Shiv Kumar Padha
Education is the most cherished heritage of human beings. It is as old as the human race. Since the very dawn of civilization, education has been regarded as a great necessity of human society. it has been considered as the controlling grace to the young, consolation to the old, wealth to the poor and ornament to the rich. According to Dr. Zakir Hussain, “Education is the whole life work, it begins with the time of birth and continues till last moment of death”. According to Gandhi ji, education is the all round development of the child body mind and spirit which meant physical,, intellectual, social and spiritual powers.
Whatever one perceives or learns in life is the collective influence of the five sense organs, the gateways of knowledge, linked with sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste. But for the presence of even one of these senses the acquisition of knowledge is impossible in life. Unless one touches an object, feel its toughness or softness, take note of its smell or odor, listens the sounds emanating, differentiate between the different tastes and observe with sight. An ideal system of education is one which satisfies all or the relevant senses of the learners. The traditional class room teaching where the teachers transfers the learning with his chalk talk and walk has been successful in bringing about the desired change in the behavior of the learner by involving his audio, visual and psychomotor activities depending upon the need of the subject.
With the ushering in an era of science and technology and its frequent use in the class rooms, has replaced the class room with the smart classes, the teacher with Computer Assisted Instructions CAI, black board with the interactive smart board and the chalk with the Stylus Pen. No doubt the interactive white board is a technology that transmits computer signals by means of a projector and that enables controlling the computer white board with help of special pen called the stylus. It increases enjoyment of lesson for both teachers and the students and the dynamic use of multimedia resources. It is also advocated that the primary and most obvious use of an interactive white board is the ability to interact with the projected content. With the use of stylus pen or the fingers one can draw lines, draw graphs, geometrical figures, constrictions, diagrams and highlight text and interact with the elements. The teachers using the interactive white boards are of the opinion that they are the great tools to use in the class rooms because they allow students to work together more effectively reinforce concepts with diagrams and illustrations. Overall, the white boards allow teachers to engage students effectively with hands on experience.
According to Bloom’s taxonomy, one of the most recognised learning theories in the field of education, there are three learning domains: the cognitive, affective and psychomotor and assigns to each of these domains a hierarchy that corresponds to different levels of learning.
Cognitive domain:- is focussed on the intellectual skills, critical thinking, problem solving and creating knowledge base. It comprises of memorising, recalling, retention and recognition, whereas the critical thinking and problem solving pertains to understanding which constitutes of interpretation, interpolation and application.
Affective domain:- Focuses on the attitudes, values, interests and appreciation of learners. It helps the learner understand what their own values are and how they have developed. Receiving, responding and valuing fall under the hierarchy of this domain.
Psychmotor domain: By psychomotor we mean co ordination of joints and muscles while performing a task. It encompasses the ability of learners to physically accomplish tasks and perform movement and skills. This domain includes reflex, physical abilities and skilled movements. Let us now discuss how do these electronic gadgets conform or deviate from process of imparting actual and solid learning in the class room. The students and the teachers can, no doubt get the information retrieved on the interactive screen with a slight touch of the finger. But it cannot help the learner retain it or recall it when away from the screen which affects the power of memorisation, recalling and retention. Similarly one can import the outer world in the class room, draw different diagrams and levels them, perform geometrical operations, draw different geometrical figures, solve geometrical problem within a moment, but the learners cannot infer regarding the smoothness, roughness, smell or taste of the objects created or presented on the screen. This tantamount to paralysing the five senses of the learners. The learners, instead of writing long paragraphs or answering the problems with reasoning have got no other options except making a tick on the correct and relevant answer, which is badly telling upon the motor development of the learners. A psychomotor skill in technical drawing involves activities that need hand movements as a result of cognitive planning. The activities such as bisecting, measuring, pencil work link mechanical dimensioning, free hand sketches, fitting the apparatus in the laboratory and performing the experiments physically etc.
We cannot deny the reality that the science and technology has opened new vistas in the field of modern and knowledge oriented world. But too much dependence on it can leave adverse affects on the mental horizon of the learners. It is admitted that technology plays a supporting role, but it’s the teacher who brings it altogether.
The technology is certainly changing the way the students learn, but it cannot be termed as a replacement for teachers High quality teachers create a class room culture that motivates students and leads them on the path of success. Technology alone cannot inspire, help them through their struggles, help them fight them fight back and stand up. Howsoever the technologies are beneficial can never replace a teacher and traditional class room. The use of the CAI and the interactive white boards are proving a heavy toll on the domains of learning.
(The writer is a retired educationist and social worker).