(From top) Renu Mital, the head of DPS Society and Sandeep Srivastava, the CEO of IYC World Soft Infrastructures, take part in a panel discussion during the TTIS principals’ meet. Anita Ebenezer of Ebenezer International School in Bangalore gives a presentation on e-learning. Pictures by Anindya Shankar Ray

 

Imagine a school where, if you played truant, a text message would be sent to your parents’ mobile automatically. Everything would be recorded and monitored online, right from your attendance to how far you progress in a particular class. This is a reality in some schools, like Ebenezer International School in Bangalore. Teachers and principals of several schools across the country got a glimpse of the inter-dependence between education and technology at a summit organised by The Telegraph in Schools (TTIS) at a city hotel on September 20

Titled “Revolutionising education through appropriate use of IT”, the meet had e-learning solution providers speaking on how technology could reduce teaching and administrative workload. Teachers, on their part, discussed the problems of coping with new technology. There were participants from 159 schools, including city schools like La Martiniere (boys and girls), Pratt Memorial, Calcutta Boys’ School, and Our Lady Queen of the Missions. The session began with a speech by Rudrangshu Mukherjee of The Telegraph.

In e-learning, the medium of instruction is computer technology. As the simultaneous presence of a teacher and students is not required, it is considered a useful way of reaching out to students who live too far away to access conventional educational methods.

Chandrajit Mitra, the assistant vice-president of Educom Solutions, explained that having computers with Internet connections in every class is not enough: “We need an integrated knowledge centre, from where information can be accessed, queries answered. There must be hardware and software support, with the network being made available to students 24x7.”

Amit Malik, the vice-president (east) of Cisco India and Saarc, K.S. Muralidhar, the CEO of Learnsmart India, and Sandeep Srivastava, the CEO of IYC World Soft Infrastructures, enumerated the reasons for adopting e-learning methods.

The darker side of the picture was presented by Renu Mital, the head of DPS Society, who spoke about the problems she had faced in initiating e-learning at DPS branches.

Although it was meant to reduce “duplication of work”, by allowing live telecasts of certain classes to several centres across the country, there were practical difficulties galore. “We would find, in the course of an interactive session, that there was no one at the other end, with only recorded messages being played out,” she said.

Mital, who has travelled to the rural hinterland, admits that the benefits are outweighed by the cost of setting it up. “Parents don’t mind investing once, but they don’t want a continued drain. Live telecasts are so expensive. I have been told that a video CD is better,” she lamented.

Another hitch is keeping pace with rapidly updating technology. “As soon as we get a software installed, we are told that it is obsolete,” exclaimed a teacher. Srivastava proposed that the way out was to rent software rather than buying it. “Service providers have to update their technology of their own accord,” he said.

The greatest roadblock to adopting technology is the refusal to accept change. “Moulding an old school of thought takes time. Many of our teachers ask if the earlier techniques are not working. We have to make them realise that it is not about abandoning one school of teaching for another, but supplementing it,” said Malini Bhagat, the principal of Mahadevi Birla Girls’ Higher Secondary School. Machines also come with technological glitches. A Kendriya Vidyalaya principal said that the after-sales service of their software was not satisfactory.

Romila Saha

Tutor, mentor and lodestar

Winners of the TTIS Golden Flame Awards at Vidya Mandir auditorium. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

Whatever I am today is because of my teachers. They are my source of inspiration,” averred Shirsa Balit, a Class IX student of Our Lady Queen of the Missions School. It was a proud moment for her, as two teachers from her school were honoured for their outstanding contribution in the field of education.

The occasion was the second edition of the Golden Flame Awards organised by The Telegraph in Schools (TTIS), in association with Monash University, at Vidya Mandir auditorium early this month. Seven teachers were honoured this year from a list of 150 nominees.

The evening began with a performance by the students of Calcutta School of Music.

A panel discussion titled “Learning Styles of Students are Changing: Challenges and Opportunities for Teachers”, marked the evening. The panelists included Devi Kar, the principal of Modern High School, Ranjan Mitter, the principal of The Future Foundation School, and Sunita Sen, the principal of Ballygunge Shiksha Sadan. Rita Bhimani was the moderator.

The discussions touched on the availability of flexible learning programmes in India. “We have to change our teaching style and encourage students to learn throughout life. They should think beyond their test scores,” said Devi Kar. Most teachers felt that parents should get over their obsession with science, and allow their children the freedom of choice.

The award ceremony began right after. Sudha Pillai of Loreto Convent School, Entally, got the best communicator’s award for improving language skills among her students. Robin Mukherjee of The Frank Anthony Public School won the Touchstone Award for helping students make wise career choices.

The Mathemagician Award, for making mathematics more interesting, went to Nandini Chakraborty of Our Lady Queen of the Missions School. Sumana Chatterjee of the same school won the Innovator’s Award. Sharmila Mitra of Delhi Public School, Megacity, bagged the Aristotle Award for inculcating leadership skills among students, while the Scales Award went to Suparna Mukherjee of Birla High School (Boys) for her consistent performance. Janardan Ghosh of Apeejay School, Park Street, clinched the Monash Award, for encouraging social work among students.

Doel Bose,
St Xavier’s College