On the occasion of Teachers’ Day, teachers and students reflect on changing role of teachers in times when information and online courses are available at the click of a button
JAY JOSHI
Teachers have played a unique role in the society for ages, giving knowledge and guidace to generations of students. India has had a long teacher-disciple tradition going back to ancient times. Even as we moved from ancient Gurukuls to modern schools, teachers continued to be the emerging point of knowledge for students. However, in recent years, technological changes have brought about new challenges for this revered profession.
With the spread of Internet, information is available online at the click of a button, and students do not have to depend on teachers to seek the same. Secondly, education too seems to have been impacted as there are a number of courses available online through different videos and apps. How has this change affected the traditional role of a teacher?
While some might question how relevant teachers are in this fast changing world, others hold that teachers continue to play an important role in imparting education with the technological change bringing in new aspects to the traditional role of a teacher.
“In today’s day and age, the functioning of a teacher is changing,” says Andrew Barreto, assistant Professor at Chowgule College, Margao. “Teachers are no longer the source of information for students. Rather, they are facilitators whose role now is to help the students understand the information that they gain from the Internet,” sys Barreto. “Rather than standing on a platform and talking, a teacher’s role now is to be beside a student and help him understand information better, research better, and how to apply it,” says the professor.
Surendra Sirsat, a former teacher from Mapusa adds that there are two aspects to the issue. “Teachers are more of guides and facilitators today than origins of information. That said, they indeed play an important role. Information and knowledge are two different things. Teachers can apply experience to information and transform it into knowledge.
The Internet will give you information, but the teacher will give you what we call ‘words of wisdom’ that come from years of experience. Going beyond academics, teachers play a role in shaping personal values, and teaching subtle lessons about life-that is something the Internet will never do,” says Sirsat.
However, he does concede that students are becoming increasingly smarter today, and teachers need to constantly keep learning and updating themselves. If they fail at this task, then they might make themselves look irrelevant, says the former teacher.
Swaraj Kanekar, a student from Bethora, who in currently enrolled at Goa University also has similar views. “Teachers do more than just teach from text books. I feel that they offer valuable life-lessons and can be role models for students in their formative years. Secondly, online learning cannot bring a sense of responsibility to a student. It can also make one lazy.
Teachers bring a human touch to education, and can keep the students on the right track, ensuring discipline and dedication,” says Kanekar.
Vighnesh Alawani, an engineering student from Ponda highlights a different angle. “ Online courses are pretty demanding. If you have a doubt during an online course, you have to waste time in looking for answers in the comments or on Quora, whereas a teacher would be present in class and could answer your query directly,” says Alawani.
Lisa Dias Noronha, a German language resource teacher at Indo-German Cultural and Educational Society in Panaji also underlines that language-learning apps cannot be compared with real teachers. “When learning language through an app, the app cannot tell you why a particular concept exists the way it does. It just tells you the ‘how’ of a language. On the other hand, a teacher can cite reasoning, and resolve other doubts as well because they know the student personally, and can change their way of teaching to suit the needs of the student.”
Thus, teachers today must help students curate the vast amount of information that they glean from the Internet. Also, online courses may appear to make learning easy for us, but they do not provide human touch and wisdom that only fellow humans can. It is worth noting that the Inian tradition gives respect to teachers, not just for their knowledge, but also for their wisdom, experience, and their ability to be role models for the students-something technology can never really achieve.
