Duh? Tech-savvy students put faculty in a bind with tough queries

Is too much tech a bad thing? B-school faculty are finding out the hard way that increasing dependence on technology is proving a challenge.

While the composition and motivation of students studying at the top B-schools has not changed significantly, instant access to information has certainly made them savvier. “The quality of students undergoing management education has certainly improved in the last few years as they are now more empowered. However, their attention levels in the class and interest in classroom teaching have dropped greatly in recent times,” says a senior official at the admissions department of XLRI Jamshedpur.

This is primarily because of the easy accessibility to various content available online. “Earlier, students were dependent on classroom teaching for the main content of asubject and libraries for reference work. But the growing sophistication of smartphones and ease of access to data has changed the game. Students these days have several tools, including social media and YouTube, where they can read world-class lectures at the click of a mouse,” he said.

Under such circumstances, holding the interest of students becomes a more challenging task for teachers, says Anindya Sen, Dean (Academic), Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM-C).

“Digitisation has made students very well-informed. Quite often, students come up with some peculiar and off-beat queries on a chapter after surfing various search engines even while the teacher is still explaining it on the board ,” says Sen. If the teacher is not adequately prepared, then it has an adverse affect on the interest level of students.

“We have to come up with some innovative teaching methodologies. B-schools can also look at off-classroom sessions to better grab students’ attention,” he said. Teachers could also look at upgrading their technological skills to make themselves more relevant to such students, he added. According to Sen, students need to be taught to analyse and argue rather than taking everything at face value.

“The Indian education system is falling short in providing students these two very important skills — analysis and argument. It is important for students to think deeply, analyse issues, discuss and debate and listen carefully to various viewpoints,” he said. Such an exercise will make students more sensitive and sensible, he added.

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