If you think that education in rural India is still lagging behind in technological advancements, this teacher in Maharashtra will prove you wrong.
Ajay Kale, who teaches in the Dahiwadi Zilla Parishad school in Sangli uses QR codes to teach his students!
Speaking to Pune Mirror about how he came up with this idea, Kale says, ” It is crucial to engage students in interesting activities. While many kids are hooked on to mobile phones and usually end up watching bizarre content online, this QR code will help them gain knowledge by getting direct access to additional information.”
So, while Kale teaches lessons using textbooks, he also records these lessons and puts them up on YouTube so that students can go back to the classes whenever they have a doubt.
Furthermore, Kale develops a QR code for every lesson and links it to further information about its theory, author or formulae.
Clik here to view.
“I first started the project for Class VI students, and now plan to take it forward for [students in] Class VII. Also, the students of Class VI, who have gotten a hang of these codes, are using the technique after being promoted to the next class. Together, they come up with interesting videos that are of great help to everyone,” the teacher says.
When the pilot project started with the class VI students of his school, Kale had used a Marathi textbook to see if students understood and took to his methods. He collected the works of the authors that featured in his textbook and made an archive of it. Linking the archives to the QR code, the students now had access to hundreds of poems and stories for whenever they wished to read those.
“Many students do not understand certain concepts and mathematical problems in one go.
Clik here to view.
Such students can revisit what is taught in class by simply scanning the code and watching the videos,” he told Hindustan Times.
The digital world has made children naturally tech-savvy. Searching for videos on YouTube, or scanning QR codes is not alien to them. Kale ensured that they use this engrossment with the online world to good use.
You may also like: Peon to Principal: Pune Man’s Story Is Just the Inspiration You Need for Teacher’s Day
And his students are hopping onto these teaching methods enthusiastically! Gauri Bhisale, a class VII student, told PM, “Now, we have started developing codes, too. Our teacher taught us how to make them when we were in Class VI. A lot of research is involved before preparing each video.”
Such innovative techniques have earned Kale accolades from the Maharashtra state government and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT). The NCERT has requested him to present a report on the implementation and progress of his project on September 27, and this might make him eligible for a national award in the future.
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)