Kids learning through gadgets

At a time when gadgets are taking over textbooks, ‘A for Apple’ hardly remains a method for kids to learn the alphabet.

New methods of teaching are being adopted these days. Thanks to technology, questions need not wait until a teacher answers them in the class, the next day.     
To introduce kids to the latest technology and make sure they have fun while learning, Oakridge International School has introduced iPads for kindergarten classes from this academic year.

Tsaeling, a teacher at the school, says, “We have introduced iPads for the junior most class in the school. Three-year-old kids use iPad for learning. Teachers
download apps that are appropriate for this age group. They are taught shapes, patterns, colours and objects through iPads.”

The learning experience is more about playing, she adds. Tsaeling says, “Kids look forward for these classes as there is something new and different in every class. It could be the shapes or the colours, they are excited as they get to explore many things
themselves and the apps too are quite interesting.”

So do the kids find it tough to handle the iPads themselves?

Tsaeling laughs, “Kids these days are not new to gadgets at all. They find it as easy as skimming through the pages of their books. Everything happens at a swipe and they have mastered the ways of using an iPad.” However, kids are not left to use the iPads themselves. Their class teacher monitors what apps they use.

The school has earmarked 20 iPads for KG classes and different sections are scheduled for iPad class in different timings.

This ensures that all the kids in a class get an hands-on experience in using iPad. For 40 minutes, twice a week, kids have iPad classes.

Like Oakridge, many other international schools too have introduced iPads and laptops for teaching. Indus International School, Canadian International School and Bangalore International School are a few which extensively use electronic gadgets for teaching.

Delhi Public School too has introduced tablets for class five and six students on a
pilot project basis.

Though this trend is fast catching up, there is a need to make use of the traditional teaching method while keeping up with the advent of electronic devices, feels Adrian, vice-principal of Asia Pacific World School.

He says, “What can be the best for kids these days is always debatable as there are so many innovations. One-on-one teaching is always effective as students know they are being watched and the fear of teacher is instilled in them. But the best manner will be
to make use of both the methods to empower children academically.”

Meanwhile, it seems like parents, though prefer old teaching methods, are open to the idea of technology slowly making its way to schools. Dorthy, a mother of two, says, “I still belong to the old school of thought.

However, there is a need to keep abreast of the technological advancements as kids of this generation are so perceptive and are ever-evolving. Electronic devices have their own advantages and can provide solutions to the curiosity of children. So, I guess children need a bit of the old and the new methods.”