Swoyan Satyendu, COO, ODM Educational Group

What is the purpose of education? Some may state it’s the cultivation of character to live in a civilised society. Many take it as necessary for their child’s development, and for others, it’s the path to success; different factors contribute to defining the purpose of education.

Undeniably, parents are still not clear about the true meaning of the terms education, schooling, learning, and training. If we simplify these terms, education is an organised learning channel, whereas acquiring new skills is learning. Training focuses more on learning specific skills. A school houses a community of learners and combines the implementation of the above three terms with the guidance of teachers. With a view to these flawed assumptions among parents and expressing our thoughts on the modern era teaching methodologies and how it’s successfully enhancing careers, life paths, individuality, skill levels, and a lot more for students, let’s simplify it for the general audience,

Need of the Hour: Implementation of Modern Teaching

So, what is modern teaching? Modern or contemporary teaching is an approach that focuses on teaching the students to improve their intellect and behaviour by using innovative and new ideas rather than making them memorise the same old syllabus to clear exams. It is more activity-based and develops students’ mental faculties while involving them directly in the process. This constructive approach also builds their knowledge and sharpens their skills optimally. With the rapid evolution of science and technology and the requirement for increased human adaptability to match it, the need for creative and innovative minds for the progress of society, nation, and even the individual, is more than ever.

At ODM Educational Group, we believe that adopting contemporary teaching methods is the only way to cope in this knowledge-driven era. The exposure to contemporary teaching-learning practices in school can provide students the know-how to create opportunities and milestones for themselves and others once they pass out of school. Years of student assessment and data-driven scenarios have led us to believe that students today need innovative schooling to become future-ready and to face the challenges of the highly competitive 21st century.

Experiment, Experience and Innovate

Schools largely adopt an outdated approach to teaching where the focus is more on reciting and memorising the content to clear the exams and acquire certifications. Contemporary teaching focuses not only on memorising and reciting but also experiencing and gaining practical knowledge, which helps students in higher studies and life. This approach also encourages students to bring new concepts and innovative ideas to the table. Students will be motivated to follow conventional techniques and develop an innovative mindset from an early age. Contemporary learning delivered with the integration of technology and digital tools can help learners to develop innovation and creativity.

With the undeniable need for contemporary teaching and new-age learning methodologies, we have implemented it in all ODM schools. It has helped our students develop practical understanding and crucial aspects of learning, experiencing, and experimenting. We have also witnessed excellent improvement in our students’  IQ growth, cognitive and problem-solving skills. Even research proved that contempt teaching activates the perfect mechanism of the prefrontal cortex for young ones, which is the part of our brain responsible for behavioural outcome, expressive outcome and speech outcome. Exploring possibilities is another advantage of modern teaching we experienced with our students.

The modern teaching methods we have implemented are more interactive and keep our students intact. With the implementation of technology such as interactive whiteboards and LCD projectors, we have created a visual medium of learning that helps students memorise the concept faster and for a longer period when compared to traditional methods, technology integrated teaching methods are less time-consuming and therefore take less time to cover the syllabus. In addition, the smart presentation techniques are more explanatory. To further enhance teaching-learning, we have adopted the following in all ODM schools.

* Collaborative learning

* Tab-based learning

* Hybrid classrooms

* Digital library

* Activity-based learning

* Learner-cantered curriculum

* Special practical classes

* Frequent virtual tours

* Our very own developed Learning Management System ODM Elements

* Dedicated team of career counsellors

* Global educators

* Compulsory vocational courses

* Special classes for robotics/coding/AI/mental maths

* International student collaboration initiatives

* Psychometric analysis

* Special student counselling sessions

To conclude, we cannot deny that the modern teaching approach is the need of the hour. Since we can neither completely do away with the tried and tested traditional methods of teaching nor deny the effectiveness of contemporary teaching-learning practices, blending both these approaches is presently the most viable solution for unleashing student creativity, productivity, and success.

Also read: ODM Public School: Pioneering progressive holistic K-12 education in Odisha