
 It’s interesting to sit back and look at the ways in which the information and communication technologies around us are redefining the learning.
Computers are helping schools to run better, teachers to teach better and students to learn better. Educational content in form of video and audio is making learning interesting and fun. Computer literacy is soon becoming a skill as essential as reading and writing.
The government, the industry and the non government sector are working hard to bridge the digital divide. The internet has thrown open a world of resources to enrich classrooms. It has made ‘any time’, ‘any where’ learning possible forcing teachers to adapt their teaching styles to the new learning styles. It has fostered community and collaborative learning. Certain software applications and educational technologies have strongly assisted the differently abled in their quest for learning.
Institutions like IGNOU, National Institute of Open Schooling, NCERT, IITs etc. are using the technology platform of television Gyan Darshan, radio Gyan Vani and satellite Edusat to take their educational programs to the remotest locations of the country.
Print media through publications like Hindu’s Young World and electronic media through channels like Discovery are emphasizing the joy of learning and the pleasure of knowing.
The plethora of technologies that facilitate learning today reminds one of the days when Doordarshan was the only television channel around. Prof. Yashpal’s free flowing talk about science would remove the alienation that many would feel for science. Programs like ‘Surabhi’ and ‘The World This Week’ would showcase the country and the world in ways which would leave children wanting to know more. Then as now, technology continues to play a crucial role by bringing the learner to the centre-stage of the learning process.
The writing on the wall is clear. While technology might not be a great tool for direct learning, it is a brilliant facilitator and enabler of learning. It makes learning accessible and flexible challenging the rigidity of institution-based contact learning. When the haloed portals of an IIM Ahemdabad are unable to accommodate all those who wish to enter, an NIIT Imperia will intervene to serve the institution’s quality capsules at the convenience of the learners. It’s just a matter of time when a similar experiment in school education will make the barriers in learning there fall.n
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