What is the best way of undergoing Education? This is a question that is as old as mankind itself. Centuries of learning and understanding concepts have helped us humans evolve as a species, but does just comparing our proficiency with that of our ancestors sufficient? No. That would only partly answer the question. Acquiring knowledge across various spheres such as Science, Math, History has made us collectively smarter, but the average human still does not have a metric that enables him compare his knowledge and acumen with that of his peers. Nor does it make any sense for every human to compare himself with his peers.
Modern ideas about education continue to be dogged by 19th century notions of merit and ability, which were based on abstract reasoning rather than the ability to design and make things or solve practical problems. These theories and techniques used to measure intelligence are widely used in schools even today. They are closely related to attainment tests in ‘core’ subjects and are used as a way of predicting likely success in traditional subjects recommended by the education boards. This in-turn diminishes the credit for pursuing other forms of ability as second-best.
Of course, English and maths provide the foundation of any young person’s education. It is equally important for them to understand science and their place in the world, which is why history, geography and languages continue to have a central place in the curriculum. But the challenge remains: how do we nurture new generations of engineers, technologists and inventors?
Thanks to the age of Information Technology and that of the smartphone, news and facts are now available at the fingertips of anybody who has access to a mobile phone. The young citizens of the planet are among the most active users of the internet and its wares through smartphones and tablets. With this being the case, they are far more likely to discover content that makes them smarter than an average kid in the 90s or 80s. But, does the curriculum cater to the improved smartness of these new gen whiz kids? Thrusting age old mannerisms of learning, such as rote learning, upon them will be of very little help to improving upon their skills.
It is time to introduce them to newer methods of learning which promote practical thinking and ensure physical application so that a student has instant gratification while he learns the concept. This will ensure that he learns concepts which are not only important to him but also keep him engaged and entertained during the whole process of the learning. Edutainment is the newest order in education. Let us all embrace this change and catalyse the change in curriculums accordingly.
We at Kidobotikz are very much in tune with this philosophy. Our Kidobotikz kits are designed on the beliefs espoused in the former paragraph. Kidobotikz kits are aimed at enhancing the learning methods that students adopt and weeding out ineffective learning practices where the practical understanding of concepts are found wanting.
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