In the advent of the fast development of Internet and Communication Technology (ICT), in front of us lies the ever-growing number of opportunities in new knowledge and better teaching practices, spread out to us in the horizon of the present and the future. The 21st Century marks the point where society currently undergoes its 4th industrial revolution. For education to not take advantage of available developments and recent progress in favor of old and possibly outdated teaching methods is not the way to go.
Ajitha Nayar works around this context in her book Teaching and Learning in Technology Empowered Classrooms—Issues, Contexts and Practices, where she can comprehensively elucidate the concept of ICT-based education. She does an excellent job of introducing the idea of ICT-based education detailed enough for the consumption and improvement of educators, whether it be first-timers or seasoned veterans, and for the average layman reader to enjoy who could learn a great deal from it.
Her arguments for the technological integration of education divides into five significant subsections; each, when taken together, contributes to a holistic exposition on the topic at hand. She initially describes ICT in its history on how changes in education fail to keep up with the rapid changes in technology and led different perspectives among educators, potentially causing even more difficulties on technological innovation in the field. Subsequently, it provides an exposition of how ICT influenced educators' roles within the classroom setup.
She then expounds on Global ICT policies in the Indian context and their impact on the educational system and practices, which contributes to the knowledge generation of pedagogical methods. This leads to the generation and use of ICT-integrated theoretical frameworks, which are then enriched through practice and experimentation, drawing lessons from both various successes and failures. Finally, best ICT practices are also provided based on case studies and research reviews. Here, educators and general readers alike get to know how to implement these changes in the classroom setup.
Ajitha Nayar believes, "Meaningful, effective, and engaged learning with teacher and technology in the right measure: that is what the right deployment of technology is about". She encourages the use of technology to benefit teachers and provide what she describes as an "easy, stress-free, and effective" student life. Contemporarily speaking, the COVID-19 pandemic has placed enormous stress on both teachers and educators alike, despite the numerous challenges it has posed and how weaknesses in our education systems might have been exposed. This has also provided us a great opportunity to grow and incentivizes us to take better steps in the future. Ajitha Nayar's book is an exceptional read – it is timely and practical. The present and future of ICT-based education look very promising and now is the right time to learn about it.
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