The innovation in Information and Communication Technology has affected the way in which education is delivered. The education system needs changes to exist in the new technologically advanced world. So, rather than devising an all together new system we should slowly move towards a new learning paradigm which would make the changes easily adaptable for all. In the crisis of Covid 19, it is only proved that inclusion of technology in educational sector in necessary. As on-campus learning is not on the cards, for some time now, educational institutions are stressing on teaching and learning with the help of technology.

Learning through performance

Learning is simply not the accumulation of knowledge, but an individual’s increasingly effective performance across situations. A very popular theory says that that the knowledge of humans as social beings is judged in terms of their experience and engagement with the social world. Also their participation and competence in an activity forms an important tenant for the purpose of learning.

Today, small children can use latest gadgets like an iPad, or a tablet through trial and error method. They surf the net, play multi-player internet games, actively participate in social media. However, educational institutions are not the place where they have gathered these skills. In today’s competent world it will soon be essential to skilfully operate the visual interface, with sight, touch, and voice commands in order to access information. Therefore, we need to convert a portion of the syllabus into small computer programs through which the students can learn these skills. This can be an effective pedagogy to engage learners.

Student-centered discovery learning

Seymour Papert, a famous scientist and mathematician says that learning can happen most effectively when people are active in making tangible objects in the real world. He advocates student-centred discovery learning, where students use information they already have, to acquire more knowledge. Students learn better through participation by project-based learning where they make connections between different ideas and areas of knowledge.

What is Augmented reality?

Augmented reality (AR) is the view of the physical real-world environment with superimposed computer-generated images, thus changing the perception of reality. It augments the reality and gives the user an interactive experience of the real-world environment. The first application of augmented reality was in entertainment and gaming though experiments are going on to utilize it in the educational sector.

The use of AR/VR in education

 A recent study conducted found out that 98% of educators think that interactive video is going to be important to education in the future and around 89% of them said that they are interested in learning the use of augmented reality. Educators can use AR and VR to teach anything from music to research helping the information to be delivered in an interactive manner. It can be used to build mobile applications or computer programs that would lead to personalized self – learning.

Prof. Samir Mukherjee, an expert and researcher on augmented reality says that there will be a paradigm shift in educational sector. He also said, “We have seen the emergence of online education, but the personalized approach of a teacher is absent there. The student – teacher relationship facilitates the learning experience like nothing else. Augmented reality is here to bridge the gap. Even if the student and teacher are located far away from each other, by wearing the headset designed to view augmented reality, they can experience learning in each other’s company, virtually.”

“In future, this technology will make collaboration from different parts of the world easier. And this is very essential to increase the power of distance education in the future. And the reason is not necessarily Covid 19”, he further adds.

Use of Infographics

Research also says that engagement only with the virtual world, would not lead to complete education. Thus, educationists recommend the use of infographics. One of the best ways to use infographics in learning is to make students design and create them on their own. In the process of creating information more lucidly in the form of infographics, the students will understand the content thoroughly. The students can then share them in the classroom with each other.

Ethical Aspects

Everything has its own pros and cons. We have to guide the students about the ethical aspects of technology. We need to teach the students all aspects of the emerging technology and also understand the effects this technology will have on the society.