By Pratima Sinha, CEO, DSR Educational Society, Hyderabad
Alvin Toffler writes in his book ‘The Future Shock’ published exactly fifty years ago“We may define future shock as the distress, both physical and psychological, that arises from an overload of human organism’s physical adoptive systems and its decision-making processes.
Simply put, future shock is the human response to over- stimulation.” The Pandemic that devastated the entire world and brought it to a standstill is one of the examples of the calamity that Alvin Toffler had predicated. We have been stretched and catapulted through a long tunnel of an emotional shock, which was thrust on us with no understanding, no knowledge and no prediction. The World was unprepared and unnerved by the grave situation and went deep into reflecting, discussing, clamoring finding remedies and the solutions for the problems caused by the pandemic.
Educational institutions rose to the occasion and scrambled to understand the use of various tools of science and technology to facilitate smooth teaching process. The first step was to brainstorm and change the entire curriculum to suit online teaching followed by counseling the teachers to take up the challenge. The teachers who never touched a computer took to its usage and made it their only tool. They took up the mantle and the responsibility with gusto and kept alive classroom corner, took better Wi-fi services, bought new laptops, researched, attended workshops, training sessions and studied new strategies of teaching, learned from their peers and global counterparts.
Thousands of teachers in the rural areas improvised and innovated different ways and means to carry on teaching. They were all regularly counseled , supported , guided and helped to tide over these hard times Use of technology improved in leaps and bounds, more sophisticated teaching tools were introduced on virtual platforms, teachers became very progressive started experimenting on the available tools and use of technology for an impactful class.
They have now become confident to manage the students, teach them, conduct various activities, take assessments, give assignments, make power point presentations and make videos remotely. The teachers have survived and come out from the fire not burnt but unscathed and shining, showing their worth globally for all to acknowledge and rise in times of crisis with all humility and reverence.
“Educational institutions rose to the occasion and scrambled to understand the use of various tools of science and technology to facilitate smooth teaching process.”
