The current pandemic times have multiplied delivery problems in education as the student-teacher interaction happens only through a distance. It’s a complete cut-off from the traditional and time-tested class-room learning. At the same time, the challenges thrown up by the pandemic times have also contributed to innovations in learning, teaching and evaluation methodologies.
The modern tools of communication technology which would have remained within the four pillars of the classes have become household names and percolated to the masses just in a span of 12 months.
Though new solutions are coming forth to answer the new challenges, there are questions raised about their effectiveness and credibility. There are also issues of affordability, costs and access. The absence of even a minimum of personal interaction, peer learning experiences and group learning opportunities restrict the overall development of students. Fostering of Inter-personal, intra-personal, leadership, organisational, practical and similar skills is a casualty in the current times.
MINDSETS SHOULD CHANGE
To a large extent, not only the general community but also the educationists continue to find comfort in the traditional mind-set even in this age of modern communications technology. The technological advances are attempting to replace the teacher as the only giver of knowledge and the traditional classrooms as the sole locations of educational services.
Teachers have traditionally looked at examinations as a weapon to tame and discipline the students. It is a belief that without examination, no learning can take place. Teachers will not teach and students will not learn unless the sword of examination hangs to cut each other’s throat. This mind-set is the main obstacle to innovations.
Examination is no monster. It is just another educational aid for the teacher and student to evaluate the learning process. It is through proper evaluation techniques that we can test the absorption levels and identify the gaps for further improvement. Once understood in this context, we will tend to innovate evaluation technologies which support and reinforce teaching and learning.
Another aspect of our mind-set is considering internal evaluation as trivial and giving all the significance and pride to public examinations. Actually, the teachers who impart the course is the ideal resource to evaluate the performance of the learners. Internal evaluation also ensures continuous and consistent evaluation cum learning as opposed to a once or twice in a year general examination.
Our mind-sets are organised to repose trust in an unknown and invisible paper-setter and examiner rather than the class-room teacher. We somehow exhibit loss of faith if the teacher who teaches takes up evaluation of the learners.
NO OPTION EXCEPT ONLINE
Cancellation of examinations cannot be the option even under the current circumstances. At the same time, offline examination is too risky an affair to be adopted. The risks and costs are too heavy. They would be irreparable and irreversible.
The way forward is on-line examinations. For the success of on-line mode what is required is flexibility and innovation. The experiment of an IIT-Goa may appear to be funny for those who look at insecurity and suspense in examinations. But, it is not easy for a student to set up a question paper covering the entire syllabus unless the learner has browsed and revised the same.
The Open Book System of examination actually puts a student on trial as compared to the traditional descriptive essay type examination. Our examination pattern has largely resulted in cramming and rote learning. It would be also wrong to assume that the system is free from copying, selective question paper leakages and other malpractices. Though on the face of the Open Book System it looks as an open door licence for copying, the whole system can be made harder through conceptual and analytical questions wherein students have to not only pre-learn but also put extra efforts in their responses to questions.
Open Book Examination offers no guarantee of knowing the answers unless the student has read, learnt, internalised and understood the course. A system of heterogeneous questions for different students, a time deadline to file responses to questions etc. would make the open book system free from the deficiencies which are normally raised. There are also possibilities of using technology to ensure examination security monitoring the movements of the student even if the student is answering from home. The software takes control of the computer to disable copying from internet, stored information and other sources.
METHODOLOGIES OF FUTURE!
The current challenges will undoubtedly spur innovations in educational services. The pandemic is like a war time. Once, peace returns and the educational campuses bubble with the noise and zest of learners, educationists need to scientifically review the productivity of these innovations and exploit these tools along with offline modes of teaching, learning and evaluation.
Research studies on the online methodologies would provide required inputs. They should not turn into scrap and remnants of Covid age! What was innovated to answer the pandemic would become a resource for mass use at all stages of education later.
(The writer is an educationist, columnist and former State Election Commissioner)
