Empowering Learner-Centric Education

For a long time, the academic world thrived on blackboards and chalk. Gradually, audio-video aids entered the classrooms. Soon presentations, simulations, group activities, workshops, and hands-on learning became the norm. While it has been a gradual transition, two things are certain – change is inevitable, and the trend towards digitization is unmistakable. What we are going through is nothing short of a transformation. Even during these trying times, video conferencing applications have helped maintain a sense of continuity. However, should we be content with just the video conferencing applications?

Today, we all have a fantastic opportunity to re-imagine Education via the technological lens. It is well-known that every learner is different, and digital technologies provide us the tools to customize an offering for every learner. Gone are the days where students had finite schooling hours, and everybody referred to the same textbook. Exciting times await students’ learning journey! While many believe that the pandemic has slowed down the world, the new and emerging pedagogy in Education, powered by technology, will only make things F-A-S-T-E-R!

Here’s how:

●  Flexibility: It is time to empower learners and give them the flexibility to decide what and when they want to learn; as the faculty, institutions, and industry support and contextualize their experience. The rapid technology shift on the device and the platform side has made it possible for us to hold a classroom in the palm of our hand. We can learn from anywhere and anytime, on-the-go. Swapping subjects, learning multiple skills in parallel, juggling between languages, and taking up diverse academic projects is possible, thanks to enhanced digital offerings.

●  Access to World-class Teachers and Content: Democratizing quality education and making it accessible is the positive externality that digitization can bring. Online platforms offer unlimited content and no geographical constraints. The best faculty and content from across the globe are available simultaneously and to all. Artificial Intelligence and emerging technology-enabled personalized content will help learners easily access relevant and high-quality study materials of their interest without getting lost or misguided in this age of content overload.

●  Skills for Industry 4.0: The expectations of Industry 4.0 need to be met with practical value-centric learning and not just theoretical knowledge. Soft skills, teamwork, leadership, ethics, innovation, and entrepreneurship are critical demands of Industry 4.0. The industry is responding positively, and we at TCS iON, too, are creating industry-led certifications and digital internships that empower our youth to become job-ready. Of course, the industry’s role in contextualizing learning cannot be understated. Subject matter experts from the field have a pivotal role in grooming the youth with the most recent and relevant skills, tools, and mindsets.

●  Time management: The long journeys to educational institutions stand eliminated, giving learners more time to invest in learning! Every learner can pace their learning to complement their abilities, skills, and interests. Today, students can do a lot more within 24 hours than they could ever. Learning at academic institutions is no longer confined to the stipulated six hours. Time indeed stops when learners are in the ‘Flow’, learning in the comfort of their homes, digitally collaborating with peers from across the world, to expand their perspectives – all of which traditional classrooms would rarely provide.

●  Enhanced Collaboration: Undoubtedly, the traditional ‘classroom atmosphere’ is difficult to simulate in the digital environment. This has pushed institutions, faculties, and knowledge providers, including us at TCS iON, to conceptualize collaborative solutions that make learning interactive and fun for all. In large MNCs, it is natural to find global teams collaborating digitally. Our research and experiences reassure us that today’s millennials are as comfortable in a digital space as the earlier generation used to be in a physical space. Hence, our solutions must help students prepare to perform in a globalized world, where Digital-only collaboration is already the new normal.

●       Real-time Feedback: Real-time feedback is transforming summative and formative assessments. The traditional grading system may not work in the new normal. Instant or real-time feedback will become the norm. The learning pace will accelerate to enable teachers, students, and the content to respond faster to each other’s expectations. Even corporates are moving their performance appraisals to ‘Continuous Feedback’ rather than quarterly or annual feedback. Assessments need to move away from binary evaluations like pass or fail to leverage coaching and self-analysis tools that help students’ course-correct so that every learner can be a winner!

No country has become a developed nation without revamping their education ecosystem. This pandemic has forced educators and corporates to re-look at how the youth is coached and trained. As students adapt to their parts in this revolution, academic institutions need to create learning communities, aggregate content, and collaborate more with the industry. This is where digital learning platforms and knowledge aggregators will also play a critical role. We must come together and plug the gaps to materialize this vision of making our youth future ready. 

The right digital methods and practices will help our educational institutions sail through this wave of transformation smoothly. It is our duty and our responsibility to empower learning outcomes for our students. As we re-imagine Education, we must stay humble, be receptive, and adaptive to newer ideas, means, and methods in the times to come. Our mindset and positive outlook will help us see the silver lining in these challenges and tap into the possibilities created to transform Education. Let us make the most of this time to move F-A-S-T-E-R, into the new normal.