From Schools to Homes
Wednesday, July 29, 2020
I am a supporter for education. Be it in school or at home, as long as a child is educated in the best manner possible, it does not concern me about the locale of the educational institute
But as this pandemic has been unleashed over the world, it is no longer viable for that sort of mindset. Education of the masses must continue in whatever means so. In such a state of crisis where even the governments powers are of no use, it is that of nature and God who controls the world; and that we must incorporate new ideas to continue the learning process.
In this article I will not only be reflecting on the current situation of classes online but the new opportunities open and a hope for a better future.
Let us set a scenario:
You and your friends go to school. Every day is the same and the days drag on and on. You have classes, teachers teaching stuff, learning, physical education, lunch etc. You are obviously bored about the monotony of life. Often when you have guests at home (and if you are from an Indian family) the first question they might ask would be “how is school?” (the second statement would be “wow how much you have grown!”).
Let’s think about this question for a minute. How do you feel about school? And what does that guest expect to hear? Most students who hear this question would go “ok” or “good”. Maybe a couple might reply “great” or “fantastic”. But a very considerable number of kids would come up with the sentence “school’s boring”.
Let me ask you guys a question. Why has a considerable population of students appeared to say that school was boring. Why don’t we admire its greatness? Well its simple. None of us have gratuity. We are not grateful for what we have and take things with a pinch of salt. Now that online class has begun, I really miss school. Now it’s when I really notice the fun and the excitement of class and friends.
Is the transfer of school onto an online platform befitting us? Well unlike most stances, this has a fairly reasonable outlook. As explained above, we are but pawns in Gods master plans and we have to deal with the number of troubles that come our way- from pandemics and Earth destroying calamities to your odd missing sock- humans have to adapt to the present situation of being.
This has paved the way for a variety of opportunities to fill the gap between teaching and learning. The main one I would like to talk about being Blackboard site for education. This site allows professionalism of teaching along with interaction towards students via blackboard classrooms.
I always wondered why most Indian and other schools do not allow the usage of technology and devices to help stimulate learning. I always admired other schools that had these facilities. Sure, you may bring the argument that children will get distracted by these devices and not do their schoolwork. I often like to argue back that us children have never learnt the true way how to use a device and associated technology
I myself have had a personal experience of this. The moment I arrived from school, I would immediately sit down on the couch, take a bunch of snacks and watch a brand new series. I think, in my opinion I still have never really learnt how to use it either. This is where the fact that schools come in. With proper education and help from faculty, we can learn how to use our devices for more than sitting and binge watching an entire show on Netflix. Not only that, I am annoyed to hear that schools to this day ban the bringing of phones to school. It is not like they are bombs or something. I genuinely believe with proper training we can learn to use them efficiently. It is just irritating to imagine the suspension of a kid from school just because he/she brought a phone. Instead of ridiculing it, why don’t we give it a chance, the same way us children gave that piece of broccoli and homework a chance (although I still am not used to it).
Now where does the usage of technology have anything to do with the movement of school to home? Well its simple. If all of us had adequate training in this sort of thing, many of us would be tech experts. We would be able to have an online class fluently and efficiently without any breaks.
Look I am annoyed that we stopped class and going to schools but like with any modern day cartoon show, “it was coming”. From this experience I think all of us can learn something. We often think that calling out problems is bad, but in reality, it is not so. For acquiring the solution, the first step is identifying the problem. I know for a fact most people think that complexity is great, but I know simplicity is but a virtue and only the greatest minds in the whole world can talk about something so hard and convert it into something understandable to all minds.
The movement of education from schools to homes has been a tough journey, however short it may be. I would like to extend my thanks to all the IT supports in every school as well as the administrators. I would also like to thank those teachers who do not criticize the use of technology and are “go with the flow” kind of people. I would most of all like to thank the students for adjusting to this drastic turn in the learning platform. Look I know it is tough, but we can get through this together, I promise. Maybe after schools reopen, we can finally learn to accept technology the same way the schools back then allowed the use of books, pens, papers, and other writing items. In conclusion to summarize everything I have written, talked, and shared I would like to say; when asked about how school is by anyone older than 35, the best way to tell them how it is to say: "Well nobody got shot today, so... yeah pretty great! :D”
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