Teachers in the FAST era!

In today's FAST (first, ahead, singular, trending) era, everyone is aiming to singularly achieve first, ahead of the rest and trend at the best! We are overloaded with information, although most of us lack the ability to channelize that information. Unfortunately, most also believe information and knowledge to be synonymous. Knowledge is the outcome of churning of information through experiment and experience, and thus, a gradual process. Every now and then, each one of us needs a knowledge-holder to help us navigate through the vastness of information. Since time immemorial, teachers have been entrusted with guiding learners to gather and process information. As a teacher for many, I have enjoyed the process of guiding learners across myriad subjects over the past 9 years—the excitement of reading about the topic, preparing notes/slides, explaining the concepts to curious minds in simple manner, encouraging them to think and apply beyond the textbook concepts, evaluating their extent of understanding, teaching experimental nuances and techniques, upskilling, seeing them graduate, and take pride in their achievements! Over the years, the education system has undergone gradual changes to ensure that the system stays relevant in the then present conditions including the one of today’s information overload, while including elements from the past so that learners know the roots too. However, in today's world, a teacher need not be a human being, as computers–smart phones–internet–web browsers–internet of things–artificial intelligence–humanoids can also help learners gain a level of understanding, that too without having to attend a 60-min lecture! Further, the attention span of learners has narrowed to the duration of social media reels and posts, making it difficult for the teachers to engage the learners in classroom lectures! In addition, we have the generative artificial intelligence tools that have further simplified information search and data collection. Generative artificial intelligence also aids in processing that data, making the learners believe that human teachers are irrelevant. Hence, today’s is also the era of relevance, where one can become irrelevant in a matter of time. There is always someone standing just behind or with you, ready to topple. Moreover, education is no longer a one-teacher-many-students system. It has evolved to a more complex entity that involves engagement of all factorials—human and nonhuman. So, what should the teachers do? Up the game and engage with all the stakeholders at the table! Innovative pedagogy is no longer an idea or a mere accreditation-requirement; it is a necessity for sustenance and maintaining relevance of human teachers and the present education system. Teachers should be able to provide more than what the information technology has to offer the learners! One way to navigate through the situation is to accept the facts and incorporate the nonhuman tools for educating ourselves and the learners. This is not merely for gathering information, but also for human teachers to guide in developing integrative models based on information and ideas, and help in decluttering, and thus, enhancing student learning experience. We also need to educate the students to make better use of the information available at their fingertips and prevent development of anergy or lethargy to the learning process! Finally, I humbly submit that the nuances of human thinking, abilities, diversity, experience, clarity are necessary for building self-reliant generations of learners to come. It is like the artists who include subtle differences between each creation—as a mark that the art is creation of nature’s most imperfect prodigal creation, the humans!

-Dr. Mukul S. Godbole