The New Face Of Education

We all have creative potential. However, whether we manage to unravel the full potential may be questioned. One might associate creativity with an artist but I think otherwise. Every day we come across situations and each of us may handle it differently. So, it is how one is taught to see life, which begins early on, be it through formal or informal education. I personally think that education plays a vital role in setting the foundation for whoever one wants to be or whatever one wants to achieve in life. It is not about how much of information is thrust upon us but it is the approach to problem-solving, innovation or applying the knowledge in our day to day life. Knowledge through education helps open doors to a lot of opportunities for better prospects in life but it also depends on the kind of education imparted, the way it is imparted and how much of it one actually remembers.

The New Face/Transformation of Education- Student-Centric Approach to Learning

“No two minds are same”. Student-Centric Learning simply refers to an instructional method which caters to the needs of individual minds. It highlights each student’s interest, abilities and learning styles, thus placing the teacher as a facilitator of knowledge for every individual student. This ecosystem of education puts the student at the center of the process where they are responsible for their learning while engaging in project-based activities and analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating their work by themselves.

It focuses on skills and practices that enable life-long learning and independent problem-solving. It does so by putting the student’s interest first, acknowledging their views as a center to the

experience. In such space, students choose what they will learn, how they will learn, and the medium by which they will assess their learning. Here, the teacher’s role is to guide students into making a new interpretation of study material by experiencing the content with hands-on projects and thus encouraging active learning.

When I go back to my school days, my memories are quite different from what I believe in. It is still fresh in my memory, the struggles of trying to remember so many different things at the same time, often rebuked for not able to do so or even pointlessly trying to mug up difficult answers or equations etc. etc. School days are supposed to be the best. But for me, it was not so. I was an average student and regular classes never interested me frankly. But somehow, I always remembered things that were of interest to me, like the lyrics of every song I had heard or a science experiment I had done at home. So, when I look back, I don’t really see a learning capacity issue here. In fact, children have a voracious appetite to learn new things, provided we get through to them in the way they understand or find it interesting.

I was always singled out as not being good enough for anything when compared with my brother! If he was the Sun, then I was just the Moon. It is very interesting to note that these experiences remain with you, deep inside in a subconscious way, which we aren’t even aware of. And one day if you become successful, there will always be that lingering feeling of ‘I am not good enough’. How is it that such thoughts always remain with you? It is because you experienced them and not read or seen them somewhere.

What is the need?

We are already in the Era of Innovation. The 19th Century Factory Model of Standardized Schooling which we all know was created to meet the needs of the Industrial Era. This moved to the Pre-Internet Knowledge Era where you needed to go to the School to get the Knowledge on various subjects from someone who had it. In today’s world, Knowledge is a commodity available at your fingertips. So, knowing isn’t important anymore. What you do with that knowledge becomes far more important and which is why we call it the Innovation Era.

It’s like teaching an 18-year-old how to drive a car or a child to ride a bicycle. Would you give them textbooks to read up on the car and then test them on it, or would you put them in the driver seat and make them learn practically? Which way would be better for them to really learn how to drive a car.

While all this is true, would like to point out that I am in no way advocating that our kids don’t need the theoretical information on subjects. They very much need to do that as well. But if we do just that, then most of them would take with them bookish knowledge as they pass out of school. What I strongly believe in is that they need to have an experiential method of learning the basic concepts. With Experiential Learning, children learn by doing and getting their hands dirty. And this style of learning would help them build a strong foundation, which they would remember for life, either consciously or subconsciously. And if we do that, we would then be able to make the shift in a child from a

· Doing Mind to a Thinking Mind

· Problem Mindset to a Solution Mindset

· Consumer to a Creator

We need to CONNECT Education and Learning by connecting the dots in between and that is why I call it The New “DOT” in Education. And in Education, what we need to do is create what the World needs today … Creators / Thinkers / Innovators …

Rishi Khemka

Guest Author With his passion for technology and his belief in the need to use it effectively in education, Rishi launched MindBox, a holistic creative education company. In his current role as Chief Enjoyment Officer and Director of ARK Infosolutions/ MindBox, Rishi has spear-headed interesting initiatives like starting India’s first design championship for students, which encourages them to think out of the box and showcase their talent. He also initiated ‘GameJam Titans’, a game development competition in collaboration with NASSCOM Gaming Forum. Rishi was ranked among Top 100 Most Important Media & Entertainment People in India by Digital Media Magazine 2014. This year Rethink India has felicitated him as the eduTech Leader of India in 2017.