Divya Jain, a commerce graduate from the Delhi University is presently running two schools in Noida successfully. She is full of ideologies, enthusiasm, indepth knowledge and intellect. A woman of few words who lets her work ethics and professional discipline speak on her behalf. She is well known for her integrity, humility and matured sense of discretion coupled with strokes of motivation and confidence. She is assiduous in whatever she does and her commitment to good governance, people management was honoured with “Design Thinking Leaders Award” by Education World Grand Jury.
The concept of imparting education, teaching patterns, modes of teaching, subject matter, course curriculums and ways of teaching are always in a state of evolution. This means that all these components of education are constantly changing and adapting to newer times and improved technologies. In the midst of Covid-19 pandemic, the virtual mode of teaching and online classes became a reality. The conventional school system of offline classes underwent some major changes and adopted the methods of online education, to cope up with the times. This development paced the idea of futuristic learning, where continuous steps are implemented to achieve greater levels of critical and creative thinking and insights in an academically co-operative and conducive environment.
The first element of working towards futuristic learning is embracing and endorsing the idea of a skill-based learning process. Skill-based learning is the process of acquiring practical knowledge and developing individual skill sets by executing and doing things on your own. The formative years of a child’s education are very crucial and skill-based learning promotes and enhances a child’s logical thinking, rationality, intelligence quotient and aptitudes. Skill-based learning boosts a child’s creativity, communication and social skills, and independent thinking. It has often been observed in various studies that a child learns much more from the practical implementation of concepts rather than theoretical and rote learning.
Incorporating technological advancements into children’s learning process is also a good measure to aid futuristic learning. Digital videos, exercises and playing games leave a great impact on a child’s brain and also increase their capacity to study and learn more. Promoting the visual medium of studying piques children’s interest in classes and also shoots up their retention capacity, according to academicians. Inclusion of technology will also welcome new fundamental principles of learning like internet research, digital literacy, online documentation, and advanced data management. In the new era of educational learning, the internet and digital connection will play a humongous role in making children acquainted with the norms of a fast-changing world.
The cornerstone of futuristic learning is also espousing the idea of flexible learning patterns. Each child has his or her own understanding and learning capabilities, strong points, and drawbacks. Through the advocacy of flexible learning, a child’s individuality is respected and they are encouraged to learn things at their own pace and not denigrated for their weaknesses. The teachers identify the student’s problem and suggest ways to eliminate the hurdle. The students are not forced to follow a single learning method and are encouraged to go with their own, which opens the arena of innovations and new ideas.
There is also a growing shift, in relation to broadening the aspects and parameters of assessment of children’ performance. The mainstay of futuristic learning is outcome-based learning, and to give prominence to that, it is important to assess a child’s development not on just one yardstick of classroom performance, but also inculcating the value of overall performance, going beyond the areas of traditional schooling system and evaluating a child’s learning activities based on their interests and likings.
Adoption of a wholesome curriculum and giving the right to children to choose from various subjects strengthen the idea of futuristic education. A wholesome curriculum should include activities and subjects like arts and craft, music, dance, language subjects, robotics and coding so that children can develop and hone their creative and technical abilities. They should have a curriculum where they can see opportunities to increase their capabilities in all kinds of departments, leading to coherent development of a child’s mind. Outcome-based learning is student-centric, where teachers make efforts to empower a child’s strengths and make them fast learners so that they are able to withstand the pressures of the contemporary world.
Working towards futuristic learning will focus on the personality development of a child. In the conventional schooling system, somehow the idea of developing a child’s personality and emotional intelligence took a backseat. In a world where many people struggle to manage and control their emotions and suffer from personality development issues, it is important to take note of such things and do everything possible to build a strong EQ of a child so that he or she can better able to express, manage and control their emotional reactions and responses to external happenings and show their personality in a way that can captivate others.
Making efforts to achieve the goals of futuristic learning are not unattainable these days, especially after a series of technological, educational and intellectual debates and discussions that have already taken place in the sphere. Whether it’s diversification of the course curriculums, inclusion of creative and new technical subjects, or ubiquitous changes in the teaching patterns or models of teaching, the changes are already set in place. It would no longer be a far-fetched dream but a distant reality.