Every day I hear the loud woman living next-door scolding her child for using the phone. Her daughter, on the contrary defends herself by telling that she is studying. And naturally, it accentuates her anger! I don’t know who’s right and who’s wrong, but is this ever going to end? When will Indian Parents accept the fact that technology can have its own advantages!
Information at our fingertips, easy access, and immediate results, this is what modern society is all about! We live in an instant world and 2 minutes is all we have! So what happens when this instant technology is combined with education? A heady mix of entertainment and learning is created! However, does this cocktail have a positive impact on our lives?
Technology has helped provide many learning tools, which has benefited educators, parents, and learners. Teachers can easily collaborate and share ideas, and resources online. Parents have access to latest information and can keep up with the changing times! Students develop knowledge and skills at their own pace, through interactive and innovative learning tools.
Everybody is wondering what is M- learning- Do you know?
No, it is not just learning through your mobile phones! We can define m–learning or mobile learning simply as “learning across multiple contexts, through social and content interactions, using personal electronic devices.” With people on the go all the time, and with phones becoming smarter, learning tools are not just at our fingertips, but are also in our pockets!.” M–learning has made e–learning accessible everywhere, and accessible to everyone.
How can smartphones make children more school ready?
Tina Joseph from Dubai spoke about using her mobile phone as a great learning tool for her daughter, Rheia. Once her daughter turned three, and was old enough to use a mobile, she started using it effectively for her daughter’s learning needs. She downloaded educational games on phonics, letter and number tracing, and spellings.
These games helped reinforce what Rhea learned in school. Furthermore, it also made her feel important to be using her mother’s phone, all by herself! Tina, however, cautions other young mothers about the extent of using mobile phones. There is a nagging fear of young children accessing inappropriate content and internet safety continues to be a concern. It is a constant challenge to maintain a balance between the right and wrong exposure while a child is online.
To combat this growing unease among parents, there needs to be a system where they can choose what they want their children to be exposed to. I recently discovered this product called CG Slate which is equipped with a restrictive ecosystem that allows parents to control what their children view.
The flipside
Aditi Mehta (Lead, Programmes, Stones2Milestones Edu Services Pvt. Ltd.) believes that technology is a great equalizer. She, however, states there are two sides to it. “Technology can give you information and show you concepts in a variety of ways. But skills like processing that information, evaluating it, and putting it into context have to be taught in real life. Technology in the classroom can definitely make a teacher’s life easier as a supplement, but can never replace actual thinking and teaching.”
With the huge amounts of information available, choosing the right content is important. One needs to determine what one requires, and also understand the implications of that information.
In CG Slate, the child is exposed only to the best content aggregated from the best content providers in the world. The interface is adaptive and intelligent, ensuring that your child only has to focus on learning a concept, rather than trying to pick the right one. This optimizes a child’s learning, and his/her knowledge and skills.
Virtual life learning using educational technology systems can be as enriching as real life learning, and they should, and can co–exist with it to help provide a wholesome learning experience!
