CHENNAI: In an age where academics are resorting to Facebook as a learning tool, some college principals would like to stick to their guns of tradition.
For Lalitha Balakrishnan, principal of MOP Vaishnav College for Women, going back to Vedic times is still a source of inspiration.
She said, “People criticise rote learning. But l want to emphasise - rote learning is not bad. It is essential because this is what helps children with memory recall. Not to mention, it dates as far back as the Vedic times, when the Vedas were passed on from one generation to another via song, repetition and so on.”
The statement came as part of a discussion on the topic: ‘Are students less hungry for knowledge?’ And the unanimous response of panelists was a capital No.
These included Anand A Samuel, Vice-Chancellor, VIT University, M Venkataraman, principal DG Vaishnav College, Prabir K Bagchi, Vice-Chancellor, SRM University, and the chairperson for the panel Rajat Datta, professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University. The experts in education were candid when they agreed that it was factors like mark- oriented systems, outdated syllabi and a lack of engagement that caused the ‘iceberg’ illusion that youngsters were not hungry for knowledge.
As Anand Samuel stated, the solution lay in the implementation of this knowledge, rather than the content itself. “We need the right kind of people to ‘feed’ our students,” he said.
Samuel, like many others on the dais, strongly laid focus on the use of technology in teaching youngsters, born in an age of digital natives. The professor may sport grey hair, but says he likes to use social media to connect better with his students. “I can reach a class of 42 on Facebook to announce a project, and hear back from nearly all of them at 9 am. Try to ask the same students to assemble in a classroom to deliver that message. Maybe 10 will show up,” he said.
Reaching out to students in a way that they can relate to, would also help create an environment - virtual or otherwise - that would tap into their inquisitive side.
This is quite the opposite of what the kind of graduates we are churning out today, which are “automatons without the capacity to think,” said M Venkataraman, principal of DG Vaishnav College.