Subramani a student of Class- 10, walked up to his mother and said “Mom, school is hard; I keep scoring low marks in tests. My class teacher wants to have a word with you and dad tomorrow. “ His mother asked him to quit worrying and went to school the next day, along with the father. The class teacher said, “Your son is an ‘average student’ he needs to work harder if he wants to succeed in life.”
What is an average student? Why can’t an average student succeed in life? Does being average entitle you to an average life?
WHY AVERAGE GRADE STUDENTS USUALLY END UP BEING THE MOST SUCCESSFUL IN LIFE
Average student, a conventional and cliched term used to grade a student with just one parameter in mind – Grades!!
The top performers get noticed, and the non-performers get extra help, but no one genuinely thinks about the ones in the middle who form the majority.
Some go even further and say that average students should settle for an average life because they don’t have what it takes, or they don’t work hard enough. Believe me, that students die trying!!
Besides, why should anyone aspire for something lesser in life?
The problem lies in expecting everyone to learn with the same rote-learning methods. Different students learn differently. All they need is the right learning tool that suits their learning requirement.
For example, if I were to say “The effect of scattering of light by particles in a colloidal solution is called Tyndall Effect” most of us would have no clue what it means. If I were to show you this video, most of us get a better idea of what the Tyndall effect is.
We must also understand that education is not just about scoring good grades. Education is about teaching every student to map their own path to explore the world and explore their potentials.
To achieve this in education, every child needs to be exposed to basic literacy (letter knowledge, print motivation, print awareness, vocabulary, narrative skills, and phonological awareness) and basic numeracy skills (arithmetic, estimation & rounding, space, shape & measure, money and time, data analysis, chance, and uncertainty).
YOU DON’T REQUIRE A DEGREE TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL, INHERITING SKILLS HELP YOU TO ACHIEVE GOALS
EdTechs across the globe are trying to do just that. They are coming up with new and effective ways to help students, irrespective of their knowledge level, do well in studies. Ed-Tech is trying to give every child a chance to access quality education.
For example, EdTechs like BYJU’S concentrate on providing personalized learning, which is backed by technology and taught by skilled teachers.
Here technology plays the role of an enabler to provide a holistic learning experience, and the teacher plays the role of facilitator.
EdTech Solutions are still evolving and have their share of naysayers
The prices of EdTech courses are not within everybody’s reach. It is due to the cost of gadgets and the technology that goes behind it. We can only hope in the future these costs go down as technology advances.
Also, consider this, if education is continued to be treated as a service, it will become difficult to find good quality teachers.
Kids getting addicted to gadgets. Today’s kids are digital natives, parents and teachers must accept the reality and encourage positive constructive experiences with technology, and Edtech does just that.
Some feel e-learning materials are an additional burden on kids. In reality, students tend to take less time to understand a concept through e-learning as compared to rote-learning and memorization.