The evolving nature of technology has created a wide chasm between the jobs of the 1990s and those prevalent today. The diversity of jobs that will follow in the fourth and fifth decades of the 21st century will be even larger and more disparate as technology continues to advance at an incredible pace. This poses the question of how to best educate our children so that they are ready for the jobs of tomorrow.

The answer lies in the words of writer and futurist Alvin Toffle : “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” 

I have always believed that the best teachers are not those who can teach, but those who know how to learn. For teachers too, it is only by unlearning and relearning that we can inculcate conceptual clarity into our instructions to students.

But how can educators enable this seamless process for students? There is no single answer to this question but the underlying essence is to make sure that the teacher is able to kindle a child-like curiosity in every kid and make sure that flame continues even as students grow older.

Building for learners and teachers

Fundamentally, there are main three ways in which every student learns. The first is via student-teacher interaction where instructive learning takes place. The second is via student-content interaction where students passively absorb knowledge from textbooks, study materials, learning apps, videos, etc. The third way is student-student interaction. This is when students interact and learn with peers, which is the foundation for emotional and social development.

Technology innovations have introduced more ways in which each of these interactions can happen. For instance, traditionally, student-teacher interaction was possible only when the teacher and the student was present in the same classroom. Student-content internation has also moved from text to videos, games, interactive books, etc. The third type of interaction has transcended to social media and other such tools. This is where unlearning and relearning become critical for teachers.

The tools available to teach have grown manifold, and learning how to use these tools to bring about effective teaching in classrooms is a key component. In the past, a teacher taught the same content to everybody in a classroom and the learning progress of students was measured with end-of-year exams. But now technology gives us the ability to collect data of every click, every video watched, and every question answered in real-time. We are for the first time, at scale, able to move away from “One size fits all” to personalising content for every student based on each student’s knowledge state filling learning gaps that each student could have accumulated over time.

Amid all these new changes, what has remained constant is the role of teachers in instilling conceptual clarity, a critical component of making learning progress, here’s how: I studied engineering 15 years ago. While the instruction design and syllabus may be redundant today, the basic concepts are very relevant. For example, we were taught about how mechanically assembled semiconductor chips that have today evolved into 3D Integrated Circut packaging. However, the fundamentals or concept of how semiconductors work is still the same. Only when your concepts are clear can they be effectively applied for the years to come.

Shifting gears

The future of education is going to be hybrid, where the online and offline worlds meet. When these vastly different formats of learning are brought onto one single tech-driven platform, it enables a massive shift in pedagogy to make learning better. It enables students to be active consumers of content, empowers teachers to engage with students and understand their learning needs, and equips students with tools to ask the right questions and drive cognitive abilities.

While there is no doubt that new emerging solutions can truly create a future-proof learning environment for generations to come, as teachers and educators, the vision to be ahead of the curve and the willingness to adapt will prove to be the biggest strength. This is the mantra educators must imbibe in order to kindle curiosity in learners and set them up on a journey of lifelong learning.

The writer is Chief Content Officer, BYJU’S

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