Rakesh Kumar Kabra, Accounting & IB Business management facilitator & examiner at Good Shepherd International School, Ooty, Tamil Nadu, describes how online classrooms, digital content, and smart tools support greater interaction and flexibility.
The education scenario has evolved manifold, from using chalk and a blackboard to using a digital smartboard. It is indeed a challenge for the teachers to keep the Gen Z kids engaged and to maintain their attention. If the students do not like the teaching of a particular teacher, they are not ready to pay attention in class. So, it is important for us to find out the reasons behind this and how to use digital resources to solve this problem.
Often, we find two different classroom scenarios, where in one classroom, the students are not interested at all and not actively participating in the classroom. In the other classroom, the students will be actively engaged in the classroom, participating, and learning a lot with interest. It is important to find out why this is happening and why there is no learning in one classroom. Mainly, it is because the teacher is unable to keep the students engaged effectively. There are so many reasons for this. To overcome this situation, we need to use digital resources by which we can make the classroom more engaging and active. This is the main challenge the teachers face regularly. We should be sure of the role of digital resources in bringing this effectiveness to the classrooms.
We must understand that the attention span of a child, as per recent studies, is about 20 seconds. But this span has come down to 8 currently, which is a very crucial aspect to be discussed. Some of the reasons that can be attributed to this include: exposure to technological advancement. Students are using lots of gadgets such as mobile phones, OTT, and social media platforms. All these distract the students very much. But we cannot avoid these advancements, which will increase in the coming years. If our teaching methodologies become obsolete, many problems arise in the classroom. The first one is a lack of attention due to technological advancement, which makes our teaching methodologies outdated. We need to change our teaching strategies and style, and make the best efforts to grab the attention of the students. We have to work hard to increase the attention span from 8. The students will start learning more and enjoy the class. Similar to a movie, where we expect different elements such as comedy, music, suspense, etc to make it a success, we should also make our classes a success. For that, we need a highly engaged classroom.
Interactive teaching methods
There are 4 elements that we need to incorporate in our teaching. The first one is to make the classrooms interactive, the second one is to make it personalized, the third one is collaboration, and the last one is the fun element. We can also use third-party applications, and if we cannot find them, we can design the applications. To make the classrooms interactive, where the students participate actively rather than just listen, communicate well, and pay attention, we can design some applications. By using this, the child can get confirmation if his task is up to the mark, if there are any mistakes, and get the feedback immediately. Apps such as Kahoot, Gim Kit for quizzes, and Blooket can be used in our classes to prepare customized quizzes based on the topic that we discussed in class. This way, we can make the class more interactive and keep the children engaged in learning. I have created my website where the students can interact with the questions after logging in. They will have limited time to complete the paper. The students can select the question and interact with it. They will get the result instantaneously. This will grab the attention of the students and make the classroom more engaging. The teachers can use their own creativity to bring in ideas.
Individualised teaching strategies
Next comes personalized learning. We, the teachers, cannot keep on giving instructions and overburden the students. We have to give them time to understand the topic. The classes should be tailored in such a way that the children get time to understand and learn. Each student is different, interests vary, and the speed of learning is also different. We should not judge the child using the same yardstick. We should understand the capabilities of each child and use some means of assessment for this. Their interests, capabilities, and learning styles should be understood. We can use Google Classroom for varied assignment instructions. The students’ choice should be accommodated in selecting the project or choosing the topic. We can give them the option to select from the topics available, or they can come up with their own suggestions too. And the fourth one is adaptive learning, which is fast emerging nowadays. By using the third-party applications, the students will get the level of questions based on their performance in various subjects. When they complete the set of questions successfully, only then will they go to the next level. This is adaptive learning. They will be given questions from the same level if they commit mistakes till they master the topic. The last one is the feedback. The students can understand their performance and try to improve it. I am using the tools from Khan Academy. We can use Google Classroom for various assignments to meet the needs of diverse children. Dreambox and Smart Sparrow help provide personalised learning. Personalised learning is needed because not all children are smart in the same way. So, we need to make them learn based on their interest and speed. I have designed the applications to choose my preferences. With lessons being converted to PDF format, children who are interested in using gadgets rather than textbooks will benefit. They can go through the content when they get time, as all resources are given to the children.
Team-based learning approaches
Collaborative learning is another element needed. Often, children want to learn from their peers, and we have to create the environment for that. The many advantages of collaborative learning include bringing out different perspectives from each of the students. There will be improved communication, which is very much needed now. There are many applications, digital resources, and tools that help us make the classrooms very engaging. Google Workspace, Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google PPT are some of them. Students can work on one Google Doc and share their ideas by forming groups to complete the task. There are also FlipGrid and Padlet that help in this aspect. If the teachers are not comfortable using the third-party applications, they can bring in their own ideas. I once divided the students into two groups of six. Each group will have six questions to answer, and they can discuss and come up with the correct answer. One team can select the questions for the other team. The correct answer is indicated by green colour and the wrong one in red. They get five points for each correct answer. Any wrong answer may fetch zero points or negative marking based on the rules. This is how I make collaboration work in my classrooms.
Playful and Purposeful Learning
The last element is fun in the classroom. This is the combination of interaction, personalised learning, and collaboration. Children enjoy this class very much and will be eager to listen to the teacher. The emerging idea in the present day is gamification. There are digital resources that can be used for gamification in the class to avoid traditional approaches. Gamification involves virtual reality and augmented reality. In primary and middle level classes, we can use these resources more effectively, but in higher classes, it becomes more challenging. The children will enjoy the class, and for this, we need to create different levels of challenges. The students can move to the next level only after clearing the first one. There can be some reward too to encourage the students. We, the teachers, have to brainstorm and come up with novel ideas to make them interesting. There can also be a time limit. This will keep the students engaged and focused on completing the task within the time allotted. We can create groups and make them solve the puzzle too, and they will come up with their own perspectives. I have created this idea using AI and my own visualisation. So, all the elements – interaction, personalised learning, collaboration, and fun elements will make the class interesting and make the students fully engrossed in learning.
Teacher-led innovation challenges
When we use a third-party application, it may not suit our classroom requirements. So, if we develop our own application as I have done, it will be useful. Time is another constraint, and interest on the part of teachers is needed as the whole process involves sacrificing personal time. The institutes should appreciate and come forward to meet the requirements. The teachers should be encouraged to come up with their ideas, should be offered all facilities, and the teachers should come forward to make use of the resources. Infrastructure help is needed apart from encouragement for teachers.
Blending traditional and modern methods
We cannot fully ignore traditional teaching, and we cannot use it fully in the classroom either. We need to incorporate traditional methods of teaching and activities in the class. Otherwise, the students will be bored, will not pay attention, however effective teachers we are, whatever knowledge we have. The teachers will not be successful in keeping the students engaged in the class. Keeping the students interested and interactive is the main goal of a successful teacher. I do not have any coding knowledge, but I use AI. Before that, I note down my ideas as to how it should look, how many questions should be added, the main features, and then give the prompt to AI. It will give me the output, which I use, and if I need any improvement in this work, I again give the prompt. Thus, on a trial-and-error basis, we have to create the activities. Each time I found an error, I learned a lot. This is the learning process for me, and it will become a permanent resource for the students.
Customized student learning
We need to incorporate the element of personalised learning. I converted the textbook into a digital format, added videos, and this will help the students to access the resource, learn it as per their time and ability. They can take their time to learn depending on their learning capacity. The teachers have to help the students if they face any challenges in understanding.
Evolving education tools
Augmented reality, virtual reality, and adaptive learning are in high demand in the education field. The students will get questions based on their learning style, ability, and they can improvise. There are many tools coming up that will reduce the burden of teachers in their daily lives. Correction work can also be done using AI, but this is still in the nascent stage. Here, we need to give the rubric to the A, and based on that, the AI will do the corrections. It is an ever-evolving sector. We have to keep ourselves updated constantly, as our work may become obsolete after a few years.
This is a summary of the talk given by the author on schoolreformer.com
Contact details
Rakesh Kumar Kabra
Accounting & IB Business management facilitator & examiner at Good Shepherd International School, Ooty, Tamil Nadu