After
their mid-morning snack break, kindergartners from Oberoi International
School settle down to practise shapes and alphabets. Clowns are drawn,
misshapen houses emerge, letters are traced, and then the young artists
clamor for Nalini Miss's attention. "I made a rocket," little Harini
announces even as Neil finally masters the letter 'B' . It's a scene out
of any hyperactive KG art class, with one difference — the toddlers are
all sketching on iPads.
The Mumbai school
introduced tablets in their classrooms two years ago, starting at junior
KG. Principal Vladimir Kuskovski says that with children becoming
tech-savvy at an early age, integrating them into the learning process
helps them engage better with the subject at hand. "iPads have audio
features and interactivity, so kids can learn in every way possible ,"
says Kuskovski.
Like Oberoi, other elite
schools are rolling out gadgets as learning tools for kids aged six and
below. Universal School, which has seven branches in Mumbai, starts
students aged two-and-a-half on iPods, moving to tablets in class 2. The
Pathways Global School in Noida also has its pre-primary classes use
tablets. "These are kids born around the same time the iPad was," says
Puja Srivastava, head of the IT department at Oberoi. "It's a whole new
generation with technology literally at their fingertips. We would be
kidding if we said that we don't want them to use it."
The
little ones may have barely learnt to feed themselves, but can
intuitively press and swipe. Remember the image of a toddler trying to
swipe a glossy magazine page like a tablet that went viral last year?
That's not just a meme anymore.
Oberoi school
teacher Nalini Srinivasan says toddlers are also offered books, but most
chose tablets as they are already using these devices at home, and even
know how to pack them back into their cases to be returned post-lessons
. Advertising professional Mita Sharma recalls how her daughter Icchha
was quick to find her way around an iPod in class to listen and learn
poems . "She had seen me use it at home," says Sharma.
The
tablets loaded with interactive apps on basic spelling, mathematics,
and nursery rhymes also make learning fun for the little ones who treat
it like a game. Not all parents are so relaxed about these new learning
tools, but as developmental paediatrician Dr Samir Dalwai says, "You
can't wish away the learning potential of technology." He does, however,
caution that early introduction of technology and constant presence of
gadgets can cause problems with child development , including hampering
of motor and communication skills and addiction.
Nagarjuna
G, professor at the Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education at the
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, believes tablets are
not suitable educational tools for children. "I'd recommend a device
that children can play with, manipulate and make changes to," he says,
backing more inclusive online learning platforms such as Sugar,
developed for the USbased initiative OLPC (One Laptop Per Child)
targeted at developing countries.
School
officials claim they carefully monitor the toddlers' tech time. Jesus
Lall, chairman-CEO of the Universal Education Group, says just 20
minutes out of the three-and-a-half hour school day are allotted to it;
Dr Shalini Advani, director of Pathways, says tablets are given out once
a week or once in 10 days and emphasizes that learning cannot be
entirely via iPads. "The development of motor skills, through simple
activities like holding a crayon or paintbrush , is crucial," she says.
These
schools try to balance real and virtual learning. So an actual field
trip can be followed by one on Google Earth. Dr Dalwai says retaining
this balance is crucial for a child's overall growth. "It would be
primitive to say, don't use technology at all," he says. "But you must
ensure your child doesn't lose touch with the more real aspects of
communication."
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