Technological applications for school children have become quite popular of late. Since today’s children are digital natives and smartphones have already found their way into their hands, it is crucial to get behind the implications and understand how classroom implementation can be improved by embracing this change. 

Here are some snippets from our conversation with Dr. Swati Popat Vats, President at Podar Education Network.

Supplementing classroom learning with apps & digital devices

If short, developmentally appropriate videos are made for children to watch on various concepts, then learning can be ‘flipped’: Children can watch the videos and teachers can have a discussion on what they have watched instead of wasting time on ‘teaching’ something. 

The do’s and don’ts of using tech gadgets for learning

Fire harms but we still use it for cooking and keeping warm, right? We are able to harness fire by following safety protocols. It is important for children to be told how to use technology rather than refraining them from using it altogether. 

Here are some pointers for all age groups:

• The distance of the screen from the eyes should be 20 to 40 inches.
• Introduce ‘blink time’ to teach children to be conscious of blinking. Sometimes, children get so engrossed they forget to blink, which can be harmful for the eyes.
• Every 20 minutes, look away from the screen and focus on something that is 20 feet away!
• Never click on any pop-ups! They disturb and distract, and sometimes, have ‘stranger danger’.
• Never share your personal details while using technology, and be careful who you are sharing them with.
• For babies and toddlers, it is important that when you give them a mobile phone to watch a video, put the phone on airplane mode.
• Ensure that your children and adolescents are watching age-appropriate content that is non-violent and healthy. 
• Teach your teenagers to seek you out if they come across any content that is confusing, shocking  or scary. It is better that you are their ‘go-to person’ rather than seeking help from strangers or people who can misinform them.

Making digital classrooms fun & creative

We did the following during the lockdown and our socially-distanced reality:

• We made the interactions personal by ensuring that teachers take the name of the child as often as possible.
• We trained teachers to use more facial expressions and gestures as that would get more attention.
• We gave ‘water breaks’ as staring at a screen and trying to focus on the sound in a digital format can be exhausting for the brain and a hydrated brain is more active.
• We broke up children into smaller groups, so that they get an opportunity to chat with each other. Otherwise, it is a one way process and it shuts down the brain as the human brain is social!
• We ensured that there were ample opportunities to have one-on-one sessions with each child, so that they get personalised attention and learning.

The next big revolution that will change education

Schools will have to move to the ‘flipped’ concept of learning. Everything cannot and should not be taught on blackboards. Children will now enjoy learning on digital medium combined with teacher interactions in a balanced manner. 

Assessment should and will be gamified, so that the algorithm will decide the difficulty level as per the developmental and learning needs of children. Teachers cannot be diagnosticians, they can help plan the observations and assessments, but the diagnostic elements should be computerised. 

Impact of technology on children’s brain development

The human brain is social. So, we may enjoy interacting with Alexa and Siri for some time, but it becomes repetitive and unstimulating after a while. It is time to go back to what Pestalozzi or Rousseau visioned about education. Education is about interactions: interacting with materials, interacting with teachers and interacting with each other. Robots and AI are materials, teachers will always be needed.

Brain research gives some very important points about why kids and adolescents find technology so ‘addictive’. Here is a fact: The ‘eye and the hand need each other’ (not to just boringly copy from the blackboard) and that is what you will notice has worked for project-based schools, learning while doing etc. 

Another simple fact is R.A.D learning (R = Reticular activating system, which means the more visual stimuli that the brain gets, the more it can pay attention; A= Amygdala’s filter, technology tends to keep children stress free and involved, so the amygdala in the brain is not stressed and no ‘flight or fight’ reaction needed; D = Dopamine, happy chemicals that mean more focus and attention). 

If we equip today’s teachers with brain research and how to implement this in their classrooms, you will have a successful and empowered teacher who knows when to use the blackboard, smart board, books, field trips, digital photos and Google maps, live streaming videos and ‘teacher presence’. 

Tips for parents & students on tech literacy & ‘netiquette’

As given in the research report, Reply to Fool’s Gold, there is a middle path for schools to train teachers and parents in understanding the healthy use of technology. This path understands that the teacher can never be replaced and it is time to stop feeling so insecure that any innovation in the classroom will result in the teacher being ‘replaced’. This middle path, as experts say, is about making kids netizens, practice netiquette and technology literacy. 

Kids idolise the net, which is why we need to educate them about technology as there are far too many cases of students saying, “It’s on the Internet. It must be right“. The goal should be to enable children to develop their own ‘creative and critical’ capacities in relating to technology, not to train them to be machine operators or ‘machine slaves’. 

The full interview was published in the Emerging Technologies issue of The Plus magazine.

About the contributor: 

Dr. Swati Popat Vats is the founder director of Podar Jumbo Kids, one of the most successful and parent-preferred brands of preschool and day care chains in India. She is the person behind the Podar Education Network, Early Childhood Association, and the Association for Primary Education and Research. 

She is also the National Representative for India at the World Forum Foundation, which works in 150 countries to promote an ongoing global exchange of ideas on the delivery of quality services for children in diverse settings.