"Knowing how to know:
Redefining learning through 21st Century tools”
Date: 15 February 2014
Gone are those days when teachers would walk into the
classroom, hold a piece of tiny white chalk and start scribbling down a portion
of the curriculum on the plain black board. Feared and helpless students, without muttering a word, would simply memorize
endless facts and formulas from a dreary academic curriculum outlying from
their own youthful interests. Most teachers defined good pedagogy as regular
examinations and practice; their job was to hear recitations, not initiate discussions.
Classroom life was austere. Teachers established rules and regulations, and punished
misconduct harshly. But today with the advent of such efficacious technology
it’s time that teaching also finds a new and intriguing way for itself. It’s
time that teachers become tech-savvy and transform the classroom into a
democratic community where everyone has a say and feels comfortable and
successful. It was the time when teachers were taught by the students with the
support of the advanced tech tools. And this is what the ICT Leadership program
of our school endeavoured. After training students and equipping them with the
latest educative tech tools, it was time that we students became teachers and acquainted our teachers with some very
interesting , fun and fascinating technological tools. And so the "Knowing how to know:
Redefining learning through 21st Century tools”
found its way.
15th
February, 2014 – the day when we students were completely enthusiastic and all geared
up for seeing our teachers sitting as small students eagerly waiting to learn
from us. So the day begins with students setting up their technological
equipments into perfect place and going through the curriculum they had planned
to teach the teachers. Seconds, minutes and finally hours ticked away until
students were decked up to be teachers and had ready with them their teaching
matter. The clock finally struck 1 pm and teachers looking as obedient and
disciplined as students, walked into the auditorium securing their allocated
seats. Meanwhile the backstage was clogged up with an unusual anxiety and students
gone completely hysterical! The event started off with the opening note of our program
mentor Mr. S. C. Joshi and in no time the stage was all over to us.
It
was a battle against time, even after facing some last moment hurdles, we were
all set to enlighten our teachers.
There
were 5 groups each presenting 3 things,
1)
Digital portfolio
2)
ICT Tech tool
3)
Lesson plan
The
main attraction of the day was the lesson plan. Each group had chosen a
particular topic from a wide variety of subjects and made lesson plan on
it. The aim of making a lesson plan was
to show teachers how they can use the already taught tech tools to teach
students. Our role as students was to
tell them how and what we want to be taught in class.
Each
lesson plan included the following points
1. Pretest (to
develop the interest of the learners)
2. Aim/Objective of
the lesson
3. Introduction of
topic
4. Announcement of
the topic
5. Establishing the
connection between the present topic with the previous knowledge of the learner
6. Methodology to
present the content of the topic (Demonstration/ Explanation of topic)
7.
Recapitulation
8. Evaluation/
Assessment
9. Assignment/
Homework (Sample)
The anchor,
Devpriya pathak, with her remarkable and amusing compering, filled the entire
auditorium with loads of zeal and avidity. She called upon the first group of presenters
on the stage Atishay Garg, Keerthi Charan and Urshitaa Mittal. This program was
something different from the usual presentations. The participants did not
introduce themselves through the conventional way of speaking, but, with the
use of technology and they came up with a digital portfolio that displayed
everything about themselves. They picked up the theory of the Sun and the planets
and gave their demonstration through the tech tool of Edmodo. Next in line were
Karan Sharma, Rachit Mittal, Utkarsh Swain and Devnaman Agarwal who chose
Nazism as their topic and their medium of teaching was a tech tool “Quizlet”.
Proceeding on, the third group of Shubham Bal, Anudhish Jain and Ishank Jain
chose the topic of evolution and presented the topic through the tech tool Animoto.
It was now time for the fourth group of Shreya Garg, Diksha Kumar and Disha
Gupta. They chose the topic of digestion in human beings and explained it
through the tool Popplet. The last group-Atmesh, Abhudhay and Aadhar picked the
topic of buoyant force and used the tool –Powtoon.
By the end of the session, teachers were completely
astounded to see how teaching can be transmuted into such a fun filled and
convivial manner. What captivated them more was the fact that their students
through technology had expounded the same topics in a manner that they could have
never even thought of in their wildest dreams! Appreciation and applauds were
all we heard thereafter. Everyone was so mesmerized! Urshitaa concluded the
session with a vote of thanks to all those who put in their efforts to make
this endeavour a success. Truly this will be a day, forever imperishable and
something which would always bring an exultant smile on our faces. We all the members of ICT leadership program in Ahlcon International are highly grateful to Principal Mr. Ashok k Pandey for his consistent guidance and support.
