BENGALURU : Forget creating personalised smileys – you can now create yourself in a digital world and live a complete alternate lifeabsolutely like the movie Avatar. This is now a reality called the ‘Metaverse’. Technology has become all-pervasive and does not know any age limits. Learning new languages with experts from the local countries virtually is quite common.
Indians abroad are using teachers from India virtually to learn math and sciences /music/ robotics and coding. Students in a classroom, for example, can learn about the Arctic by following the expedition of a team of scientists in the region, reading scientists’ blog postings, viewing photos, e-mailing questions to scientists, and even talking live with the scientists via video conference.
Students can share what they are learning with students in classrooms in other states who are tracking the same expedition. Students can collaborate on group projects using technologybased tools. Massive amounts of information (books, audio, images, videos) are available at one’s fingertips, and opportunities for formal learning are available online worldwide through podcasts, traditional online degree programmes, and more.
Technology has also begun to change the roles of teachers and learners. Student attentiveness apps, and online examination monitoring tools are now being used by school authorities. Schools and universities across the country are beginning to redesign learning spaces to enable this new model of education, foster more interaction, small group work, and use technology as an enabler.
School infrastructure also includes the use of new-age digital boards which are completely AI-enabled for not only connecting and displaying content but also dynamically changing content depending on students’ interest levels through face reading and questions being asked. Education 4.0 now and 5.0 are technology-focused; bringing in more experiential learning, changing the way education is now being consumed by students, and making assessments merely a progressive tool and not a measure of success.
These are some of the tailwinds that are driving technology adoption. Learning is not just limited to schools – it is transcending to learning on the go. Content and price discovery with certifications from prestigious institutions are now enabling the students in the lower strata to become part of mainstream learning, as long as they have a device that can connect to the internet.
(The writer is the co-founder of OMOTECOn My Own Technology)